The Seductive Pretty Boy of the Matriarchal World-Chapter 39: Powder Keg of Possession

The thunderous crash shattered the profound silence of the space, ringing out with deafening force that left everyone’s ears buzzing.

All three people present whipped their heads toward the source in unison. The first thing to catch their eyes was a striking gleam of silver, quivering ever so slightly with the owner’s labored, heavy breaths.

In the very next moment, Giselle Frost’s breathing smoothed out, the rise and fall of her chest settling back into perfect poise.

She had recalibrated herself to her optimal state in the blink of an eye.

Even in a moment like this, the fundamental decorum expected of a young heiress remained unbroken.

Yet the thin layer of clammy sweat glistening on Giselle’s forehead still laid bare her underlying disarray.

Indeed, for Giselle Frost—the eternally frosty figure who maintained an expressionless mask at all times—this appearance bordered on mortifying vulnerability.

"Elias..."

The instant Elias Kane caught sight of her, the dense haze of moisture that had built up in his eyes transformed into hot tears, cascading silently down his cheeks without a sound.

There was no helping it. The relentless waves of electric bliss radiating from his palm were overwhelmingly pleasurable, yet he was forced to contort his features into an expression of pure agony. The internal conflict was excruciating; these tears had been bottled up from the sheer strain. Fortunately, Giselle’s arrival at just the right time had prevented him from risking serious internal damage by suppressing it any longer.

In one sense, she truly had rescued him from the brink, which made Elias’s sobs all the more sincere and raw. His vision blurred with tears as he swallowed back quiet, choked whimpers.

Giselle regarded him from a distance. She had believed she’d witnessed the boy in tears on multiple occasions before, and without exception, each instance had only fueled her irritation, stirring a dark tide of resentment and revulsion within her.

But this time was utterly different. Elias stared back at her in a daze, his face etched with that all-too-familiar softness and vulnerability, layered with thick panic and utter helplessness. A single tear trailed across the blood-streaked wound, tinting it a vivid crimson—like bloodied weeping.

He looked at her just like that, in his moment of deepest despair, still pinning every last shred of hope squarely upon her shoulders.

Giselle found her mind drifting unbidden to that earlier scene: the shy, hesitant way the boy had extended a warm lunchbox toward her. She hadn’t touched the food inside, convinced that since she hadn’t truly helped him in any meaningful way, she had no right to accept his gesture of goodwill.

But after today, perhaps she could finally receive his thanks with an unburdened heart.

Giselle tilted her head slightly, her gaze shifting to lock onto Serena Blackwood. Her lips parted just a fraction as her voice cut through the air, cold and sharp: "Serena Blackwood!"

This was the first time Elias had ever heard Giselle elevate her tone to such a pitch. The young woman who prided herself on upholding impeccable ladylike etiquette under any circumstance had evidently been pushed to genuine fury here.

Being called out by her full name like that caused the smile of dominance that had been playing across Serena’s lips to gradually dissolve. She watched Giselle approach with quick, determined strides, a dangerous chill flashing in those eyes.

Liora Voss made a move to step forward and intercept, but Serena halted her with a subtle gesture.

"Liora," Serena waved her hand dismissively, indicating for Liora to stand down. Handling someone like Giselle Frost didn’t require any assistance from others.

Liora’s face remained impassive and serene as she stepped back a few paces.

Serena rose slowly, still cradling Elias in her arms. When facing him directly, the height disparity meant nothing at all. But against another woman of her stature like Giselle, any perceived physical disadvantage could undermine her commanding presence—she refused to let that happen.

Though Serena and Giselle moved in the same elite circles, the age difference between them was considerable. Serena had carved her path through the cutthroat business world for years, her experience and status far surpassing anything Giselle could hope to rival. In Serena’s eyes, the younger woman was little more than an upstart junior.

When dealing with a junior, one naturally projected the authority of seniority. Serena allowed a faint, condescending smile to curve her lips once more as she remarked lightly, "I never would have guessed that you’d rush over here in such a whirlwind for the sake of a mere plaything, Miss Frost. It’s truly opened my eyes."

The sharp crack of movement echoed as Giselle, paying no heed whatsoever, closed the distance and seized Elias in one swift motion, wrenching him forcefully free from Serena’s embrace.

The amusement in Serena’s eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by frigid menace.

Faced with such outright insolence, Serena discarded any notion of leveraging her senior status. "It appears Victoria Frost failed to instill proper etiquette in you."

Even Victoria Frost herself wouldn’t dare behave with such reckless abandon in Serena’s presence.

"Not pulling the elder card anymore?" Giselle raised her gaze to meet Serena’s with a fleeting, icy glance. "Besides, who exactly are you to demand any etiquette from me?"

Truth be told, Giselle stood just a hair shorter than Serena, but her presence radiated an unyielding power that refused to concede ground.

Yet the moment her eyes fell upon Elias, the transformation was palpable—her frostiness softened visibly, still cold as ever but stripped of any intent to wound.

The young heiress took the boy’s hand in hers, her words emerging crisp and chilled, while her palm burned with unexpected heat. She uttered just a single command: "Walk."

"Ah..."

Giselle had barely taken a few steps when a soft, pained groan escaped from Elias behind her. She froze in place, compelled to turn around, only to find that Serena had clamped onto one of his arms as well.

Elias’s body shuddered violently, trapped as the unwilling pivot in this power struggle. He was so painfully fragile—every woman in the room understood it intimately. He simply couldn’t endure this kind of forceful tugging.

Under normal circumstances, all it would take was one of them easing their grip even slightly, and Elias would find relief. But neither Giselle nor Serena yielded an inch. They remained locked in deadlock, the boy’s refined features contorting with mounting torment.

"Let go."

The words left Giselle’s lips with a quiet intensity, her silver-dyed locks trembling as if a furious white tiger were unleashing a roar.

Serena released a mocking laugh, cold and unyielding. "He’s mine. What right do you have to take him away?"

"Step aside now, and I might be willing to overlook this entirely."

The air thickened with even greater tension. To Liora Voss, it seemed entirely plausible that the two women would come to blows at any second.

And Elias was reaching his breaking point.

With cool detachment, Liora interjected, "Why not ask him yourself?"

A single sentence redirected the pressure squarely onto Elias. The boy found himself pinned beneath two pairs of intensely oppressive stares, his face paling to ghostly white as he swayed precariously. Without the dual grips holding him upright, he would likely have collapsed once more.

Giselle’s sharp eyes caught the injury marring Elias’s palm, a subtle flicker passing through her gaze. "Do you need to go to Longhaven Hospital?"

Serena’s composure faltered ever so slightly.

Elias kept his head bowed, avoiding a direct response. His voice quivered as though the pain had pierced straight to his core: "It hurts... it hurts so much..."

Giselle let out a soft breath, a surge of confidence flooding through her. She advanced a step, intent on seizing his other arm and pulling it free from Serena’s hold.

But Serena anticipated the move, swiftly encircling Elias’s waist with one arm and drawing his entire frame flush against her body. As if to underscore the intimate exclusivity of their connection, she leaned in close, her lips brushing his ear in a whisper of velvet tenderness: "It was my carelessness. I accidentally broke the glass and caused your injury. I had every intention of taking you to Longhaven Hospital myself—there’s no need to burden an outsider with this."

"Liora, you’ll escort Elias to the hospital shortly."

Liora nodded without hesitation. "Understood."

The seamless exchange between them had effectively sealed Elias’s destination.

Yet Giselle refused to relinquish her hold. She saw straight through Serena’s web of fabrications. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

No matter how convincingly they staged their little performance, the decisive factor remained Elias’s own will. As long as he didn’t want to remain with Serena, she could certainly spirit him away from this pl...

"Mm."