Sylvia was both surprised and impressed by Eric's inner strength. She hadn't expected him to move on so quickly.

Eric declared, "I've thought about it. I can accept Grace Montgomerys as my mother, but the condition is that I stay in Salt City. Otherwise, I can't agree."

Sylvia nodded in agreement, sharing Eric's viewpoint. Grace was his biological mother, but the ones who had raised him were his true parents. The debt of raising a child was something a child could never fully repay.

If Grace insisted on taking Eric back to King City, Sylvia would oppose it. It all depended on Grace now.

-

Meanwhile, Lucas sported a bruised face from the incident with Seraphine's bodyguards. Later, he took his own bodyguards to find them but nearly got beaten up again.

"Mr. Petterson!" A man approached as Lucas applied ointment to his bruise. "We just got inside info from Williams Corp. and Sonnex Corp. They're abandoning some potentially profitable businesses. Should we step in and take over?"

E