"Shut the fuck up, Cyrus! What exactly are you trying to do?" Rory shouted again, her control slipping completely in front of everyone.

"I proposed a divorce, and you refused," I said calmly, letting my words hang in the air. "I tried to live peacefully with you, but you wouldn't. Do you really want to destroy this family?"

From the moment she arrived until now, she hadn't realized what day it was.

She hadn't remembered the words I had just spoken, the same words she had once said to me: "Cyrus, don't take advantage of Rory's patience. No matter what you do, she'll divorce you!"

"And I," Jesse had said earnestly to Rory, "no matter what Rory becomes, I will stay by her side, unwavering until death."

Touched, Rory's eyes softened, and she gazed at him with gentle affection.

I chuckled, signaling ever so subtly.

From the shadows, a bodyguard stepped forward without hesitation and delivered a sharp, stinging slap across Jesse's face.

The triumphant wail of the horn mingled with the sound of the slap, a melody that seemed to hum with satisfaction.

I nodded at the bodyguard, approving.

"Well done. Go claim your reward."

"You bastard! How dare you have someone hit me?" Jesse yelled, clutching his burning cheek, eyes filled with raw resentment.

"Because," I said, my voice calm but firm, "this is my house. And you? You're just a plaything. You don't get a say in this, Jesse. Understand?"

"Cyrus, you've crossed the line!" Jesse shot back, his voice sharp. "Don't forget, this is the McGrath estate! One word from Rory, and this place will have a new boss in charge!"

I let out a slow, deliberate laugh that filled the room, bouncing off the walls. I clapped my hands, measured and heavy, letting everyone feel the rhythm, the tension, the weight of the moment.

Then I said, "Rory, have you forgotten how your so-called 'McGrath family' even came to be?"

When my parents passed away, I was just eighteen.

I was the only child, young, inexperienced, barely capable of handling such a massive empire.

There was no way I could have done it alone.

It was Rory who had said to me, "Cyrus, trust me, and I'll show you a future for your family that's even more glorious than you could imagine."

Back then, her family's company had long since gone under.

Rory's parents, crushed by debt and despair, had thrown themselves off a building together.

She was alone, just like me.

So I had agreed to her plan.