My attributes are increasing infinitely

Chapter 468: Scarlett Maguire

The next day,

”Ethan,my brother is coming today. Do you want to meet him here or in a private resort?”, James asked.

Ethan looked at James and smiled.

” What do you think?”

”Damn it! Alright, I’ll ask him to come here.”, James said with a frustrated tone and left.

....

The tarmac shimmered under the afternoon sun, heat waves distorting the horizon as James stood alone, a solitary figure in a sea of gray concrete. In the distance, a private jet bearing the Maguire family crest, a silver griffin clutching a thunderbolt, descended from the clouds like a predator returning to its nest. The roar of its engines echoed across the runway, drowning out the frantic beating of James’s heart.

He checked his reflection in the car’s window for the dozenth time, adjusting his tie with trembling fingers, smoothing back hair that was already perfectly in place. His brother was coming. Gabriel, the heir, the golden child, the one who carried the weight of their family’s legacy on shoulders broad enough to bear it. Just thinking about him made James’s chest tighten with a mixture of reverence and inadequacy.

The jet touched down with practiced precision, its wheels kissing the runway before it taxied toward him. James watched, barely breathing, as the door hissed open and folded down. A figure appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the plush interior.

His heart soared.

Then plummeted.

No. No, no, no.

The figure that emerged was not Gabriel’s calm, handsome visage. It was her. Scarlett. His younger sister. The demoness who had made his childhood a living tapestry of humiliation and carefully orchestrated chaos.

She stood at the top of the stairs, scanning the tarmac with the casual arrogance of a queen surveying her domain. Her black hair caught the wind like a war banner, and her eyes, those mischievous, calculating eyes, narrowed as they found something in the distance.

James followed her gaze to a stray dog trotting along the perimeter fence.

And then she waved. Enthusiastically. With both hands.

For one stupid, fleeting moment, James’s heart cracked open. Was this it? Had she missed him? Had absence softened her edges, mellowed the sharp wit that had cut him so many times?

Tears pricked at his eyes. He raised his hand, waving back with all the pathetic hope of a kicked puppy finally offered kindness.

The air shimmered.

One moment Scarlett was on the jet. The next, she stood directly before him, close enough that he could see the flecks of gold in her irises. Her smile was radiant, beautiful, and utterly terrifying.

”I was waving at that dog,” she said, her voice honey laced with venom. ”Did you honestly think I was waving at you?”

James’s arm froze mid wave. The tears that had threatened to spill now burned with a different emotion entirely. ”You little...” He caught himself, the words dying on hue. Suicide, that would be suicide. She was a Level 5 Force Master.

He forced his face into a smile. It felt like stretching raw meat. ”Sister. What a surprise. Where’s big brother?”

Scarlett’s expression shifted from amusement to disdain in the span of a heartbeat. ”Big brother?” She laughed, the sound sharp and dismissive. ”Do you think you’ve done something noteworthy enough to warrant our brother’s presence? You’ve been playing gangster in this backwater city for what, two years? Please.”

She flicked an invisible speck from his shoulder. ”I’m here because Mother wanted me out of her hair for a few days. Now, why did you call us? And if your answer doesn’t entertain me, I’ll leave you standing here and find a decent restaurant.”

He reached into his pocket and produced a small, yellow pill. It caught the sunlight, glowing like captured amber.

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed. ”What’s that?”

”Why don’t you swallow it and find out?” James’s tone was light, almost joking. He knew the dance. She would demand explanations, he would give evasive answers, they would circle each other until he eventually led her to Ethan. It was a script he had prepared for.

Scarlett plucked the pill from his fingers.

And swallowed it.

James’s smile evaporated. His jaw went slack. ”What?” He didn’t think this sister of his would absorb something just because he told her to do so. A complicated expression appeared on his face.

The effect was immediate. Warmth flooded through Scarlett’s body, a gentle current that started in her core and radiated outward to her extremities. Her eyes flew wide as sensation after sensation rippled through her meridians. Her force, already formidable at Level 5, surged. Not dramatically, but noticeably. Like a muscle finally allowed to stretch after years of confinement.

She looked at her hands, then at James, then back at her hands. ”What... what was that? Did you find a ruin which contains these pills? That will be really worth the trip.”, Scarlett asked with some excitements.

James’s mouth curled into a slow, triumphant smile. ”Something better than a ruin. Follow me.”

He turned and walked toward the car without waiting to see if she followed. Behind him, he heard her footsteps, hesitant at first, then determined.

The car was a sleek black Phantom, its interior smelling of leather and the subtle incense James had insisted on burning to impress Gabriel. As the city scrolled past the tinted windows, Scarlett sat in silence, processing what had just happened.

If James really found a ruin for the family, he would definitely be allowed to return to the family.

A sudden hope ignited in her chest before she suppressed it.

”James.” Her voice carried an edge now. Not mocking, serious. ”If this is some kind of trick...”

”It’s not.”

She studied his profile, searching for the lie. For the first time in her life, she did not find it.

The Black Bull Gang’s headquarters occupied an unassuming building in the slum district, all corrugated steel and faded signage that suggested abandonment. Inside, however, the walls had been reinforced, the security systems upgraded, and the common areas transformed into something approaching professionalism.

Ethan stood in the gathering room, his back to the door, hands clasped behind him.

Through the window, he watched James’s car pull up. A smile touched his lips.

”His brother is a girl. How amusing.”, he joked to himself.

The door opened. James entered first, relief evident in the slight relaxation of his shoulders. Behind him came Scarlett, and Ethan catalogued her in an instant. The proud carriage, the sharp eyes, the subtle tension in her frame that spoke of combat readiness. A fighter. An aristocrat.

She stopped dead the moment she saw him.

” How can someone this handsome appear in a slum?”

Ethan had seen that reaction before. The slight catch of breath, the widening of eyes, the way people forgot themselves in the face of something unexpectedly beautiful. He accepted it with the same calm he accepted everything, as natural as gravity, as irrelevant as weather.

James stepped forward, gesturing between them. ”Ethan, meet my sister, Scarlett. She’s representing the Maguire family today.”

Ethan inclined his head. A fraction of an inch. ”Hello.”

Scarlett’s lips parted. For one horrifying moment, she almost said something breathless, something weak. She caught herself, forcing her features into cool neutrality. ”Hello.”

”Let’s get into business, then. Shall we?”

”Business?” Scarlett’s confusion was genuine. She shot James a look. ”What business?”

Ethan’s gaze shifted to James, one eyebrow rising slightly. ”You didn’t explain?”

James rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture of pure embarrassment. ”If I’d explained, she wouldn’t have believed me. Better if you show her.”

Fair enough. Ethan turned back to Scarlett. ”You’ve absorbed the pill?”