Investing In My Four Crippled Yandere Wives Get 1000x Returns
Chapter 24|Evidence and Evolution

Chapter 24: 24|Evidence and Evolution

Halden’s expression darkened with each passing minute of Myria’s briefing, the three bound mercenaries’ signed statements spread across his desk alongside financial transfer records Vivian had extracted with methods Allen decided not to ask too many questions about.

"Attempted murder," Halden said finally, voice flat and cold in a way Allen hadn’t heard from him before. "Financed through Veton guild accounts, executed against a registered, active Hunter party." He set the papers down with deliberate precision. "This isn’t a liability review anymore, or a rigged livestream. This is a criminal matter, and I intend to treat it as one."

"My father will claim ignorance," Allen said grimly. "Reginald or Edward acting independently, deniable middlemen, the usual."

"Perhaps," Halden allowed. "But financial records don’t lie as easily as testimony does, and I have considerably more patience for forensic accounting than your father might expect." He leaned back, expression sharpening with quiet, deliberate resolve. "Effective immediately, I’m assigning Association security detail to your household. Not a request, Hunter Veton — a formal protective measure, given the demonstrated threat to a registered party’s safety. Anyone attempting to interfere with Fallen Crown going forward does so against the Association directly, not merely against five individuals in Hegeville."

Relief and grim satisfaction warred in Allen’s chest. "Thank you."

"Don’t thank me yet," Halden said. "This will likely provoke your father rather than deter him, at least in the short term. Cornered men rarely retreat quietly. But it will force his hand into the open, where I can act against him properly, rather than watching from the sidelines while he hides behind plausible deniability." His gaze swept across all five of them. "Rest, prepare, and continue your growth. I suspect you’ll need every advantage available before this concludes."

---

They returned to Hegeville with two Association security Hunters trailing discreetly at a respectful distance, the weight of the day’s confrontation settling slowly into something that felt, for the first time, less like desperate survival and more like genuine progress.

That night, Myria sat by the window as she often did, tablet forgotten in her lap, gaze distant and thoughtful. Allen settled beside her, noticing the faint furrow in her brow.

"What’s on your mind?"

"I keep thinking about today," she admitted quietly. "About how close it came. Irene’s flames, my ice, Vivian’s blade — we reacted fast enough this time. But we got lucky, Allen. Reaction time only carries a fight so far when the numbers aren’t in your favor." Her fingers curled slightly. "I used to be able to freeze an entire chamber solid in seconds. Now I need a clear line of sight and several moments of concentration just to manage a fraction of that. If those mercenaries had been marginally more competent—"

"You held your own," Allen said gently. "All of you did."

"This time," Myria said, quieter now, some old, familiar frustration bleeding through her usual composure. "I don’t want to keep relying on ’this time,’ Allen. I want to be genuinely strong again. Not just strategically useful from the sidelines."

Allen considered her for a long moment, something forming slowly in his chest — an idea he hadn’t quite let himself examine directly until now. "The system rewards genuine bonds," he said slowly. "It’s manifested every upgrade in me so far. But its own description mentioned dependents too. I haven’t seen it happen yet, but—"

He didn’t get to finish the thought.

The warmth hit both of them simultaneously — Allen felt it as a familiar pulse beneath his own skin, but Myria gasped audibly beside him, hands flying to her chest as pale blue light began pulsing faintly beneath her collar, spreading outward in delicate, crystalline patterns along her skin.

[Investment Threshold Reached: Cumulative Bond Points — 30,000]

[New System Function Unlocked: "Shared Growth Protocol"]

[Reward Manifestation: Bloodline Evolution — Dependent: Myria Veton]

[Ice Dragon Bloodline (Dormant, Suppressed by Injury) → Ice Dragon Bloodline (Awakened, Rank: Supreme)]

[Effect: Cryokinetic output restored to pre-injury capacity and beyond. Physical mobility limitations remain unaffected — bloodline power and physical injury are governed by separate systems.]

Myria stared down at her own hands as delicate frost patterns spread across her fingertips, more vivid and controlled than anything Allen had witnessed from her since their arrival in Hegeville. She raised one hand slowly, and a small, intricate sculpture of ice bloomed above her palm — detailed, precise, humming with barely contained power in a way that made the air around them noticeably drop in temperature.

"That’s—" She stared, breath catching, something raw and disbelieving flickering across her usually composed features. "That’s Supreme-tier output. I haven’t touched that level of control since before the accident."

"How does it feel?" Allen asked quietly, watching her carefully.

Myria closed her fist, and the ice sculpture dissolved into a fine mist, her hands trembling slightly — not from cold, but from something far more overwhelming. "Like getting a piece of myself back," she said, voice thick with emotion she rarely allowed herself to show. "Not all of it. My legs are still—" She gestured briefly toward her wheelchair, voice catching. "That part hasn’t changed. But this—" She raised her glowing hand again, wonder plain across her face. "This is real. This is mine again."

Allen reached over, taking her free hand gently in his own. "It won’t stop here," he said softly. "Not for you. Not for any of you."

Myria turned to look at him, something fierce and grateful and entirely unguarded shining behind her crystalline eyes, before she leaned forward and kissed him firmly, deeply, months of careful restraint finally giving way to something closer to overwhelming relief.

When she finally pulled back, breathless, her earlier composure had entirely dissolved into something warmer, more open than he’d ever seen from her.

"Thank you," she murmured against his lips. "For choosing to care, long before you knew any of this was possible."

"Always," Allen said simply, meaning every word.

From the doorway, unnoticed until that exact moment, Irene’s delighted voice rang out, entirely too loud for the quiet intimacy of the room. "Okay, WAIT, does that mean I get my hearing back too eventually, or just, like, cooler fire powers? Because either way I’m still counting this as a win, but I need to know what I’m working with here!"

Myria’s answering laugh was warm, unguarded, and entirely genuine — the first time Allen had heard her laugh so freely since the day they’d arrived in Hegeville — and for a moment, watching her, watching all of them slowly reclaiming pieces of the strength the world had stolen from them, Allen felt something settle firmly, permanently into place.

’This is only the beginning,’ he thought, watching frost dance delicately across Myria’s fingertips. ’For all of us.’