Chapter 1194: I shouldn’t have said that about her breasts.

Meanwhile...

Zoren heard a light creak from the door and glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t fully check who had come in, instead setting his eyes back on the window while swirling his glass of wine.

"Dinner is almost ready, and I see someone chose to go for the drinks beforehand." Ray’s playful voice rang through the room as he approached the stand to pour himself a glass. Picking it up, he joined Zoren. "What are you looking at over there, hmm?"

Out of pure curiosity, Ray stretched his neck to check outside. There was nothing but acres of land.

"Hah." Ray rocked his head back and shrugged. "I’ll never understand what’s so interesting about staring at empty fields."

"Renny is over there," Zoren remarked, eyes still on the land. "He’s playing with Chunchun."

"I don’t see any black panthers or small cats."

"They probably didn’t want to share their private moment with a pervert like you. That’s why they’re hiding."

Ray’s face twitched as he cast a side-eye at him. "Hey, isn’t that a little much?"

"Too much?" Zoren replied in the same emotionless tone, glancing down at his wine. "I think you’re the one who’s been a bit too much."

Ray narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue before shifting his gaze from Zoren back to the land.

"I heard you’ve been recovering, so I wanted to test just how much you’ve improved," Ray casually admitted. "From what I can see, Penny did a good job with your rehabilitation."

Zoren cast his cousin a sidelong glance but didn’t answer.

Ray smirked. "You think I’m doubting your wife?"

Zoren still didn’t respond.

Ray rolled his eyes. "It’s not about Penny’s capabilities—or the capabilities of all the doctors and specialists who’ve looked into your condition. It’s about you and your control over yourself. I’m just checking how much I can push you before you press the self-destruction button. So far, I’m impressed."

"If there’s a button I’d press first, it would be ejecting you from this world."

"Hahaha!" Ray burst into laughter. "Good joke—no, actually, it’s not a good joke. It’s terrifying, cousin. Especially since I know you mean it."

Zoren shook his head, well aware that Ray had another motive besides ruining the trip for everyone. The thing about Ray was that he was undeniably smart but dangerously playful. Because of his family and confidence in his intelligence, he enjoyed testing people’s limits just for fun.

"Still, I’m surprised by how cool you played things." Ray grinned from ear to ear, giving him a thumbs-up. "I thought after flirting with Penny, you’d secretly bury me alive. Now, I feel at ease that my cousin wouldn’t end up a murderer because he couldn’t control himself."

"I wouldn’t call that flirting—more like a fly buzzing around my wife. A fly that one of her brothers would swat at any time."

"You’re starting to hurt my feelings."

"How I wish I could crush your heart more."

"Hey! That’s sadistic!" Ray gasped in disbelief as Zoren slowly turned to face him. Clutching his chest, he took a step back. "Wait... don’t tell me you’re actually going to do it? I’m not ready to be defiled—not by you."

"If my first brother-in-law heard that, you wouldn’t like his response," Zoren pointed out, watching Ray dramatically act as if he was preserving his chastity. "Besides, I’ve seen, touched, fondled, licked, and bitten a real woman’s breasts. I wouldn’t want to see those flat ones you’ve got."

Ray nearly choked on his wine at the cruel and unexpected attack. Zoren truly knew how to brag effortlessly while asserting his dominance. So unfair!

"Her brothers wouldn’t want to hear that," Zoren added casually. "Keep that between us."

"You’re telling me that after flaunting your sex life?" Ray scoffed while Zoren simply shrugged. "Damn it! I need to be active again."

"You should," Zoren encouraged. "But don’t think about my wife—because I’ll be there to knock you out."

Ray scrunched his nose, only now realizing this entire conversation had been filled with bitterness and jealousy. Had he known, he wouldn’t have bothered checking in on Zoren!

"Forget it! You’re fine." Ray shook his head and downed his wine in one go, as if trying to wash away the bitterness in his heart. He exhaled sharply and pointed at Zoren. "But I’m warning you, Zoren Pierson—don’t you dare hurt my first love and girlfriend."

"Delusional," Zoren murmured, his gaze sliding to the side. "Pitiful."

’I should have asked someone to check his room. If he has any of Penny’s pictures that he fantasizes about every night...’ Zoren frowned slightly at the disturbing thought. ’Getting him castrated sounds good.’

"For your information, I don’t fantasize about Penny," Ray declared proudly, reading Zoren’s thoughts just with his cousin’s expression. "And I swear I don’t keep pictures of her in my room—I have an entire wall painted with her face on it."

Zoren shot him a glare.

"Haha! Kidding! Please don’t kill me!"

"If you don’t want to die, start acting like you actually value your life."

"I will, I will." Ray raised both hands in surrender. "Geez. Now I’m starting to wonder if Penny’s treatment is actually working... or if she’s treating the wrong area."

A huff escaped Ray as he shook his head. Passing his empty glass to his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small card. Keeping it between his fingers, he snapped it in front of Zoren.

"This is?" Zoren arched a brow, taking the card from him.

"It’s a card I picked up from Dean’s car some time ago," Ray explained casually with a shrug. "I don’t think he ever saw it, since it was still sealed when I found it. You should check it."

Zoren carefully flipped the card over. His expression, usually unreadable, hardened as a layer of frost coated his eyes.

Ray, noticing the change, simply shrugged and turned to leave.

"I don’t think disbanding that Phantom Circle will be as easy as you thought," he said over his shoulder, placing the empty wineglass on the stand. Looking back at Zoren, he smirked. "Dean will probably ignore that card—knowing him, he won’t let anyone threaten his position as your rival. He’d rather die than stop meddling, Zoren."

His smirk widened slightly before he resumed walking. "Anyway, let Mint know I let her cousin trash me in a game of chess." With that, Ray left the room without looking back.

Meanwhile, Zoren kept his gaze on the door before a shallow breath slipped past him.

"Did he really think Mint would be thrilled to hear a chess master went easy on her cousin?" he murmured before setting his eyes back on the card. It was an invitation for Dean—the same kind that had put Sven Bennet in jail and Patricia Miller in danger.

But instead of focusing on the card, Zoren found his mind drifting elsewhere.

"...I shouldn’t have said that about her breasts. Now I’m aroused."