At first, Adrian had thought Kallista came to the cell to act like she cared. He assumed it was Xander’s twisted way of mocking him, and her fault that he’d been caught.She must have told her brother everything, made sure Xander came along, just to set him up. Her pathetic act of concern had annoyed him. But now, he realized something he hadn’t expected: her brother had done the unthinkable—he’d tossed her into the cell too.Now, they were both trapped. But while she looked hopeful, Adrian wasn’t. And that hope in her eyes only irritated him more.He shifted on the other bench with an annoyed grunt. The silence grated on him. Her presence grated on him.“Stop looking like that,” he snapped.Kallista blinked, startled. She turned to look at him, and the look in her eyes vanished, replaced with a large frown. But the frown immediately disappeared too when she met his gaze.“Like what?”“Like some sad, broken doll,” he sneered. “You think I’m the villain here? You threw yourself at me,

Adeline looked at the people in front of her, her brows furrowed in a deep frown. Since Oscar had left, she had not been able to contact him. The same went for Tedmond.Every effort they had made to reach the lawyer had come up empty. The man had vanished right after finalizing the asset transfer. Now, they were completely certain he had conspired with Tedmond to steal the fortune. He had betrayed them.They were all gathered again, just as they had been every week, trying to figure out their next move. They wanted to know if anyone had tracked down Tedmond, his daughter, or anyone remotely connected to him.After a long silence, filled only with the sound of waiting and shifting seats, Frank finally cleared his throat and spoke. No one else seemed willing to take charge.“Did anyone find anything about Benedict?” he asked, his gaze scanning the room. His eyes lingered on each face before finally resting on Adeline. As the one most blamed for trusting the lawyer, she was expected to s

Tedmond looked at his stepmother, his gaze unreadable. He had entered the mansion to meet with them, but paused at the entrance when he heard voices coming from inside. He had heard everything they said, especially the part about the lawyer.Now, Tedmond was certain the lawyer was the one who had made the documents valid, though he had no idea why. After all, there was no history between them. The man had never mocked him, and they had never exchanged a single private word.Still, Tedmond wanted to find him and understand the reason behind his actions. But one thing was clear: the lawyer must hold a grudge against either Otis or Gerald.And Tedmond couldn’t deny that the man’s actions had helped him.After hearing all they had to say, he decided to make his presence known, which brought everything to where it was now.“What do you mean?!” Maxine yelled, her eyes flaring with fury as she rose to her feet. She had tried to find him and failed, and now that he had shown up and was disres

Hearing Tedmond say such a thing, Adeline couldn’t believe her ears. When they first spoke about Benedict, she hadn’t considered why the lawyer would betray them. After all, they had done nothing to him, or so she thought.Benedict had worked with them for years. He was the one she trusted with the documents, the only one she ever relied on to prepare them. There was no way he would have betrayed them without a reason.Eventually, she convinced herself that his betrayal had something to do with Tedmond, the only person who benefited from the situation. But now, hearing Tedmond speak, her brows furrowed in confusion.Adeline scoffed at herself. As if Tedmond of all people would tell the truth.“We did nothing to him that would make him betray us like that. You must have blackmailed him into doing this,” she said, her face twisted into a frown.“That’s right,” Tina chimed in immediately. “Benedict had no reason to betray us unless you betrayed him first. And I doubt he accepted a bribe

Seeing the frown on Tedmond’s face, Gerald scoffed before turning and walking away.Then came Maxine, chewing gum lazily, her face full of smugness. “You think you’re tough? Sitting in that chair like you mattered? You looked like a scared little boy the second those men showed up.”Evelyn followed. She didn’t say much. She just glanced at him, clicked her tongue, and muttered, “Disgrace.” Like he wasn’t even worth a proper insult.Tina came next. “Hope you enjoy the silence, Tedmond. It’s going to be your best friend now.”She laughed and walked off like she’d just won a game she barely understood.Then came Otis.Still clutching his side, he leaned against the wall and peeked in through the hole in the door, his grin sickening.“You like stealing things, huh? Let’s see if you enjoy watching them get taken back from behind bars.”He smacked the wooden frame once and walked away with a groan of satisfaction.They were done. Or so Tedmond thought.Because as the rest of the family’s fo