At that moment, hearing what Nikki's mother had just said with such conviction and strategic calculation, that was when the mayor's son Louis smiled with satisfaction and self-righteousness. He then said with magnanimous condescension, “Well, I want you to understand that it is primarily because of you and your support, because of your wisdom in recognizing my value and potential as a son-in-law, that I'm going to do this generous thing for your husband.” His voice carried a note of theatrical nobility as he continued, “On a normal basis, under ordinary circumstances, I would absolutely not even want to help someone who has shown me such disrespect and hostility, someone who has consistently rejected my attempts at friendship and alliance with your family.” Louis's expression suggested he was making a tremendous sacrifice as he explained, “But because of you, because you have been so receptive and appreciative of what I can offer this family, because you understand the value of havin

Immediately upon hearing Nikki's words and seeing her trying to defer this crucial conversation to some later, more private moment, Nikki's mother felt her anger explode to new heights of fury and frustration. She then told Nikki with a voice that shook with rage, “You shut up right now! You shut your mouth this instant!” Her face was flushed red with emotion as she continued her tirade, “If you dare to repeat any more foolish words like what you just said, if you continue with this ridiculous rejection of Louis's generous offer, I swear I'm going to slap you again, and this time it will be even harder than before!” Nikki's mother's voice rose to a near-hysterical pitch as she demanded answers, “Why would you be rejecting the mayor's son's offer just because of who? Just because of what misguided loyalty or foolish romantic feelings?” She gestured wildly with her hands as her frustration poured out. “Because of David? You're throwing away your father's chance to walk again becaus

Without saying another word to anyone in the restaurant, without even allowing Nikki's father the chance to respond to his promise or ask any questions about how exactly he planned to heal such a serious injury, that was when David stood up from beside the wheelchair with quiet determination and started walking toward the entrance with steady, purposeful steps. As he reached the door, he paused just long enough to look back at Nikki, his voice calm but firm as he told her, “Nikki, don't worry yourself about any of this drama or arguments. Just explain some things to your father when you get the chance to talk privately, then leave everything else to me. I'm going to take it from there and handle what needs to be done.” At that moment, David walked away from the restaurant, disappearing into the street outside, and immediately the tension in the room shifted to a new target. That was when Nikki's mother completely flared up like a woman possessed, her face red with fury as she spu

David was heading somewhere, walking down the familiar street with his hands in his pockets and his mind still processing everything that had just happened at the restaurant, when all of a sudden his phone started ringing with that sharp, insistent tone that cut through the afternoon air. And immediately when he brought out the phone from his pocket and looked down at the screen, he saw that it was a number that he wasn't familiar with at all - just digits displaying across his phone without any saved contact name or any indication of who might be calling him at this time.However, due to his natural curiosity about who could be trying to reach him with an unknown number, especially after the dramatic scene he had just left behind at the restaurant, he decided to go ahead and answer the call to see what this was about. Immediately he swiped to accept the call and put the phone to his ear, that was when a voice literally came through the speaker that caught him completely off guard.It

Not long after David had booked the taxi and made his way across the city, he finally arrived at the location which had been sent to him by Naomi through that text message. And then as he stepped out of the vehicle and looked around the abandoned warehouse district, that was when he saw exactly who was waiting there with Naomi in this deserted industrial area.Well, David wasn't particularly expecting a massive army or anything like that, but from what he was seeing right now as he walked closer to the group, there were literally just seven men standing around Naomi in various combat-ready positions, making it a total of eight people including her. The small size of their force was striking given the supposedly dangerous nature of what they were about to face.And immediately when the seven rough-looking guards and fighters saw David approaching them from across the empty lot, and especially when they witnessed the manner in which Naomi suddenly just bowed her head deeply toward Davi