“She dared hit her?” “Oh, she's dead!”The whispers had barely begun before two of Whitmore's guards rushed towards Amanda, seeing the way their mistress held her face in shock.Amanda's eyes widened as she stumbled back. “Miss Hawthorne, please! I didn't mean to. He…” She jerked her finger frantically at Adrian. “He made me do it. Punish him, please!”The guards had got to her by now. They forced her to her knees. Her legs hit the ground with a crunching sound that made the crowd gasp.Whitmore's shock faded, and she finally removed her hand from her

Amanda’s laughter grabbed his attention.She clapped theatrically, saying, “Look at that. Even at this stage, he’s still pretending to be important.”The manager looked back at Adrian, realisation dawning on him.“That's true. How could this bastard know Mr Lowry? He must have heard the name mentioned earlier and thought to scare me with it,” he thought with conviction.He sneered at Adrian, “How dare you throw that name around? You are truly courting death!”“Says the man who's already knee-deep in his grave,” Adrian responded caustically.“Brag. Brag all you want.” He pulled out his phone. “Just wait u

“Idiots! You can't even handle something so small?!”“Young master, he…”“Fuck off!”Daniel disconnected the call in anger.“Surrounded by fools. Stuck here for days! Damn it!”He launched his phone hard against the wall.He hissed as the movement tore at his back.“Shit,” he gritted, clinging to his favourite fantasy to ride out the pain.Feeding Commander Gavin's balls to his wife after making him watch as he claimed her.The fact that it would never happen did not stop him.In fact, the imagery only got more vivid by the day.It got him through the stupid doctor's poking and Patricia's prattling.One other thing would have made his recuperating days better.Taunting Adrian.But that bastard dared to leave home for days.Which reminded him of the call he had just received.He yanked his shirt off the chair in anger.The wound on his back tore open again.He didn't care that blood was beginning to stain his singlet as he quickly buttoned his shirt.One more day in the curtain-drawn ro

General Charles sighed as he passed his phone back to the standby soldier.He was not angry at Richard, just baffled that a man so sharp in business could be this blind at home.What he uncovered about Adrian's life these past years saddened him.Charles felt a bit guilty for not keeping tabs on the boy while he was away.After all, he had seen how Richard had been with him when he was a child.His mother had not helped matters, which was why Charles had taken an interest in the boy long before he realised how delightful he was.<

“I am so sorry for keeping you waiting, Madam Cross.”Helena Vale's voice cut through the trendy restaurant as she entered.Annoyance had already settled on Patricia’s face before the whispers began.“Is that the Cross family matriarch? She looks so sophisticated.”Someone snorted. “Sophisticated, yes. Still just a mistress. Imagine staying all these years without a title.”Patricia looked over, ignoring Helena and her appendage, both drowning in overwhelming perfume. Her eyes caught the two gossiping biddies and they quickly turned away.Patricia’s hand tightened around her Gucci purse and she was tempted to tear their mouths out to teach others a lesson.It had been a while since anyone dared speak like that to her face.She reined in her anger as she reminded herself, “Daniel is important. I need to focus on what I came here for.”Still, she discreetly looked at the two men who sat two tables behind her. They caught her gaze and nodded as she inclined her head towards the gossips