Without wasting another second, Penelope pressed forward with quiet insistence, her tone carrying the practiced patience of someone accustomed to managing important, occasionally stubborn people."I have also arranged the cars," she said quickly. "Everything is ready, extremely ready, and you have absolutely nothing to worry about on that front. I will accompany you there personally, master, to ensure everything proceeds smoothly."Marcus couldn't help but smile faintly at her eagerness."You don't need to do that," he said. "Just give me the location and the address. I'll go there myself. No cars, no escort necessary. Since they're expecting my arrival, I'll simply make my way there on my own."Penelope's expression shifted immediately into one of visible discomfort. She cleared her throat gently, choosing her words with careful diplomacy before speaking again."Master, I don't think that is wise," she said, her voice soft but firm. "You must understand—you are now the head of this f

Hearing Marcus repeat himself with that same infuriating calm, Meghan felt her irritation spike sharply, but years of navigating the entertainment industry had taught her one invaluable lesson: control your temper in public, no matter how provoked you feel.She understood the game being played here, or at least she believed she did. There were people out there—opportunists, con artists, aspiring internet personalities—who specifically targeted celebrities in public settings, hoping to provoke an emotional outburst, a sharp word, a moment of visible frustration that could be captured on video and twisted into a viral scandal. Lawsuits followed. Public apologies followed. Careers suffered lasting damage over moments that lasted mere seconds.She was not about to become another cautionary tale.Taking a slow breath to steady herself, she forced her voice into something resembling calm exhaustion rather than outright anger."I don't have the energy for this," she said flatly. "I don't hav

The moment those words left Megan's mouth firm, unwavering, dripping with the kind of defiance that comes only from someone who has spent years believing herself untouchable the entire room seemed to shift, the air itself growing heavier, thicker, charged with a tension that pressed down on everyone present like an invisible weight settling over their shoulders. "Are you saying," he repeated slowly, deliberately, each word carved out with deliberate precision, "that you're not going to do this? That you are refusing?"Megan nodded, her chin lifting slightly in defiance, though beneath that bravado, a flicker of uncertainty danced in her eyes."Yes," she said firmly. "This will destroy my reputation. It will crush everything I've built, everything I've worked so hard for over the years. Just imagine even if I wanted to get married someday, even if that were something I genuinely desired, why on earth would I choose someone like him?" She gestured sharply toward Marcus, her voice risi

Marcus gave a small, controlled nod, but behind that outward calm there was a very different storm moving through him, because even as he accepted the invitation being offered to him with so much reverence, he knew with complete certainty that he did not want to remain anywhere near Rebecca for a second longer than necessary, not in the same room, not under the same roof, not even in the same chain of conversation, because there was something deeply exhausting about the kind of person she had revealed herself to be. Grief could break people, yes, and pain could make them irrational, yes, but Rebecca's behavior was not merely the confused rage of a daughter who had lost her mother; it was something uglier, something more convenient, something sharpened by bitterness and made dangerous by how easily she allowed herself to be manipulated by whoever spoke loudest with the title of authority.If she had told the truth if she had bothered to tell Megan that Doctor Morrison and the people aro

Rebecca stood there frozen, stunned to the point of speechlessness, and Megan could see that beneath the surface bitterness, beneath the hostility and agitation Rebecca had shown since spotting Marcus, there was now something far more vulnerable rising in her face: humiliation, fear, and the sudden realization that she no longer had a place in a house where, only a short while ago, she had hoped to remain long enough to clear her thoughts and escape the suffocating loneliness of recent loss.In truth, Rebecca had wanted desperately to stay at the Bushman mansion, even if only for a few days, because the familiar comfort of those grand walls had once represented safety to her, a temporary refuge from memories she could not bear to sit with alone.The surge of distress that had overtaken her had not been a slow or predictable thing; it had not announced itself politely. It had risen violently and without warning, as though a buried storm had suddenly found the strength to split the earth