“How dare you talk about my mother like that?” Tedmond demanded, pinning Max against the table.
No matter how much they had talked about him, he hadn’t retaliated, but today they had gone too far. No one could talk about his mother now. That might have been possible in the past, but not anymore.
“What are you doing?” Maxine questioned. “How dare you hit your elder brother?”
Glaring back at her, Tedmond snarled, “You think of him as my elder brother now, don’t you? Why didn’t you say something when I was being insulted?” He released Max and stepped closer to Maxine.
Maxine trembled but stood her ground. ‘How can that bastard get so strong in just a day?’ she wondered. However, she quickly regained her composure.
“Why are you doing this to him when he just asked if you could afford to eat at the restaurant?!” Maxine yelled, switching the topic as fast as she could to make herself look less bad. “We all know you’ve been kicked out of the family without a penny! How can you afford to eat here?”
A smirk crossed her face as she spoke. “Isn’t that right? He was just offering to lend you some money so you could afford to eat here, and you insulted him!”
Tedmond paused, his glare unwavering. He wasn’t surprised she would say that. If the four boys couldn’t afford the restaurant, they wouldn’t have invited him.
‘So he can’t pay for the food here?’ someone from the crowd murmured. ‘I just heard him say his mother was a maid in their house.’
‘He’s not even grateful that they cared about him, even though he’s just the son of a maid who served them.’
Max rose to his feet, rubbing his face, which had been injured from being slammed against the table. Blood dripped from his face, staining his white shirt. Lisa hurriedly brushed past Tedmond and held Max.
“Are you alright?” Lisa asked Max before turning to glare at Tedmond. “How dare you hit Max? Who do you think you are? Are you jealous that I chose him instead of you? So jealous that you followed us here! You must’ve known he’d ask if you could afford to eat here!”
The murmurs filled the place.
‘That’s two people who have said the same thing. Why is he here if he can’t pay?’
‘We should kick him out.’
‘Where’s the security?’
Maxine grinned widely as she stepped closer to Tedmond. “You’ll be thrown out of this place like the trash you are.”
“Where’s the owner? I’d like to meet him!” Tedmond yelled.
Max, Maxine, and Lisa stared at him, eyes wide in shock and disbelief. But the moment of surprise was short-lived as laughter erupted around them. All three burst into laughter.
“You?!” Maxine mocked. “How can you ask to meet the owner of this restaurant?”
“Is that a joke or something?” Lisa asked. “You and I both know you couldn’t afford to buy me a meal here, even after saving up for three months. Who are you trying to fool?”
“Do you think doing this makes you look cool?” Max questioned, stepping closer to Tedmond. “Why would the owner of the restaurant come here in person?”
“You must be daydreaming.”
“What do you want to meet the owner for?” Maxine demanded, her lips curling in a mocking smile.
Tedmond returned her grin. “What else would I want to meet him for, except to ban the Griffin family from this restaurant?”
Hearing his words, Maxine’s grin widened. “Ban us from the restaurant?” She laughed. “How can someone like you convince the CEO to do that? Who do you think you are?”
Lisa was amused by his audacity to tell such a lie. Max, on the other hand, grinned from ear to ear.
“I’ll wait to see if the owner shows up for you!” he yelled. “You’re delusional! Has kicking you out of the house affected your mental health? Doesn’t living on the streets do that?”
Tedmond shook his head before pulling out his phone. He dialed the housekeeper’s number. Curious eyes lingered on him as he spoke.
“Tell the owner of Hans Restaurant to meet me here,” Tedmond ordered. “Give him ten minutes, or he won’t want to know what happens.”
“Okay,” Thomas replied.
The murmurs around the place increased as Tedmond ended the call.
“Did you just make a fake call?” Maxine taunted. “I didn’t know you’d stoop so low to get our attention.”
Just then, the manager hurried into the restaurant, his gaze trailing from Tedmond to Max.
“What’s happening here?” the manager questioned. “I was informed by an employee that someone here wants to meet the owner. If we’ve done anything to offend you, I’ll offer compensation.”
Max gritted his teeth. “Don’t you recognize me?” he growled at the manager.
Hearing Max’s voice, the manager was stunned. “Ah, Mr. Griffin! What happened to your face? Who did this to you?”
Max smiled, pointing his finger at Tedmond. “He did it. He punched me when I tried to pay for his meal. He can’t afford to eat here but tries to act all boastful.”
The manager’s head snapped in Tedmond’s direction. “Who are you? How dare you hit Mr. Griffin, and why are you here if you can’t afford to pay for our food?!”
Tedmond frowned. “Hey! Do you want to lose your job?” he threatened. “Why don’t you find out what happened before you judge?”
The manager flinched under Tedmond’s gaze and scanned him from head to toe. Seeing that Tedmond had no luxury on him, he concluded Tedmond was a nobody compared to Max.
“How dare you? I don’t need to know what transpired between you two! You’re a lowlife; you’re probably at fault!” the manager yelled. “Are you threatening me? Do you know who Mr. Griffin is?!”
Tedmond shrugged. “He’s just my former half-brother. Now, I don’t have someone as stupid as him as my brother.”
“Half-brother?” The manager paused, his eyes darting between Tedmond and Max. ‘They don’t look alike.’
Max glared at the manager. “Are you not doing your job? That boy is only a bastard! Kick him out, or you’ll be fired!”
The manager didn’t hesitate to call security, and when they arrived, he ordered, “Throw him out of the restaurant, and he is hereby banned!”
The security headed for Tedmond, but he began counting. “I told the owner of this restaurant to arrive in ten minutes.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “He’ll be here in three, two, one…"
As soon as Tedmond finished counting, the others hadn't had time to react when the door of the restaurant swung open. A man in a tailored creamy suit hurried in, followed by three others, with sweat dripping down his forehead.
Everyone’s gaze turned to the man who had just walked in, and the security guards froze in their tracks.
“What is going on?” Max demanded, glaring at the manager. “Throw him out!”
Blood drained from the manager’s face as he stared at the man. “He really came!” he yelled. “The owner of the restaurant is really here! How is that possible? I messed up!”
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 587
The heavy door slammed shut with a finality that seemed to vibrate through the floorboards.For a long, suffocating minute, Amara remained on the floor, the image of Lisa’s predatory grin burned into her retinas.The silence in the room was heavier than the noise had been. The reality of the trap set by her sister, the betrayal of her parents, and the recording, the digital proof of her own voice admitting to murder, swirled in her head until she couldn’t breathe.“Aaaaaah!”A blood-curdling shriek tore from Amara’s throat.This wasn’t the dainty, practiced sob of a victim; it was the howl of a cornered animal. Scrambling to her feet, her vision blurred in a red haze of fury.“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, Lisa!”Spinning toward the vanity, Amara snatched up a heavy crystal vase, the one her mother had given her for her nineteenth birthday, and hurled it against the wall.It shattered into a thousand glittering shards.The destruction didn’t stop there.Designer chairs were kicked ove
CHAPTER 586
Lisa’s body twitched violently, her limbs spasming across the floor as if the very life were being scorched out of her. Her head thrashed from side to side, and a low, guttural rattling sound escaped her throat.Watching the spectacle, Amara threw her head back and laughed. It was a jagged, piercing sound that filled the room with madness.“Hahahahahahahahahahha!”"Finally!" Amara shrieked, clutching the empty syringe like a trophy. "Finally, the intruder is gone! You thought you could come into my house and take my legacy? You’re nothing, Lisa! Just a corpse in a designer room! Die! Just die already!"Suddenly, the heavy bedroom door didn't just open; it exploded inward.The crash silenced Amara’s laughter instantly.Matthew, Ethan, and Daniel charged into the room, their faces pale with horror.Behind them stood their father and mother, their eyes wide with a mixture of shock and fury.Every single one of them held a phone, the screens glowing not with flashlights, but with active r
CHAPTER 585
2:00 AMIn the guest wing, the door to a cramped back room creaked open.Amara stepped into the hall, her face a mask of cold, calculated fury. The whining had stopped. The tears were gone. In their place was a singular, deadly focus. Clutching a small, pressurized canister stolen from the gardening shed earlier that evening, she moved like a wraith. The canister contained a potent, fast-acting sedative spray meant for aggressive animals, now spiked with a chemical relaxant scavenged from the back of the medicine cabinet.Bare feet made no sound on the carpet as she reached Lisa’s door—her door. It was unlocked, exactly as she had hoped.Amara didn't enter immediately. Instead, she donned a thick, industrial face mask tucked into her waistband. Cracking the door just a fraction of an inch, she inserted the nozzle.Pssssssssssssst.A fine, odorless mist hissed into the room, swirling through the air and settling over the bed. Amara waited, counting the seconds with a rhythmic puls
CHAPTER 584
Lisa sat on the edge of the plush, oversized mattress, spine straight and legs crossed with an air of newfound authority. For a fleeting second, the softness of silk sheets felt like a victory lap. But then, the reality of whose sanctuary this had been hit like a physical wave of nausea.A downward glance at the duvet, a custom designer piece Amara had bragged about for months, brought a crawl of skin-deep revulsion. This was the bed where Amara had slept while plotting accidents.This was the very spot where the girl had sat while laughing at Nika’s tragedy."Disgusting," Lisa muttered.Standing abruptly, her eyes scanned the room until they landed on the linen closet near the ensuite bathroom. A frantic search through the shelves yielded fresh, crisp white sheets that still smelled of laundry detergent, a welcome relief from Amara’s cloying, expensive perfume. With aggressive, jerky movements, Lisa stripped the bed and draped the new linens, layering them thick so that not an in
CHAPTER 583
Lisa looked at her brother, a frown deepening on her face. Her brows twitched with disgust before her features settled into a cold sneer."And I’m giving you your freedom," Lisa countered. "Sign it. Now. In front of the lawyer."Desperate to end the nightmare, the brothers scribbled their digital signatures onto the new occupancy agreement. Once the lawyer confirmed the document was filed, Lisa finally pulled up the recording. With a few calculated taps, she hit delete and turned the screen to show them the empty folder."Now," Lisa said, her voice turning sharp as she pointed toward the hallway. "Get out. All of you. This is my room now.""But Amara is hurt—" Ethan started."OUT!" Lisa roared.She shoved them toward the threshold. As the brothers stumbled into the hall, Lisa slammed the heavy door shut. Click! In the hallway, the silence was broken by a soft gasp. Amara’s eyes rolled back into her head, and she slumped toward the floor in a dramatic, graceful faint.Ethan and Dani
CHAPTER 582
The room fell silent.No one spoke. No one moved.Lisa arched a brow and tilted her head, waiting for a response, but none came at first.Then Matthew broke.“No!” he cried, stepping between Lisa and the bed. “We can’t do that. Amara is a Valerius. If she goes to prison for attempted murder, our reputation is finished. The family name will be dragged through the mud. Everything we’ve worked for, the business, the legacy, it’ll all vanish in a day.”Lisa let out a jagged, disbelieving laugh.“Reputation?” she snapped. “You’re sitting here defending a murderer because you’re worried about your social standing? Does my friend’s life mean nothing to you? Does my life mean nothing?”“We’re not saying it doesn’t matter,” Ethan said sharply, though he still couldn’t meet her eyes. “We’re saying there has to be another way. Anything but the police, Lisa. Do you want money? The estate? We can set up a trust. We can give you whatever you need to disappear, or to live comfortably.”Amara, watchi
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