2026-08-04 19:52:20
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Chapter 076
Norman got into his car.Tomorrow already had an agenda. Steps he had been laying out in his head since the day before.But first, his body needed rest, and his mind needed quiet to make sure everything went according to plan.The BMW glided slowly down the road toward Grand Corholt Tower, passing through the still-busy city lights.Then the last turn.Norman suddenly slammed the brakes.Hard.TIRES SCREAMED.The car stopped less than a meter from a wall of human bodies that had positioned themselves across the road in a way that was clearly no accident.Seven people. Each one holding a baseball bat.Norman looked at them through the windshield.Then his eyes found one face among them—standing at the front, baseball bat resting on his shoulder with the attitude of someone who had practiced looking threatening in front of a mirror.Felix Desmond.Norman killed the engine.Opened the door.Got out."If I hadn't braked in time," his voice came out flat, not rising, no emotion in it, "two
Chapter 075
Paul was no longer part of this conversation. Literally. The man was sitting half-slumped in his chair with his head tilted slightly back, eyes closed, one hand still holding a fork that was no longer going anywhere. His breathing was steady. Not asleep, but not fully conscious in any way that was useful for a formal dinner. Norman looked at him briefly. He could tell the dinner no longer needed to continue, then shifted his gaze to Charles. One nod. Brief. Nothing more was needed. Charles had already been looking at Norman for the past few seconds—waiting, the way someone does when they know the signal is coming and have already prepared to respond to it. He set his napkin on the table. Stood from his chair without rushing, the way a man moves when he's accustomed to leaving a room and not leaving room to be debated about it. "I've had enough." The words were directed at nothing in particular. Not at Lily, not at Paul who could no longer hear anything clearly, not at Norman.
Chapter 074
Paul then reached for the wine bottle.Not his glass.The bottle.Directly.The Château Margaux 2015 that Charles had selected from his collection with considerable deliberation—a bottle whose price alone was enough to make most people think two or three times before opening it—was now in Paul Shaw's hands, lifted, and drunk straight from the mouth of the bottle like someone drinking mineral water after a morning jog.The server in the corner of the room didn't move.Too surprised to move. Or too professional to show the surprise. Or both.Across the table, Lily's cheeks had gone red.Not red from anger—more like embarrassment arriving from every direction at once. She glanced at her father, her mother, Norman, with the expression of someone hoping very hard that everyone she was looking at had somehow not seen what had just happened.But of course, no one was pretending not to see.Paul set the bottle back on the table with a sound slightly too loud for a dining table set with white
Chapter 073
The male server moved without a sound.His hands reached for the serving spoon with a precise movement—not rushed, not slow, exactly as trained. The lobster bisque dome was lifted in one motion, releasing a thin curl of steam and the scent of butter and cream that had been coaxed along patiently for hours.The portion was taken at a predetermined size. Not too little to look stingy, not too much to look unrefined. The serving spoon moved from the bowl to Paul's plate in a clean arc, set exactly in the center, with one large prawn curled on top of the golden cream and finely cut parsley scattered across it.The server stepped back one pace, returning to his ready position, hands behind his back.Paul looked at his plate.The food was right there in front of him. The largest prawn he had seen in his life, sitting in a sauce whose smell made his stomach absolutely clear about what it wanted.He had been holding off hunger this whole time.He had stopped caring about the rules, the looks,
Chapter 072
At five minutes to eight, everyone was already in the dining room.Charles sat at the head of the table. He wore a dark grey suit with a burgundy tie that he had worn to formal dinners for decades, even if tonight's guest was far from the kind he usually received.Every detail of his appearance had been checked: cufflinks properly fastened, jacket without a single crease out of place, his silvering hair combed neatly back.Eleanor to his left, in a simple but precisely cut dark navy evening gown, a pair of pearl earrings that had been the same ones she wore to every important dinner for the past two decades.Norman sat across from Lily. He wore a white shirt, a dark jacket, a tie that had been removed but folded neatly into his pocket. Neat without looking overdone for what was technically a family dinner.Lily wore an elegant sage green dress, hair swept to one side, dressed like someone who wanted the night to go well and had already done her part to help make that happen.Then Paul
Chapter 071
The Calloway estate's dining room looked different from usual.Not in size—it had always been large, with a long mahogany table that could seat twelve and a ceiling high enough to make ordinary conversation sound more commanding than it had any right to be.But tonight there was an added layer—something that came from the way the staff moved, from the smell of candles already lit along the length of the table, from the clean white tablecloth stretched out without a single fold out of place.The head of staff stood at the end of the table, inspecting the place settings with the attention of someone who understood that details were everything and nothing could be overlooked.Salad fork to the left, outside the dinner fork. Steak knife to the right. Soup spoon at the outermost edge. Wine glasses re-polished before being placed—two types, one for red, one for white, both from the crystal collection that didn't come out for ordinary dinners.In the kitchen, two chefs worked in a rhythm tha
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