2025-10-17 18:33:02Ava Bennet’s piercing stare lingered even after Jessica had forced a smile and murmured a polite greeting.
The air in the corridor grew tense as she repeated, facing Brandon. "Speak! How did you get here?" “Maybe the same way you ended up here. I've got nothing more to say. I’m leaving,” Brandon replied sharply. But just then, Ava raised her voice. “Stop right there. Did I say you could go?” Ava’s tone dripped venom with her chin tilted high as if she were addressing a servant. Upon seeing this, Jessica’s stomach clenched. The sheer arrogance in the older woman’s posture made her uneasy. She was about to explain, but Brandon’s voice broke the tension first. “I’ve already discussed the divorce with Sophia,” he said firmly. “From now on, wherever I go, whatever I do, is none of your business.” Ava was initially shocked to learn that Brandon had divorced Sophia. She couldn’t even pinpoint when it had happened. But the surprise faded quickly. In her mind, Brandon had always been nothing more than a useless live-in son-in-law, so what was so remarkable about their marriage finally ending? Ava’s lips curled into a sneer. “How dare you? So just because you’re divorced, you think you can do whatever you want? That you can disregard your elders?” Her eyes gleamed with malice as she leaned closer with her voice rising. “Look at you—you're just a useless stray. So shameless! She stared at him with venom, then turned her cold gaze toward Jessica. “So this is your mistress?” she asked mockingly. “You really aren’t picky, are you? You’ll take anything that throws itself at you.” Jessica stiffened as heat rushed to her cheeks. She never liked to be involved in arguments or misunderstandings. Her throat tightened, but she forced herself not to speak. This wasn’t her fight. Just then, she heard Brandon’s voice cut through the air. “Has anyone ever told you that respect works both ways?” The authority in his tone should have silenced the corridor. But Ava reacted as if he’d just told the funniest joke in the world. She burst out laughing with her back bending with the force of her mockery. “Respect?” she repeated with a sharp, mocking laugh. “You? A leech who’s been living off my daughter’s hard work for years? Don’t make me laugh.” Her words dripped with venom as her friends snickered, whispering among themselves, their gazes flicking between Brandon and Jessica. Jessica’s pulse quickened and her hands clenched at her sides as anger and humiliation burned in her chest. She couldn’t stand hearing Ava publicly insult Brandon anymore. “Enough!” she burst out. “You will not talk to him like that. Whether he’s your son-in-law or not, Brandon is a man who’s earned respect—and he deserves far better than your cruelty!” The words tumbled out before she could stop herself. Ava’s head snapped toward her, her smile twisting into fury. “Shut up!” The slap of the words stung more than any hand. Jessica recoiled as Ava’s voice boomed through the hall. “Who are you to butt in while I’m teaching a worthless fool a lesson?” Ava hissed with her eyes ablaze. “Know your place!” Jessica’s lips pressed together. She didn’t want to be involved in a quarrel. But Brandon had saved her life, and from the look of things, Ava was getting out of hand. Watching him slandered and humiliated like this, gnawed at her conscience. She took a careful breath, trying to handle the matter calmly this time. “Even though there’s some misunderstanding between you, Sophia, and Brandon. I don’t know the details, but—” “Misunderstanding?” Ava cut her off, her laugh sharp and cutting. “Oh, I see what this is now.” “You’re just as much a fool as he is. Ever since you started sleeping with him—who knows for how long—you think like him!” Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a mocking smile. Jessica’s heart lurched, her face burning. “And he’s given you money too, hasn’t he?” Ava pressed on, her voice loud enough to echo. “That’s what this is all about. A shameless slut clinging to scraps!” Before Jessica could react, Ava shoved her hard. Jessica stumbled back a step, catching herself against the cold wall. “Hand it over,” Ava snarled, her voice dripping with contempt. “Whatever he’s given you—it’s all my family’s money! You think you can pocket it? Never!"
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Chapter 184
The decision was sealed the moment Alexander nodded.For a brief second, silence swallowed the living room. No one spoke. No one questioned what had just been agreed upon. The air itself seemed to hold its breath, as though the room understood that something irreversible had been set in motion.Victor was the first to move.He reached for his phone without ceremony, his expression calm, almost bored, as if this were nothing more than a routine business call. There was no flicker of doubt in his eyes, no hesitation in his hands. Men like Victor had long ago learned to separate consequence from conscience. When power ruled, morality became something flexible—something adjusted when it became inconvenient.He stepped away from the group, turning his back slightly as he dialed a number saved without a name.The phone rang once.Twice.Then the call connected.“Cole,” Victor said evenly. “We have a job.”Miles away, Cole Riven leaned back in his chair, one boot propped against the edge of
Chapter 183
Alexander’s living room slowly regained its earlier rhythm, though the tension never fully left. The sharp scent of spilled wine still hung stubbornly in the air, mingling with the faint aroma of polished wood and expensive cologne. Somewhere outside, a car passed, its tires hissing softly against the road, a reminder that the world beyond these walls continued as normal. Inside, however, something had shifted. His friends drew closer together, their movements subtle but instinctive, as though proximity alone might restore the confidence that had cracked moments earlier.The shattered glass on the marble floor had been pushed aside, but the dark stain of wine remained, an unspoken reminder of how quickly certainty could break.One of them, Victor, was the first to speak. He leaned back against the arm of the couch, crossing his arms with a scoff that sounded deliberately casual. “Honestly, Alex, those men were never up to the task,” he said dismissively. “You trusted the wrong people.
Chapter 182
Alexander froze where he stood. For a split second, he was convinced the voice coming from his phone was distorted, that the words had twisted themselves into something nonsensical. His mind rejected them outright. The laughter that had filled the room only moments earlier died instantly, cut off as if someone had slammed a door shut. The air felt heavier and charged. “What did you just say?” Alexander asked slowly. His tone was deceptively calm, too controlled, the kind of calm that came just before something broke. His eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened around the phone until his knuckles paled. “Repeat yourself.” On the other end of the line, the man hesitated. Alexander could hear labored breathing, uneven and strained, and beneath it, the faint, unmistakable sound of pain being suppressed. “Sir…” the man began, then paused, as if bracing himself. “I said Brandon Scott defeated us.” Alexander blinked. Once. Twice. Then he laughed. It was a short, disbelieving so
Chapter 181
Alexander lounged in his sprawling living room. The scent of expensive wine mingled with the faint aroma of freshly lit candles, creating an atmosphere of leisure and indulgence, the kind that suggested nothing in the world could disturb the man who ruled this space. He sat back comfortably in his plush leather armchair, one leg crossed over the other, a deep burgundy glass of aged wine resting loosely in his hand. He swirled the liquid slowly, watching the wine cling to the sides of the glass as though savoring the ritual more than the drink itself. Around him, his closest friends laughed lightly, their voices blending with the soft hum of background music. Their chatter echoed off the high walls, filled with careless amusement and easy confidence, but Alexander’s mind was not fully with them. He was already looking ahead. “Tonight,” he began at last, his voice smooth and controlled, cutting through the laughter with effortless authority. The room grew quieter as his friends
Chapter 180
Brandon’s eyes flicked rapidly across the room as the men lunged toward him. Yet, deep within him, a memory stirred—a memory of years spent learning the fundamentals of martial training. He hadn’t practiced seriously in a long time, letting time and comfort dull the edge of his skill, but it had never left him entirely. And now, it was as though the universe had presented him with the perfect test. The first man swung a massive fist toward Brandon’s head. He ducked instinctively, feeling the rush of air as the man’s punch missed by inches. His body reacted on memory alone. With a swift motion, Brandon jabbed upward with his elbow, striking the attacker’s shoulder in a precise, controlled motion. The man grunted, staggered slightly, but Brandon didn’t pause. He shifted his weight, spinning around to deliver a calculated kick that caught another man approaching from the side. The force wasn’t meant to maim, but it threw the attacker off balance, and he crashed into the wall with a loud
Chapter 179
Brandon’s words barely finished echoing in the room when the men burst into laughter. It wasn’t the kind of laughter that carried humor or lightness. It was sharp, mocking, filled with certainty and contempt, a sound that sliced through the tense air like a jagged blade. It bounced off the walls of the bedroom, ricocheting from the ceiling and hard wooden floors, making the space feel suddenly smaller, tighter, as though the walls themselves were closing in. Each echo seemed to press down on Brandon’s shoulders, but he refused to show fear. “Missed our way?” the man closest to Brandon repeated, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, his voice thick with derision. “You really think we walk into a house without knowing exactly where we’re going?” Another man shook his head slowly, a smirk twisting his features. “That’s what happens when someone lives too comfortably. You forget the world doesn’t always knock before it enters.” Brandon’s jaw tightened, but he kept his expre
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