2025-07-06 05:10:00“Drag that thief out!” Victoria screamed as two of the estate’s uniformed security men held Michael by the arms, dragging him like a criminal across the marble floor of the Donovan villa.
He didn’t fight. His face stayed calm, almost too calm for a man being thrown out of the place he’d once called home.
The humiliation wasn’t new, but this one bit deeper.
“What did I even steal?” Michael asked quietly, trying to look up.
“Shut up!” Victoria barked. “You’re lucky I don’t call the police. Next time, you’ll learn not to touch what doesn’t belong to you.”
The staff looked on, some shaking their heads with pity, others pretending not to see anything.
Just then, a loud hum pierced the air. The sound of a powerful engine approaching.
A black Rolls-Royce Phantom, sleek and majestic, rolled through the front gates and into the compound. Victoria’s face changed immediately. She squinted, her mouth slowly falling open as the vehicle came to a smooth stop.
“Jesus…” she muttered, eyes wide. “It’s Dad!”
Inside the car, Henry Donovan sat with dark glasses, a blanket over his lap. The moment he stepped out with the help of his driver, Victoria nearly choked on her own spit.
“Let him go! Let him go now!” she whispered fiercely to the guards. “Are you mad? Do you want him to see you dragging that boy like that?”
The guards immediately released Michael, who dropped to the ground, his shirt dusty and his arms sore. Victoria leaned toward him sharply.
“Run back to your quarters. Now,” she hissed, her voice low and angry. “Clean your face. Stay out of sight.”
Michael looked at her for a long second, then slowly stood and limped away, not saying a word.
By the time Henry entered the house, everyone was already pretending.
Victoria was smiling like a dutiful daughter.
Sophia had just finished reapplying her lipstick. Bohemia, tall and broad-shouldered, sat confidently on the sofa, his arm lazily resting across the backrest behind Sophia.
Bohemia was not just some random man. He was the second son of the Gabara family, one of the most influential business dynasties in the city. Rich, connected, and proud. The family was the kind that made headlines without trying.
With everyone now seated, Henry turned to Bohemia. “Bohemia,” he called. “Could you kindly excuse us for a moment?”
Bohemia sat up, feeling shocked. He thought his presence in this family should’ve been a blessing. Why was Henry chasing him out? He quickly darted his shocking and disappointing gaze to Sophia.
Sophia tried to argue, but the venomous look on his father’s face made her flinch. She nodded at Bohemia who now quietly stood up and left the room.
“Where’s Michael?” Henry asked immediately after settling in the centre of the living room. His lawyer was already seated beside him with a briefcase.
Everyone looked around.
“Michael?” Henry repeated, removing his glasses. His eyes scanned the room.
Sophia shifted uncomfortably. “He’s… probably busy.”
Henry frowned.
“This meeting cannot continue without him,” he said. “Someone go and call him. Now.”
Sophia was furious. How can her father place so much importance in a ‘nobody’ and despised Bohemia - the man she loved?
The lawyer cleared his throat and added, “Yes, Mr. Donovan is right. Legally, Mr. Michael must be present.”
Whispers followed instantly.
Their mother weren’t invited. She was divorced five years ago, after being caught cheating with another man. Henry was furious, pained and he did not only divorce her, he cut her his wealth.
But even as she was out of the family, she still kept tabs with her daughters.
Sophia scoffed and leaned forward slightly. “Why would a cleaner need to be here?”
Victoria looked like she had swallowed pepper. Her eyes darted to her sister, then to her father. With her heart racing, she stood slowly.
“I’ll get him,” she said with a forced smile.
She stormed out, her heels clicking hard against the tiles, louder than necessary.
---
Michael was in the servant quarters, still in his dusty cleaning clothes. He was rinsing a mop when the door flung open.
“Come out,” Victoria snapped.
He turned, wiping his hand with a towel. “Why?”
“Because my Dad said so!” she barked. “Come now before he starts asking questions.”
Michael followed quietly, wiping his hands again as he walked behind her.
When they stepped into the living room, the atmosphere shifted.
Every eye turned.
He was still wearing his stained shirt and old trousers. His shoes were wet, leaving faint footprints behind. Murmurs followed him, whispers like knives pricking the air.
Michael kept his head low. His hands were clasped in front of him, but his back stayed straight. Not in pride, but in quiet resistance.
Henry smiled faintly the moment he saw him.
“There you are,” he said, ignoring every whisper.
Michael bowed his head slightly. “Good evening, master.”
Henry motioned for him to come closer.
“Sit beside me,” he said.
Sophia gasped.
“Dad, what is going on?”
But before Henry could respond, a sudden, violent cough burst from his throat. It shook his chest so hard that the blanket on his lap fell to the floor.
“Dad?” Victoria rushed to his side.
Another cough followed, louder, deeper and this time, blood splattered across Henry’s white handkerchief. Thick, red and terrifying.
“Call the doctor!” Sophia screamed, rising to her feet.
The lawyer stood too, alarmed. “Mr. Donovan!”
The whole room turned into chaos. Bohemia rushed back inside, taking in the shocking scene.
Michael froze.
He couldn’t move.
He couldn’t breathe.
The man who had given him everything, even if through silence, even if through hard lessons, was gasping for air.
Henry’s eyes found Michael’s again, watery and tired, but still holding that same fire, the same belief.
People panicked around him.
Sophia was already in tears.
Victoria was pacing and shouting instructions.
Michael knelt beside the couch, gripping Henry’s arm gently.
“Stay with us, sir,” he whispered.
But the coughs kept coming.
And then, silence took over the room.
A cold, terrifying silence that wrapped the room in fear.
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Latest Chapter
Chapter 188: The Offer
Sophia did not sleep.She lay on her back in the hotel room, eyes open, the faint hum of the city filtering through the window like distant breathing. Each time she closed her eyes, the words from the call returned, steady and unavoidable.A permanent executive advisory role.Directly under Michael Ainsley.By morning, she was already dressed when the alarm went off.She moved through the early hours of the summit on muscle memory alone. She listened, responded, took notes, asked the right questions. No one could have guessed that beneath her calm, every step felt like she was standing on a fault line. She noticed Michael across rooms the same way she had learned to notice him years ago, without looking directly, without reaching. When he spoke, she followed the logic of his arguments, the rhythm of his thinking. When he paused, she already knew where he was going.That was the problem.It was why the offer terrified her.By midday, she made her decision to speak to him, not later
Chapter 187: Watching Eyes
The shift was subtle at first.It began with looks that lingered a second too long during corridor conversations, with pauses that stretched just enough to suggest unfinished thoughts. Meetings that had always been straightforward began carrying an undercurrent of calculation, as if every exchange were being quietly weighed for meaning beyond its surface.Michael noticed it without being told.He noticed it when a junior executive stopped mid-sentence and restarted with different wording after Sophia walked into the room. He noticed it when an investor laughed a little too easily at a comment that hadn’t been intended as humour. He noticed it when a liaison casually asked whether “alignment” at the summit had gone beyond projections and numbers.None of it was explicit. That was what made it dangerous.By the third day of the summit, the speculation had taken on a life of its own, moving not through formal channels but through the spaces in between, private messages, informal dinne
Chapter 186: The Soft Talks
The documents lay spread across the table between them, edges overlapping, corners curling slightly from hours of handling. The room had grown quieter as the night deepened, the distant sounds of the city reduced to a low, steady hum beyond the glass walls. Only a few lights remained on in the summit wing, casting long shadows across the floor.Sophia flipped through a printed report, pen tapping lightly against the margin as she read. Michael sat opposite her, jacket off, sleeves rolled up, eyes fixed on a column of figures on his laptop. Neither spoke for a while. The kind of silence that settles after exhaustion had begun to replace urgency.Sophia broke it first.“This section still needs tightening,” she said, sliding the paper toward him. “The wording leaves too much room for interpretation.”Michael leaned forward, scanning the paragraph. “They’ll push back if we narrow it further.”She shrugged slightly. “They always do.”He adjusted the phrasing anyway, fingers moving acr
Chapter 185: Pressure and Alignment
The call came just after dusk, cutting through the low hum of activity in the summit headquarters.Michael was halfway through reviewing revised schedules when his phone vibrated sharply against the table. He glanced at the screen, noted the caller ID, and answered without preamble.“Yes.”The voice on the other end did not bother with pleasantries. One of the consortium’s largest private investors had concerns, serious ones. Currency exposure. Political risk. A lack of assurance on phased returns. The tone was firm, bordering on final.“They’re threatening to pull out,” the liaison said. “If they do, others will follow.”Michael didn't respond immediately. He walked to the window, looking down at the dimly lit courtyard below, then asked a single question. “How much time?”“Until morning,” the liaison replied. “They want revised guarantees before market open.”Michael ended the call and stood still for a moment. Then he turned, already moving toward the conference area.Within minu
Chapter 184: Clarissa’s Clean Break
Clarissa signed the extension in a quiet office with no ceremony to mark the moment.The document lay flat on the table between her and the governor’s chief of staff, its pages already initialled where necessary. She picked up the pen, skimmed the final paragraph once more, and signed her name with a steady hand.No hesitation. No pause.The chief of staff gathered the papers, nodded once, and smiled. “We’re glad to have you fully on board,” he said, already rising from his chair. “This project will need continuity.”Clarissa returned the smile, professional and composed. “I’m aware,” she replied.When the door closed behind him, the room fell quiet. Clarissa remained seated for a moment longer, hands folded loosely on the table. She didn't feel relief in the dramatic sense people talked about. What she felt was clarity. The kind that arrived not with fireworks, but with stillness.She stood, collected her bag, and stepped back into the corridor where aides moved briskly between off
Chapter 183: What Was Never Said
The breakout room assignment appeared on the screen with no warning and no room for negotiation.Michael glanced at the list briefly as delegates dispersed into smaller groups, each assigned a specific focus area. Strategy alignment. Long-term viability. Risk mitigation. When his eyes moved down the column and landed on the names attached to his room, he did not react outwardly. He simply noted it, the same way he noted everything else that day, with a disciplined calm that had become second nature.Sophia noticed at the same time.For a fleeting second, her step slowed as she read the assignment on her tablet. Michael Ainsley. Strategy Room C. She inhaled quietly and continued walking, refusing to allow the coincidence to rattle her. This was not a trap. It was not intentional. It was logistics. She reminded herself of that as she entered the room and took a seat across the long, narrow table.The door closed behind them with a muted click.The room itself was unremarkable. Neut
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