The Northern Warlord Returns

CHAPTER 4

Audrey felt a sharp pang of shock and heartbreak wash over her.

Her own father had just made a life-altering, permanent decision about her future without even asking her opinion.

“Dad, I barely even know him! He’s been living in the Northwest Municipal ever since we finished high school,” Audrey yelled, her voice cracking as she waited for her father to laugh and call it a sick joke.

“That is the exact reason I pushed the engagement back to next week. He’s flying in today, giving you both plenty of time to get reacquainted,” Mr. Morgan replied coldly, not even turning his head to look at her as they sat side-by-side in the moving car.

“Is marriage just a game to you, Father?! I don't love him, and this forced engagement will not happen. You can't just barter me off like property to your friend's son!” Audrey cried out, digging her fingernails so hard into her palms in displeasure.

Thick glassiness fogged her bright, tear-filled eyes.

“My dear, think about our family company, and the real estate empire we just launched. An alliance with the Thickcup family will make us unstoppable!” her father snapped, pulling her into a stiff side hug as she finally let the hot, painful tears fall.

“Dad, you’re turning my entire life and my love life into a business transaction. How is that fair to me?” she sobbed, while her father absentmindedly wiped away a stray tear.

“Baby girl, one day when you take over as CEO, you’ll finally understand why your old man has to do this. Sean is ambitious, ruthless, and powerful,” he said, caressing her trembling shoulders.

“And unlike that useless Richard Eagle, he won’t drag you down; he will elevate you to the very top.”

Mr. Morgan’s voice rang out.

“A Thickcup alliance is the only way to secure our legacy after the humiliating blow we suffered at the Chevron Ark today. For years, we were always the undisputed kings of that summit.”

When their luxury vehicle finally rolled through the gates of the Morgan Estate, Audrey’s mind drifted straight back to Richard.

He was the only man she had ever genuinely loved, and life had dealt him a cruelly unfair hand.

Right then, for the very first time, she finally understood why her mother had divorced her father all those years ago.

“Start shopping for the finest designer dresses immediately. I’ll have invitations sent out to all our elite associates tonight,” Mr. Morgan instructed as they stepped out onto the marble driveway.

To him, everything was a cold calculation of power.

Since he failed to win over the mysterious RET Chairman earlier that day, tying his bloodline to the Thickcups was his ultimate backup plan.

Audrey needed space to breathe and process the nightmare she was trapped in before she could even think about shopping.

She retreated straight to her bedroom, locking the door behind her as she collapsed onto the bed, fighting a losing battle against her own thoughts.

A sharp knock broke the silence, and one of the estate servants peeked in.

“Ma’am, you have a visitor downstairs,” the maid whispered.

Stepping into the lavish sitting room, Audrey's eyes bulged as a tall, neatly dressed man turned around with a predatory grin.

“Hi, Audrey. You’re even more stunning than I remember,” Sean Thickcup purred, his eyes raking over her body with an unmasked, vulgar hunger that made her skin crawl.

Before she could react, he stepped forward, grabbing her hands like an entitled lord claiming his prize.

“Let's skip the formalities, Sean. I am really not in the mood,” Audrey snapped, yanking her fingers away before he could press his lips against her skin.

She turned on her heel to storm back toward the stairs, but Sean moved with shocking speed.

He grabbed her by the waist, yanking her violently into a brutal embrace.

His hands squeezed her roughly, and he moved forward, trying to force his lips onto hers while inhaling her perfume like an animal.

Audrey could feel his disgusting, unwanted arousal pressed tight against her hip.

Panic and rage surged through her veins.

She thrashed violently, using every ounce of her strength until she managed to wrench her arm free and deliver a deafening slap across his face.

“I can’t believe I am actually expected to spend the rest of my life chained to an uncontrollable, vile predator!”

Hot tears streamed down her burning red cheeks as she turned and sprinted up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door shut.

Downstairs, Mr. Morgan walked into the room just as Sean rubbed his stinging cheek.

“Give her some time; she’ll come around,” Morgan said casually, completely unaware of what Sean had just tried to pull.

“How are the preparations for the engagement party coming along?”

“It’s going to be the talk of the entire country,” Sean replied smoothly, hiding his humiliation.

“In fact, I personally sent the RET Chairman an elite invitation to act as the chairman of the ceremony. If he actually accepts, every high-class VIP in the country will show up.”

Mr. Morgan frowned, looking unconvinced.

“According to our corporate reports, RET Limited is currently our biggest financial backer. Their massive investments are the only reason our new projects managed to break into the top ten across Bolton and the Northeast Hemisphere.”

“You’d better find a backup investor just in case,” Morgan advised, setting his glass down and walking away.

Neither of them had any idea that behind closed doors, Morgan and the senior Thickcups were secretly plotting to eliminate the RET Chairman.

How dare a bunch of unknowns crawl out of the shadows to challenge the most powerful business moguls in the country, men who held direct ties to the Warlord of the Northwest Battalion and the acting Great Commander?

Meanwhile, back at corporate headquarters two days before the grand engagement, Oscar couldn't stop teasing Richard.

He burst out laughing as he watched Richie formally accept the VIP invitation to a party he was secretly planning to destroy from the inside out.

National news networks were already blowing up with explosive headlines, hyping up the fact that the reclusive, multi-billionaire RET Chairman was officially scheduled as the guest of honor for the Sean-Audrey engagement.

Engagement parties rarely featured a high-profile chairman of the day, let alone a tech titan of this magnitude, sending public curiosity into a wild frenzy.

The next morning, cameras caught Richard stepping out of a vehicle outside a decaying, historic downtown orphanage, wearing his signature high-tech mask.

Within seconds, a swarm of reporters and camera crews descended upon him like a pack of wolves.

“Mr. Chairman! When are you finally going to take off that mask for the public?” a curious journalist shouted, thrusting a microphone forward.

Richie’s elite security detail instantly formed a wall of muscle, shoving the reporters back.

“Don't worry your head about that,” Rich answered, his voice dropping through the advanced, computerized audio processor built into his helmet.

The robotic, metallic cadence of his voice only added to his terrifying aura of mystery.

He had been wearing the high-tech face shield non-stop ever since arriving in the Northeast Hemisphere, making him unapproachable to the corporate sharks circling him.

No one in the tech world had ever seen, let alone manufactured, technology like this.

It wasn't available on any global market because the complex programming language running it was entirely proprietary to Richard Eagle.

To General Thickcup and Mr. Morgan, this mask wasn't just a gimmick; it could be a threat.

They despised anything they couldn't control, and because they couldn't see through his armor, they were desperate to destroy him.

“Are you genuinely going to officiate the biggest engagement party of the year?” another reporter inquired over the din of clicking shutters.

Richie paused, turning his head slightly toward the cameras.

“Huh? Would I have time for such unimportant merriment? Do you really think I would?” he replied sarcastically, a cold, dangerous smile hidden safely behind his metallic shield.

Without another word, he brushed past the stunned reporters. He walked straight through the doors of the orphanage to sign the multi-million-dollar acquisition papers, officially making it his newest property.

A creeping thought swung through Richie's mind, and he let out a mischievous smirk and immediately called Oscar.

“Hey, I've got a perfect plan. We're attending Sean-Audrey’s engagement party.”