Althea sat on one of the plush sofas that decorated her bedroom. She stared intensely at her second eldest daughter who was sitting an inch away from her."What's the matter, mum? Why do you look so down?" Lena asked.Althea sighed. "You didn't see the news?"Lena shook her head. "No, I didn't. I was occupied, so I didn't check. What's up?""It turns out that Lucian is the president of Howards,""What?" Lena gasped. "Lucian? Josephine's boyfriend?""Yeah,""Goodness, how is that even possible?"Althea waved her hand. "Scratch that, the thing's that I needed his stamp to get past a political deal but he agreed so easily and I didn't even suspect. I thought he was genuine, turns out I was wrong," Althea blinked in regret.Lena was conscious of the painful lurch in her heart as it skipped a beat. "What happened?""Well, Lucian manipulated the document and the higher-ups disqualified me from the list. Right now, I'm in a mess. My political career is on the verge of collapse,""That basta

Lena opened her eyes with a start, a blinding pain slithering through her forehead. Panic clawed in her when she realized she was tied to a chair, bound, both hands and feet."What the—," she struggled, observing the environment. Hell, this was a familiar place. She remembered this room very well and realization only caused a chill to run down her spine.Oh no, not again!This was Lucian's office."Who the bloody hell did this?!" Lena struggled."You better stay still or you'd only hurt yourself. Your beautiful ankles would be bruised and it'd be your fault," a cold voice said, emerging from the back of the office"Lucian?!" Lena said the name like it was a burden."Surprised to find yourself here?" Lucian smirked as he spinned the pen in his hands expertly."What have you done?!" Lena seethed and struggled to free herself from the binds."Look around you and see what I've done,"Lena's eyes were quick to spot the items on the table. First her black purse, then the stamp, the original

"He sent you to deliver a fucking message to me?!" Althea yelled, pounding her hand on the small stool in front of her.Lena just stood there with a blank look. She was too overwhelmed to say another word."You speak up when I ask you a question, young lady!" Althea yelled."I'm sure you heard me already, Mum. Lucian said you should never try to force Josephine to bend to your whims, ever again. Failure to do so and you'll face his wrath," Lena drawled lazily.Althea scoffed as she directed a look at Josephine who was standing beside Lena with a smug grin on her face. "You must be so elated by your victory,""Of course," Josephine smirked as she relished in the joy that occupied her heart. For the first time in her life, she was able to hold her head high before these two."Don't forget you're an adopted daughter and not even a real daughter, so stop spilling rubbish or you'll be thrown out to the streets where you belong," Lena spat, shooting daggers with her eyes."I'd love to see y

Lucian just stood there, staring at Darcel like she was some cheeseburger he wanted to devour urgently. Some questions were running through his mind, but he didn't know how to transcribe any of them into spoken words. When he finally opened his mouth, the words that escaped it were. "What possessed her to stoop this low?""Young Master, we knew she'd strike eventually, but we are not prepared," Anthony said with a drawn face. "The media is on fire as a result of the live streaming. It has already gone viral and at this rate, Howards could drown. We're obviously not prepared," Darcel panicked."I'm always prepared for anything, Darcel," Lucian said and turned to look at the men still throwing punches. Disgust tore at him and when he could no longer control the urge, he shouted. "Enough of this drama!"The whole room went silent and the men turned to look at him, their faces pale like they had just seen a ghost. "Get the men to my office, immediately Anthony," Lucian commanded before

"Young master, the news has begun and the jerk is being useful," Anthony smiled as he handed over an iPhone to Lucian.Lucian collected the device with a brief sigh and stared into the screen, and there it was, the man was sitting among a group of reporters with the spotlights on him."It was all a lie. The whole drama about Mr. Lucian Manchester kidnapping and selling children. It was all a lie. My daughter, she's in school at the moment doing perfectly fine,""Perfectly fine, my ass!" Anthony scoffed as he remembered the ordeal the man had put them through initially. At first, it had been difficult to convince the man to tell the whole truth, but when Lucian had threatened to kidnap his daughter, this time for real, the bastard had agreed to the deal.Under the spotlight, the man blinked rapidly. "I was paid…to instigate the fight. Mr. Lucian is innocent, he's a good man and would never do such a thing to innocent children. The truth is that I was paid by…Ms. Betty Madison and her m