2024-09-24 19:23:51“How dare you talk about my mother like that?” Tedmond demanded, pinning Max against the table.
No matter how much they had talked about him, he hadn’t retaliated, but today they had gone too far. No one could talk about his mother now. That might have been possible in the past, but not anymore.
“What are you doing?” Maxine questioned. “How dare you hit your elder brother?”
Glaring back at her, Tedmond snarled, “You think of him as my elder brother now, don’t you? Why didn’t you say something when I was being insulted?” He released Max and stepped closer to Maxine.
Maxine trembled but stood her ground. ‘How can that bastard get so strong in just a day?’ she wondered. However, she quickly regained her composure.
“Why are you doing this to him when he just asked if you could afford to eat at the restaurant?!” Maxine yelled, switching the topic as fast as she could to make herself look less bad. “We all know you’ve been kicked out of the family without a penny! How can you afford to eat here?”
A smirk crossed her face as she spoke. “Isn’t that right? He was just offering to lend you some money so you could afford to eat here, and you insulted him!”
Tedmond paused, his glare unwavering. He wasn’t surprised she would say that. If the four boys couldn’t afford the restaurant, they wouldn’t have invited him.
‘So he can’t pay for the food here?’ someone from the crowd murmured. ‘I just heard him say his mother was a maid in their house.’
‘He’s not even grateful that they cared about him, even though he’s just the son of a maid who served them.’
Max rose to his feet, rubbing his face, which had been injured from being slammed against the table. Blood dripped from his face, staining his white shirt. Lisa hurriedly brushed past Tedmond and held Max.
“Are you alright?” Lisa asked Max before turning to glare at Tedmond. “How dare you hit Max? Who do you think you are? Are you jealous that I chose him instead of you? So jealous that you followed us here! You must’ve known he’d ask if you could afford to eat here!”
The murmurs filled the place.
‘That’s two people who have said the same thing. Why is he here if he can’t pay?’
‘We should kick him out.’
‘Where’s the security?’
Maxine grinned widely as she stepped closer to Tedmond. “You’ll be thrown out of this place like the trash you are.”
“Where’s the owner? I’d like to meet him!” Tedmond yelled.
Max, Maxine, and Lisa stared at him, eyes wide in shock and disbelief. But the moment of surprise was short-lived as laughter erupted around them. All three burst into laughter.
“You?!” Maxine mocked. “How can you ask to meet the owner of this restaurant?”
“Is that a joke or something?” Lisa asked. “You and I both know you couldn’t afford to buy me a meal here, even after saving up for three months. Who are you trying to fool?”
“Do you think doing this makes you look cool?” Max questioned, stepping closer to Tedmond. “Why would the owner of the restaurant come here in person?”
“You must be daydreaming.”
“What do you want to meet the owner for?” Maxine demanded, her lips curling in a mocking smile.
Tedmond returned her grin. “What else would I want to meet him for, except to ban the Griffin family from this restaurant?”
Hearing his words, Maxine’s grin widened. “Ban us from the restaurant?” She laughed. “How can someone like you convince the CEO to do that? Who do you think you are?”
Lisa was amused by his audacity to tell such a lie. Max, on the other hand, grinned from ear to ear.
“I’ll wait to see if the owner shows up for you!” he yelled. “You’re delusional! Has kicking you out of the house affected your mental health? Doesn’t living on the streets do that?”
Tedmond shook his head before pulling out his phone. He dialed the housekeeper’s number. Curious eyes lingered on him as he spoke.
“Tell the owner of Hans Restaurant to meet me here,” Tedmond ordered. “Give him ten minutes, or he won’t want to know what happens.”
“Okay,” Thomas replied.
The murmurs around the place increased as Tedmond ended the call.
“Did you just make a fake call?” Maxine taunted. “I didn’t know you’d stoop so low to get our attention.”
Just then, the manager hurried into the restaurant, his gaze trailing from Tedmond to Max.
“What’s happening here?” the manager questioned. “I was informed by an employee that someone here wants to meet the owner. If we’ve done anything to offend you, I’ll offer compensation.”
Max gritted his teeth. “Don’t you recognize me?” he growled at the manager.
Hearing Max’s voice, the manager was stunned. “Ah, Mr. Griffin! What happened to your face? Who did this to you?”
Max smiled, pointing his finger at Tedmond. “He did it. He punched me when I tried to pay for his meal. He can’t afford to eat here but tries to act all boastful.”
The manager’s head snapped in Tedmond’s direction. “Who are you? How dare you hit Mr. Griffin, and why are you here if you can’t afford to pay for our food?!”
Tedmond frowned. “Hey! Do you want to lose your job?” he threatened. “Why don’t you find out what happened before you judge?”
The manager flinched under Tedmond’s gaze and scanned him from head to toe. Seeing that Tedmond had no luxury on him, he concluded Tedmond was a nobody compared to Max.
“How dare you? I don’t need to know what transpired between you two! You’re a lowlife; you’re probably at fault!” the manager yelled. “Are you threatening me? Do you know who Mr. Griffin is?!”
Tedmond shrugged. “He’s just my former half-brother. Now, I don’t have someone as stupid as him as my brother.”
“Half-brother?” The manager paused, his eyes darting between Tedmond and Max. ‘They don’t look alike.’
Max glared at the manager. “Are you not doing your job? That boy is only a bastard! Kick him out, or you’ll be fired!”
The manager didn’t hesitate to call security, and when they arrived, he ordered, “Throw him out of the restaurant, and he is hereby banned!”
The security headed for Tedmond, but he began counting. “I told the owner of this restaurant to arrive in ten minutes.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “He’ll be here in three, two, one…"
As soon as Tedmond finished counting, the others hadn't had time to react when the door of the restaurant swung open. A man in a tailored creamy suit hurried in, followed by three others, with sweat dripping down his forehead.
Everyone’s gaze turned to the man who had just walked in, and the security guards froze in their tracks.
“What is going on?” Max demanded, glaring at the manager. “Throw him out!”
Blood drained from the manager’s face as he stared at the man. “He really came!” he yelled. “The owner of the restaurant is really here! How is that possible? I messed up!”
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CHAPTER 633
Tedmond turned away from the mirror, and for the first time in three days, a slow, boyish grin spread across his face, a look that was almost more unsettling than his coldness.“Oh, she didn’t bring me the silver trays, Persis,” he said with a light shrug. “She used the servants’ crawlspace behind the wardrobe. Apparently, she found a way to slide snacks and takeout through a gap in the wood.”Persis gaped at him. “Takeout? Snacks? Tedmond, where would a five-year-old get—”“She must have hidden a stash,” Tedmond chuckled, his eyes dancing with a brief, rare flash of warmth. “While you were all mourning me as if I were already in the ground, that little rascal was smuggling in chocolate bars and cold sandwiches she swiped from the pantry. She told me I looked ‘grumpy’ and needed to eat my feelings.”He let out a short laugh, shaking his head.“So no, Mary doesn’t need to cook a feast. I’ve lived on sugar and Bianca’s ‘secret’ rations for seventy-two hours. I’m quite fueled.”Persis r
CHAPTER 632
He paused.“Have you identified all the locations where women could be sold?”Wherever they had sent his mother, whatever they had done to her, he would find her himself and make sure she came home.After being gone for so long, he knew one thing: if she had regained her memories and been free, she would have found a way to contact Thomas. The fact that she hadn’t meant there were only two possibilities.Either she had regained her memories but was being held captive without access to a phone, orOr she hadn’t regained them at all.Persis and Thomas exchanged a quick, worried glance. They had far more to tell him, not only about the search for Mill, but about the collapse of the Griffin line he had left behind.“Eat first, Tedmond,” Persis said, her voice soft but firm. “Then we’ll talk. There’s… quite a lot to catch up on.”Tedmond nodded and headed toward the dining hall with a brisk, measured stride.“Fine. But keep it brief. I have a hectic afternoon ahead of me.”As they descen
CHAPTER 631
Three days had passed since the gunshot in the courtroom shattered the world.Three days since the name Mill Washington had been dragged from the shadows of a dead man’s throat.Inside the sprawling estate, the air felt stagnant.The staff moved on tiptoe, their eyes constantly drifting toward the heavy oak doors of the master suite.Tedmond had not left his room.Food was placed on silver trays outside the door, only to be collected hours later, cold and untouched.Behind those doors, there was no sound at all, only a crushing, absolute silence.Tedmond was a prisoner of the realization that he had mourned a ghost for twenty years while his mother was likely suffering in a cage Harold had built.Persis stood in the hallway, her hand hovering inches from the door handle.The only thing separating her from Tedmond was that door, and she had been standing there for a long time, wanting to knock, unable to find the courage, endlessly deciding what to do.She wanted to give him space to c
CHAPTER 630
Persis stood her ground until the last of her breath was spent, chest heaving, eyes still burning.The brothers crumbled under the weight of the room’s collective scorn, faces pale, eyes darting.Just as the chaos reached its peak, a heavy hand landed on Persis’s shoulder.She jumped, turning to see Thomas. He had returned from the car, his expression unreadable but his presence grounding."It's enough, Miss Persis," Thomas said quietly. "You’ve said what needed to be said. He needs you now."Persis glanced at the broken remnants of the Griffin family, then back at Thomas. The fire in her eyes dimmed, replaced by weary exhaustion. She nodded once, tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and let Thomas lead her through the throng of shouting police and angry spectators.*****The cool, damp air of the parking garage was a sharp contrast to the courtroom’s suffocating heat.As Thomas opened the rear door of the black sedan, Persis sank into the leather seat, adrenaline finally draining f
CHAPTER 629
Back in the courtroom, the gunshot’s echo finally died, replaced by a silence so dense it felt as if it were crushing the air from the room.Harold’s body lay slumped on the floor, his final act of spite complete.He had died as he had lived, sacrificing everything to ensure he had the last word.Tedmond stood frozen, his hand still reaching into empty air.“Tedmond!”Persis broke through the crowd, her face ashen. She grabbed his arm, her touch finally grounding him.“Tedmond, we have to move. The police are calling a lockdown.”He turned his head slowly. His eyes were hollow, reflecting the red and blue flashes of emergency lights through the high windows.“He did it,” Tedmond whispered, his voice cracking. “He killed the only map I had.”“We’ll find another way,” Persis said fiercely, pulling him toward the side exit as bailiffs shoved the shouting press back. “Thomas is already on the phone. We’re not giving up.”As they passed the defense table, Tedmond’s gaze caught on Frank a
CHAPTER 628– Harold’s Backstory I
The courtroom floor was cold, but the memory that flooded the void in the wake of the gunshot burned white-hot.Before the mansions, before the Griffin Group, before the corruption, there was a seven-year-old Harold.He wasn’t a monster then. He was just a boy living in the shadow of his mother, Vivian Griffin.The memory unfolded in the sprawling, manicured gardens of the old Griffin estate.Back then, they weren’t billionaires, but they were the elite of the county.Harold’s best friend wasn’t a Griffin.It was Leo, the son of the estate’s head stableman.They were inseparable.Leo was bold and charismatic, with a laugh that made Harold’s stiff, disciplined life feel bearable.“We’re brothers, right, Harold?” Leo had asked one afternoon, perched high in the branches of an oak tree. “When we grow up, we’ll run this place together.”“Brothers,” Harold had whispered, looking up with genuine adoration.But the core memory that broke Harold came during the Griffins’ annual Autumn Gala, th
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