“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!”
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 668
Thomas stared at them, mouth hanging slightly open. “That is… that is the most strategically vacant reasoning I have ever heard in my professional life. ‘The ground feels honest’? ‘Enjoy the scenery’? You’re going into a Syndicate processing hub, not a Sunday picnic!”Thomas didn’t like what he was hearing. All he wanted to do was make the whole thing easy, and now Ma,rek and Lottie were trying to make it even harder.Tedmond didn’t laugh, but the corner of his eye twitched with the faintest shadow of a smile. He met Thomas’s gaze, the intensity of his stare anchoring the absurdity of the moment.“The air is monitored, Thomas,” Tedmond said evenly. “Every flight plan leaves a signature. But a car… a car is just one of ten thousand vehicles on the highway. We need to stay invisible, until the moment we choose not to be.”“Fine,” Thomas groaned, throwing his hands up. “Go ahead. Take the long way. Drive until your tires melt. I’ll stay here and try to keep the satellites from losing y
CHAPTER 667
The admission was more chilling than the anger.Thomas swallowed hard as he took in the shift in Tedmond. The desperation was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating resolve that felt far more dangerous.“Get inside,” Thomas muttered, stepping aside. “Albert’s been screaming at my monitors for the last hour. He found something in the Oakhaven intake logs… but he refuses to show it until you’re on the line.”Tedmond stepped into the warmth of the house, the smell of old wood and burnt coffee washing over him. He didn’t reach for a chair or a drink. He went straight to the monitors.“Albert,” Tedmond said evenly. “Tell me you have a visual on the woman they think is Molly Webb.”“I have something better, Master Tedmond,” Albert replied, his voice grim through the speakers. “I have the Oakhaven intake footage. But you need to see this. Someone else was waiting at the gate.”A pause.“Someone who didn’t care about her ID.”Tedmond leaned over the console, eyes narrowing as the grainy Oakh
CHAPTER 666
Hugo immediately held out his hand. “I—I was just trying to warm it up!” Hugo wailed, cowering as Marek loomed over him.Tedmond ignored the pathetic display, eyes fixed on the terminal Lottie had just bypassed.“Albert,” he snapped into his comms. “The image. Show me exactly who was loaded onto that medical shuttle.”“Uploading the freeze-frame from the sub-hangar camera now, Master Tedmond,” Albert replied.The screen flickered, then resolved into a grainy, high-contrast image. Two women were being hurried toward the shuttle by Enforcers. One wore the uniform of a Syndicate logistics officer… Molly Webb. The other wore a grey, nondescript shift, her face partially obscured by a fall of silver-blonde hair.Tedmond’s breath hitched. For a moment, his tactical shield nearly shattered. That hair.“Wait,” Lottie whispered, leaning closer. “Look at their wrists, Tedmond.”He saw it. In the chaos of the Scrub protocol, the Enforcers had been frantic. One woman had a yellow Asset band
CHAPTER 665
The others nodded in agreement.It was obvious he was being toyed with. At this point, Tedmond had no idea if his mother had ever truly been in the Heart. If she had, they would have found some trace of her, but there was nothing.Only the hollow mockery of an empty tower and a mannequin draped in the memory of a woman.He began to wonder if the Syndicate even knew where she was, or if she had been sent elsewhere, out of their hands entirely. Had they even known her real name? She wasn’t actually called Mill, that was a nickname he had adopted during the long, grueling years of the search, a word to anchor his hope.Then his eyes widened. He was making a mistake, a fundamental tactical error.She had lost her memory; she didn’t even know who she was.Even if the men knew he had come for her, there was no way they could identify her by name. She wouldn’t know she was a Washington, and she certainly couldn’t sign her name as one. To the world, and perhaps to herself, she was blank
CHAPTER 664
The secondary cooling tower was a brutalist spike of concrete and rusted iron, leaning out over the cliffside, isolated from the main facility. It had been designed to vent the Heart’s thermal energy, but as Tedmond, Lottie, and Marek sprinted across the connecting gantry, it was clear the tower was being repurposed for something far darker.The air grew colder, heavy with salt spray from the waves crashing hundreds of feet below.“Albert,” Tedmond barked into his comms. “Status on the tower’s structure.”“Not good, Master Tedmond,” Albert replied, his voice tight. “The Warden has initiated a Scrub protocol. He isn’t just venting gas… he’s triggered the explosive bolts in the foundation. The tower is standing on prayers and gravity alone. You have approximately seven minutes before it shears off the cliff.”“Seven minutes,” Tedmond repeated. He slammed a hand against the heavy blast doors at the base of the tower. It was locked.“Marek,” he commanded.Marek didn’t hesitate. He step
CHAPTER 663
The dates in the logbook didn’t merely align with history; they defied it.Tedmond’s thumb traced the ink on the most recent page. His breath hitched, the cold air of the cockpit suddenly feeling thin. The names scrawled in the Authorized Visitor column weren’t Syndicate officials. They weren’t names he recognized from the Board.The entries were coded, but the handwriting in the margin made his blood run cold. It was the elegant, sharp script of the woman who had taught him how to hold a pen.“Tedmond?” Lottie froze when she saw the color drain from his face. “What is it? Did you find the Board’s signatures?”“No,” Tedmond whispered, his voice sounding as though it came from a great distance. “Look at these signatures, Lottie. They aren’t people coming in to see her.”He turned the book toward her. The signatures under the Exit column for the last five years were all the same: M.W.“Is that the name, Mill Washington?” Lottie breathed, her eyes widening as she scanned the meticulo
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