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!”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 764
The dialogue remained light for hours, drifting from Thomas’s failed attempts at gardening to Marek’s stories of the city’s changing skyline. The horrors of the basement and the Crossroad Men were kept at bay, locked away by the sheer force of their collective happiness.Eventually, the table fell into a comfortable lull. Millicent set her fork down and leaned back, watching the young couple at the other end. She watched the way Persis tilted her head to laugh at a whisper, and the way Tedmond looked at her, not with the predatory hunger of his father, but with a protective, profound adoration."You two," Millicent said softly, her voice cutting through the chatter with gentle authority.Tedmond and Persis both looked up, caught in the light of their own world. "Yes, Mother?" Tedmond asked.Millicent’s eyes sparkled with a hint of the girl she had been before the highway. "I’ve spent a lifetime waiting for things to be right. I’ve watched the moon through cellar bars and prayed fo
CHAPTER 763
The fury was there, sharp and cold, but as he looked back at the courthouse, he saw a small, frail figure standing by the pillars.It was Millicent. She looked exhausted, her shoulders finally sagging after hours of maintaining her monumental poise.Tedmond took a slow, grounding breath and folded the paper, tucking it deep into his pocket. The darkness in his eyes didn't vanish, but it receded, replaced by a weary tenderness."Not tonight, Persis," Tedmond said, his voice softening. "The docks can wait. Malachai Vire isn't going anywhere. They’ve lived in peace for twenty years; they can survive one more night of ignorance."Persis blinked, surprised. "You’re calling it off? Just like that?""Not calling it off," Tedmond corrected. "Just delaying. My mother has spent her whole life being a ghost or a servant. Today, she became a free woman. She shouldn't have to spend her first evening of freedom wondering if her son is out spilling blood.”“We’re going home. I want to sit at a tab
CHAPTER 762
The city had never seen a trial like the one that unfolded in the hallowed, marble halls of the High Court. It wasn't just a legal proceeding; it was an autopsy of an era. The Griffin Scandal had leaked into the press like oil on water, shimmering with the iridescent filth of the elite, and it was high time for Evelyn to be brought to justice.The courtroom was packed to the rafters. Reporters sat shoulder-to-shoulder with the very socialites who had once sipped champagne in the Griffin solarium. At the center of it all sat Millicent, dressed in a simple, high-necked charcoal dress.She didn't look like a victim; she looked like a monument.Across the aisle, Evelyn Griffin sat alone. Her children were not beside her. Her husband was dead. She was a woman stripped of her armor, yet she clung to a jagged, pathetic defiance.***The lead prosecutor, a man who had built his career on the very laws Harold Griffin once manipulated, called the first witness. Sarah, the younger maid wh
CHAPTER 761
Max turned to his sister, his gaze hardening with sharp resolve. "Maxine, go. Pack only what belongs to you—nothing bought with Griffin blood money. We’re moving. Tonight."Evelyn let out a sharp, choked sob. "Moving? To where? You have nothing out there! You are Griffins! You don't know how to survive without me!""We'll learn," Maxine said, her voice trembling but certain. She stepped back from her mother’s reaching hand as if it were a contagion. "I’m not staying here another hour. I can't breathe in this house anymore. Every corner feels like it’s hiding a ghost.""Maxine, please!" Evelyn pleaded, crawling forward on her knees, her poise shattered. "You’re a lady! You’ve never worked a day in your life!"Maxine looked down at her mother, a sad, bitter smile touching her lips. "Then it’s time I started. I’m going to find a job, Mother. A real one. I’d rather scrub floors like Millicent did than sit in this drawing room pretending I’m better than the people we stepped on to get
CHAPTER 760
Everyone turned to the corner. Maxine, a silent shadow throughout the night, finally stepped into the light. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face stripped of its usual arrogance. She looked at Tedmond, then Millicent, and finally at her mother with pure horror."I had no idea," Maxine whispered, her voice gaining a hard edge. "You told me Tedmond’s mother was a thief. You told me she was a monster trying to break us apart. I believed you because a daughter is supposed to believe her mother."She stepped beside Max, her small frame shaking. "But he was just a baby. None of it was his fault."Maxine turned on Evelyn, her expression a mirror of Max’s defiance. "You’re a terrible person, Mother. You and Father weren't pillars of the city; you were predators in silk. If Max testifies, I’ll be right there beside him. I’ll tell them about the letters I found. I’ll tell them how you taught us to hate a brother who had done nothing but exist."Evelyn gasped, clutching the back of her chair as
CHAPTER 759
Max stayed on his knees, the cold floor biting into his skin, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the violent reconstruction occurring within his mind. Every memory, every time he had mocked Tedmond’s lowly blood, every time he had sabotaged his brother to protect the legacy, replayed like a series of crimes.‘I was the hero,’ he thought, a bitter, hysterical laugh bubbling in his chest. ‘I thought I was the white knight protecting my mother from a gold-digger. I was just the attack dog for a monster.’He looked up at Tedmond. For years, he had seen a rival, a threat, a bastard reaching for what was rightfully theirs. Now, for the first time, he saw a survivor. He saw a man shaped by the very fires that had tried to consume his mother."All those years," Max rasped, his voice cracking. "I followed Father's lead. I thought his coldness toward you was a sign of your unworthiness.”“I thought his discipline was a necessity. I didn't see that he was just beating the tru
You may also like
RISE OF THE DISCARDED SON-IN-LAW
Sage Athalar78.7K viewsTrillionaire they never noticed
Alfred ifeanyi73.8K viewsUnexpected Trillionaire.
Max Luthor91.8K viewsTHE MAN THEY TRIED TO ERASE
Wednesday Adaire1.3K viewsBullied No More: Rise of the Forgotten Heir
Omotola231 viewsParasite: To Kill A Supreme God Of War
PAIGE431 viewsThe Ultimate Doctor V’s Revenge
Francarose 84 views