“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 672
The hum of the heavy SUV’s tires against the asphalt was the only constant in a world that had turned gray and blurred. Inside the cabin, the space was cavernous, more like a mobile command center than a civilian vehicle. Despite the looming shadow of Oakhaven, the atmosphere had taken on a bizarrely domestic quality.Lottie hunched over a small, portable induction burner balanced precariously on a storage crate. She stirred a pot of instant noodles with mismatched chopsticks, brow furrowed in concentration as the steam curled around her face."You know," Lottie said, voice competing with the rattle of the road, "I can’t stop thinking about Hugo. We just left him there with Thomas and Albert. Do you think he’s shaking in his boots, or already trying to pick the locks on the wine cellar?"Marek, whose massive frame seemed to fill the driver’s seat, kept his eyes locked on the horizon. He adjusted his grip on the leather-wrapped wheel. "Hugo’s like a cockroach, Lottie. Drop a build
CHAPTER 671
"Jeffrey didn’t ask you to be a shield, Thomas," Albert said softly. "He asked you to be a compass. You’ve guided Master Tedmond through storms that would have swallowed lesser men. You haven’t failed. You are the reason he still knows which way is home."Albert’s gaze drifted toward the monitors humming in the distance. "We are the pillars of a house under siege. We cannot crumble, for if we do, the roof falls on them. Master Tedmond knows you worry. That is why he mocks you, it’s the only way he knows how to acknowledge that he needs you."Thomas wiped a hand across his eyes, letting out a dry, shaky laugh. "He has a hell of a way of showing it. ‘Speak some sense into me,’ he said.""And you shall," Albert replied, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. "But for now, we have work to do. If they are to reach Oakhaven, they will need every satellite we can hijack. Shall we?"Thomas straightened, fire returning to his eyes. "Yeah. Let’s get to work. If that idiot gets a scratch becau
CHAPTER 670
Tedmond let out a dry, small chuckle, a sound that softened the edges of his grim face, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "I’ll be fine, Thomas. It was just a thought.""It was a stupid thought!" Thomas barked, jabbing a finger at him. "You listen to me, Tedmond. You go to Oakhaven, you find your mother, and you bring your narrow-minded, road-tripping self back here. Because when you do, I’m going to lecture you—seriously. I’ve got a list of every reason why you’re a tactical moron, and I’m reading it aloud."Tedmond gave a single, sharp nod, a silent promise. "I’ll look forward to it."He slid the door shut, the van rumbling forward into the gray rain, leaving Thomas standing in the garage with clenched fists and a storm of worry behind his eyes."You heard the man," Marek rumbled, shifting the van into gear. "He wants to lecture a live man, not a ghost. Let’s move."The tires crunched over wet gravel as the van slid into the thick morning mist. Thomas stayed in the garage lon
CHAPTER 669
Lottie spent the next few minutes firing off questions, the rapid-fire kind meant to probe, to trip a man’s resolve.She asked about temptation, the long nights on the road, the distance between them. Tedmond answered each one with a clinical, unwavering loyalty that bordered on the sacred. His responses weren’t rehearsed; they were facts, as immutable as the laws of physics.Finally, Lottie stopped. She leaned back, a genuine, softer smile touching her face. “Damn, Tedmond. Your wife sure struck gold. I’m actually looking forward to meeting her someday, just so I can tell her she picked the last honest man left on the planet.”Tedmond’s brow furrowed into a deep, protective frown. “You are not meeting my wife.”“Why not?” Lottie asked, hands sliding to her hips. “I think we’d get along—”“The car is ready!” Thomas’s voice boomed through the intercom, echoing from the basement and shattering the tension. “And if you aren’t down here in sixty seconds, I’m letting the tires out mysel
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
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