Tedmond turned his head to look at Max and Maxine. Both of them glared at him with pure resentment.Walking over to Mrs. Karishin, Tedmond brushed past his half-siblings. They both stared at him like they wouldn’t hesitate to cut his throat if given the chance.“What are you talking about?” Tedmond asked. “I bought this necklace last night for Mrs. Karishin’s birthday.”Truthfully, he had asked Thomas to prepare the gift since he had no idea what a woman would like. Thomas had chosen it to suit the taste of the Karishin family.Maxine raised her hand, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You! How dare you do that to Grandmother?! She treated you better than anyone else in the house, and you dared steal from her!”“You ungrateful brat!” Max yelled, the memory of how he had been treated the day before flashing through his mind. “How dare you?! Now that you’ve stolen her necklace, she’ll hate you for good.”Tedmond raised his brows. “But I don’t have a grandmother.”Everyone at the party
The emerald dangled from Vivian’s neck, sparkling in the light. The necklace caught everyone’s attention, including Tedmond's. He had thought Max lied about their grandmother having the necklace, but she indeed wore the same one.“What’s wrong, grandson?” Vivian asked. “Are you mad at me for not being there for you when Max and Maxine treated you wrongly? Don’t worry, I will take care of them. Just give your grandmother a hug.”Tedmond tried to keep a straight face. He didn’t want to speak to her. Although she was acting all kind toward him now, it was only in the present. In the past, she had resented him for being an illegitimate child, often telling him to his face that she didn’t consider him her grandson and only acknowledged Max.She had starved him since he was a baby, waiting for him to die, but Maxine's nanny had been kind enough to feed him. As long as he could remember, if his grandmother was home, he wouldn’t have anything to eat or drink unless he stole from the kitchen
Max flinched as all eyes turned to him, sweat forming on his face. "I didn’t steal the necklace," he insisted. "Someone must have tried to frame me."Tedmond’s lips curled. When he brushed past Max to get to Mrs. Karishin, he slipped the necklace into Max’s pocket. Since Max wasn’t paying attention, he didn’t notice when Tedmond planted it there.Tedmond already knew Max had placed the necklace on him and that he had returned it to the person who had originally stolen it."How dare you try to frame Tedmond after stealing from us?!" Kyle yelled. "Not only did you threaten me, but you also stole from me."Mrs. Karishin sighed, rubbing her forehead as the diamond necklace was presented to her. "This is the real one.""Oh my God, I can't believe Max stole from the Karishins.""Is that why he said the Griffins were above the Karishins? Was it because they were getting a contract with Xinca?""He tried to shift the attention onto Tedmond so that no one would think to search him.""Thanks to
Melody’s lips broke into a smile. “I said I was going to marry you,” she confirmed. “You don’t recognize me or try to please me when we meet. That’s perfect!”Tedmond arched his eyebrows at Kyle.“How can you marry him?” Kyle asked. “You’re six years older than him!”Melody glanced at her brother, a blank look on her face. “Does that matter? He looks pretty mature to me.”Kyle’s eyes bulged. “You always said you liked mature men! Tedmond is younger than you!”Sighing, she glanced at Tedmond. “He’s more mature than the older men I’ve met. I have to marry him now before he finds a girlfriend.”Tedmond watched the siblings argue. They weren’t even asking for his opinion, as was typical of Kyle.“What did you just say?” Mrs. Karishin asked, appearing next to them.“Did Mel say she’s getting married?” a male voice shouted, arriving at the same time as Mrs. Karishin. “Who’s the man she wants to marry?”Tedmond’s eyes darted to the man who had just arrived. He looked like he was in his late
The party ended shortly after Tedmond left. It was no longer a birthday party but an event where the Griffin family was exposed, and a famous actress proposed to a man.News of everything spread quickly, but the story of Melody proposing to Tedmond dominated the internet, web searches, social media, and even the news. A video was uploaded as proof. The worst part was that they didn’t blur his face, and an article was written, informing men about the type of man Melody was interested in.In the living room of the Griffin mansion, Max, Maxine, Lisa, and Evelyn watched the news and saw the report about Melody and Tedmond.Max gritted his teeth. “How could Melody propose to Tedmond? I became friends with Kyle just to meet his sister, and now this happened before I even got the chance.”
If Melody had gone along with his plan, it would have been easy, but he brushed the thought aside. Melody was a public figure; he couldn’t tarnish her image.He began writing in his notepad again. He was targeting the company, Max, and Lisa first. Since their marriage wasn’t genuine, he could make them regret it. First, he had to make them cheat on each other. If they weren’t terrible people, they wouldn’t fall for it.Now that he had used Melody for a while, he could find another person to manipulate both Max and Lisa.A light tug on his pants snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced down to see Bianca peering up at him.“I called that bald man,” she revealed.“Junior Torrus?&rdqu
“Woah!” Lisa exclaimed, eyeing the expensive restaurant Tedmond had brought her to. “I’ve never been to a place this luxurious before.”Tedmond raised an eyebrow. “I thought so too.”He led her to a table, and they both sat down. Lisa still wore the contact lenses, pretending to be Cora, but Tedmond had other plans.“Waiter,” she called softly, waving the waiter over before turning her gaze back to Tedmond. “Since you’ve been here before, why don’t you order for me?”Tedmond nodded. “Sure, I’ll do that.”A smile appeared on Lisa’s face. She expected him to order expensive food and didn’t want to do it herself, hoping no
Sprinting towards them as the man tried to kick her again, Tedmond caught the man by the arm and flipped him over, slamming his back on the floor."Eek!" the man cried out as Tedmond twisted his arm even further. "What the heck are you doing?!""How dare you treat my daughter like that?!" Tedmond demanded, about to punch the man in the face when he was surrounded by several men.Judging by their attire and demeanor, Tedmond could tell they were bodyguards. He let the man go, rose to his feet, and immediately picked up Bianca, holding her in his arms."Sorry I’m late," Tedmond told Bianca."No worries," Bianca replied."He dares to hit the young master of the Lin family!" one
Tedmond stood still, his expression calm, as everyone kept staring at the door. A few moments passed, and murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.“He’s bluffing.”“I told you it was fake.”“Such a loser. How embarrassing.”“He acted so tough and sure that Mr. Ginny would show up.”“That’s why you have to be realistic when dealing with things,” a woman said, flashing her newly done nails. “How can a loser like him actually get Mr. Ginny here? He is just rude nonsense!”“Yes! Look at him acting all arrogant and perfect when it was all fake.”The crowd looked at him, disgust settling in their eyes. Some of them had anticipated that there was no way Mr. Ginny would show up just because of a kid’s call, but a few had hoped to be surprised and actually see Mr. Ginny appear.However, Tedmond had not only wasted their time, but he had also made them regret even thinking he could pull it off.Carlos smirked and folded his arms. “Well, Tedmond, what do you have to say for yourself now? Time’
“So lame! Why are you trying so hard to act brave?” Finn questioned, now taking the lead to send out the insults. “What can you do with that phone call of yours? You must be calling who now?”“Haha,” Carlos laughed. “I’m sure he doesn’t even have anyone to call and is only pretending.”“Let’s see what he can do. It must be great to watch his stupid escape plan fail,” Carles added.At that moment, Tedmond dialed Thomas’s number, and he picked up immediately.“Yes, young master?” Thomas said, his tone serious. “Do you need me to do anything?”“Yes. There’s something I would like you to do,” Tedmond began, his words drawing the attention of the triplets, who had gone silent to hear him talk to the person he claimed to be talking to. “I want you to contact Mr. Ginny and ask him to apologize on his son’s behalf for ruining my dinner with Bianca.”The triplets and everyone listening were stunned by his words.“He must be here before ten minutes are up, or he will regret being late,” Tedmond
Eyes twitching in anger, Tedmond couldn’t even be surprised by their behavior and the way they took Finn’s side. It was like they believed anything Finn said and would do anything to help him get what he wanted.“What did I do to you that made you want to throw me out for no reason?” Tedmond asked, trying to buy himself time.“What do you expect?” Carlos questioned. “You tried to harm Finn, and you have to be dealt with. The fact that Finn is trying to care for you is already annoying enough, and you dare to ignore his help. How dare you?!”The two of the triplets glared at Tedmond the same way, and he could tell that they had a good relationship with Finn, one that might appear to be toxic.“I said I didn’t need his fake help,” Tedmond began, not holding back. “Finn is only using you three to get what he wants.”The triplet went silent for a while before bursting into laughter.“You have to be smart to try to fool us,” Carlos told Tedmond. “You think telling us that will make us ditc
Carlos' voice was so loud that it caught the attention of nearby tables. The people seated there turned their heads, frowns forming on their faces.“They’re being too loud.”“I heard one of them couldn’t afford the things he was about to order.”“Why don’t they go to a cheaper restaurant?”“Was he trying to impress his friends, and now they’ve found out he’s been lying all along?”The other customers grew curious about the commotion, and Carlos grinned from ear to ear. He had drawn the attention he wanted. Now, it was time for him to show what he was capable of.“Excuse me,” the waiter said as politely as possible. “You weren’t the one who made the order. How can you be so sure the person who did can’t afford it? From what I saw at the counter, you all came separately and didn’t arrive at the same time.”Carlos was taken aback, his eyes widening in shock as he glanced at the waiter. “Did you just refuse to take the food back as I instructed you to?”The waiter nodded. “I apologize, bu
Tedmond glared at them, his eyes dark. He wanted to retaliate and yell at them for trying to control him, but he paused when Bianca tugged at his shirt, making him glance down at her.Tedmond had tried to leave to avoid bringing Bianca into a confrontation between him and Finn. She was still a kid, after all, and he didn’t want her to get used to such things.“Dad,” she said firmly, her voice clear, “we were here first.” She turned to face the group, her head held high. “This table belongs to us.”Peering at her, he sighed. She had a point, but it didn’t matter at the moment. Finn was here to cause trouble, and he didn’t want to engage.Finn raised an eyebrow, amused. “A kid is telling me what to do? Cute.”Bianca didn’t flinch. “Cute is what I call puppies. You’re not even close.”The triplets exchanged startled looks. One of them, Carlos, barked out a laugh. “Did this little brat just insult us?”“She’s not wrong,” Tedmond muttered under his breath, earning a wide grin from Bianca.
On getting to the restaurant, Tedmond walked to a seat and placed Bianca on the seat opposite him. It was a six-seater table, and since it was next to the window, he had chosen it to have enough space for themselves.The menu was right on the table, and they picked it up before going through it. Tedmond looked through the menu, his brows shooting up in confusion. The restaurant was different from the ones he had visited, and the items on the menu had unfamiliar names.“Would you like me to order for you?” Bianca questioned, peeking from the menu to look at him. “This is not the first time I am here, though.”It was as if she had figured out he was having trouble choosing. Tedmond looked at her before dropping the menu back on the table.“That’s fine,” Tedmond replied. “You can pick whatever for me. I don’t have any allergies.”“Alright,” Bianca responded, a smile forming on her face as her gaze returned to the menu.At that moment, four customers walked into the restaurant—three ident
Three hundred million? Joe wasn’t even surprised. He just recalled the words Tedmond had told him earlier.“They might ask for a billion or five hundred million or three hundred million dollars,” Tedmond had said. “Whatever it is, make sure to give it to them and get them to sign the documents.”‘Here I thought he might be exaggerating; he was right,’ Joe thought, his gaze focused on Evelyn. ‘She just mentioned one of the prices Tedmond warned about, but it seems her family doesn’t approve of this.’Harold and Maxine glanced at Evelyn, their shocked expressions quickly turning into anger.Joe grinned from ear to ear. ‘Boss was wrong, though. He said they would only aim for large amounts and support the person asking for it. But here they are, mad at her for mentioning such a sum.’“What are you doing?!” Harold demanded, confused and pissed. “Didn’t we agree that we were going to take a loan of a billion?!”Joe froze, his body stiffening. He had to blink several times to come back to h
At the mention of Tedmond, Evelyn and Harold glanced at the spot she was pointing to, but they couldn’t see anyone in sight.“No one is there,” Evelyn replied, returning to Maxine. “You must have seen someone else. Tedmond isn’t the kind of person who would be here.”Harold nodded in agreement. “There’s no way they’d let him in anyway,” he said, rolling his eyes. “That useless son of mine isn’t great anytime soon.”Ki overheard their conversation and realized they knew the new boss. He also heard Harold call Tedmond a useless son.Someone doesn’t know their son’s real behavior, Ki thought. How is someone who bought a company like this regarded as useless?Instead of commenting, Ki repeated his usual greetings. “Hello and welcome to Loanbull. How can I help you today?” he asked, a fake professional smile appearing on his face.Their gazes returned to him. Smiling back politely, they nodded before Harold spoke.“We’d like to meet the person in charge,” Harold said. “What we came for is
“What do you mean?!” Max yelled, pulling himself away from his father, but it didn’t work. His arm didn’t seem to hurt as his father gripped it. His mind was still stuck on the words Tedmond had said.‘This can’t be happening!’ Max thought, trying to convince himself. ‘They can’t possibly pick money over me.’However, when he glanced at his parents, they glared at him, expecting him to apologize to Tedmond.“You shouldn’t force him to apologize,” Tedmond told them, making their eyes light up momentarily. But his next words caught them off guard. “I should leave since he doesn’t want me here.”At that, Harold and Evelyn grew paranoid. They couldn’t let him leave without first calling his baby mama and asking her to invest in the company.“Don’t leave yet! We’ll make him apologize!” Evelyn yelled.In a matter of seconds, Max was shoved to his knees before he could react. His eyes widened in shock, and he couldn’t speak, even though he tried.“Apologize to him!” Evelyn yelled the pity sh