2024-09-10 08:22:31Those words sent shockwaves through everyone who had heard them. They couldn’t believe it, but the person who was most in disbelief was the first saleswoman. She snatched the phone from her colleague and dialed the number.
“Are you sure it was $500,000 received?” she yelled, her voice sharp with frustration.
Her tone was so rude that the person on the other end snapped back. “Why are you asking me an obvious question?!” he demanded. “$500,000 has been received! Is there some hotshot there or something?”
The saleswoman's words stuck in her throat as the confirmation hit her. The others who had belittled Tedmond earlier now remained silent, lips tightly sealed.
“Did you do something?” the voice on the phone asked, but the saleswoman quickly hung up, lowering her head.
She turned to Tedmond, bowing slightly. “I am extremely sorry for doubting you,” she stammered. “Can I get you a cup of tea as an apology while your things are packed?”
Tedmond glared down at her in silence. As she raised her head to meet his eyes, she flinched under his cold gaze.
“We made a deal, didn’t we?” Tedmond said calmly. “You were supposed to apologize while crawling around the store.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn’t actually expected to do it. “But... but…”
His eyebrows arched. “What are you waiting for? Did you forget what I asked you to do?”
Trembling slightly, she shook her head. “I never intended to do that. Couldn’t we just—”
“Your job or the deal?” Tedmond asked casually, cutting her off.
Without hesitation, she hurried away from the front desk and fell to her knees, shivering with embarrassment. She was about to start crawling when he stopped her with his foot.
“You seem to be forgetting something,” he said darkly. “I told you to apologize to your co-worker.”
She turned her head toward the salesman and yelled, “I’m sorry!”
The salesman was taken aback, awkwardly averting his gaze.
“Now, continue crawling,” Tedmond ordered.
The woman resumed, her face flushed with humiliation, while the other customers who had supported her earlier began recording the scene on their phones.
Tedmond glanced at the other saleswomen, and they all avoided his gaze in fear. “The one crawling could’ve been any of you,” he warned, and the women flinched.
“I’ll get your things ready,” the salesman said quickly, as though trying to rescue the situation. “Thank you for your help.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Tedmond replied. “I was only doing it for myself.”
Despite that, the salesman thanked him again and hurriedly packed Tedmond's purchases. Soon, Tedmond walked out of the store, and with the help of the staff, all of his items were loaded into the car.
“Should I drive you home, young master?” the driver asked, glancing back at Tedmond as he settled into the car.
Tedmond thought about it for a moment. He had left the house with only a few bags from his vacation, but he still had his things at the Griffin home.
“Drive me to Rolling Street,” he replied. “I have something to do there. Don’t wait for me—just drop me off.”
“Yes, young master.”
A few minutes later, Tedmond got out of the car far from his father's home to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. He waited for the driver to leave before walking toward the building.
The atmosphere was still cold, though not as biting as it had been earlier. After a short walk, he entered the Griffin compound. He wondered if his father had returned yet. Then, with a bitter thought, he corrected himself.
‘Ex-father.’
The man was no longer his father.
He pushed open the door and stepped inside, expecting to see his former family in the living room, but no one was there. He made his way toward the kitchen, glancing up the stairs as he walked.
His room wasn’t upstairs like the others'. Instead, it was in a small basement. The memory of the cramped space resurfaced as he approached.
“Didn’t you say he was in his room?!” a loud voice demanded, making Tedmond frown. It was Harold Griffin, his father—or rather, ex-father. “Where the hell is that brat?”
“He was here hours ago,” his stepmother, Evelyn, said, trying to calm him down.
“That brat!” Harold yelled.
Tedmond peeked through the open door. They were all in his room, no wonder the house had been quiet. Harold’s face was twisted in anger, the lines on his forehead prominent as he raged.
“Why are you looking for him?” Max, Tedmond's half-brother, asked. “We kicked him out of the family, like you said. He’s 19 now, and we no longer have to take care of him.”
Harold turned to glare at Max. “You should’ve done it while I was here!” he bellowed. “He has something important!”
Of course, Tedmond sighed. His father had no use for him unless it involved something valuable. Tedmond had considered giving them what they wanted and cutting all ties, but the next words made him pause.
“That stupid necklace his mother left him is valuable!” Harold claimed. “I just figured out its name and its worth!”
Tedmond’s hand instinctively reached for the necklace around his neck. It was the only thing his mother had left him, and for years, they had mocked it as something worthless. If they had known its value earlier, they would have sold it long ago.
His jaw clenched. Now, they wanted to find him only because they wanted something.
“I can get him back,” a voice said. It was Lisa, Tedmond’s ex-girlfriend, her face determined.
“And who the hell are you?” Harold demanded.
Apparently, he hadn’t attended the wedding.
“She’s my wife,” Max replied, and their sister Maxine nodded in agreement. “She’s Tedmond’s ex, and he’s still in love with her. She can trick him into giving us the necklace.”
Hearing that, Harold finally relaxed. “That’s settled then. We don’t need to bring him back here. That useless brat has caused enough trouble already. Get his stuff out of his room and toss it in the trash.”
“His room will become a storage space from now on,” Evelyn said, with a note of satisfaction. “I’ve wanted to get rid of him ever since he was brought here as a baby.”
Tedmond’s eyes darkened. He turned and left before they could notice him. Now he knew why they were looking for him, and he couldn’t wait for them to try. When they did, he would be ready with a nice surprise.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 750
A week had passed, and Millicent had mastered the art of being a ghost. She had calculated every movement, every breath, to ensure her path never crossed with Harold’s. She volunteered for the most grueling shifts in the laundry room, where the steam was so thick it acted as a veil, and she stayed tucked in the corner of the kitchen, peeling vegetables until her fingers were raw.As long as she was surrounded by the other staff and the clatter of copper pots, she felt a sliver of safety. But the walls of Griffin Manor were beginning to feel like they were closing in."Mill! Grab the list. We’re heading to the market," Martha called out, jingling the van keys.Millicent’s heart did a nervous skip. Going out was a double-edged sword. It meant a few hours away from Harold’s heavy, searching gaze, but it also meant being under the watchful eye of Martha, a woman who had been with the Griffins for twenty years and saw everything.As they drove into the city, Millicent stared out the wi
CHAPTER 749
The first thing Millicent felt was the vibration: a low, rhythmic hum that rattled her bones and made the pounding in her head flare into a blinding white heat.She opened her eyes and realized she was back in the basement. The furnace was roaring nearby, casting a flickering orange light against the stone walls. She was lying on her cot, still dressed in her maid’s uniform, but her shoes had been removed.Then she saw them.Stacked neatly on the wooden chair beside her bed were the shopping bags from the boutique. The emerald silk peaked out from the top, a silent, shimmering witness to the horror of the afternoon.The memory hit her like a physical blow: the screeching tires, the reckless speed, the cold threat in Harold’s eyes, and finally, the weight of his mouth against hers while she was too weak to fight.Millicent bolted upright, her stomach rolling. She barely made it to the small utility sink in the corner of the room before she was doubled over, retching. Her stomach co
CHAPTER 748
Seeing the look on Harold’s face, Millicent flinched."Don't you dare take that tone with me!" he hissed. His voice echoed through the quiet boutique as the shop assistants tactfully vanished into the back rooms. "I pulled you out of the dirt! You were fighting animals for bread, Mill! You would be dead if it weren't for me. You think you’re too good for me? You’re a nameless stray in a maid’s uniform!"He grabbed her arm, his fingers digging into her skin like talons. "I gave you a life, and I can take it away just as easily. Now, take the bags and get in the car. Not another word."Millicent stumbled toward the sedan, her vision blurred by hot, stinging tears. The warmth of Griffin Manor was gone. She realized then that she hadn't been rescued; she had simply been collected.**The air inside the car felt like it was thickening, turning into a suffocating fog of fear and betrayal. Millicent gripped the edge of her seat, her knuckles white. She looked at the man beside her, the
CHAPTER 747
When Millicent was led down to the basement, she didn't complain. To her, the room was a palace. As the heat radiated through the brick walls, she let out a long, shaky sigh of relief. It was warm, so much warmer than the oil-slicked highway or the freezing marsh. She curled up on the small cot that night, feeling safe for the first time since her world had turned to static.The days turned into weeks. Millicent became an indispensable ghost within Griffin Manor: efficient, silent, and surprisingly talented. When the head cook fell ill one afternoon, Millicent stepped in to finish the dinner."Where did you learn to cook like this?" Evelyn asked, actually finishing her plate."I don't know, Madam," Millicent replied with a small smile. "My hands just seemed to know what to do."But as the months passed, the atmosphere began to shift. Harold’s presence became more frequent in the rooms she was cleaning. He would appear in the library while she was dusting, his gaze heavy and un
CHAPTER 746
Standing just a few feet away, looking awkward and filthy against the backdrop of a thousand-dollar Persian rug, was Millicent. Evelyn’s smile didn’t just fade; it vanished, replaced by an icy mask of suspicion. She pulled her silk robe tighter, her eyes raking over Millicent’s matted hair and dirt-streaked skin with visible loathing."Harold," Evelyn demanded, her voice dropping an octave, "who, or what… is this? And why is it standing in our foyer?"Harold cleared his throat, his hand remaining protectively near Millicent’s shoulder. "She was wandering near the highway, Evelyn. I found her in a state no human being should endure. Since you’ve been complaining for weeks about the incompetence of the domestic staff, I thought I’d bring her back to fill the vacancy."He gestured between the two women. "Evelyn, this is Mill. Mill, this is my wife, Evelyn Griffin."Evelyn didn’t move. "A maid? Harold, she looks like she crawled out of a swamp. We have standards. We can’t just pick up
CHAPTER 745
Millicent’s mind screamed: Run! Danger!The memory of the man in the sedan was still scorched into her brain. She hit the cold brick of the grocery store wall, clutching the moldy bread like a treasure."No," she rasped, her voice cracking. "Go away."Harold didn't move. He simply stood there, his presence like a sturdy oak in a storm. "The animals will be back the moment I leave," he said gently. "And that bread will make you sicker than the hunger will."He saw her eyes darting toward the street, searching for an exit. "I have a daughter about your age," Harold said, a lie to settle her nerves. "I wouldn't want her eating from a bin. Just one meal, little one. If you want to leave after that, I will drive you wherever you want to go. My word as a gentleman."Something about that word, gentleman, felt like it belonged to the world she had forgotten. She looked at his hand again. It was clean, the nails trimmed, the skin unmarred. Slowly, she let the moldy bread drop into the dir
You may also like
The Return of Doctor Levin
Dane Lawrence143.2K viewsThe Ultimate Husband
Skykissing Wolf7.7M viewsSon-in-law: The Billionaire's Reign
Deliaha Shine108.5K viewsRise Of The Sole Heir
Estypen79.1K viewsThe Legendary Martin Garvey
M. K. Diana1.1K viewsRise Of The Billionaire Son-in-law
Dark Knight 854 viewsAMOS VOSS, RETURN OF THE TITAN
Dominant pen399 viewsThe Unbroken Warlord
AFM318.5K views