*****For a moment after Xavier’s voice had sounded, an eerie silence enveloped both the car and the group outside, with everyone staring at him in an absolute stupor, all of them struggling to believe their ears.It felt utterly impossible that Xavier had just uttered these words, and for this reason, they all wondered whether they had misheard and it was their ears playing tricks on them.The more they tried to convince themselves that they were the ones who had misheard, however, the less certain they became.Eventually, they all exchanged gazes in pairs, and in the following second, the faces of the ones in the car paled significantly, realizing that it was as they had feared—they had really not misheard Xavier despite hoping with everything within them that they had....Edgar, to whom this question was directed was no exception. He also tried as much as he could to convince himself that his ears were the ones that had deceived him, but he failed miserably and upon seeing t
***** It wasn’t a secret even to some of the average residents of Riverton City that the top real estate family, the Blackwoods, owned the best and number one villa in Oceanview Estate, a fact which even the other prominent first-rank families had always been envious about as the villa wasn’t just larger, beautiful, and more elegant than the rest, but it also occupied the best spot in the entire estate. But now… an unknown figure, a complete nobody, had just dared to claim ownership. Apart from Laura and David who failed to understand this fact, everyone else continued gaping wide-eyed at Xavier after he was done casually speaking, looking at him as if he had just made the most outrageous and shocking remark of all time. For this reason, pin-drop silence enveloped the surroundings again, with no one knowing how to react. This tense silence and stillness lingered on for what felt like ages until finally; “You… you… you… what an audacity! The audacity!!!” Edgar returned to hi
***** In the silence, everyone turned their heads and looked at the owner of the recent voice, a 30 – 32-year-old pretty lady, dressed sharply in a black suit that accentuated her hourglass shape and exuded professionalism. Her calm presence, however instantly caused a dramatic shift in the soldiers and Edgar’s expressions. Edgar was first stunned, but then his face lit up with reverence before a smug grin stretched across his lips, the presence of the lady suddenly adding to his courage. ‘Hehehe…’ he chuckled excitedly, recalling the lady’s words to him after his arrival. With this, he couldn’t help but send an arrogant and smug smirk at the soldiers, reveling in his perceived victory. "You two should start packing your belongings from the smallest to the largest—you’ll pay dearly for your arrogance and disrespect towards me, your superior, with your jobs," he declared with smug superiority. The moment these words entered the soldiers’ ears, however, the remaining color
*****‘Sir Xavier?’‘Waiting for him?’‘This… is this real?’As though their souls had departed, leaving behind empty shells, all the people outside Oceanview Estate were staring dazedly right now, most of them with their mouths wide open, struggling to digest what had just transpired... what they had just heard.There was no exception to the shock gripping everyone right now, Xavier included due to Victoria’s respectful declaration of waiting for him, though he was less stupefied than everyone else was utterly floored.The overwhelming silence that followed Victoria’s words lingered for what seemed like an eternity, so thick that the ones standing with their mouths wide open began to drool, yet still, no one returned to their senses.……Meanwhile, sensing the tension that had filled up the atmosphere, Victoria, whose head was still bowed furrowed her brows slightly, confusion flashing across her face.She slowly lifted her head after a moment, glancing around, and the moment
***** "This..." All except Edgar and Xavier felt their hearts stop briefly—Edgar’s eyes lightening up with excitement, relief, and smugness After a moment, while everyone else… ‘She… she hasn’t even confirmed his identity yet?!’ they all thought in unison, a mix of horror and helplessness gripping their minds, making the earlier hint of hope disappear. It was only David, who after processing Victoria’s words allowed a small smile to escape. 'The first good news since,' he thought in relief, knowing that the only one who could probably exonerate them from the current up-and-down situation was the Blackwood Patriarch himself who had given him the villa’s key. “Son, I… I think…” Laura, shivering from apprehension looked at Xavier as soon as she saw Victoria bringing out her cell phone, wanting to plead with him when the beaming David stopped her. "It’s alright, dear. The truth will come out now," he reassured her, speaking in a voice only the three of them in the backseat could
***** Blackwood family’s estate. Inside a grand, sprawling room with towering ceilings supported by intricately designed pillars, each symbolizing a different aspect of the family’s legacy—power, wisdom, history, and dominance were three middle-aged men and their faces were currently ashen with fury, their eyes blazing with unbridled anger, seething silently, as if on the verge of explosion. Next to them was the stunningly beautiful Cassandra, whose gaze was fixated ahead of her right now as though trying to piece together a puzzle, and this lasted for some time until finally, her eyes lit up with clarity. "He’s without a doubt the one currently on the phone with Grandfather. I’ve never seen Grandfather show such respect and deference to anyone else," she muttered quietly with a look of certainty appearing on her face as she hurriedly shot a quick look at the three men, who had remained quiet because of their belief that their father was on the phone with someone significant.
*****As soon as these words left his mouth, he felt his heart race and his palms grow sweaty in nervousness, but just then;"How about I come tonight?" The words he hadn't anticipated entered his ear from the cell phone, sounding like the most beautiful melody he had heard in years, and in the next moment, the old man was completely flabbergasted, the words echoing in his mind and resonating in his ears."You… you’ll come tonight?" he stuttered and the following second, his eyes lit up as he could no longer contain his excitement—barely maintaining his composure.This response filled the old man with such joy that he could no longer wait for the evening and once the call ended, he jumped to his feet, laughing uproariously, stunning everyone in the room."This… this is wonderful, hahaha!"“Huh…” The four in the room, seeing the old man like this were dumbstruck and couldn’t react again, finding it difficult to believe he was their patriarch."You! Inform the staff to start prep
*****Everyone couldn’t help but remain frozen in shock, struggling to comprehend how this presently subdued Edgar on his knees with such a pitiful face and teary eyes could be the same haughty, difficult-to-handle, and rude one from a moment ago.Their mouths continued to hang open, completely lost for words while Edgar... If remorse could be a person right now, it would be him.He wanted to smack himself repeatedly on the face, frantically cursing his foolishness and stupidity, as his pride and false sense of superiority had not only sabotaged his rise even before it began but also ruined any chance he would ever get again in the future.He was filled to the brim with self-loath right now.Not seemingly to notice all the gazes directed at him nor giving a cent about the haughty image he had been keeping, his body began to tremble hysterically, looking like he would sob at any moment even though no tears would fall from his eyes.Finally, after what felt like an eternity to him