“You already know about the case of Mason Parker and Luther van Gowen, so I won’t go into great detail about what happened,” Gregory began. “I was one of their major investors, but I was not quite satisfied with the way that they did things. A stubborn fool he was, that Parker boy. He was the charitable type who never thought of doing things for pure profit in the long run. A waste of his intelligence, I’d say.”“Just another fool who thinks that everything will be fine and dandy as long as he gives back to others,” Christian sneered.“Exactly. Hence the reason why I went to Luther van Gowen and took advantage of his envy towards Mason Parker. He was an ambitious man, and he still is. He went so far as to betray his own friend. Another fool, but a rich fool in the end.”Christian shook his head. “And then they got into that argument and went to the streets.”Gregory nodded. “When Mason Parker got into a car accident, Luther van Gowen was the witness. Nobody was around to help them.” S
“That woman planned on divorcing me and going off to marry Samuel McGregor instead,” Gregory revealed. “At that time, you and Patricia weren’t even born yet, so she was determined in her decision. She even intended on telling her parents about her plans. So then I thought, if the Rutherfords found out that she wanted to marry Samuel McGregor, they would eventually agree, simply because back then, the McGregors had accomplished a lot of things, and Haynes-McGregor Industries was rising up to be one of the top five companies in the entire country.”He smiled.“I had been in the middle of my plans when the perfect opportunity just presented itself. An uncanny coincidence, don’t you think?”Christian scoffed. “What a messed up situation.”“Ah, well, messed up things can happen in a family like ours.”“Considering the fact that my own mother cheated on you twice, I believe it. Goes to show just how loyal women are.”Gregory looked at his son for a moment. He opened his mouth to ask somethin
Gregory turned in his chair and looked out the window, as if lost in his memories.“Luther van Gowen wanted justice for his friend. The police needed to find the culprit, especially since Mason Parker was a beloved figure in their town,” he replied. “When Luther asked for my help, I had my men find someone suitable, someone worthless who wouldn’t be missed in this world, to become the scapegoat. I had no idea who it was, for I did not care in the least. But when I looked at the records, it was someone named Theodore Berkley, and he turned out to be Winston’s father. I assume that that is the reason for the boy’s grudge.”Christian was not interested in further details about the gardener. He just wanted to get straight to the point.“What of my mother’s death, then? The reason why Harold Huckington said those words to me that day,” he said.Gregory’s expression changed slightly.“Pamela died a miserable death. She locked herself in her room for days after Winston’s apparent suicide,” h
Christian took a moment to register the warmth seeping through his skin as he continued to embrace Camille from behind.Despite their contractual relationship, gestures of affection were rare between them. Camille usually shied away from such things and stayed as far away from him as possible.He, on the other hand, only touched and teased her out of amusement and a desire to see her various reactions. He simply found satisfaction in watching the way her features twisted in irritation and fear.He knew that there were more layers to her that were yet to be discovered, motivating him to unravel them all until she became an open book for him alone to read.Right now, Christian couldn’t pinpoint what exactly compelled this rare display of affection from him. The only times he embraced women were to satisfy his desires and nothing more. To be frank, they were mere affairs that he couldn’t care less about.But with Camille, he could only recall two previous instances of gestures that were
“What am I doing? Well, I’m just kissing my fiancée on the cheek, that’s all,” Christian replied innocently. “Why? Do you want it to be somewhere else? For example…” Slyly, he reached out and touched her lower lip with the pad of his thumb, causing her to stare at him incredulously. “…right here?”At this point, Camille had had enough.Glowering, she broke free of his grasp and took a few steps back until her back was pressed against the stove.The obvious disgust on her face would have been offensive if it weren’t for the fact that he had wanted to see it with his own eyes.The sight of her face turning red with rage was mesmerizing to Christian. He wanted to do more. He wanted to break her completely until she was putty in his hands.He stared back at her with a smile, not at all disturbed by her silent rage. After all, it was hard to be intimidated by a feisty kitten like that.“Mr. Callahan, please don’t do that again,” she said quietly. It seemed to take every inch of her remaini
“I… I did,” Camille answered him in a hesitant tone. She seemed reluctant to answer, but she had no choice in the matter. “I told him in person that we’re engaged and that it’s not… forced or anything like that. That we both have mutual feelings for each other.”Christian nodded, satisfied. “That’s true in a way, don’t you think?”Annoyance flashed in Camille’s eyes before she continued, “Besides, we just talked about our past afterwards, that’s all. We started catching up—”“Did you find out anything interesting? Something we can use against him?”She pursed her lips in displeasure at his choice of words.There was no ‘we’ in this! It was he and only he who wanted to bring Michael down for whatever stupid reason he had. Camille had no part in this!However, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut for the safety of her loved ones and herself.As long as she was careful about the details she told this man, everything would be fine. It would go according to her own plan.With him c
Camille flinched reflexively, not knowing what to expect.She was always wary whenever he did something unexpected, like touching her out of the blue when he usually never did, especially when they were at the company. Besides, Christian Callahan wasn’t exactly the touchy-feely type.But today, he seemed to be possessed by something, and that made her feel even more wary. She could no longer predict what he might do next, and that was a little scary.“What’s with that reaction?” Christian burst into a chuckle. “You’re acting like I’m about to murder you or something.”She stepped aside and went to the fridge. She had already taken all the ingredients that she needed, but she just wanted a reason to get away from him. “I already told you what I know. Please leave me alone. I’m hungry,” she said.“Then we should eat together,” he suggested. “I’m rather famished myself.”“No,” she said automatically. “I’d rather eat my meal alone, thank you.”“What a cold woman you are,” he remarked ligh
Christian’s smile faltered slightly.“So, you mean to say that only Michael McGregor will have your heart?” he said. “No one else?”“Who even said that I’m in love with him? He’s just my friend and nothing more,” Camille said flatly. “I love him, yes, but not romantically. He’s a precious person to me.”Christian suddenly let out a hollow laugh.She looked at him warily. “What’s so funny?”He shook his head and let go of her chin. “Nothing. I just find it amusing, the way you keep lying even to yourself.”That ruffled her feathers a bit. “What the hell are you talking about?”He raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that everything he did for you didn’t touch your heart even a little? That when the two of you reunited after so many years, your heart never skipped a beat? That you never once thought of him as an attractive man?” He laughed again. “You may fool yourself, Miss Parker, but not me.”Camille shook her head, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. “You’re wrong,” she said,