A high-profile man like Tobias could have any woman at the tip of his fingers. However, since he had married Lucy, he had maintained the image of a good man and has kept his distance from women who fancied him. Plus, he only gave his love and affection to Lucy, and Lucy alone!When Maya had accused him, Tobias had been afraid that Lucy would misunderstand him. He had thought she would choose to believe Maya over him and had been disappointed.He had never expected Lucy to have astounding observational skills, and he was pleasantly amazed at how quickly she had found the loophole.Tobias' eyes shone without him realizing it. "Babe, I never knew you had such great deductive skills."Lucy smiled lightly, "I learned it from movies.""Really?"Tobias stared at her intensely, unable to believe what she said.Movies had no basis. How could she learn these skills by watching them? There must be something about her that he didn't know.Maya had never thought that Lucy would bluntly expo
A glint flickered in Lucy's eyes at Tobias' attempt to save their marriage.She didn't respond to it but continued to dissect the question earlier.Lucy said, "Your hypothesis is plausible. You confidently claimed that you never touched her. I started to suspect that it was all a scheme. "But why did the hospital visit's results indicate traces of your body fluids on Maya? Plus, Sasha and my bro—Brett did a check-up, and the results confirmed they were physically intimate as well. "For the life of me, I can't figure it out."Tobias was disappointed that Lucy had avoided talking about the divorce. He thought about her suspicions and said, "Did something go wrong at the hospital?"Confused, Lucy said, "Are you referring to the equipment at the hospital?"Tobias suddenly thought of something and sneered, "It might be a human problem."He had been in the business field for a long time and was way too familiar with such plots.Lucy asked in shock, "Are you saying that the hospita
The next day, Lucy fell from the bed last night and hurt her bone. Tobias left Finn to manage work matters while he personally took Lucy to the hospital for a check-up.He also wanted to investigate the incident relating to the fake reports.The doctor's face turned stern in the clinic when he looked at the results.Tobias anxiously said, "Doctor, how is she? Did her condition worsen?"The doctor said, "Mr. Ripley, Ms. Everhart's condition is stable, but I must remind you to reduce her movements. Otherwise, she would suffer from long-term effects.""Okay."Tobias and Lucy sighed in relief.The doctor continued, "Ms. Everhart, please return for a follow-up in two weeks' time. Then, you will need to undergo rehabilitative physiotherapy.""Okay."As they finished the check-up, Sasha and Emily were already waiting outside. When they noticed Lucy and Tobias, Sasha asked, "How is she? Is it serious?"Lucy shook her head. "The doctor said it's nothing serious and asked me to come ba
Tobias looked at the screen. The surveillance footage showed Joey bringing Maya to the hospital for a check-up. He could string together the entire process through the numerous security cameras.Moments later, Tobias saw a loophole in the footage. He asked, "There. Why did we lose her all of a sudden?""Let's switch to another security camera and see if we've missed out on anything, Mr. Ripley.""Do it, now!"Moments later, the technician said, "This lady finished her check-up around 10:30 pm, Mr. Ripley. She headed toward the restroom after that."Then, she came to a hallway intersection and used the staircase. It was an angle that the security cameras couldn't capture. "She stayed there for at least 20 minutes before she came out."That was ample time for Maya to bribe a doctor.Tobias asked, "Can you check who else went to the staircase in the same window?""Please hold on. We'll check again."The technicians stared at the screen until their eyes became bloodshot. Tobias
Heath stopped mid-sentence. He wanted to say it out loud, but he hesitated.Something seemed to be bothering him. He stuttered, "I-I think I saw something, Mr. Ripley. However, I can't seem to recall what it is."When Tobias heard what he said, his lips curled into a cold grin. He shot up from his seat and approached Heath. He exuded a cold and imposing air. Every step he took was akin to a thundering blow landing on Heath, who was extremely stressed.Heath was already sweating profusely just from withstanding the pressure of Tobias' overbearing presence. Tobias held Heath by the shoulders and whispered in the latter's ear, "Do you want to know what happened to the last man who lied to me?"He breathed against Heath's cheeks, looking not too different from a venomous python hissing threateningly at its prey.Heath was so terrified that his feet trembled. His forehead was covered in sweat. He gulped in fear and stuttered, "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Ripley. I didn't mean to lie to you,
"Maya is the adopted daughter of Quinton Hudson, the CEO of Hudson Group. According to my investigation, she was adopted when she was eight years old. "Quinton and his wife, Madeleine Dawson, have been married for a long time, but they couldn't have a baby for a long time. They listened to their elders' advice and adopted a daughter to bring good fortune to the household. "What's surprising is that Madeleine got pregnant with a son three years after they adopted Maya. "My findings confirm that Maya was cherished and loved by both her parents in the first three years. However, things went downhill after her younger brother, Luther Hudson, was born. "Her status was no longer the same after that. The neighbors frequently heard and saw Quinton abusing her both verbally and physically. He also humiliated her all the time."The silver lining is that Madeleine protected her all the time. However, she ended up being beaten by Quinton as well. "I'm not sure what happened, but Quinton
Tobias sat back on the director's chair and said with a solemn face, "Let him in."Moments later, Case led Kenny into his office. Fear flashed in the latter's eyes the moment he saw Tobias, but he quickly suppressed it.Tobias said, "Have a seat, Dr. Young. I have some questions for you.""You're renowned and powerful, Mr. Ripley. What business could you have with a commoner like me?""There's no need to be nervous." Tobias raised his eyebrow and said, "I'm going to ask you something. All you have to do is tell me the truth. I won't put you in a difficult position."Kenny's eyes darkened. "Do tell.""Do you know this lady?" Tobias pulled out a picture of Maya and put it on the table. Kenny shook his head frantically. "I don't.""You're lying."Tobias put pressure on him on purpose. "She came to the hospital for a check-up the morning before yesterday. She bribed you with a huge sum of money and asked you to tamper with her medical report."Maya has admitted to it. There's no
Tobias had managed to secure some valuable information. As for Lucy's end, Emily had also found out more information.Lucy had woken up from her nap. She was about to draw some designs with Sasha when Emily came over to report her findings. "I dug up more information, Ms. Lucy. Do you want to hear it?""Sure. Go ahead." In short, Emily's report covered more about how machismo Quinton was, while Luther seemed to have been enjoying all the perks of being privileged since birth. He would often ask Maya to figure out a way to scrape together some money for him. If she failed at that, he would beat her up brutally.Lucy's heart sank after she heard what Emily said. She asked, "Did you manage to find out if Maya is willingly working together with Joey, or is she being coerced into it?""Um… I haven't found out anything about that." Emily paused for a while before she continued, "With that said, I managed to get her phone number."I think we can talk it out with her. We could giv
Lucy heard what Tobias said and didn't dare to look at him. She lowered her gaze, allowing tufts of hair in front of her forehead to conceal her emotions. "Why would I feel jealous? I don't love you."Tobias heard the last part of her sentence and felt as if countless insects were gnawing on his heart, making him feel itchy and painful. Both of them fell quiet, and things were a little awkward between them."The doctor's here, Prince Toddy.""Let him in."The doctor entered the bedroom and brought with him medical equipment of his own. He did a series of checkups on Lucy and said, "It's the same diagnosis as before, Prince Toddy. Her internal organs remain untouched, but she was wounded severely on the outside. "We need to apply a specialized ointment on her skin. Otherwise, she will have scars."Tobias said, "What are you waiting for, then? Get us the specialized ointment.""I've given you all of them, Prince Toddy. Use it wisely for now. The only person who possessed these sp
It seemed like Tobias was afraid that Lucy might reject him again. He added, "You haven't gone home for an entire night, Greta. Sully and Eli are extremely worried about you. I didn't want to alarm them, so I lied and said you're staying in the castle as a guest."If you insist on going back and letting them see you in this state, the twins would be worried and scared. Wouldn't you say?"Solomon and Elio were Lucy's weak spots. Initially, she was determined to leave. However, she hesitated when she heard what he said. Lucy lowered her head and looked at herself. Her limbs were injured, and her fingers were slightly bent. She was trembling ceaselessly as well. It looked as if her joints were distorted, giving off the impression that she was a disabled person. On top of that, Lucy's skin was cracked open from all the lashes. She looked absolutely terrifying. If she showed up in front of Solomon and Elio, looking like this, she would definitely traumatize them. With that said, Luc
Staying in the castle for the long term? Elio, who was a curious and mischievous kid, thought about the lavishing and magnificent castle, and his eyes sparkled. He responded to Tobias without any hesitation, "I do!"Meanwhile, Solomon wasn't interested in the castle that much. He wanted to spend some time with Tobias. On the other hand, he wouldn't be able to see Noah anymore if he went to the castle. So, he stuttered and said, "I don't."Elio looked at Solomon in confusion. The latter seemed to see through the former's bewilderment, and he asked, "Do you honestly think we can do whatever we want in the castle, just like the way we lived at the farm? "Moreover, we won't be able to see Noah anymore once we move there."Noah might've been a stepfather, but he took a huge place in the twins' hearts. Tobias was disappointed when he heard what Solomon said. "Do you two care about Noah very much?"Solomon responded, "Of course!" He considered his stepfather to be a good father. Tobia
Tobias used the military authority to his advantage and swiftly subdued Killian and all the leaders of his faction. All of them were incarcerated by the royal guards, and the signals were jammed. Not even God himself could help Killian and his ilk now. All they could do was sit on their thumbs in their respective homes. Moreover, Tobias revoked Killian's dukedom and stripped the latter of his military authority over Killian's negligence in Marie's education. After all, she drugged a prince. Now, Killian was nothing but a loser.Killian flew into a rage. "Damn it. King Samson had to show me some respect, but Toddy just disrespected me. How dare he lock me up at my home and make me a laughingstock in front of the entire world?""Marie has been imprisoned in the dungeon for a long time now, Kilian. What if she can't take it?""I'll never let her die!" Killian bellowed. "Did they think I command only the factions in the castle? They have grossly underestimated me."Killian couldn't
Tobias accompanied Lucy and looked after her carefully. News of Marie's arrest quickly made its way to Samson. Once he knew what happened, he was enraged at her actions. Before he had time to comfort Tobias, Marie's father, Killian Lemoine, rushed into the castle in a fit of rage. "King Samson. Prince Toddy actually ordered his men to arrest Marie for the sake of a civilian. Do you have no respect for me as a duke?" Killian ordered angrily, "Release Marie at once. Otherwise, I'll make you regret it."Samson slammed the table. "Are you trying to launch a mutiny, Killian?"Killian responded, "All I want is for my daughter to be safe and sound. If someone so much as touches her hair, I won't mind going up against the throne to the bitter end!""Why, you!" Samson was agitated. "You are feeling heartbroken for what happened to your daughter, but Lucy was also her parent's sweetheart. Why haven't you thought about how poorly you've educated Marie while she did those heinous acts?""I
Lucy cried out, "Get away from me!"The royal guards acted like starving wolves. They pounced at Lucy and tore her clothes to pieces, making her look even more miserable. At the critical moment, a figure flashed past them. A thudding sound could be heard as one of the royal guards was sent flying into the air. Every time Tobias swung his fist, he sent another royal guard flying. He bellowed coldly, "How dare you lay your grubby paws on what belongs to me? Death has come for all of you!""Prince Toddy." The royal guards immediately felt that something was wrong and fell to their knees, their faces drained of color. "Take all of them away!"Lucy was downright miserable. There were filthy liquids and blood all over her body. On top of that, her hands and feet were covered in bloodied welts. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was pale. It felt as if she was one touch away from passing away.Tobias' heart seemingly stopped beating. He was so heartbroken that the veins on his fo
Someone stole Duchess Lemoine's necklace.Tobias felt that this was something fishy, but he couldn't be bothered by it now. His head throbbed as he thought about how he had forced himself on Lucy. He said, "Dante, do you think Greta will hate me?"Dante stuttered, "Ms. Everhart was f-furious when she left and asked you n-not to look for her. Otherwise…"He stopped himself from finishing his sentence.Tobias asked, "Otherwise?"Trembling, Dante said, "Otherwise, s-she would beat you up each time she saw you."Tobias massaged his throbbing temple. "Prepare all the shoes, clothes, and accessories any woman would like. They need to be the best in the world. I'll apologize to her when dawn breaks.""Okay."Tobias stood by the bedside, heavy-hearted.Outside the window, the guards were scouring high and low. When Tobias saw what was happening, his eyes twitched for some unknown reason, as if he had an ominous feeling that something terrible had happened.After finishing breakfast a
At 3:00 am, Lucy felt like her bones were about to shatter.That damned man! How long had he been starving himself? He had come onto her seven times, devouring her completely.Tobias was sound asleep. Lucy lost herself for a second as she stared at his handsome face. At that moment, her heart beat wildly. When she regained her senses, she was so furious that she cursed him out internally.She wanted to help out of kindness but ended up giving herself to him. Lucy didn't want anything to do with him anymore and only wanted to remember this as an unfortunate event.Lucy got up, but her legs were so weak that she collapsed on the floor with a thump. She was even more furious.She turned to look at Tobias, who was fast asleep. She conveniently took her clothes from the bed and left while supporting herself on the wall.The corridor was still empty, but Lucy noticed the guards surrounding the entrance when she arrived on the first floor. Dante was also there. He was dozing off from wa
"Hmm… L-let go."Lucy tried to resist, but Tobias' kiss was like an ever-burning flame. She felt uncontrollably weak in her knees. It was hard for her to breathe, as if her mind was foggy from the lack of oxygen. She even kissed him back fiercely.Her kiss, in return, was like a fuse being lit, igniting the burning passion in Tobias. He aggressively ripped open her clothes, but the intricate design of her gown made it difficult to tear off. Lucy regained her senses and forcefully pushed him away.Tobias was caught off guard. With a loud knock, he collapsed on the floor. He moaned in pain as the back of his head hit the floor hard.His face flushed with an unnatural shade of red. He curled his body up in agony, and his voice sounded gruff. He had the last ounce of rationality in him. "Help me…"Lucy was blushing as well. In shock, she exclaimed, "What's the matter with you?"She walked closer to him and realized something was wrong with Tobias, assuming he had eaten something upse