It was the night of the Carters’ annual gathering.Howard appeared distracted, as though his husk of a body was unattended, as he looked on with his eyes glazed and unseeing. His face was abnormally pale too as cold beads of sweat potted his skin.“Howard, are you okay? You don’t look so hot,” Hector asked, his eyebrows furrowed.Howard stared at nothing in particular without answering him. It was beginning to worry the older man, who placed his hand on Howard’s forehead before crying out in shock, “Your forehead’s really cool…Are you having cold sweat?!”Upon hearing his voice, everyone else turned to look at him.“Oh, uh, what?” Howard finally pulled himself back to reality. When he realized where he was, he quickly shook his head. “I, uh, I’m fine.”“Are you sure? You’re having cold sweat. Did something happen to you?” Hector asked, unconvinced and concerned.“Yeah, Howard. If something’s troubling you, at least let the family know.”Howard forced a smile. “What do you mean
The Carters did not waste time jeering and insulting Faye and Zayn, their fingers wagging and pointing in mockery. Mocking them had become a form of entertainment for them.Faye’s expression turned stormy, her ire and contempt toward Zayn multiplying. She had been reluctant to join the family gathering despite being a Carter herself. Conversely, Zayn was so thick-skinned, he did not even care that he was just a guy who married into his wife’s family. He would let himself be abused and looked down upon just so he could have some free food.She missed the chairman of Violet Vision even more. Had he been at their family gathering, everyone would have shut up and kissed his boots as hard as they could.It was regrettable that she did not even have the chairman’s contact details. Just the thought of that made her heave a sigh as her dismay grew.Zayn hardly cared about the Carters’ remarks. The only reason he had come was to be Faye’s companion. He would not have bothered to attend othe
Howard was not being subtle, but as most people had their eyes on Hector, his reaction went largely unobserved.Even so, not everyone missed him—Zayn had seen his reaction. He narrowed his eyes as the cogs in his brain turned before concluding that this was Howard’s doing. The call Hector received had something to do with him!Meanwhile, Hector’s expression went through a spectrum of shock, fury, and finally, horror. By the time the call ended, his eyes were glazed over in disbelief, as though his soul had left him.His shifting emotions mystified the crowd. A heavy air of foreboding began to dawn on them, and they started to wonder if something terrible had happened to the company.Amid the uneasy silence, George furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Hector. “Who was that?”Hector gulped, scanning everyone’s faces, before meeting George’s eyes. “It’s from the finance department.”Though he managed to project an appearance of unflappability, George felt his pounding heart skip a be
Howard could feel Zayn’s eyes burning into him and his blood boiled in frustration. How he wished he could lunge at him and rip his foul mouth to shreds! Nevertheless, he could not make any sudden, out-of-place moves lest he expose himself.Just from the way his grandfather and the rest of his family reacted, Howard had no doubt that if anyone knew who the culprit was, they would lynch him right there and then.This was why he kept telling himself that he had to be calm above all else when it came to situations like these. He needed to deny everything to the bitter end.Besides, Howard had been careful not to leave an incriminating trail when he embezzled the money, and the sum was transferred straight into Gordon Hayes’ account. As long as he remained steadfast in his denial, no one would really believe he had done it. What’s more, he was far from the only one who had access to company funds.George gave Zayn the stink eye. “Shut up. No one asked you!”He quickly turned back to H
Howard quivered and his heart fluttered in a panic. How dare that little bastard Zayn rat him out!George’s eyes immediately zoned in on Howard with all his majestic pressure. It was so overwhelming that Howard almost wet himself right then and there.“Bullsh*t!” Hector bellowed, slamming the desk furiously before pointing his finger at Zayn. “You sorry excuse for a son-in-law! You really have a death wish, don’t you? How dare you fling these baseless accusations at my son?! Imagining that you’re some kind of brave hero, huh?”The other Carters were just as enraged as he was. Their faces twisted in anger as they fired a barrage of verbal abuse.Faye was taken aback by Zayn’s bravado. Why was he so good at dragging her into one mess after another? Where did he find the audacity to accuse Howard just like that?She quickly yanked Zayn back to his seat before bristling in irritation, “Are you really that suicidal, Zayn?! Or are you pathologically incapable of dragging me into one dis
Faye raised her head suddenly, and without concealing her emotions, swung her hand hard and struck Zayn on the cheek.“Just shut the hell up, Zayn Larson! I’ve had enough of you! I’ve told you over and over again that I don’t want you to plague me with troubles. But you never listen, do you? This is your petty way of getting vengeance against me, isn’t it? You have the gall to claim you can prevent me from suffering any injustice, but what do you have that could guarantee that?!”The blow was uncannily sharp—so much so, Zayn was too bewildered to react.The rest of the room did not waste time before indulging in schadenfreude. Some of them clapped, including Howard himself. All the fear and panic he felt before was gone, replaced by an expression of genuine mirth. Zayn was such an enormous moron, was he not? He was so brainless that he did not even know how someone as stupid as himself could not possibly have ratted him out successfully. In fact, Howard thought that Zayn’s eagerness
Gone was Gordon’s humility and deference from when he ate with Zayn two days ago. His stride was confident and commanding. A powerful aura emanated from him, silencing everyone there as soon as they submissively looked at him. As a gangster who built his empire from scratch, Gordon wore a suit in an attempt to dress himself up like a business mogul, but his belligerent air betrayed him.“Wow, sounds pretty merry here. Looks like I came just in time,” Gordon said with a grin. He held two walnuts in his hand as he sauntered in.Howard’s smile froze the moment he saw Gordon. The color visibly drained from his face as his pupils dilated. The man was so terrified that his legs were shaking. He could not understand why Gordon Hayes was there.He had given Gordon 1.5 million dollars the day before. Why was he still coming after him? Was it because he had not gone to gamble that day?Hidden among the crowd, Zayn had an enigmatic smile when he saw Gordon.Why was Gordon Hayes here? Of co
At the thought of it, his gaze was sharp when he glared at Faye, dying to tear her apart.“Mr. Hayes, you must be joking? Us Carters do not have any business with you. How could we owe you anything?” George plastered on a smile.Gordon’s grin remained unchanged. “Oh? Looks like you still don’t know. Your charming grandson had a good time at my place recently. It’s too bad he got a little unlucky and lost some money. He promised to repay it the next day, but he disappeared yesterday. Can’t even get to him through the phone. What could I do? I have to come for him personally. It didn’t occur to me that tonight was a gathering dinner for you Carters. Tsk, tsk, excuse me for intruding. Mr. Carter, you don’t mind, do you?”George could no longer keep his composure after that. The smile on his face froze and the corners of his lips kept twitching. Barely holding his fury in, he told Gordon, “Is that true, Mr. Hayes? I know nothing about it.”Gordon’s expression took a swift turn, becomin