In the cafeteria of Springfield,
The hospital cafeteria looked out of place with the two n seated in sharp business suits, backs straight, shoulders squared.
A waiter hovered nearby, unsure whether to approach them. To inform them, it was a self-service cafe. But the air was so tense around them that he gave up and backed away.
Alaric had every reason to strike, to uproot Damien and end it once and for all. But that wouldn’t help Aveline. She needed to vent, to get over the man she trusted and dread of a future with.
If he did it for her, she would be left with nothing but grief and questions. She had to tear Damien apart herself.
Henry, on the other hand, was different. He would rather lie on the chopping board than watch Aveline suffer another hit.
Alaric didn’t expect anything less from Henry. So he wasn’t there to answer Henry’s question. Maybe soften the tension.
"Sun-" he paused, biting back the word on his tongue.
He hadn’t kidnapped Aveline yet. So, no need to get strangled by her father yet.
"She ca to ," he said simply. "Your daughter visited ."
Though he had been the one laying the groundwork, it was Aveline who stepped forward, walked into the den, and made the first move.
"She revealed Damien’s plan against . In return, she asked for help."
Henry’s jaw flexed. Under the table, his fists curled. His daughter had walked into enemy territory and sohow flipped the table. He wasn’t sure if he was proud or just heartbroken.
"Chairman Laurent, you don’t need to pay to protect her. Now, it’s my responsibility."
He could have said she is his responsibility, but he didn’t.
The subtle reminder that even he had once contacted Alaric for her protection didn’t slip past Henry.
If Aveline chose to work with Alaric, could he stop Alaric?
No.
But why hadn’t she co to her father instead?
As if hearing his thoughts, Alaric continued, "She called when Damien took her to Lifeline Hospital."
No, he wasn’t boosting. But a faint frown appeared on Henry’s forehead.
"When she couldn’t handle it, when she couldn’t take the front line, she stepped back. She’ll do that when she has to. She’s cautious. Careful. She knows what she’s doing." His every word dripped with admiration.
With that, Alaric stood and walked away.
Behind him, Henry sat frozen. A painful breath struck in his chest. The confidence Alaric had in Aveline was sothing all of them lacked.
They were too scared of Aveline getting hurt. They were angry at Damien. But they failed to see how strong and focused Aveline was. For herself. For them.
He watched Alaric’s back as he disappeared down the corridor. He couldn’t believe the man he barely knew had just told him who his daughter had beco. How much of a lead role she had taken.
...
By the ti Alaric returned to Aveline’s side, she was asleep with his phone gripped in her hand.
This might be the last ti he would get to care for her in the hospital, and he hoped it stayed that way.
Carefully, he slid the phone from her fingers. It unlocked at his touch and flashed a contact card.
’Aveline Laurent.’
His lips curled into a smirk. He edited it, ’Sunshine’, but his smile didn’t fade.
From the looks of her efforts to change her na on his mobile, his words had affected her in all the right ways. She had been less uneasy. More focused. Curious.
He pulled a pen drive from his pocket and tucked it into her palm. Just as he removed the headphones, a voice ca from behind him:
"Spill the truth, Mr. CEO. You love her, don’t you?"
He turned to find Scarlett leaning against the doorfra, arms crossed and eyes knowing.
How could he ignore sobody Aveline trusted? Sobody who would risk her life for Aveline?
So he corrected her, "Alaric." He didn’t care for the CEO tag.
Scarlett got her answer and cleared her doubt without words. But she shook her head with a sigh. "You appeared at the wrong ti." She ant Aveline wasn’t in the right emotional condition to see it or feel it.
"It couldn’t be more perfect," Alaric replied as he walked past her.
He had regrets that he stepped into Aveline’s life too late. But that didn’t matter now. He was here when she needed soone the most.
Scarlett stayed behind, impressed. Not by his charm but by his clarity. She stepped inside Aveline’s room to wait.
....
In the car, Henry watched the dean of Springfield and senior staff follow Alaric, murmuring respectfully.
That’s when it hit him. Springfield Hospital was under the Lancasters.
A strange uneasiness rooted in his chest. Aveline had walked into Alaric’s life, and now, everything around her, the hospital, staff, people, and lawyer, belonged to Alaric.
With Damien’s betrayal still raw, Henry wasn’t able to trust Alaric.
"Drive to the Lancaster headquarters," Henry told his driver.
He couldn’t sit still. Not until he knew exactly who his daughter was trusting.
....
At Elite Enclave,
Unlike Leo Silver’s usual haunts, this club oozed elite luxury, one of the rare places he reserved for hanging out with the truly rich.
It was still noon. Damien sat with a drink in his hand, looking unimpressed. He was weighing the pros and cons of Leo’s plan against Alaric, but Leo was already acting on it.
"Your plan won’t work." Hiding from all caras and stealing from NexGuard didn’t sound easy. If caught, Alaric wouldn’t stop until he found the real perpetrator.
Leo shrugged like it didn’t matter. "It doesn’t have to sound good. Damien. It just has to win."
That was the thing with Leo. He only rode with the team guaranteed to win. Thus, Damien set his work aside and went over to the club.
"You’ll see." Leo raised his glass lazily. "Give it a minute."
As seconds ticked by, Damien tapped his fingers against the table, impatient. "And who’s your magic ticket?"
Leo smirked, reading a ssage on his mobile. He turned to the private room door. "See for yourself."
Damien followed his gaze and saw a man walk in, looking sharp but calculated.
Leo didn’t even flinch, grinning ear to ear.
Damien blinked. "Nicholas!?"
Nicholas Lancaster, Alaric’s stepbrother.
Damien knew Nicholas had always tried to cut Alaric down, but working with others to destroy his step-brother? This was the next level.
Leo stood in with mock formality, "et Nicholas Lancaster." He pointed Nicholas with one hand and Damien with the other, "et Damien Ashford."
And he declared, "The two n who could jointly bury Alaric Lancaster."
Nicholas sat down like he owned the place. The smirk on his lips was confident, but his eyes were full of sothing darker.
When he got a call from Leo suggesting there was a man who was as eager as him to bring down Alaric, he didn’t expect much.
Looking at Damien, he didn’t care about Damien’s reasons.
All he cared about was that NexGuard’s rapid rise had begun to shake his position in Lancaster Global Holdings.
Just buy the product launch of NexGuard, the shareholders whisper to his father to bring Alaric to the company instead of wasting his talent outside.
How could he just sit and do nothing when Alaric was rising to snatch his position?
"Whatever the plan is," Nicholas said, "I’m in."
Damien’s lips curled. Finally, he had found soone who hated Alaric just as much.
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