In a distant villa, nestled at a pri location in the city—deep within the prestigious Mayfair Gardens on Prisis Hill—the air was heavy with smoke and silence. The dimly lit room slled of leather, cigars, and blood.
Sebastian sat leisurely on the velvet couch, a half-burnt cigar resting between his fingers. His tall, well-built figure leaned back in a lazy posture, but there was nothing relaxed about him.
His sharp, godly features looked as if carved from stone, but it was his eyes that unsettled everyone present.
Dark... piercing... and murderous.
At his feet, a bloodied figure lay sprawled on the cold floor, trembling uncontrollably. Robert—the head driver of the Harper estate—his back torn open with lash marks, skin split and raw.
The sound of the whip had stopped only monts ago, but the sting still lingered in the air like static.
"Enough," Sebastian said coldly, raising his hand to signal Benjamin, the butler, to halt the next strike.
Benjamin lowered the whip, stepping back with a small bow. His gloves were stained red, but his face remained unreadable, trained after years of following orders without question.
Sebastian stared down at Robert, his voice dangerously calm. "Now... tell , Robert... Who are you working for?"
Robert’s body shook, but still, he kept his mouth shut.
Sebastian’s jaw clenched. His patience was thinning.
After Jenny’s incident... when the reports ca in... Sebastian hadn’t wasted a second. He had started following Aurora’s words carefully, every lead, every small clue.
The first person that ca to his mind was the nanny.
Jenny’s nanny... the woman who had been with her since birth... trusted like family.
Sebastian had imdiately sent people to bring her in for questioning. But before he could reach her... she was found dead. Murdered.
The timing was too clean. Too calculated.
Soone was working under his nose. Soone close.
So, Sebastian had spread false news... letting the world believe that the nanny was alive... locked up in the basent of his villa in Mayfair Gardens. It was bait... a trap for the real traitor.
And now... here Robert was... caught like a rat.
Sebastian’s dark eyes glinted dangerously as the thoughts played in his mind.
He stepped forward, crouching down to Robert’s level. "Still keeping quiet, are we?"
Robert trembled violently but pressed his lips shut.
Sebastian let out a low chuckle, the kind that sent cold sweat down every servant’s spine. "Benjamin... fetch the pincers."
Benjamin nodded, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a tal case. The sound of it opening clicked through the room like a death sentence.
"For every unanswered question..." Sebastian said, standing up, "...remove a nail."
Robert’s eyes widened in horror. "N-No... please... please, Master Sebastian..."
Just then, a knock ca from the door.
Liam, Sebastian’s trusted right hand, stepped inside quickly, holding a file in his hand. "Sir... the report you asked for," he said, handing it over with both hands.
Sebastian took the report, flipping through the pages. His eyes scanned the details thoroughly... slowly... absorbing every line.
After a few seconds, he threw the report at Robert’s face with a flick of his wrist.
The papers slapped against Robert’s bloodied cheek and fell scattered on the floor.
Sebastian let out a humorless chuckle, low and dark. The kind of laugh that made even Benjamin freeze in place.
Robert’s trembling worsened. Cold sweat dripped down his face.
"Liam," Sebastian said, his voice low but sharp as a blade, "fetch Darla. And bring that boy from Country Y. I want them both here. Imdiately."
Robert’s eyes widened in panic. "No... No! Sir... please! Leave my son out of this!"
Sebastian’s lips curled into a mocking smile. "Tsk... Tsk... why would I spare any one of you?"
He stepped forward and grabbed a handful of Robert’s hair, yanking his head up so their eyes t.
"For ten years..." Sebastian growled. "You and your wife... working right under my nose... plotting against my family... poisoning my sister... You really think I’ll let your precious boy live untouched?"
Tears of desperation rolled down Robert’s face. "Please... he’s innocent... He doesn’t know anything...!"
Sebastian’s gaze didn’t soften. Not even a fraction.
"Tell ," Sebastian said coldly, tightening his grip, "Who is behind this?"
For a long second... silence.
Then...
Robert opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and broken.
"No one sent ..." he whispered. "I... I did this... all on my own."
Liam and Benjamin exchanged glances in disbelief.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"
Robert nodded weakly. "If you want to bla soone... bla your grandmother... and your father for it."
The room went still.
Sebastian’s expression darkened imdiately. His eyes... dangerous, nacing... a storm ready to explode.
"What did you say?" he hissed.
Before Robert could react, Sebastian’s fist ca crashing down against his face. The blow was so strong, Robert’s head snapped sideways and blood splattered on the floor.
"It’s on ... I’m the one responsible for poisoning Jenny," Robert choked, coughing blood.
"I wanted to kill you first... but you were too well-guarded... too hard to get close to..."
Robert’s face twisted with a bitter, hateful grin.
"But then... life gave another chance..." he laughed brokenly. "Your sister was born... so I thought... why not start with her?"
Sebastian froze.
For a mont... it was like the air was sucked out of the room.
Then... fury.
Pure... unfiltered... rage.
With a roar, Sebastian kicked Robert square in the chest. The force sent him crashing into the corner of the room, coughing and gasping for air, blood pouring from his mouth.
There was no guilt in Robert’s eyes... not even a flicker of remorse for making an innocent child suffer.
"What has she done to you?!" Sebastian shouted, his voice thundering through the walls. "What the hell did Jenny do to deserve this?"
Lying on the ground, Robert let out a twisted chuckle... wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his shaking hand.
"Her only fault..." he rasped, "...is that she’s a Harper."
Sebastian’s eyes turned pitch black with fury.
Sebastian delivered another devastating kick to Robert’s ribs, sending him crashing against the floor with a sickening thud.
Blood gushed from Robert’s mouth, pooling beneath him as he coughed and gasped for air.
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