This Chapter is dedicated to Jackie_D_5001. Wow Jackie, thanks for the golden ticket.
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"This is your final warning, Miss. Stay away from our Madam," the guards said firmly, their eyes sharp but voices low, trying not to attract attention. They didn’t want drama, not today. They had co to shop, not to fight.
"Oh, I get it now." Stacey’s lips curled into a mocking smile. She tilted her head, smug like she had just solved a riddle. "You’re walking around like so big-shot now because Ari married into the Adkins family, huh?"
She snorted, her laugh sharp and an. "Big sister living off the little sister’s crumbs. You’re really pathetic, fatso. Even after she stole your fiancé, you’re still defending her."
Her laughter rang out in the mall like a cracked bell. So people looked up, then looked away. Others kept walking, used to scenes like this. Penny stood still, her face calm.
"Step aside," Penny ordered her guards. "There’s no need to protect . She can’t touch ."
The guards hesitated, then moved away.
Not far off, a strange-looking old man leaned against the side of a water fountain. He wore a filthy gray suit, cracked glasses, and had fake wrinkles drawn onto his face. His ssy hair and the peeling makeup made him look like a beggar, but he was anything but.
He ignored the curious gazes of the passerby, even if he was dressed as a clown. Most people frowned at him. Others dropped little change by his side as if he was so begger.
Brown huffed at their gestures. If only they knew who is behind these custus. If it wasn’t for his stupid boss, he would never be here.
He has managed to run from the security n and was now hiding behind the large water fountain just at the center of the mall when he saw her.
The beautiful girl that looked just like the one he has been looking for for weeks now.
His boss has troubled him countless tis to find her. No one in their camp has had a peaceful day since she disappeared and yet here she is, looking all okay.
She looked so different now. Different from how she was the last ti. She was even with guards and a maid.
Has Maybelline finally started taking good care of her daughter?
Still, he couldn’t go to her. His orders were clear: Watch her. Protect her from afar. Do not approach.
Brown took out his phone, his fingers trembling. He quickly snapped a picture and sent it to his boss with a short ssage.
"I found her, boss. She’s safe. Our little Miss is doing well."
The reply ca within seconds.
"Is she alright? Oh my God... My little princess!"
Brown smiled. He could almost see his boss crying.
#####
Far away, on the top floor of a towering 26-story building, a man sat in a sleek office. The room was cold, sharp, and silent, just like him.
Xavier Bloodsworth.
His black suit was spotless, the creases sharp enough to cut. His dark hair was slicked back. Not a strand out of place. His hands were folded on the desk, eyes focused on nothing, jaw clenched.
He looked like he was carved out of stone.
"Brother, the shareholders have been waiting for over three hours," Barry Bloodsworth said, trying to keep calm. "Are you going to ignore them again?"
Xavier didn’t respond. He cared less about stupid shareholders. He was worried about his daughter. The heir to the Bloodsworth fortune.
Barry’s voice rose, frustrated when his brother said nothing again. "You can’t delay this eting again. They’re starting to panic. One more delay and there could be chaos!"
But Xavier didn’t move. He hadn’t been the sa since his daughter disappeared. The once powerful CEO had turned into sothing else.
Staffs walked on eggshells. People cried in bathrooms because of his fury. No one dared speak unless spoken to.
"You’ll see her next month Xavier," Barry continued carefully. "The restraining order will expire by then, and you’ll be her father again. But right now, we have to keep the company alive."
"Tell Brown to handle the eting," Xavier said, his voice deep and ice-cold.
Barry nearly exploded. "Did you forget you sent Brown out to find your daughter? You threatened to chop off his head if he ca back without her!" Xavier finally looked up. His eyes were hollow, dangerous.
"Then you handle the eting," he said, tone cutting. "Or are you that useless now?"
Before Barry could respond, Xavier’s phone buzzed. He glanced down, fingers moving fast. At the ssage he recieved.
He opened it instantly.
As the screen lit up with the video of his daughter, sothing shifted in him.
Barry kept talking. "If you can’t do your job, Xavier, then maybe soone else should run the company. We’re not going to watch everything fall apart because you’re mourning..."
"My baby girl..."
Barry froze.
Xavier’s voice was trembling.
Was... Was he crying?
Barry had never seen it before. Not once. Not even at their mother’s funeral.
And now, here he was, this cold, cruel demon lord, weeping over a blurry video on a phone screen.
That was the power his daughter held over him.
No one else could touch his heart. Not money. Not power. Not family. Just her.
Xavier Bloodsworth hadn’t abandoned his daughter because he wanted to. He was forced to.
The day Maybelline accused him of rape, everything fell apart.
He didnt ant to. Infact he isn’t the type to rape anyone. But that night he was drugged by their cousins at the royal party, wandering like a madman, desperate for relief.
Then she appeared. The innocent girl walking by.
He lost control.
After that night, he begged for forgiveness. He offered to marry her. He begged her family. He offered to raise the child with her. But she refused. Again and again.
"You’re not royalty," she had said. "I won’t marry a commoner."
When she gave birth, she placed a restraining order on him. She took his money, but kept him away.
Xavier sent millions for his daughter every month. But instead of using it for the child, Maybelline spent it on expensive drugs, drugs that could have killed the child.
Xavier has watched his precious girl grow from the sidelines. It hurt him that he wasn’t involved in her life.
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