During dinner, the atmosphere around the table was unusually calm.
Cutlery clinked softly against porcelain, the warm aroma of freshly cooked food lingering in the air as everyone ate in silence. Then, almost in unison, their gazes shifted toward Adam.
"So?" Theodore finally broke the quiet. "How's the case against Lovely, Hans, and Milo going?"
Adam didn't hesitate. A relaxed grin spread across his face as he leaned back slightly, confidence evident in his posture.
"Very soon, they'll be the ones receiving the lawsuit. And with the ss they're already drowning in, there's a high chance they won't even be able to press charges against anymore."
The tension that had been coiled tightly around the table seed to loosen at those words.
Shoulders relaxed, expressions softened, and for the first ti that evening, a faint sense of relief appeared on everyone's faces.
Lucas, however, remained quiet. His fingers tightened briefly around his chopsticks, his mind drifting back to sothing that had happened earlier. Hans…
The mory stirred uneasily. He glanced at his father, then at the rest of his family. 'They deserve to know.'
Setting his cutlery down, Lucas inhaled slowly. "There's sothing I should tell all of you."
The room stilled again.
"A few days ago... no, just today, Hans showed up near my company," Lucas continued, his voice steady though his chest felt tight. "He claid he needed to talk about sothing important."
Aurora frowned. Olivia's brows knitted together.
"I refused to see him," Lucas went on. "But that didn't stop him. He even said he already knew that Adam was the one behind all their misery."
At that ti, several strange looks were directed at Lucas. After all, everyone knew very well that his father's na was Adam.
The coincidence made the situation sound awkward, almost absurd.
"I didn't have a choice after that," Lucas said. "So I went to et him."
He paused, the faint sll of tea rising as soone lifted their cup, the silence pressing heavier.
"When he appeared, I asked him directly what he wanted. He didn't bother circling around it." Lucas let out a short breath.
"He demanded twenty thousand dollars. Otherwise, he said he'd release a video online... sothing that could sha Father."
A sharp intake of breath rippled around the table.
"I refused," Lucas continued. "I told him that if he really had the courage, he should just go ahead and do it."
At the ti, Lucas had been confident. 'He won't dare,' he had thought.
"But he did," Lucas said quietly.
He described how Hans' expression had turned twisted, how his fingers had tapped swiftly against his phone.
"Right in front of , he uploaded the video."
Lucas' jaw clenched slightly.
"When I saw it, I was stunned. And what shocked even more was realizing that the video was already live on the internet. He even contacted so water army and paid them to push the post higher."
A flicker of panic had surged through him back then, cold and sharp. 'This is bad.'
"But I forced myself to calm down," Lucas said. "I told him that if he wanted to do it, then go ahead. Once everything was exposed, it wouldn't matter what else he released."
Hans, apparently unprepared for that reaction, had hesitated.
"He realized I wasn't going to yield," Lucas said. "So he backed off and said he'd delete the post imdiately if I gave him twenty thousand."
Lucas' lips curved into a bitter smile. "I told him I wouldn't give him a single penny."
Hans had exploded in fury, threatening to keep the video up and push it onto the trending list. After weighing the risks, Lucas had finally compromised. "I transferred ten thousand."
The sll of food suddenly felt heavy, almost suffocating.
"He took it," Lucas finished. "Then he said he'd co back for the remaining ten thousand later."
The table fell silent.
When Lucas finally looked up, everyone was staring at him as if he'd just confessed to doing sothing unbelievably foolish.
Especially Aurora.
She fixed him with a sharp look. "You forgot to record the entire conversation, right?"
Lucas couldn't help grinning. "You think I'm that stupid? I did record!"
He took out his phone and played the recording.
The mont the audio filled the room, expressions shifted instantly. Smiles appeared one after another, subtle but unmistakable.
"As long as we submit this," Olivia said calmly, her tone composed and reassuring, "Hans will have no choice but to spit out the ten thousand he blackmailed from you."
Lucas let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Relief washed through him, warm and dizzying.
Adam watched his children, a dull ache tightening in his chest.
"The lawsuit has already been filed," he said slowly. "From now on, you don't need to worry anymore. Those three... Hans, Lovely, and Milo, they'll never get the chance to turn things around."
Hope flickered to life around the table. Without hesitation, everyone nodded.
Seeing them agree, Adam smiled.
................................................
Far away from the warmth of the dining table, Adriana sat in a lecture hall instead, the air filled with the dry sll of chalk and stale paper. She was focused on her notes when she suddenly felt a poke against her shoulder.
Annoyance flared instantly.
The pen poked her again.
Finally losing her patience, Adriana turned sharply, her glare slicing toward Anton. "What do you want?"
Anton smiled softly, completely unfazed. "Just a date. Can I get one?"
Adriana didn't hesitate. She raised her hand and showed him her middle finger. "I'm not interested in a manwhore like you."
For a split second, instead of anger, a strange flash of hope flickered in Anton's eyes.
"That was… really harsh," he muttered, lips twitching as he leaned back slightly, clearly enjoying her irritation.
He leaned closer and let his voice drop, carrying a thinly veiled threat. "Soday, I'll punish you for this behavior."
Adriana rolled her eyes so hard they almost hurt. Her palm itched, a sharp, impulsive urge to slap this jerk flashing through her mind.
'Annoying bug,' she thought, forcing herself to inhale deeply. The air slled faintly of chalk and old books, grounding her just enough.
Without another glance at him, she raised her hand.
The sudden movent drew the teacher's attention imdiately.
"Yes?" the teacher acknowledged, her voice crisp.
Adriana stood, her chair scraping softly against the floor. Her tone was calm, almost eerily so.
"Anton has been constantly harassing during the lecture."
The words echoed through the classroom.
For a brief mont, silence followed. Then a few students snickered under their breath, while others turned to Adriana with looks laced in jealousy.
She noticed it all, the sideways glances, the whispering lips, and disbelief washed over her. So this is what they think?
Before Anton had transferred into her departnt, everything had been normal.
But after his arrival, the atmosphere had changed completely. People gushed endlessly about how popular he was, how cool he looked, how everyone wanted to be with him.
So even hinted that Adriana should be grateful, thank her lucky stars, for being noticed by soone so admired.
The thought made her stomach churn.
Popularity doesn't an consent, Adriana said coldly at that ti.
Even if he were as popular as the president of their country, she wouldn't look at him twice. Not when there was no respect involved. Not when there was no consent.
The teacher's sharp gaze snapped toward Antim.
"This is your first and final warning," she said firmly. "If you disturb Adriana again during my lectures, don't expect to pass this subject."
Anton frowned, his jaw tightening as he shot Adriana a deep, unreadable look.
He nodded silently and, for the rest of the lecture, remained unusually well-behaved. No teasing. No whispers. No sly smiles.
For a fleeting mont, Adriana almost believed he had finally given up.
She was wrong.
The mont the lecture ended and students began packing up, Anton stepped forward and blocked her path. His presence felt suffocating, his cologne sharp and intrusive.
He looked at her seriously.
"Even if you don't like being around soone as dirty as ," he said smoothly, "shouldn't you at least give a chance? Don't you feel so kind of chemistry?"
Before she could respond, he bit his lower lip, a deliberate move.
'He really did look charming like that. If only his personality wasn't rotten,' Adriana thought. With a face like his, finding a wealthy partner would've been effortless... if not for his playboy attitude and unbearable ego.
Even now, he clearly believed that his looks alone would be enough to sway her.
Adriana rolled her eyes. "Do you have so kind of narcissistic disorder?"
Anton smiled without sha and nodded. "I do. Especially when I'm facing a girl I like."
She stared at him blankly. "I don't even want to talk to you."
With that, she turned away and began stuffing her books into her bag.
Anton stepped closer again, blocking her path once more. His voice softened, almost coaxing.
"How about a coffee date? If you go out with just once, I promise I'll never disturb you again."
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