Chapter 20%
“Someone!” Brynn roared, completely losing his composure.
“Take this mother and son to the basement! Throw the snakes in there! Let them keep each other company!”
“Brother, I was wrong, I know I was wrong!” Sylvie screamed, struggling in their grip, but the housekeeper and servants dragged her away. Solomon kicked wildly, sobbing. “Daddy’s bad! Daddy’s the worst!”
Terrified, Sylvie screamed between sobs, “Brynn! We were supposed to get divorced! Let’s go now!“}
Brynn didn’t turn around. His voice was cold, almost dead.
“The pain Natalie suffered, now you’ll feel it too.”
The basement door slammed shut with a resounding bang. The lights flickered out.
Silence.
Then came the soft hissing of snakes, slithering in the dark corners, whispers from hell.} Sylvie and Solomon curled up together, shivering, their bodies pressed close in fear.} “Mom, I’m scared…” Solomon sobbed, his small body wracked with tears.
But Sylvie, shaking with fury, slapped him across the face.
“Now you’re scared? Didn’t you love playing with these disgusting things before?!“}]
Solomon recoiled, curling up on the ground, his eyes blazing with defiance./
Meanwhile, Brynn’s eyes were bloodshot.
The moment he saw the photo of Hayden and me on his phone, his world went dark. His chest felt as if it had been punched hard.}]
After locking Sylvie in the basement, he stared at the image of me and Hayden without looking away.}
In the picture, I wore a long dress he’d never seen before, my eyes soft in a way he hadn’t seen in years, and my profile held a gentle smile.
But that smile, it used to belong to him.”
“Natalie…“%
His Adam’s apple bobbed as his fingers tightened around the phone, the plastic creaking beneath his grip.”
The next moment, he grabbed his coat and stormed out, snapping at the driver to head to the Collins Residence. His voice was low, a simmering fury beneath each word.”
Before he could leave his office, the secretary burst in, breathless.
“President Murphy, bad news! There are photos online of you and Miss Gibson…”
Before she could finish, the assistant shoved a phone into his hand.}}
It was a set of paparazzi photos.
They showed intimate embraces beneath the night sky and him leaning drunkenly on Sylvie’s shoulder.
Each photo was filtered to look romantic, capturing a scene so indecent it felt like a betrayal.
They exploded across trending searches, with captions blaring.}
“Murphy Corporation CEO secretly married for ten years behind girlfriend’s back.“@
“Foster sister becomes a real wife.“/
The top comments were flooded with insults and ridicule.
“Find out who did this!” Brynn roared.
But before he could act, Murphy Corporation’s stock began plummeting like a rock.
One business partner after another called, asking if the scandal was true and whether the contracts would proceed.
Then, the head of legal burst in, his face pale, holding documents in trembling hands.
“President Murphy, Collins, and several other investors withdrew all funds this morning… they’ve initiated a coordinated acquisition plan against us.“%
Brynn finally realized this was Hayden’s doing
His red-rimmed eyes burned as he slammed the papers to the floor.
“Hayden, are you out of your damn mind?!”
Crazy? Yes
Meanwiste, in the Collins family villa, Hayden sat calmly on the sofa, spinning his phone in his hand.!!
The screen displayed a photo of Brynn, ambushed outside his office building, under the trending topic:
#MurphyCorpCE OinScandalWithFosterSister
in three days, I would officially become his wife
He couldn’t let Brynn occupy even a sliver of space in my heart
Hayden knew the truth, though he had secretly loved me for over ten years; all I had finally said to him was, “Let’s get married.”%
But he also knew that behind those three words, there probably wasn’t much love.
