Smack! Smack! Smack!
William Wainwright staggered back, blood and teeth flying as his face swelled grotesquely.
Gasps echoed through the Wainwright hall.
No one had seen it coming.
The useless son-in-law — the man who once never dared talk back, who had been their family’s living joke — had just exploded like a storm.
Even Evelyn Wainwright stood frozen in disbelief.
She had never imagined Adrian would stand up for her like this.
“The hell is this? A son-in-law striking the heir? You dare raise your hand against your master?”
The Matriarch of the Wainwrights slammed her cane on the floor, her voice like thunder.
William crawled up, eyes burning with rage. “Adrian Steele! You’re dead! No one can save you!”
Adrian turned his gaze on him, cold and steady. In a blink, he had grabbed
