"She's your childhood sweetheart—practically your father's adopted daughter. You expect me to just push her around?"
Valerie's appetite vanished. Chucking her chopsticks down with a clatter, she stormed upstairs, her fury so intense it made Mark Sidney stiffen where he stood.
Ryan remained motionless, knuckles whitening around his chopsticks, until Mark hesitantly approached. "Sir, Madam might've misunderstood—"
"No need to state the obvious." Ryan's voice could've frozen hell. "I see it perfectly."
When no further orders came, Mark watched in disbelief as Ryan mechanically shoveled food into his mouth like nothing happened.
"Sir," Mark blurted, "shouldn't you check on her?"
"Stay in your lane." Ryan's quiet warning carried the weight of a guillotine. "Mind your position."
In dynast
