Chapter 1
"What have you done with Felicity?"
The main door was thrown open roughly, and bodyguards in black suits surrounded me completely.
Benjamin stared at me with a fierce, menacing look and demanded in a hoarse voice.
I looked back at him with cold indifference.
This was the same boy who had once knelt before me begging for mercy. The servility he had showed back then was long gone, replaced by a commanding presence that demanded respect even when he was not angry.
"Rest assured. I would never dirty my own hands."
A faint smile touched my lips as I pressed a button. The floor slowly folded and slid away, revealing a fighting arena beneath.
Felicity and her child were locked inside a steel cage, and just outside waited two tigers that had gone without food for three days.
The two starving beasts roared and slammed their heavy paws against the bars of the cage.
Terrified, Felicity and the child screamed and cried. The sharp stench of urine filled the air.
"You old witch! Even if you kill me, Benjamin will never love you! You are nothing but a cheap, used-up creature!" Felicity shouted and cursed through her sobs.
One of the bars gave way slightly, and a tiger thrust its paw inside, raking deep gashes into her calf until blood flowed freely.
"Benjamin! Help!"
I watched the scene unfold with calm amusement, sipping slowly from my glass of red wine before lifting my eyes to meet his.
"Look at her. Doesn't her pitiful state remind you of yourself from years ago? Groveling in the dirt, just like a dog."
A look of pure rage flashed across Benjamin's face for a split second before he hardened his expression.
"Do you think I am still that powerless boy I used to be? Adelaide, I am no longer the dog that kneels at your feet!" He drew his gun and shot both tigers dead. Then he jumped down into the arena and pulled Felicity and the child out to safety.
I watched coldly as he held them and spoke soft words of comfort. Suddenly, the whole scene felt utterly boring.
He carried Felicity out of the villa, but not before speaking in a frigid tone, "If you have any anger, aim it at me. Leave Felicity alone. She is innocent and kind, nothing like you." With that, he turned and left.
The hall suddenly felt much emptier.
My housekeeper, Mrs. Weston, stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Madam, shall I have that woman and her child...?"
I raised a hand to stop her, slowly swirling the wine in my glass. "The real culprit is Benjamin. There is no point in making things difficult for them.
"Revoke every privilege and resource I have ever granted to Benjamin. I want to see just how dangerous this ungrateful dog can really be."
Mrs. Weston nodded in understanding and withdrew without a sound.
The very next day, every company Benjamin owned in the region began facing one crisis after another.
I expected him to come crawling back to beg for forgiveness, but this time, he proved surprisingly stubborn.
He held his ground against all my efforts to bring him down, and every day, he paraded around the city with Felicity at his side.
He threw her a lavish birthday celebration, spent a fortune on a rare pink diamond as a gift, and even arranged a display of drones to light up the sky while he publicly declared his love for her.
Everyone praised them as the perfect match.
I watched this farce unfold with total disinterest.
Having kept Benjamin for so long, I knew well that he held grudges like a wolf.
But I never imagined he would dare to push his luck this far.
