"Are you sure of what you just said?" William asked, sipping his evening coffee with a deep frown etched across his forehead. "Yes, sir. I'm very sure of what I saw."Okay, you may leave my study." Santos, one of William's most trusted guards, bowed respectfully and exited the room. The heavy door clicked shut, leaving William in silence.
His brow furrowed deeply as he reflected on what Santos had just told him. I always had a bad feeling about that man… Mark Ryan Wilson. William's fingers tightened around his coffee mug. There's something hidden something dark. And I'll uncover every single skeleton in his closet.
He reached for his phone.
"Hello. I want you to do something for me. I want everything details, secrets, transactions anything there is to know about Mark Ryan Wilson. I need that information now."
He didn't wait for a reply. He ended the call and leaned back, eyes burning with suspicion and fury.
After a long, quiet drive, we finally arrived at the house.Who would have believed that I once hated this place so much? But now… now it feels like home. My sanctuary.
Richard and the housemaids welcomed us warmly. I smiled and greeted them, though unsurprisingly Mark remained expressionless, as always.
We made our way upstairs to our bedroom, and all I wanted to do was take a cold shower to soothe my nerves. Mark, I'm going to shower. Care to join me?" I asked with a teasing smile.
"Your offer is very tempting, wife," he replied, "but maybe next time. I have something important to take care of. I can see you're tired go on, relax, get some rest."What about you? Aren't you tired? "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I gave him a soft smile and cupped his cheek gently. He leaned into my touch for a moment.
"Okay, if you say so. I'll go shower then."
As soon as I disappeared into the bathroom, Mark exhaled heavily, his face hardening. He pulled out his phone and dialed quickly.
"Scorpion."
"Sir, he's here. In your mansion."
Mark's eyes darkened. "Good. Torture him a bit more I'll be down shortly." He slipped his phone into his pocket and inhaled deeply. "It's time to give Charles what he deserves."
He chuckled darkly, grabbed a black coat from the closet, and made his way to the hidden dungeon beneath the mansion.
"Hello, dear Father-in-law."
Charles, bloodied and chained to a chair, barely lifted his head. His lips were cracked and bleeding but that didn't stop him from spitting directly into Mark's face.
Mark recoiled in disgust. Without flinching, Scorpion handed him a tissue. He wiped his face slowly and then smacked Charles across his wrinkled cheek. "Even after all this, you still have the nerve to spit on me?" he sneered.
Charles let out a groan of pain. "Just kill me already…" he whispered hoarsely. "No, old man. That would be too easy. I'm not giving you the satisfaction of a quick death." Mark crouched before him. "Every tear you made my wife cry… you'll feel that pain tenfold. Every ounce of suffering you put Ma'am Kim through… you'll feel it a hundred times over."
He stood and turned toward Scorpion. "Continue. Make sure he begs for mercy before we're done." With that, he walked out of the dungeon, the echo of his footsteps disappearing into the dark corridor.
"Good morning, Mark," I said as I walked into the living room, expecting to find him in bed.
He looked up from the documents scattered across the coffee table and smiled as I leaned down and kissed him.
"Hmm… I can never get enough of you," he murmured, his hand lingering on my waist.
What are you working on?" I asked. "Just some work-related stuff," he replied, brushing it off.
"Do you ever stop working?" I shook my head with a small smile and picked up the coffee the maid had brought in. "You work like a machine."Work is what's gotten me this far," he said calmly. "I love it."
Then I asked the question I'd been holding in for a while. "Mark, you've never really talked about your family…" In an instant, his expression shifted. His eyes turned cold deadly. The way he looked at me made my heart skip in fear.
The hot coffee slipped down my throat too fast, burning me. "Cough! Cough!"
"Nadia!" Mark shouted. "Get a glass of water now!" The maid rushed in and handed him the water, which he immediately brought to my lips. He gently helped me sip it until I caught my breath.
"Thank you," I said weakly, wiping my mouth.
"You should be more careful." I narrowed my eyes at him. "So now it's my fault?"
"I'm sorry, Peach," he said with a sigh. "But I've told you before… I don't like talking about the past. It's too painful."
I sat beside him in silence, wondering what demons haunted my husband so badly that even a simple question about his family could bring that kind of darkness into his eyes.