“Let’s talk about the real issue here. Tell them to release your sister now, and I’ll forget about everything that’s happened today.”
Alex couldn’t help it, he actually laughed.
“Forget about everything?” he echoed, amusement dripping from his tone. His cold eyes studied her, as if he were looking at a particularly absurd joke.
“Do you even know what your precious daughter has done?”
Trisha let out an impatient sigh. “Of course, I know.”
She waved a hand dismissively.
“She was just acting a little impulsively. All she did was steal some little documents from the company. It’s hardly a big deal.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed.
Trisha, completely unfazed, continued in a matter-of-fact tone, “Besides, you already anticipated her actions, didn’t you? Your company didn’t suffer any real losses. In fact, I heard you even made a profit from this whole thing.”
She arched a brow, as if she had just made a brilliant argument. “Shouldn’t you be thanking your sister for that?”
Alex stared at her, momentarily speechless. Not because he was at a loss for words, but because the sheer absurdity of her reasoning was almost laughable.
“Are you seriously telling me…” he said, voice slow and deliberate, “…that I should be grateful… to her?”
Trisha nodded without hesitation.
“Exactly!” she affirmed, as if it were the most logical conclusion in the world.
“And let’s take it a step further,” she continued smoothly. “Even if you refuse to thank her, you should at least try to understand her actions.”
She gestured toward Lily, who had been listening quietly, nodding along with her mother’s every word.
“She only did what she did because she was chasing true love,” Trisha said with conviction. “She just wanted to help someone she cares about. To stand beside the man she loves.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “How can you blame her for that?”
Hearing her mother’s words, Lily immediately chimed in, her voice filled with self-pity.
“That’s right!” she cried, gripping the bars of her cell. Tears welled in her eyes, but there was a stubborn gleam in them.
“I only did this because I wanted to make Ethan happy,” she insisted, her voice trembling with emotion. “Why are you punishing me for that?”
She looked at Alex with a mixture of desperation and defiance.
“Why do you have to be so cruel to me?”
Inside the dimly lit detention cell, Lily clung desperately to her mother’s words, nodding eagerly as if repeating them enough times would somehow make them true.
Tears streamed down her face, accentuating her disheveled appearance. With her hair in disarray and her once-pristine clothes now wrinkled and stained, she looked utterly pitiful.
Trisha’s heart ached at the sight.
Her daughter, her precious, delicate daughter, reduced to this miserable state? It was unbearable.
Without hesitation, she turned to Alex, her expression hardening.
“You heard her, didn’t you?” she demanded, her voice laced with authority.
“She was just following her heart! Chasing true love! Not only did you refuse to help her, but you threw her in prison?” She took a step forward, her fury intensifying.
“What kind of brother are you?” she spat. “Let her go. Now!”
Alex had been watching their act in silence, but at that moment, he’d had enough.
His patience snapped.
“Let her go?” His voice was like ice, his eyes narrowing into sharp slits. “Let her go, my ass!”
His words exploded through the room like a thunderclap.
“I challenge anyone to even try!” he roared, his presence filling the space with overwhelming pressure.
The temperature seemed to drop as his cold gaze swept over them.
“You two must think I’m blind,” he continued, his voice laced with venom. “Do you really believe I don’t see through this pathetic performance?”
He let out a sharp, humorless laugh.
“If I hadn’t been prepared, if I hadn’t anticipated her betrayal, do you know what would have happened?” His gaze locked onto Trisha like a predator ready to strike.
“She didn’t just steal some little harmless documents,” he snarled. “She stole classified company secrets.”
“She handed them over to our competitor. She put billions of assets at risk. And for what?” His voice dripped with contempt. “For her so-called ‘true love’?”
His anger flared.
“Since when does ‘true love’ justify betraying your own family?” he spat. “Since when does ‘true love’ mean using my company as a bargaining chip?”
“Since when does ‘true love’ give her the right to stab me in the back?” His glare bore into Lily, who trembled violently, unable to meet his eyes.
Trisha opened her mouth to argue, but for the first time, no words came out.
Alex’s sheer force of will crushed any weak excuses she had prepared.
And Lily? She sat frozen, her face drained of all color. But Alex wasn’t done.
“I’ll make this clear,” he said, his voice firm and unwavering. “Lily is not leaving this cell. She’s going to rot in here and regret every choice she made.”
He turned to the elderly butler standing quietly by his side.
“Waters!” he commanded. “Tell them exactly how much damage she’s done.”
Mr. Waters, a man of discipline and precision, stepped forward with a respectful nod.
“According to our company’s financial reports,” he stated methodically, “the actions committed by Miss Lily have resulted in both direct and indirect losses totaling nearly Two hundred and eighty millions dollars.”
His voice was calm but firm, each word landing like a hammer on an anvil.
“And given the severity of the financial damage, as well as the corporate espionage charges…” He hesitated only for a second before delivering the final blow.
“If prosecuted to the full extent of the law, Miss Lily will spend the rest of her life in prison.”
Alex didn’t hesitate. “Good.” He nodded in satisfaction. “Gather the evidence and submit everything to the authorities immediately.”
“Yes, Sir.” Mr. Waters bowed slightly before turning to leave.
Trisha’s face twisted in horror.
Lily, still trembling, finally snapped out of her daze.
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Bonus Chapters on: 500, 1000, 1500 Power Stones.
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(A/N: Soon! Some Golden tickets guys!!!)
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