Dark Revenge Of A Jilted Bride: Till Life Do Us Part!-Chapter 114: Threat II

Clement felt like shooting Noah’s brains out.

If a gun were handed to him—if a gun had been anywhere within his reach—he would have blown the man to pieces without hesitation, no matter whose ass was gored, no matter which powerful family the miscreant came from.

The urge burned hot and savage in his chest. Struggling to maintain deep, measured breathing, forcing himself to cling to common sense while knowing, bitterly, that all the cards were stacked in Noah’s favor, he slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

Every movement screamed humiliation. He returned to the chair and sat, stiff and rigid, like a man nailed in place.

His wife and Sabrina lifted their heads briefly, and sensing the tension sharpening dangerously between the two men, they quickly lowered their gazes again, as though hiding their faces might shield them from what was about to erupt.

"Do you have a problem with my offer, Clement?" Noah asked, still standing, a sharp, unwarm smile curving his lips.

Clement gripped his thighs hard, his fingers digging into flesh, and nodded once.

"Pray, go ahead," Noah continued mildly, "and tell me what you don’t like about that..."

"I don’t want to sell out the company..."

"But surely you are smart enough to know it’s either that, or lose your position on the board," Noah cut in smoothly. "Which is better? With my option, the company stays in the family, since I’m bent on making Gianna my wife—on all grounds."

Clement did not cherish the thought of having Noah in the Aldo family.

The idea alone sent a chill crawling down his spine, especially since the man already knew almost everything about him, if not everything... one could not tell.

He wouldn’t be able to reach Gianna at this rate, wouldn’t be able to convince her to help. No—Noah would make sure every connection was severed. He was certain of that.

But if he could get to Gianna today, at least before Noah did, he might still have a choice... no matter how stubborn Gianna seemed, surely she wouldn’t let the company fall into another family’s hands?

"There is no guarantee that she would accept you as a groom," Clement said finally, swallowing hard when Noah’s gaze sharpened, turning razor-edged.

"I’m... just saying," he added quickly, defensively. "Gianna is known to be unpredictable, untamed, unlike my daughter, very—"

"That’s precisely why I like her," Noah interrupted, unbothered.

"Why I find her endearing. She complements me in every way. And I would like you to give your blessing—alongside the company. Don’t worry, you will still be on the board. I’ll be more like the silent partner, or rather, the silent owner." He shrugged lightly, as if discussing something trivial.

"I—" Clement began, unwilling to let it go, but Noah’s chuckle sliced through his words.

"Do you think we are negotiating, Clement?" Noah asked, amusement lacing his tone. "I’m just trying to be a good son-in-law. At least I’m not demanding your daughter’s head for putting me in danger..."

That shut Clement up completely.

"So, come next tomorrow, you will hand over the company to me. And by the end of next week, you would have paid Gianna the complete money in full. Am I clear?"

When Clement hesitated, his silence stretching just a second too long, Noah clapped his hands once. Immediately, two men strode into the sitting room, and Clement balked in shock.

Where was the butler?

"Oh, don’t worry about the butler," Noah said casually. "He’s fine... just unconscious."

Sabrina and her mother trembled on the ground, their fear intensifying when they sensed the men in black approaching them.

"Take the younger one," Noah said coldly. "She owes me her life. At least one of the clubs around here will make good use of her... bring me some profit."

"No, please!" Josephine screamed, lifting her head, her hands clutching desperately at her daughter’s clothes as the men tried to haul Sabrina up.

Sabrina cried openly now, turning pleading eyes to her father, eyes that begged, surely I’m more important than a company?

Noah chuckled at Clement’s rigid resistance. "Your company is more important than your daughter, then? Well, just so you don’t feel heroic—taking her away wouldn’t cement your win. I’ll make an irrefutable offer to your directors, one they can’t refuse, and you’ll lose on both ends."

Clement’s head sank low. He wondered dimly how everything had spiraled so fast, how control had slipped from his hands so completely.

His fists clenched, a twisted, insane urge blooming—to kill his daughter himself. If she hadn’t gotten involved with Esme, none of this would be happening. He wouldn’t be groveling before Noah Newman.

But... "Okay..."

The murmur was barely there, but it was enough for Noah. He gestured, and one of the men handed him a brown envelope.

"Sign here."

Noah tossed the envelope at Clement like scraps to a dog, then threw him a pen.

Slowly—almost mechanically—Clement signed the document, binding himself to I will do as Noah says by next tomorrow, or else I forfeit access to my family, knowing that meeting Gianna now was pointless.

All their plans had been for naught... It had rather made things so much worse!

Even making Gianna feel pain didn’t taste as tantalizing to Clement now, not when he was losing everything in the process.

"Good," Noah murmured as the guard handed him the signed paper. "Next time, don’t toy with me—or anything that’s mine. I won’t be as lenient."

As he turned to leave, he paused and looked back at Sabrina, who shrank further under his gaze.

"If I were to advise you," he said coolly, "I’d tell you to leave the country if seeing your cousin rise is going to keep ticking you off. Because rise she shall. I will singularly make sure of that."

A brief pause followed. "And don’t even think of paying back my sister in her own coin. If I so much as sniff it, you’re gone. I don’t care how long you both have been working—whatever that was, it ends now. From henceforth, focus on your miserable life and your family, and maybe you won’t lose your life. Am I clear?"

Sabrina nodded dumbly, still shaking, as Noah walked out of the sitting room.

"Oh my God..." Josephine breathed, sprawling weakly onto the floor. "He is one of them, isn’t he? That’s why you couldn’t say anything..."

Clement didn’t look at her. He didn’t answer. He couldn’t believe that he had lost the company he had sacrificed everything for just like that—that he was now staring poverty in the face, about to kiss it.

Rage exploded out of him. He shouted—no, he roared—stunning his family into frozen silence.

Then he charged at Sabrina, who screamed even before the first blow landed squarely on her right eye.