Chapter 8

All was silent in the office. Only the sound of Edward's groans on the floor filled the air. The ambulance hadn't arrived yet, and no one dared to move him.

Giselle's face was tight with anger as she checked the surveillance footage, frame by frame.

Soon, she'd finished going over the footage. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked at Lucian. Her voice was icy as she snapped, "What else do you have to say for yourself now?"

Lucian, who was gingerly picking up the coffee-stained photo, retorted, "Can't you see that he did it on purpose?"

"All I saw was Eddie knocking over the photo frame by accident. He even apologized and tried to pick it up for you, but you flew into a rage and started attacking him!"

Giselle shook her head and eyed Lucian with a look of utter disappointment. "I don't get it. When did you become such a violent person?"

As it was, Lucian was even more disappointed in her. He looked her in the eye and questioned, "So you don't believe me when I tell you he did it on purpose?"

"I only believe what I see," she replied coldly.

"That proves he's a good actor," Lucian remarked.

"That's enough!" Giselle shouted at him. "Must you keep picking on Eddie like that?"

Lucian's voice had grown cold and detached as well. "This is my office. I don't allow random people in."

"Eddie's not a random person!"

The fact that Lucian refused to admit he'd done something wrong pissed Giselle off so badly that her expression turned nasty. "I've agreed to let Eddie join the company! Even if you've got a problem with it, you have no right to chase him off!"

Lucian was stunned to hear that. He'd once said he didn't want to let Edward into the company, and Giselle had agreed to it. But now…

It was hard to describe the feelings welling up inside of Lucian. He took a deep breath to keep his emotions in check before saying, "Sure. He can join the company. I'll go."

With that, he took off his work badge and set it down on the desk. After taking one last look at Giselle, he turned to leave.

"What are you—"

Giselle didn't expect Lucian to react this way. When she saw the look in his eyes, she felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of panic. She tried to speak up to stop him from leaving, but just then, Edward called out weakly, "Giselle… don't… get mad at Lucian… I'll go… I'll leave as soon as I can…"

After saying those few words, he began to groan in pain again.

Heart clenching, Giselle scrambled over and crouched down to check on his injuries.

Lucian glanced at them icily before heading out of the office.

Edward saw Giselle coming and flashed her a faint smile before fainting the very next second.

"Eddie! What's wrong? Don't scare me!" Giselle cried out in visible alarm.

But he didn't reply. Even his breathing seemed shallow.

Giselle gritted her teeth and shot back onto her feet, screaming through the door, "Lucian Hale! Do you think you can just walk off like that after beating someone up?"

Lucian, who was just about to step into the elevator, paused and turned around. "What do you want?"

"I need to make things right by Eddie. The cops will be here soon," Giselle declared icily.

Lucian could hardly believe his ears. He couldn't believe that his own wife was going to get him arrested.

After a few seconds of silence, he slowly made his way back over and said, "Fine."

Biting her lip, Giselle said, "At the end of the day, it's against the law to beat up someone. As long as Eddie is alright, I'll tell him not to press charges, but you must apologize to him."

Lucian looked down and snorted. "And if he dies?"

Eyes flashing with panic, Giselle hastily cried out, "Don't be ridiculous! Eddie will be fine."