My stepbrother and his friends want me 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 101 - 챕터 106

RHYS The conference room was on the forty-second floor of a glass tower, a place I had visited countless times over the years.I arrived five minutes early and took my usual seat, facing the door.Seven men sat around the long table. Four had worked with my family for years. Two had joined through the coastal project, and the last, Harrow, had always been cautious about doing business with anyone who lacked the backing of a powerful name.Judging by their expressions, I already knew this wasn’t going to be a pleasant meeting.We were supposed to discuss project timelines and funding. Instead, Harrow opened his folder before everyone had even finished their coffee.“I’ll be direct, Rhys. Several of us are concerned about the future of this project now that your father’s support is gone.”I leaned back slightly. “The project hasn’t changed. We have the same workers, the same plans, and the same deadlines we agreed on months ago.”“But your financial backing has changed,” he replied. “

RHYS The gala looked exactly as it had every other year.Crystal chandeliers, polished marble, expensive suits, and people who measured a man’s worth by the family he came from.I attended the gala every year, sometimes with my father other times without him. It was all a means to network, meet new people and pretend like we all loved each other. This year, I was here again. The only difference was that this year, I had arrived without my father’s name protecting me and I felt its effect almost immediately.The host greeted me with a smile that disappeared as soon as he turned away. Conversations quieted when I approached, and people who had once rushed to shake my hand suddenly found someone more important to speak to.I was no longer Richard’s heir.To them, that made me unworthy to be in their midst.I took a drink from a passing waiter and continued through the room, refusing to let their opinions show on my face.A woman from the logistics consortium approached me, wearing the

EMMAI had been awake since the noise.It started as a low rush of movement in the hallway boots, a door and voices. . I stepped out of my room in time to see Rhys and Cade heading for the elevator. Rhys’s face was set in that hard, closed way that meant something had already gone wrong. Cade glanced back once, gave me a look that said not now, and then the doors shut on both of them.I stood there in the dark hallway with my heart already climbing into my throat and no one left to ask.Worry kept me on the sofa after that. I wrapped myself in a robe, pulled my knees up, and stared at the elevator like staring would make it open faster. Every scenario my mind offered was worse than the last. Theo came down sometime near dawn. He did not ask why I was still sitting there. He just made coffee, set a mug beside me, and stayed in the chair across from me in silence. The company helped. The fear did not leave.When the elevator finally chimed again, the sound went through me like a current