Chapter 15
Sebastian felt like he’d been struck by lightning. His grip on the phone tightened, knuckles turning white. “What did you just say?!”
But before Charles could answer, the car shot into a tunnel-signal cut. The call dropped.
“Turn the car around! Take me to the Shaws’ estate. Now.” His voice was icy, rage crackling beneath every syllable.
The assistant’s hands trembled as he jerked the steering wheel, nearly swerving off the road.
He had never seen Sebastian like this.
The man known for always being calm and composed now had bloodshot eyes, his jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful-like he was one second away from snapping.
They sped all the way to Shaw Manor.
Sebastian didn’t wait-he kicked open the front door and stormed in.
Charles was sipping tea on the couch. He nearly dropped his cup when he saw him. “Sebastian? What are you-?”
“Did you marry Scarlett off to Westbridge?”
The words came out slow, low, and lethal.
Charles froze for half a second-then smiled, trying to play it off. “Ah, yes! She left three days ago. I thought you’d be pleased. Didn’t you always complain that she was too much trouble? Well, it worked out. The young heir of the
Westbridge family is dying. Offered five billion for a bride to lift his luck. I figured-why not her? Now you can be with Lily
without any distractions…”
“Who told you I had feelings for Lily Whitmore?!”
Sebastian’s fist came down on the coffee table with a deafening crack-glass shattered, shards flying everywhere.
He could barely believe it. This man-this so-called father-sold his daughter for money.
“Someone get over here!” His voice was dead cold. “Tear this villa down!”
The assistant rushed in with staff, and chaos erupted-porcelain vases, paintings, furniture-everything smashed to
pieces.
Charles turned ghostly pale. “Sebastian! What are you doing?!”
“From this moment on,” Sebastian said, every word like a verdict, “the Shaw Corporation will be shut down and liquidated.”
“No! You can’t!” Charles lunged forward in a panic. “Sebastian, please! For the sake of your father and our friendship-”
“Friendship?” Sebastian’s laugh was bitter. “You think you’re worthy of that word?”
Just then, Lily burst into the room.
“Sebastian! Why are you doing this to Uncle Charles?” Then it clicked. Her voice cracked. “You’re in love with Scarlett, aren’t you?!”
“I am,” he said, flatly. “So what?”
Lily looked like she’d been electrocuted. Then she laughed. Loud. Hysterical. “But she’ll never love you back!” she
screamed.
“You never said a word! Everyone thought you loved me! I paid off your maid to put photos of me in your study. Think
Scarlett didn’t see them?”
“And those women in the detention center? The ones who ‘took care’ of her? Arranged in your name!”
“You want to know why she burned your villa to the ground? I told her you recorded all your nights together-so you’d
have leverage!”
Her laughter turned feral. “She didn’t marry someone else because she had to-she did it because she gave up on you!”
“She’s never coming back. Even if you explain it all, even if you beg, it’s over.”
“Because you recorded those videos. You picked me up from the airport. You threw her in jail!”
“All of it… you did this to yourself.”
Each word stabbed into Sebastian’s chest like a blade.
Suddenly, Scarlett’s recent coldness made brutal sense-
The silence.
The way she stopped fighting.
Stopped clinging.
Couldn’t even be bothered to reply to his messages.
She burned down the villa and left without a backward glance.
She had seen the photos.
Heard the lies.
Believed the worst of him.
As for the videos…
He had copied them. But only for himself.
To relive her every look, every touch, every moan-like he couldn’t let go.
But now, those memories weren’t keepsakes, but weapon turned against her.
“Lily Whitmore,” Sebastian turned, voice like ice. “You’ll pay for this.”
Charles tried to grab his arm, voice trembling. “Sebastian, don’t-please! The Shaws are a hundred-year family. Your father
and I-”
“You have one choice,” Sebastian interrupted coldly.
“Send Lily and her mother to marry into the Blackwood family of Northborough. To that seventy-year-old bastard.”
“Or tomorrow, the Shaw family ceases to exist.”
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Charles’s entire body shook. But in the end, he gritted his teeth and spat the order. “Get them. Tie them up!”
Lily screamed. “Uncle Charles! You can’t do this! You said my mom was your first love! You said you saw me as your own
“Shut up!” Charles slapped her across the face. “If you hadn’t meddled, none of this would’ve happened!”
Her wails and her mother’s sobs echoed through the ruins of the house. Sebastian didn’t look back.
“Get the jet ready,” he said to his assistant. “We’re going to Westbridge. Now.”
He climbed into the car, gripping the velvet box in his hand so tightly his knuckles turned white. Inside was the pearl
necklace.
He couldn’t picture Scarlett in another man’s arms.
Couldn’t bear the thought of that little wildcat belonging to someone else.
He would bring her back.
No matter the cost. Even if he had to burn the whole world to do it.
