Chapter 30

Nathan Blackwood returned to Cliffside Manor completely soaked, his designer suit clinging to his body like a second skin.

Agnes Thornton rushed forward with a plush towel, but he brushed past her without a word, his jaw clenched tight with barely contained fury.

"What happened? Who dared to upset him?" Agnes whispered urgently to Oliver Sinclair.

"If you've got time, you should comfort Mr. Blackwood. He just got played."

"Impossible! He's the smartest man in Crestview! How could he fall for a scam? Should we call the authorities?" Agnes's hands trembled.

Oliver shook his head grimly. "This is... complicated. The police wouldn't understand. Mr. Blackwood has finally met someone who can outmaneuver him."

"I warned him months ago to install that fraud prevention app! But would he listen? Now look at him!" Agnes wrung her hands.

A bitter smile touched Oliver's lips. His boss had finally encountered someone immune to his usual tactics. Being scammed might actually be less damaging to Nathan's pride.

Nathan ascended the grand staircase with deathly pale skin, his dripping clothes leaving dark trails on the marble steps. In the dim lighting, he resembled a specter risen from the depths.

"Young Master Nathan, Ms. Sterling has arrived. The chairman requests your presence in his study," a maid announced with a curtsy.

Nathan's lips pressed into a bloodless line as he turned toward Leonard Blackwood's private study.

"Nathan! Thank heavens you're here!" Victoria Sterling rushed forward like a drowning woman spotting land, throwing her arms around him.

Nathan remained stiff, his usual warmth conspicuously absent. Seeing Victoria tonight filled him with an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

"Nathan, how did the meeting go? Did you speak with Ms. Kingsley?" Leonard's voice carried the weight of boardroom expectations.

As CEO of Blackwood Industries, Leonard had no business micromanaging such trivial matters. But Lillian Hartwell's nightly complaints had forced his hand.

"Of course Nathan will protect the Sterling family. He adores Victoria! If he personally intervenes, the Kingsleys will have to back down. Monarch Group wouldn't gain anything by making enemies in Crestview!" Lillian clung to her husband's arm, her voice dripping with false sweetness.

It was the same manipulation she'd employed for decades - inflating expectations until any failure would widen the rift between father and son.

"Father, Aunt Lillian, we should cease all assistance to Luxe Furnishings." Nathan's obsidian eyes revealed nothing.

Leonard's brows collided. "Explain yourself."

"Effective immediately, I'm severing all ties with the Sterling family affairs."

Without another word, Nathan turned on his heel and strode out, leaving three stunned figures in his wake.

"Leonard, he can't be serious..." Lillian's smile cracked like drying plaster. A cold dread crept up her spine.

Leonard's expression darkened into a thundercloud, but he remained silent.

Nathan returned to his chambers still dripping, making no move to change or shower. His mind replayed every humiliating moment of his encounter with Evelyn Kingsley.

Why wouldn't she see him face-to-face? Was she intimidated? Or did she consider him beneath her notice?

"Nathan! Why are you doing this?" Victoria's shrill voice shattered his thoughts as she burst in, clutching his arm with desperate strength. "All our orders have been canceled! Our warehouses are overflowing! We can't even pay next week's payroll! Without your help, we're finished!"

In her panic, Victoria abandoned all pretense of demure elegance.

Nathan sighed wearily. "It's late. Oliver will see you home."

"Nathan! What changed? Tell me what happened!"

Exhaustion weighed on Nathan like lead. How could he explain that her brother's greed had sealed their fate?

Then his blood ran cold.

The custom suit box that had sat on his nightstand - Evelyn's parting gift - was gone.

Shaking off Victoria's grasp, Nathan tore through the room in growing panic before bellowing, "Agnes!"

"Yes, Young Master?" The housekeeper appeared instantly.

"Where is the suit that was on my nightstand?" His voice held an edge rarely heard.

"I wouldn't dare touch it, sir. You've always forbidden us from handling anything from the young mistress."