Chapter 88: Is there an Issue Here?
"Shut up, Liora!" Madam Morgan snapped, completely blinded by the absolute humiliation of being talked down to by a former servant in front of the city’s billionaires.
She took a sharp step forward, her designer heels clicking loudly. "I don’t care whose asset she thinks she is tonight. A thief is a thief! She sneaked out of my estate the exact morning your jade heirloom went missing! The authorities should have dragged her to a cell days ago!" She said but April knew she meant her guards would’ve dragged her into her room to be disciplined.
The moment the word thief left Madam Morgan’s mouth, the temperature around the catering table plummeted straight to zero.
Nat Collins slowly tilted his head, the lopsided, unhinged smile completely vanishing from his lips.
He reached up with two fingers, slowly pulling his dark sunglasses down his nose bridge just enough to expose those chaotic, gleaming eyes.
A heavy, suffocating pressure radiated from his massive frame, making the nearby elites instantly take a cautious step back.
"Old hag," Nat murmured, his tone dropping into a smooth, bone-chilling whisper that vibrated with a terrifying promise of violence. "I gave you a chance to check your vocabulary, but it seems you’ve got a terminal case of stupidity. You just called my business partner a thief. In the underground, a false accusation against the Dragon’s portfolio usually costs a tongue. Should I fetch a blade, or do you want to bite it off yourself?"
Madam Morgan froze, another cold sweat breaking out across her forehead. For a moment there, she had forgotten the dragon was behind April but she didn’t know what connections they have.
Surely, April would’ve never been able to pull such a powerful man to her side when she had nothing. Nat Collins only valued those who lined his pockets and surely... Surely April wasn’t capable of that... right? She gulped, feeling a bit unsure at this point.
The terrifying rumors of the Golden Dragon’s brutality began to rush through her mind like a splash of ice water.
She looked into Nat’s unhinged, predatory eyes and realized with sudden, absolute clarity that this man didn’t care about the fact that they were out in the open, or that his social standing would be ruined if he acted rashly. He would gladly pulverize her jaw right here on the crimson carpet if it so pleased him.
Before she could even stammer out a defense, another deep, freezing voice sliced through the tension from behind.
"Is there an issue here?"
Xavier Reed stepped into the area, his tall, imposing figure radiating pure corporate dominance. His dark eyes were cold, sharp, and entirely devoid of warmth as they locked onto the matriarch of the Morgan family.
"M-Mr. Reed," Madam Morgan stuttered, her aristocratic arrogance completely fracturing as the city’s most powerful tycoon stood directly before her. "It... it’s nice to see you once again," she said, recalling he had been at her daughter’s welcome back home ceremony a week ago but they didn’t have time to speak one on one.
He was more of her husbands business associate than hers.
"I... I was simply addressing a security matter regarding a former run-away servant from my household. This girl—"
"Miss April is my invited guest and the primary strategic consultant for Reed Industries," Xavier interrupted smoothly, his tone flat, icy, and leaving absolutely zero room for argument. "Any direct insult to her character, her past, or her presence in this venue is a direct assault on the credibility of my empire."
Samuel had already filled him in on the situation before April got down from her suite that evening. He already knew her past with the Morgans, and had pieced together why she had approached him that night.
It was a cry for help. No, that was not it. It was a woman reaching out with her own strength, trying to get away from the clutches of a household that had treated her worse than they would treat their dogs.
And for that, he was ready to terminate his ongoing contracts with the Morgans and blacklist them.
He was vexed, facing this woman, but he would keep his cool and take proper noteworthy actions later.
"If the Morgan family intends to initiate a conflict with Reed Industries over a personal grudge, I suggest you consult your legal teams before the auction begins." But in the end, he would be the one doing that because of personal grudge. After all, April was an asset that he would never trade for anything.
Alexander Greels stepped up beside Xavier, his expression equally cold. He didn’t know April’s history with them but a woman who was trying to demean her in public was bad news and he would help put pressure on her.
"And the Greels network will gladly freeze every single supply line entering the Morgan commercial sectors by midnight if this disrespect continues." He added, speaking with his chin up, and his hands tucked in his pocket. "My family owes Miss April an unpayable debt. Choose your next words very carefully, Madam."
The entire pavilion went dead silent. The surrounding elites whispered frantically among themselves, their eyes darting from the stunning girl in the black satin dress to the three absolute titans of the city standing like a solid wall of iron around her defense.
Madam Morgan stood entirely hollowed out, her breath hitching as she realized she had just accidentally triggered a catastrophic financial landmine.
She had insulted a girl she thought was trash, only to find out that the girl was backed by the multi-billion-dollar Reed empire, the heavily fortified Greels lineage, and the most feared warlord in the underground.
Liora gripped her mother’s arm tightly, her eyes filled with a mix of profound bewilderment and fear as she stared at April. Just who... what kind of person are you, April?
April merely stood by the pillar, a beautiful, wicked grin slowly breaking across her face as she lifted a glass of champagne from the table and took a casual sip.
"The stage is set, Madam," April whispered, her dark eyes glinting with a cold, triumphant hunger. "I suggest you take your seat before you jeopardise the entire Morgan family this evening."
