Chapter 302: Cold Shoulder
"Why did you look so worried earlier during breakfast?" Si Yena asked softly, holding his hand as she observed the bandaging around it, "I still find it hard to believe that Ryle would be so ruthless to you. How can he shoot you like that? You are his father,’’ With a soft sigh, she continued in concern, ’’Does your hand still hurt?"
"One of our secret lairs was raided overnight by an enemy faction. They extracted all of our intel and destroyed one of our most powerful strongholds. I’m heading over there shortly," the man closed his eyes, pinching the spot between his brows. "As for that arrogant bastard, he wouldn’t dare to kill me."
"Why do you say that? He doesn’t seem very afraid of you. The way he acts, it’s almost like he has nothing to fear."
"Do you know why I hate that filthy boy so much?" Nathan’s face twisted into an ugly scowl. "He resembles that bitch of a mother he had. And it’s not just his appearance. His personality—it reminds me of her, and that’s exactly why I know he’ll always be my puppet. That woman was capable of taking me down with her. If she’d had the chance, she would have killed me and then killed herself. But she had a child—a weakness.
And nothing has changed, just as I intended. I let Ryle loose during his teenage years, not so he could gain experience, but so he could gather weaknesses. His younger self—that’s the one I feared. The boy who looked me in the eye the day his mother died and swore he would gouge my eyes out if I so much as looked her way."
As Nathan spoke, his brows furrowed. "It was like a beast had been unleashed. His shackles disappeared when that woman died. So, I let him be willful. I let him roam free. And it didn’t disappoint. The outside world dulled his sharp edges. Now, he has weaknesses. He’s afraid I’ll get to them."
Si Yena sighed. "You’ve been planning for this day, haven’t you?"
"In a game of life and death, you always have to stay two steps ahead."
Nathan studied her for a moment before raising his hand to play with her hair. "I’ve invited the doctors over. They’ve been waiting for a while now, but you were off playing around in Beijing while I was away on business. Now that you’re back, make time to see them."
Si Yena nodded. "But do you think..."
"Don’t worry. Father’s no longer around, and some things don’t restrain me anymore. If things go as planned, I’ll throw that bastard into the same hell as his mother—a place he’ll never crawl out of."
"You really hate him, don’t you?"
"I hate that woman, but at least she’s dead. As for him, any trace of affection I had left is disappearing. He looks too much like her."
...
Later that night.
Daisy slipped into Ryle’s room in the middle of the night, just as she had done previously.
Ryle hadn’t gone to sleep, knowing that she would come at this hour. The whole day, they hadn’t been able to talk or meet. It was risky to do so with so many people around, and unless the situation was desperate, Daisy didn’t want to blow her cover.
Ryle placed the book on the bedside table and got out of bed. After drawing the blinds, he reached out to hold Daisy in his arms, but she backed away from his touch as she began undressing.
Ryle grumbled to himself. Even though she never complained, he could tell how uncomfortable she was in the maid’s outfit. Not to mention, Daisy had completely altered her body shape with the use of corset, and even her feet appeared smaller with the help of compact heels.
She had gone to such lengths to resemble the person she was replacing. In fact, she hadn’t needed to go that far, considering nobody in the Kingsley family recognized her, and they weren’t familiar with the new maid, Daze.
But even Ryle hadn’t predicted they would see Si Yena here. It was a relief that Daisy had the foresight to put complete effort into her disguise, or it would have been blown by Si Yena, who had been with Daisy for so long.
Daisy stripped until she was wearing nothing, and despite the circumstances, Ryle shifted, a little uncomfortable. A specific spot between his legs throbbed uncomfortably.
Still, Daisy had the audacity to stretch her arms and massage her waist and breasts gently right in front of him, as if he were a eunuch.
Just when he felt like he was about to lose his senses, she grabbed the robe from the couch and draped it around herself before tying a knot.
Ryle’s throat ran dry. Fucking robe. He cursed himself for putting it there. He didn’t know what possessed when he put it there. He thought she might need a change or a breather for a few minutes if she came over but how come he did not bother to think that he she could get her breather while she was naked? Dumb him!
Cursing himself for the umpteenth time, he moved to pull her into a hug, only to be given the cold shoulder as she sidestepped him. Ryle’s jaw dropped a little. "Princess?"
Daisy looked at him, arms crossed in front of her chest, a frosty look shadowing her face as she tilted her chin. "A masquerade party just to have you pick a bride. You’re not on the losing end in any way, hmm?"
"What? You know I didn’t..." Ryle trailed off midway, realizing that she had been there when the discussion happened. She should be fully aware that he had no role in this drama. He was merely a bystander.
There was no need for him to explain anything.
As Daisy watched him standing there with a ghost of a smile on his face instead of explaining things to her, her lips twitched a little.
