Someone helped me to my feet. Rudolph Mason, who knew my real identity, took one look at my face and the color drained from his.
“What are you doing?! All of you, what the hell are you doing?!”
“Do you have any idea who this is? How dare you?!”
Vivienne and the crowd went still.
“This is Mr. Rodriguez's biological son! Every last one of you here today is done!”
The entire room fell dead silent. Then Vivienne let out a snort.
She burst out laughing. “Oh my God, Cornelius, you actually hired someone to put on a show? Ha ha ha ha……”
Vivienne shoved Rudolph away from me.
“Do you have any idea who Christopher Rodriguez is? Impersonating his son? You wouldn't have enough lives to pay for that!”
Her eyes were ice-cold. “Keep acting with him and I'll beat you too.”
Rudolph kept warning them. “You'd better stop right now. When Mr. Rodriguez gets here, you'll all……”
He didn't finish. They knocked him flat. Even then, he threw himself over me.
Blood ran down his face and he was still trying to comfort me. “Young Master, Mr. Rodriguez sent me to receive you. I've failed you.”
I tried to fight back, but every inch of my body screamed with pain.
Just as consciousness slipped away, I saw them. My birth parents.
They arrived in a storm of camera flashes and reporters. My father took in the chaos and his brow furrowed.
“What is going on here?”
“Rudolph?”
We were helped to our feet.
My father's rage ignited in an instant. “Who did this?!”
The second Vivienne saw my father, a bright smile plastered itself across her face.
She stepped forward with a gift box she'd prepared. “Mr. Rodriguez, someone here was causing trouble, claiming to be your son.”
“We took care of him for you, so your reputation wouldn't be tarnished.”
My father turned his head slowly toward Vivienne. He looked at her the way a man looks at a corpse.
“Claiming?”
“Every single one of you had better explain yourselves.”
“My son has been beaten to this state. Everyone present today will pay for this!”
Vivienne's brain short-circuited. She couldn't process what she'd just heard.
She looked at me, disbelief flooding her eyes.
“Mr. Rodriguez, you must be mistaken. He's an orphan. How could he possibly be,
She trailed off mid-sentence, freezing in place.
Vivienne knew my family situation. When we first got married, she'd even comforted me.
Told me I'd find my birth parents someday. That I'd have a mom and dad who loved me.
No. No, that's impossible! If he really is, then Vivienne's legs gave out. She collapsed to her knees.
A pair of soft, fragrant hands cradled my head.
Warm drops fell onto my face. My mother was crying.
Make them pay for this, Christopher!
Everyone in the room knew what was coming. One by one, they dropped to their knees, begging.
Everyone knew Christopher Rodriguez had his hands in every industry in Ashford City. Cross him, and you didn't just lose. You disappeared.
Vivienne crawled toward me on her knees, begging. Cornelius, Cornelius, please, can you put in a word with Mr. Rodriguez? I lost my head, I wasn't thinking.
Please, for the sake of everything we've been through, Cornelius, I know I was wrong. Tell him to spare me!
My mother held me tighter and pulled me away from Vivienne's reaching hands.
Get my son to the hospital. Call overseas and have the best equipment airlifted here immediately.
If anything happens to my son, not a single person here walks out alive.
My mother's face was stone-cold. She was not exaggerating.
