Then, a group of guys ganged up on him, punching and kicking from all sides.


    "Gideon, you really think Calliope''s gonnae to your rescue?"


    "Hah! Get real—she''s with your Uncle Ss now! Even Ss doesn''t give a damn about you, what makes you think she would?"


    "She wouldn''t even admit she knew you just now. Give it up, man!"


    Everyone chimed in with their own jabs, smirking and sneering.


    Gideon''s face was pale, and before long, a hard kick sent him sprawling to the pavement. The beating continued, fists and boots flying.


    t on his back, Gideon caught a glimpse of Calliope sitting in a nearby car. She nced at him, her face cold and unreadable.


    She saw what was happening. She knew he needed help. And she just watched -didn''t even flinch.


    Gideon lowered his gaze, a bitter smile twisting his lips.


    Was this really how his life ended up? All because of that wretched Yvette.


    He clenched his jaw so hard it hurt.


    The next few days, Calliope kept herself busy with work.


    She''d expected the Jewell family to go bankrupt by now. Their situation should''ve been a total disaster.


    But after several days, she hadn''t heard a single thing about the Jewells falling apart.


    Even Portia couldn''t help but text her to grab coffee, just to gossip about the whole mess.


    "What''s going on, Callie? Howe the Jewells haven''t crashed and burned yet?"


    Calliope shook her head, "I haven''t lifted a finger for the Jewells. I saw Ulysses once, but I didn''t help with anything."


    Portia watched her over the rim of hertte, suspicious. "You sure? You didn''t go soft because Ulysses jumped in front of you that one time? You didn''t, like, slip them some cash or something?"


    "Come on, Portia. I''m not that dumb."


    Portia groaned. She''d been waiting for news of the Jewell family''s downfall all week-nothing. To make it worse, her dad mentioned that the Jewells had justnded a pretty sweet contract. Wasn''t this O supposed to be the end for t them How the hell did those losers manage to score a big project? <fn7744> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on F?nd-Novel</fn7744>


    "They''re supposed to be a sinking ship!" Portia grumbled, stabbing her fork into her piece of carrot cake like she was trying to kill it. "That was supposed to be our deal, and now those idiots took it right out from under us!"


    Calliope frowned, pulling out her phone and making a few calls. After a bit of back and forth, she got the gist of what was going on with the Jewells.


    Portia sat there, barely breathing, waiting for answers. When Calliope finally hung up, she blurted, "Well? What''s the deal?"


    "The Jewells haven''t gone under. Actually, theirpany''s picked up some decent projects. Word is, they''ve got a mysterious benefactor backing them up."


    Calliope was just as surprised. She knew Monty Jewell wasn''t exactly Mr. Popr; and his friends weren''t much better. Whoever was helping the Jewells had to be someone important-someone way out of Monty''s league. She had no idea. they even knew someone with that much pull.


    go


    "Who the hell would stick their neck out for the Jewells with their reputation in the gutter?" Portiained, shaking her head in disbelief.


    Calliope couldn''t think of anyone either.


    "God, I was counting on them going broke! I wanted to see them regret everything


    -now look!" Portia stabbed the cake even harder, making the te rattle.


    "Whoever did this is an absolute jerk! I swear, I''m about to lose it!"