?Chapter 36:


    He slowly redirected his gaze towards tt, allowing a small, chilling chuckle to escape his lips—a sound deceptively gentle yetden with an unspoken threat.


    “You sure have a thing for drinking, don’t you? Well, today you’re in for a treat,” Noah dered with a sly grin. He snapped his fingers, the sound crisp and resonant in the hushed confines of the private room.


    At his signal, Samuel, who had been poised just outside, swung the door open. Waiters strode in one after another, their movements smooth and precise. They filed in two neat rows, each carrying bottles of wine that gleamed under the soft lighting. One by one, they set the bottles before tt, each cement marked by the soft chime of ss meeting wood—a sound ominously reminiscent of a tolling bell in tt’s increasingly anxious ears.


    Hisplexion drained to a ghostly pallor. A fine sheen of sweat beaded on his brow, and his difort was palpable in the thickening silence. The entire spectacle wrapped up in five minutes.


    Finally, as thest bottle was ced, the lead waiter stepped forward, his voice breaking the suspense. “Mr. Wall, all the wine is here,” he announced, his tone formal yet tinged with a hint of disbelief. The room held its breath. The extent of Noah’smand—every bottle in the restaurantid out before them—was staggering.


    Was he trying to make tt drink himself to death?


    Noah’s gaze swept over the assembly,nding with icy finality on tt. His lips barely moved as he spoke, but the word “Enjoy” fell from them like a verdict, resonating with a chilling authority that sent a shiver down tt’s spine.


    tt’s breath hitched, unease settling in as he stared at the mountain of wine bottles. He conjured a smile, more like a strained grimace, as he stammered, “Well, Mr. Wall, th-this is… it’s rather excessive.” He flicked a desperate nce towards K, silently pleading for intervention from the normally eloquent diplomat.


    Catching his cue, K nodded subtly. She gracefully swept a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she chimed in, her voice deliberately softened to convey concern. “Noah, forcing down this much wine could be deadly—”


    Her words wereced with a feigned fragility, designed to evoke Noah’s protective instincts.


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    Yet, before she could borate, Noah cut her off with a stern,manding tone. “So, you’re aware of the risks, then?”


    His voice, though not raised, carried a potent, resonant force that filled the charged silence of the room.


    His sharp gaze swept across the faces before him, resting on K with a glint of sarcasm and unmistakable chill.


    His insinuation was clear, and it struck K directly.


    A storm of emotions whirled within her, herplexion paling. It never crossed her mind that Noah would go to such extremes for Sadie.


    The weight of it hit so hard, it felt like the air had been sucked from her lungs.


    Beneath the table, her fingers gripped her handbag with such intensity that her knuckles whitened.


    The gentle mask she had so meticulously maintained began to fracture, revealing a hint of the turmoil within.


    tt, too, understood the gravity of the situation. He recognized that he had provoked someone truly formidable. Consequences loomed over him, inevitable and severe.


    Trapped with no escape, he sank to his knees with a resounding thud, his hands sped before him, the very picture of desperation. With urgencyced in his tone, his words shattered the tense stillness surrounding them. “Miss Hudson, I was foolish to cross you, and I sincerely regret it. Please, show some mercy and convince Mr. Wall to let me off just this once!”


    The room was enveloped in a palpable silence, every attendee frozen, their breaths held as they witnessed the unfolding drama.


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