Fear seized Patti. She immediately reached for her phone, but the car screeched to a halt. The back door was yanked open, and she was dragged out onto the pavement. Her phone was stomped on and crushed before she could even process what was happening. She was then forced into arge mansion.


    The architecture was luxurious, the kind Patti had seen before, but being manhandled by guards left her with no mind to appreciate the opulent decor. She was shoved into a grand hall where a man in a ck, bespoke suit sat in the center of a five-meter-long sofa. He was somewhat lean, but the suit entuated his sharp figure. His eyes were piercing and terrifying. A single nce was enough to send a chill down her spine. The man''s facial features were strong and defined; it was clear he must have been an exceptionally handsome man in his youth.


    "Who are you? What do you want with me?" Patti didn''t remember ever meeting this person. She was sure she didn''t know him.


    "What is your rtionship with my son-inw?” McNeil held a lit cigarette, and the scent of tobo hanging in the air was deeply unsettling.


    Patti''s heart pounded. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “You... you''re Gwh''s father? But I thought her father was—”


    McNeil tapped the ash from his cigarette, his gaze like a knife, sharp enough to y her soul. "Answer my question."


    Patti struggled to steady herself, lifting her chin defiantly. "What do you want? Here to stand up for your daughter?” Knowing his identity had somehow lessened her fear. “Is it my fault your daughter can''t keep her man? Hawthorne wanted to be with me, and he treats me very well. Your daughter is the one who failed to hold onto him, and now she''s running to her daddy to fight her battles? How pathetic."


    The words had barely left her mouth when someone grabbed her by the hair and pped her hard across both cheeks. Two bright red handprints instantly appeared on her face, and blood trickled from the corner of her lip. McNeil took a slow drag from his cigarette and leisurely exhaled the smoke. “Don''t make me say it again.”


    Patti''s cheeks were red and swollen. She clutched her face and spat out a mouthful of blood. The two bodyguards holding her remained expressionless. It was then that Patti truly realized she had provoked someone she shouldn''t have.


    "If you do this to me, Hawthorne won''t let you get away with it,” she said, ast-ditch effort. McNeil''s gaze was like a torch.


    "Hawthorne? You think I''m afraid of him?"


    Patti trembled, wanting to say more, but the sting from the ps hadn''t faded, and her head was still ringing. She could barely hear what anyone was saying over the buzzing in her ears. "I... McNeil, please let me go. Hawthorne and I are truly in love. Please, be the bigger person and spare us."


    Patti dropped to her knees and crawled towards him, looking pitiful. "It''s true, we''re in love. Miss Langford misunderstood. The truth is, Hawthorne has always loved me. He only married her because he was angry with me." She began to kowtow, pressing her forehead to the floor.


    McNeil''s expression remained inscrutable giving no hint of his thoughts, "Hawthorne and I were


    childhood sweethearts. We weet


    supposed to get married, but father ran into some trouble overseas, and I felt I wasn''t go


    enough for him so broke things aff. I When I came back to the country,


    Hawthorne found out and


    immediately offered to help me. We love each other. The Langford family is powerful; if Miss Langford wants to marry, plenty of men would line up for her. Why does she have to fight me for him?"


    Patti looked up at McNeil, her face a mask of fragile innocence, herrge eyes


    welling with tears. But her act waspletely lost on him.


    "Fight you for him?" McNeil repeated the words with a derisive twist, the corners of his eyes glinting with cold light Patti had never seen before. He crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. "My daughter was married to Hawthorne after he paid a fifty million dor bride price. He begged to marry her. A man doesn''t need to hide the woman he loves and use her to spite his wife unless there''s some other special reason for their contact."


    McNeil''s words struck a nerve, piercing right through her. Patti panicked. In front of him, her lies were like a transparent sheet of paper, tearing with the slightest pressure. Her eyes had already betrayed her; the flicker of panic in them did not escape McNeil. A woman like Patti couldn''t fool him for a second. "I... I was "


    McNeil toyed with the lighter in his hand. "Speak" His voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it made Patti tremble so violently she nearly copsed. She opened her mouth, but found she was too terrified to form a single word. The two bodyguards stood like mountains behind McNeil. Patti still didn''t answer, tears streaming down her face. "This is kidnapping! It''s illegal, you know that?"


    She wasn''t afraid of McNeil. "If Hawthorne finds out you did this to me, he''ll want even less to do with your daughter! He''ll divorce her! What kind of man are you, taking it out on me? If you have the guts, let your daughter win him back herself—!"