Even after some time, he was still coughing hard.


    Samuel tightened his grip even more, while Austin''s face turned paler by the second.


    "Mr. Samuel" Seeing things were getting out of hand, the bodyguard rushed over and grabbed Samuel.


    Samuel had wanted to strangle Austin to death for ages, but he couldn''t pull through with it.


    If he could, Austin


    in would''ve been dead the moment he came back to the house, and he wouldn''t have lived till today


    With a cold, menacing look, Samuel finally let go of Austin.


    "Consider yourself lucky I''m letting you live," he sa


    Austin copsed onto the sofa, gasping for


    skat


    Samuel snapped, "Send the voice message now. Don''t make me strangle you again."


    Still struggling to breathe, Austin looked at Samuel like he didn''t even recognize him.


    That only earned him a sneer from Samuel. "How dare you re at me? Want me to gouge your eyes out right now?"


    Austin didn''t flinch. He kept his eyes locked on Samuel.


    The bodyguard tried to reason with Austin. "Listen, Mr. Austin. Those who know how to read the room won''t make things harder than they need to be. You should just follow and do whatever Mr. Samuel says.


    "If not, you''re asking for trouble. You''ll go through all the pain, only to end up doing what he wants anyway. Why put yourself through that?"


    Austin said nothing, and the standoff dragged on for a while. In the end, just as Samuel wanted, Austin sent the voice message to Cameron.


    Satisfied with Cameron''s answer, Samuel got up, looking pleased with himself.


    As he was leaving, he snatched the phone right out of Austin''s hand. This phone''s mine now."


    With that, he walked off with Austin''s phone in hand.


    "My phone!" Austin tried to grab it back.


    But the bodyguard blocked his path. "Mr. Austin, you''d better save your energy. There''s no way you can win against us.


    Austin could only stay in his spot, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.


    But the phone wasn''t what really mattered to Austin. It was Cameron. He was worried that she would actually believe what he said in the voice message


    Austin couldn''t let that happen. He had to find a way to contact Cameron.


    *Lock Austin up. For the next two days, he''s not allowed to leave this room. And cut off the inte," Samuel ordered.


    Just as Austin was about to warn Cameron about Samuel''s ns, he heard Samuel giving orders to his men.


    Austin stopped in his tracks. Honestly, he never expected Samuel to be this careful.


    When Cameron stepped out of the shower, she noticed she had received Austin''s voice message. So, she sent a voice reply to Austin too


    Cameron [Aus, rx. I never fell for it in the first ce. How are you doing? Why did your phone end up with Samuel? He didn''t give you a hand 1


    Austin: [Cam, don''t worry I''m fine.


    Austin: Samuel found out you cut ties with the Wace family and thought you were messing with him. He got really pissed and tried to use me to lure you out and deal with you. Good thing you were smart and didn''t fall for it.]


    Cameron: I''m d that you''re okay. G


    Get some rest. See you at school tomorrow.


    Austin: Cam, can we meet tomorrow morning?


    Cameron: Tomorrow morning? is something up?


    Austin: Cam, I really can''t take it in this house anymore. I don''t want to stay here.


    Cameron: [So, where do you want to go tomorrow?]


    Austin [Anywhere but Fraser Vi is fine. Do you have somewhere in mind?]


    Cameron thought for a while before replying: How about you hang out at Noble Vista for a bit?)


    Austinc [Cam, it''s kind of weird for me to go if you''re not there.]


    Cameron [Alright, I''ll head over too. See you tomorrow.]


    Austin: [See you tomorrow.


    After finishing her chat with Austin, Cameron put her phone down. She was about


    to head to the study to grab a few books, but her phone started ringing again before she could leave the room.


    It was Xander calling her


    er this time, but with a voice call. She had rejected all of his requests for a video call earlier. So, he finally learned his lesson and


    knew what to do.


    Cameron sighed, sat down on the edge of her bed, and answered, "Hello?"


    "Hey, you little punk, I thought you were dead." Xander sounded genuinely relieved to hear her voice


    "Thanks to you, I''m still alive and breathing. What do you want?" Cameron asked,


    "Nothing much, just checking if you''re still alive."


    Xander figured Cameron must''ve been scared out of her mind after crossing Samuel, so he hadn''t bothered her about tutoring that afternoon.


    Cameron was silent momentarily before saying, "I haven''t hung up yet. But can I hang up now?"


    "What''s with the rush? Where are you? I''lle pick you up for school tomorrow," Xander said.


    "No need for that," Cameron replied.


    "What do you mean you don''t need it? Do you ever realize you pissed off Samuel? Do you know how scary he is? Do you know how miserable your sister and the others are right now?" Xander pressed.


    Cameron remained expressionless. "Miserable How miserable? Isn''t this the perfect chance for you to y hero and save Milena? Why are you other me instead of rescuing the damsel in distress?


    Xander was speechless. He had no reason to help Mena. It wasn''t like he was anyone to her


    When something happened to the Wace family thest time, he wanted to visit, but Milena shot him down right away.


    weg, 28 May


    By now, he had already been rejected by Milena more times than he could count. He had his pride as a man too to keep pestering


    theliuter n.apyi


    Desides, there was nothing between them, so he didn''t see any reason for him to offer his help so


    Cameron went on and on, but Xander didn''t respond, and she couldn''t be bothered to keep talking


    "If there''s nothing else, I''m hanging up," Cameron said.


    "Wait! I actually have something to say." Xander blurted out.


    "What is it?" Cameron asked.


    "You little brat, you''re really not letting me pick you up? What if Samueles


    after you?"


    "Do you even know where Lam? Cameron shot back.


    "Where are you?"


    "Exactly. You don''t know where I am, and neither does Samuel. So how''s he supposed to mess with me?"


    Xander paused, thinking. I guess she had a point.


    st wanted to pick Cameron up. But unfortunately, she couldn''t get his hint, and Xander thought she was really dense for that


    Still, he just


    "Hanging up now," Cameron said With that, she ended the call and put her phone


    down as she headed to the study to get a few books..


    But as soon as she pushed open the door, she was surprised to see Bradley


    already inside.


    He was sitting in an armchair, dressed in a ck satin robe and gold-rimmed sses, quietly reading a book


    Cameron spoke up, a little embarrassed, "Sorry, Brad. I didn''t know you were in here, so I didn''t knock... I''m not bothering you, am 17"


    Bradley shook his head. "It''s fine. Do you want to read something?"


    Cameron nodded. "Yeah, just something to read before bed." Bradley stood up. "What kind of book are you looking for? I can help you find it."


    Cameron said, "I''ll look for it myself. Do we have anything on pharmacology!"


    Bradley looked a bit surprised. "Pharmacology? You''re into that?"


    up, so I''ve been thinking about what to major in Fended up choosing pharmacology. I think it''s really cool and


    Cameron nodded. "The SAT ising up, s pretty interesting."


    Bradley nodded. "Yeah, it is pretty cool."


    He walked over to the bookshelf, searched for a moment, and soon handed


    Cameron a book. "Is this the one you''re looking for?"