?Chapter 938:


    “Is your silence supposed to mean something?” Kolton’s voice burst from his chest, loud and cracked with frustration. “Have you just decided to ept everything without a word? Or do you honestly think this doesn’t deserve an exnation? I didn’t raise you to run from consequences like a coward. That’s never been who you are. You’ve always had the heart of a leader—strong, decisive—and now you’re walking away from everything you were meant to be? Can you even see what this choice says about you?”


    Kolton fell silent for a breath, his presencemanding as he stared hard at udius. “Foolish!”


    A sharp jolt ran through udius’s chest, his heart skipping a beat. Even Mariana, who had been mid-sob moments before, froze in ce, startled by the shift in atmosphere.


    But Kolton wasn’t finished. His voice thundered across the room. “Is this how you n to challenge me? By standing there with that attitude?”


    Lifting one brow, he continued with a scoff. “I had ns for you. You were meant to take the reins of this family, to elevate the Cooper Group, not to crumble over a woman and toss everything.”


    udius turned his head slowly and looked at him. Atst, he opened his mouth. “I’m not that foolish… I just don’t want to leave without making things right.”


    Though spoken quietly, his words rang with resolve.


    “Making things right? Take a good look at what you’ve done. This—this chaos—is that what you hoped to see?” Ovee with rage, Kolton raised his hand and swung without thinking.


    The movement made Mariana flinch. She gasped and threw her hands over her ears.


    In the end, Kolton’s hand froze midair and never came down. His wrist trembled. A vein twitched along his jaw as he ground his teeth and pulled his hand back with a slow, deliberate motion. His eyelids shut tight, his face pale as ash.


    “It is all Maia’s fault,” he muttered, almost spitting the words. “Can you not see? She has destroyed everything. She is like poison… a curse.”


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    Silence swallowed the study. The tension among the three was so thick they could almost hear their own heartbeats echoing against the wood-paneled walls.


    Then Kolton sank into his chair, exhaling a breath that had been caught in his chest far too long. “No matter how you feel right now, public opinion must be addressed first,” he said, voice low but firm. “Tomorrow morning at ten, the Cooper Group will hold a press conference. You will be there. You will publicly state that you have no rtionship with Maia and make the situation clear to the media. Thepany’s reputationes first. I will not entertain any objections.”


    udius said nothing at first. Then, with a resigned nod, he answered quietly, “Alright. I understand.”


    “Go to your room. Reflect on your actions.” Kolton turned away, his voice clipped, his gaze refusing to follow his disgraced son.


    udius did not linger. He left without protest, each step steady, unfaltering.


    Once the door shut behind him, Kolton’s expression softened as he looked toward Mariana. She sat curled on the couch, shoulders trembling, sobs wracking her frame.


    “Mariana,e here,” he said gently. “Let Daddy take you to a doctor, alright?”


    “A doctor?” Her tear-filled eyes widened in rm. “Dad, I am not sick! I do not want to go to the hospital. Please… I do not want to!”


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