Chapter 50 The Price of Dignity
How could she still <i>try </i>to talk him out of selling the ce?
After everything, this was the only stable home she and La had.
And now they were about to lose even that.<ol><li>91%咖</li></ol>
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Her savings, her grandma’s inheritance–it all felt like she was hitting rock bottom again.<fnc7cf> Chapters first released on </fnc7cf>
Charles could see the look on Tess’s face. He gave her shoulder a light pat. “<b>It’ll </b>be okay. The house is old, yeah, but it’s a solid starter home in a good neighborhood. Once it’s auctioned off, I’ll finally be able to breathe a little easier.”
“But we’ll need to find a temporary ce to rent for now,” he added.
“I’ll do what I can to make sure you and La have a decent setup. You’re still with me on this, right?”
Tess opened her mouth, about to shake her head.
What did he mean, “stick with him“?
She was grateful for everything he’d done as a friend.
But she couldn’t just keep leaning on him forever, dragging him down with her.
“No… I’ve actually been thinking of finding a ce for me and La,” she began.
But then she caught the look in Charles’s eyes–red–rimmed and tired.
Tess paused, startled. Her words died in her throat. “Let’s talk about itter,” she said instead.
Charles smiled faintly. “Once this ce is sold, we’ll move into one of the apartments above the firm. It’s got three bedrooms. We can even set up a little y area for La …
He could barely hide the hope in his voice as he pictured the future.
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He knew it–half of it was him trying to do right by her. The other half was the feelings he’d been trying to ignore for way too long.
Those apartments were for thew firm’s staff only. If they saw Tess and La living there with him, eating and sleeping under the same roof, everyone would assume they were a family.
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Chapter 50 The Price of Dignity
Tess didn’t respond.
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Taking her silence as agreement, Charles’s tired expression softened just a little. But then he thought about Finn–still a wild card–and that flicker of hope dimmed again.
“Even if it’s temporary… it means a lot to me,” he said quietly.
That was enough for him.
Once the auction ns were set, Charles got called back to the office.
Tess watched him leave. His posture was still upright, stillposed. But the ease he used to carry was gone. It was like someone had strapped a heavy stone to his back, weighing him down with every step.
He looked like a man who’d aged years in just a few days.
She still remembered when they first met. He’d been that confident, sharp–witted young attorney everyone admired.
A wave of difort twisted in Tess’s chest.
Now, just days away from letting go of the only home they had left, he was running on fumes. He hadn’t even had time to enjoy thesest moments in the house.
That night, he still hadn’te back.
Tess sat by the window, unease creeping in.
He was rarely out thiste. Had something happened?
Even if she was leaving, she still wanted to make sure he was safe.
She texted him, concern getting the better of her. All she got back was a short, dry reply. saying, “Go to sleep.”
Meanwhile, in the VIP room of a downtown bar, the overhead lights were off. The only glow came from shing multicolored strobes spinning across the ceiling, with loud music pounding in the background.
Charles’s face was flushed, but the dim lighting masked most of it.
He hated these kinds of ces–dark, noisy, crowded. Early in his career, he’d had to put up with them for the sake ofworking. But once he had the reputation and the results, he started turning these invites down.
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Chapter 50 The Price of Dignity
Now here he was again. Right back where he started.
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“What’s wrong, Mr. Jackman? Too good to have a drink with us?” said a heavyset man with a smug look and a belly that pressed into the table.
His eyes swept over Charles with a sneer.
Word had gotten around. The golden boy attorney had fallen hard, out of favor with Lock Group and up to his neck in debt. And this guy had shown up just to see it happen in person.
A glint of cruelty shed in his eyes.
A while back, the man’spany had run into legal trouble, and he’d needed a top–tierwyer to get him out. Everyone had told him to go to Charles.
So he sent over a generous gift.
Charles didn’t even take the meeting. Instead, he sent back a message through someone else, “You made your bed. Lie in it.”
A clear jab at how the guy had mistreated his own workers.
It pissed him off to no end.
With his temper, he would’ve normally made someone pay for that kind of insult.
But with Charles backed by Lock Group, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and keep his mouth shut.
The man clenched his jaw in secret frustration, but when he looked up again, his eyes were full of smug satisfaction and provocation.
Now that Charles no longer had Lock Group backing him, it was open season. He didn’t know what exactly had gone down between them, but it worked out perfectly for him. If he yed his cards right, maybe giving Charles a hard time would earn him a few more contracts from Lock Group.
“Mr. Jackman, if you drink this,” he said, pushing a full ss of liquor across the table, “I’ll throw a little business your way. How about that?”
He mmed the ss down hard, making sure it echoed–every bit of it meant to humiliate.
The insult was loud and clear.
Everyone at the table turned to look, curiosity written all over their faces as they waited to
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Chapter <i>50 </i>The Price of Dignity
see how Charles would respond.
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His dark eyes flickered with something sharp–cold and cutting–but the dim lighting
gone in an instant. Imasked it too well. Whatever shed across his gaze <i>w </i>
“Come on, Mr. Jackman,” someone chimed in with a smirk. “Things aren’t like they used to be. You can’t pull that ‘allergic to alcohol‘ excuse anymore. One drink for a contract? Sounds like a good deal to me.”