?Chapter 31:


    Kaiden looked down, unable to hide the flicker of amusement in his eyes.


    Ellie was not one to be easily intimidated.


    Erick, irked by Ellie’s alliance with Kaiden, remarked bitterly, “Kaiden, you have a taste for the woman I reject, huh?”


    Ellie had grown tired of his sly remarks. They constantly had something bad to say! And since Kaiden wasn’t one to speak up, she decided to step in.


    “Erick, as I mentioned before, proper etiquette dictates you address me respectfully. You’ve seen Kaiden and I here for some time now. Regardless of my background, I am the woman Kaiden chose to marry officially!” Turning her attention to Talon, she added sharply, “Mr. Thorpe, rather than scrutinizing my husband, perhaps you should focus on disciplining your own son.”


    Her emphasis on being “married officially” struck a nerve within Erick’s family.


    “How dare you?! Who do you think you are, believing you can speak to us in such a manner?!” Genesis, enraged, raised her hand to strike Ellie. But as her hand neared Ellie’s face, Kaiden, with startling swiftness, grabbed a nearby cup and threw it.


    Bang!


    There was a scream and a sharp sound of impact.


    The cup collided with Genesis’s hand, shattering upon impact. Hot coffee sshed over Genesis’s hand and face, leaving her in a state of shock and pain.


    A hushed silence enveloped the hall.


    “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t tell my wife what she can and can’t do!” Kaiden’s voice was ice-cold as he shielded Ellie behind him.


    His re sent a chill through the onlookers.


    Ellie, momentarily stunned by Kaiden’s intervention, gazed at his impassive profile, feeling an unfamiliar stir within her heart.


    Genesis, recovering from the shock, cried out in pain.


    “Hold on, Mom. The doctor’s on the way!” Erick quickly instructed a maid to summon the family doctor.


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    “Kaiden, this is too much!” Talon eximed, both shocked and furious.


    Kaiden’sughter was cold and menacing. “Remember your ce. Remember who I am,” he warned.


    Despitecking familial favor, Kaiden was still the legitimate heir, with the powerful Chapman family behind him. The Thorpes’ control over him was tenuous, reliant on a delicate bnce of threats and maniption.


    But if they pushed him too far, and he rejected their constraints, he could easily bring ruin to the entire Thorpe family.


    Talon, his expression turning grim, regretted his mother’s failure to rece Brisa before her untimely death. Resigned to his status as an illegitimate child, he harbored a deep resentment toward Kaiden and silently vowed to kill him in the future.


    “Enough! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Jorge finally intervened, trying to quell the rising tensions.


    “You should discipline Talon first instead of scolding me,” Kaiden replied coolly before turning to Ellie. “Let’s go, honey.”


    Jorge’s frustration boiled over. What an annoying son!


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