Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 227

Chapter 227: Chapter 227: The humiliation burned like acid.

Winter returned to her office, quietly closing the door behind her.

The tension she’d been carrying since her run-in with Eric still clung to her shoulders, but her expression remained composed.

She sank into her chair with a slow breath, letting the silence of the room wrap around her. Confronting Eric had taken more courage than she liked to admit, but there was one thing she was sure of now—he wouldn’t hurt her.

Despite the tension in his voice, despite the proximity and the pointed questions, he hadn’t lashed out. His restraint had been clear. Controlled. And that told her more than his words ever could.

His reaction today proved that. He hadn’t seemed offended by her warning or defensive about her veiled threats. In fact, it almost seemed like he was the one afraid of something she might know.

Winter leaned back in her chair, fingers loosely intertwined in her lap, her mind racing with possibilities.

Eric might be many things manipulative, calculating, even dangerous but today, he had hesitated. That hesitation was enough to make her believe he still held a line when it came to her.

And in a world full of enemies disguised as allies, even a reluctant restraint was something she could use.

But it also meant something else, someone else was still watching from the dark. Someone who hadn’t made their move yet.

And Winter needed to be ready when they did.

***

[Greyson International]

The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, and Eric stepped out, adjusting the cuffs of his suit. His mind, however, was elsewhere, replaying the morning’s heated exchange with Agnes and then his confrontation with Winter.

He had raised his voice more than he intended to. His warning had been sharp, his threat even sharper. But none of that bothered him as much as the unease sitting heavy in his chest.

He didn’t like being caught off guard—and David summoning him unannounced was exactly that.

Before he could take a single step forward, David’s assistant intercepted him with her usual mechanical efficiency.

“Mr. Greyson is expecting you. He asked that you head straight to his office.”

Eric offered a tight nod and followed without a word, every instinct in him sharpening. David never called him without reason, especially not through intermediaries.

As he entered the office, the heavy door clicking shut behind him, Eric immediately sensed the tension in the air.

David was seated behind his desk, back straight, gaze fixed on a file in front of him. He didn’t look up immediately, which only amplified the discomfort.

“You wanted to see me?” Eric asked, his tone even.

David finally raised his eyes, cold and calculating.

“I did.” He folded the file shut and leaned forward, fingers steepled. “I’ve been hearing things, Eric. Things I shouldn’t have to hear from anyone but you.”

Eric didn’t flinch, but the warning bells in his head rang louder.

“Things like what?”

“Like how you’ve been making connections behind my back.” David’s voice dropped a note, silk laced with venom.

“Reaching out to people you’ve been explicitly told to avoid. Whispering in ears that aren’t yours to whisper in.”

Eric’s jaw tightened, but his expression remained composed. But deep down he was caught off guard.

“I’ve only acted in the interest of the company. Of us.”

“For us?” David repeated, his voice laced with cold mockery. “And how exactly is going behind my back part of that plan?”

His eyes narrowed, piercing through Eric like twin blades, sharp and unrelenting. The calmness on Eric’s face only seemed to provoke him further. It was that infuriating stillness—so measured, so unreadable—that made David’s blood simmer beneath his tailored exterior.

“You really think I wouldn’t notice?” He added, his voice lower now, more dangerous. “You think quiet conversations and shadowed meetings won’t reach me?”

Eric’s jaw tensed slightly, a flicker of annoyance slipping through the cracks in his composed exterior. But he still didn’t speak.

David stood slowly, the chair groaning faintly as he pushed back. He walked around the desk, every step deliberate.

“You were never meant to move without my signal. And yet here you are building your own alliances, sniffing around things that don’t concern you.” He stopped just inches from Eric. “You’re either getting arrogant… or reckless.”

Eric finally met David’s gaze, his jaw clenched as he held firm.

“You’re getting it all wrong,” he said through gritted teeth, his tone low but steady—unyielding.

David’s eyes narrowed, sharp with suspicion, his temper barely restrained. He was used to control, used to obedience. But Eric—standing there, unflinching—was pushing limits he wasn’t prepared to accept.

He stepped closer, his voice dropping. “Then enlighten me. Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve been making moves that benefit you, not this family.”

But Eric didn’t flinch. His voice hardened, carrying the weight of long-buried resentment.

“You’ve always underestimated me, father-in-law,” he said, the title slicing through the air like a blade. “You’ve kept me on the sidelines, treated me like a pawn. But everything I’m doing—every risk I’m taking—is to keep what little is left of this empire from crumbling beneath your arrogance.”

David’s expression darkened. “Watch your tone.”

“No,” Eric snapped. “You watch your reality.” He took a step forward now, eyes burning with conviction. “We’ve lost nearly everything contracts, clients, and credibility. And you still think you can play king in a collapsing kingdom.”

David’s face twitched with fury, but Eric wasn’t done.

“You really believe the chairman won’t toss you from his will the second someone more capable comes along?” he added coldly. “You’re living on borrowed time, Boss. And when the fall comes, don’t expect me to go down with you.”

David’s face twisted with shock, anger, and wounded pride flashing all at once. Eric’s words had struck deep, each one like a needle pricking through the inflated ego he’d built his identity on.

There was a long, charged silence.

Finally, David spoke, his voice like ice. “Careful, Eric. You’re walking a line you won’t come back from.”

Eric gave a tight smile. “Then maybe it’s time someone crossed it.”

He turned and walked out, leaving David in the echo of a truth he could no longer ignore.

David’s brave facade cracked the moment the door closed behind Eric. His hands, once firm with authority, now trembled as he gripped the edge of the table to steady himself.

Eric hadn’t just spoken back—he had stripped David of every illusion of control he thought he held. With deliberate, brutal precision, Eric had shown him his place… and reminded him how insignificant that place had become.

The humiliation burned like acid.

For years, David had comforted himself with the belief that he held the reins of Eric’s life. That Eric was just another piece on his board, a pawn easily manipulated. But now, standing in the silence of his office, all he could feel was the bitter sting of truth.

He’d been a fool to think Eric was still under his thumb.

And worse… he could feel the balance of power shifting, one cold word at a time.

Eric stepped into his office, the door clicking shut behind him with finality. He didn’t move any further, stopping right in the middle of the room as the weight of the confrontation with David settled in his chest like lead.

His mind was racing, replaying every word, every shift in David’s tone, and every accusation he’d dodged with calm precision. But beneath the surface, something wasn’t sitting right.

Something was off.

Eric had been careful—meticulous, even. Every move he made, every contact he cultivated behind the scenes, had been done in silence. Discreet meetings. No paper trails. No digital footprints. And absolutely no room for suspicion to seep back to the Greysons.

He had gone to great lengths to make sure his silent allies stayed invisible.

And as for Agnes and Winter, he had handled them.

Winter hated her father—she wouldn’t go to David even if she was on fire. And Agnes… he had silenced her. With fear. With manipulation. With the same control he’d always relied on.

So then how… how did David find out?

Eric’s jaw tensed, his thoughts swirling.

Had someone slipped up?

Had Agnes… told someone?

Or worse, was someone watching him?

He crossed to his desk slowly but didn’t sit. His fingers hovered over the edge, mind still turning.

There was a leak somewhere. And now, he had to find it before everything unraveled.

Because if David knew this much… it was only a matter of time before he knew it all.

And that…that could destroy everything Eric had spent years building from the shadows.

Alarmed and on edge, Eric immediately reached for his phone, his fingers moving with practiced speed as he dialed a private number—the one only his most trusted informer used.

The call connected after a single ring.

“I need a full sweep,” Eric said, his voice clipped and cold. “Dig into everything—calls, meetings, movements. Someone’s leaking information, and I want to know who.

He paused only briefly, then added, “Start from my last visit to Winter and work your way forward.” No detail is too small.”

His grip on the phone tightened, jaw clenched with quiet fury.

“Whoever’s trying to cross me, I want them exposed… and handled. Permanently if needed. Understood?”

A low affirmation came from the other end of the line.

Eric ended the call and lowered the phone slowly, his mind already ten steps ahead. This wasn’t just about plugging a leak anymore—this was about control. And he had no intention of losing it.

Not now. Not when he was this close to everything he’d worked for.

However, little did Eric know, it was all Kalix doing who was using him as the pawn in his own game.