Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 233

Chapter 233: Chapter 233:You don’t make business decisions on a whim

Mia’s gloved fingers hovered dangerously close to the monitor’s override button—the one that controlled Richard’s oxygen support. One press, and the stagnant man lying in bed would die in silence. No alarms. No struggle. Just… gone.

A merciful death for a man who deserved none.

Her chest rose and fell with restraint.

Not yet.

Her eyes glimmered not with guilt, but with a grimace carved from years of fury. Her lips twitched, the corners tightening with every breath she forced herself not to take.

“This isn’t the time for you to die, Richard,” she whispered, her voice a blade sharpened on hatred. “Not yet. Not until I’ve finished tearing down everything you built. Not until every person who helped you destroy me is gone.”

Her gaze bore into the unconscious man’s pale face, a storm brewing behind her composed facade.

“I want you awake when it ends,” she hissed. “I want you to feel it. To watch it. I want you to know exactly what it’s like when your world is stripped from you, piece by piece… just like you did to me.”

Her hands curled into fists at her sides. The venom in her voice didn’t tremble—it calcified, cold and deliberate.

She took a step back from the machine, forcing her rage into submission. This wasn’t about impulse.

It was about justice.

No—vengeance.

Mia had come too far. She wouldn’t let years of planning unravel with one emotional mistake.

There was still a list to finish.

Still names to cross out in blood.

Her mind traced the ones already taken care of—those who’d begged, screamed, or didn’t even realize what hit them.

Now, only three remained.

But one name pulsed through her mind like a curse.

Stanley.

Even thinking it twisted something inside her.

The name itself tasted of betrayal and bile. The man behind it? A serpent who wore loyalty like perfume—faint and superficial. He’d pretended to protect her once. Swore she was family. Promised safety.

Then handed her over to monsters with a smile.

Mia’s jaw tightened as she looked down at Richard again.

He was the root.

But Stanley?

Stanley would be the one to feel it all.

***

[Penthouse]

“We’ve already tightened security, boss. Our men are watching every corner—nothing’s slipping past us,” Sean reported, his stance rigid, voice firm with purpose.

Kalix gave a curt nod, arms folded as he stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows. The city stretched below, bathed in the pale morning light, but to Kalix, it may as well have been cloaked in shadows. Every flicker of movement felt like a threat. Every quiet hour was just calm before the next storm.

When it came to Winter’s safety, he no longer left anything to chance.

Not after Diana.

Her death had tipped something in him—an edge he already lived close to was now razor-sharp. They didn’t have suspects yet. No names. No faces. Just a growing sense of danger.

And Kalix wasn’t one to wait for the enemy to make the next move.

Sean turned his attention to Winter, his tone gentling. “Lady Boss… did you notice anything strange? Anything out of place—anyone who didn’t belong?”

Winter had barely spoken. She sat on the edge of the sofa, her posture too still, her eyes locked on something invisible—trapped in a memory or maybe in the weight of an unspoken truth.

Sean had learned to read her silence over the past weeks. Winter wasn’t the kind of woman who cowered from threats. She endured them. But Diana’s murder hadn’t just unsettled her—it had carved into something deeper.

It was more than fear.

It was personal.

Finally, she looked up. Her face gave nothing away, but her eyes shimmered with something fractured—like a thread pulled taut, about to snap.

“I didn’t see anyone,” she murmured. “But that’s the problem, isn’t it?”

Sean frowned.

Kalix stepped closer. “What do you mean?”

Winter exhaled, fingers absently twisting the hem of her sleeve as she spoke. “Diana wasn’t just warning me. She was certain. She said it like someone who knew—like it was already in motion.”

She looked between them. “And now she’s gone. That wasn’t random, Kalix. That was a message. Someone wanted to make sure she stayed silent.”

A muscle twitched in Kalix’s jaw.

Sean stayed quiet, but he could feel the air shift—tension coiling tighter.

Winter’s voice lowered. “And this isn’t about David or Dorothy anymore. They’re a distraction—a familiar one. But whoever’s really behind this? They’re close. Close enough to know how to pull our focus exactly where they want it.”

Kalix’s eyes darkened. He knew she was right.

But before he could respond, Winter’s gaze sharpened—and shifted.

“You still haven’t answered something,” she said, her tone suddenly laced with suspicion. “Why did you try to merge with Greyson Holdings?”

Kalix blinked. “What?”

Winter sat up straighter, her voice calm but edged with steel. “You’re a strategist. You don’t make business decisions on a whim, and certainly not because my grandfather asked. So tell me—what was the real reason?”

Sean blinked, caught off guard by the sudden pivot. Kalix, however, didn’t flinch. His silence stretched for a beat too long.

“You think I bought into a company just because I care about you?” he said quietly, almost incredulous.

“I think you’re hiding something,” she replied, unwavering. “And I think it has more to do with whoever’s coming for me than it does with boardroom politics.”

Kalix didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he crossed the room slowly, pouring himself a glass of water. Not because he needed it, but to buy a few seconds.

Winter’s brow furrowed in suspicion. The moment she shifted her gaze to Sean, he shot up from the couch like he’d been electrocuted.

“Hello? Yes… I’m on my way,” he said to no one in particular, holding his phone upside down.

Winter: “…”

Kalix: “…”

“Excuse me, Boss. Lady Boss. There’s, uh… something urgent I need to check on.” Sean didn’t wait for a reply. He practically sprinted out of the penthouse like a mouse who’d narrowly escaped a trap.

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

Winter blinked, caught between suspicion and amusement. The comic timing was almost impressive. Her lips twitched despite herself.

Slowly, she turned to Kalix who, very suddenly, found the glass of water in his hand fascinating.

He gulped it in one swift motion and stood abruptly. “I think my phone’s ringing… in our room,” he muttered, already stepping back.

Winter wasn’t having it.

“Kalix,” she called, her voice firm as she moved to block his path. Arms crossed. Brow arched. “You really want to try escaping me?”

Kalix froze mid-step, the guilty look flashing across his face all but confirming it.

“You’re ignoring my question,” she said. “Since when do you do that? And more importantly… who taught you that trick?”

He gave her an exaggerated look of wounded innocence. “You think I’m avoiding you?”

Winter just stared at him, unimpressed.

Kalix sighed dramatically, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay. Fine. If you must know who taught me the fine art of escaping uncomfortable conversations…”

He paused for effect.

“It was Serene.”

Winter’s expression twisted. “Serene? You’re saying our four-year-old daughter taught you how to dodge confrontation?”

Kalix nodded solemnly. “She’s a master of misdirection. Last week, she knocked over an entire bowl of snacks, blamed the wind, and then asked me if I wanted to watch cartoons. I didn’t even realize what she did until she was halfway into her second popsicle.”

Winter blinked. “And you… took notes?”

He shrugged. “I’m not proud.”

A beat of silence passed before Winter laughed—soft and exasperated. “You’re impossible.”

Kalix stepped closer, a sheepish grin tugging at his lips. “But charmingly impossible.”

Her amusement faded slightly as her gaze softened. “You’re also deflecting again, Kalix. And you know me, I’ll push until I get the answer.”

He sighed again, more serious this time, and reached for her hand. But before he could speak a word, the phone in his pocket rang.

Winter gave him a disbelieving look, which he awkwardly dodged, and quickly answered the call.

“What is it?”

The moment those words left his mouth, Winter knew the call was serious.