Page 93 of Billionaire’s Cruelty

If Liam wasn’t the one looking after Dave, I would have personally sent in a team of medical experts no matter the cost.

I hated feeling helpless when it came to protecting the people I cared about.

“Okay,” I muttered to myself. We had found Dave, and he was alive. That was one massive weight off my shoulders.

Chen being alive, that was a miracle. The image of him covered in blood was still fresh in my mind, like it had happened just minutes ago. I had been convinced he wasn’t breathing. And as much of an asshole as he was, I could never wish death upon anyone. Not even him.

Jenny.

There wasn’t much I could do for her right now. She had been in a facility before when things got bad. At least for now, no one could harm her.

“I want to be the first to hear about cousin Jenny. See what you can do.”

“Noted, boss. I know someone.” Clare offered a faint smile, her confidence seeming to recover.

“June? She has to be here by now.”

Unless Dannie had found some dumb excuse to keep her. Or chained her down and forced her to have his baby. A sudden heat surged through my spine at the thought.

“Dr. Bennet, Ms. Gupta and Mr. Smith are all here. Andy said she’d look after them.”

“Where are they now?”

“They should be at the penthouse.”

“Take me there.” I demanded.

“Actually, are you sure you don’t want to go home first?”

I didn’t like Clare’s tone. This was exactly what irritated me about her. Now that her confidence was back, she thought she could boss me around. And it was my fault—I had let her get away with this behavior for far too long. Her demanding nature had been amusing at first, but I should have put an end to it the moment it started to annoy me.

“I’m going home.”

“No, I mean to Mrs. Li.”

“I don’t want to go to my mother’s house.” I spat out the words. I knew exactly what she meant the first time. There was a reason I had bought my own apartment in Shanghai. My mother would have objected to the idea of me living on my own. As a traditional Chinese mother, she would never want her only son to move out. Maybe things would be different if she weren’t the way she was. Sometimes, I just needed space.

A little distance.

A little air.

“Noted.” Clare said with a curt nod and she looked away, sensing my annoyance, no doubt.

Finally.

Uncle He, my driver for many years, had already taken the initiative, steering us toward my apartment. Clare didn’t know that. She was terrible with directions—she could never tell north from south, east from west.

No one spoke on the way there. Yet my mind felt unbearably loud. Scenes from the recent past collided with imagined futures. What was going to happen?

To me?

To Jenny?

To Chen?

When we finally arrived at my building, I exhaled in relief. My driver dropped me off by the elevator in the basement parking lot. I fidgeted, hands trembling slightly as I waited for the lift to carry me up.

Coming home felt… strange. The ride to the penthouse seemed almost unfamiliar, as if I were returning for the first time.