From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 519

“Thurston, take a look at Peter’s blood test results…”

Egan didn’t even finish before Thurston snatched the tablet right out of his hand. Clearly, he already knew his son’s bloodwork was bad news.

“Thurston, I’ll say this one last time. Take your kids and leave Apex. Don’t show up around my fiancée ever again and upset her. If you do what I say, I won’t use the evidence I have against you.”

“But if you don’t listen and try to stand against me… we’ll see what matters more. Your money or my power. I bet I can show you how pointless all that money feels when it’s useless.”

Adolphus’s words washed over Thurston like a blast of cold water. In that moment, he finally got it. Facing the Lane family, he had zero chance of winning.

He knew how much of his money was actually clean. And even though he wasn’t sure about everything his son had done, he had a pretty good idea.

With Adolphus holding that kind of leverage over him, what choice did he have?

Thurston finally spoke, his voice dry and bitter. “I just hope you mean what you say, Adolphus. Give me a week. We’ll leave as soon as we can.”

“I want your kids out of Apex by tomorrow. As for your company, you get a week to wrap things up. No more.”

Thurston couldn’t believe how ruthless Adolphus was. He wanted to argue but stopped the second he met his eyes. There was no point fighting fate.

Adolphus was right. Money meant nothing if you couldn’t spend it. It was just a bunch of empty numbers.

“I’ll send them away tomorrow. Thank you, Adolphus, for not destroying my family.”

He stood up and left, shoulders slumped, all the confidence he walked in with completely gone.

Foley went quiet. It had been a long time since their boss had shown this side of himself. He’d almost forgotten how ruthless Adolphus could be. Anyone who even looked at Laurinda the wrong way was asking for death.

A little while later, Thurston hurried over in a panic. Tilda saw him arrive and immediately ran into his arms, choking on her tears as she tried to explain everything that had happened.

After listening to her, Thurston glanced around, on edge. He was sure Adolphus’s people were watching from nearby. He clenched his jaw.

“That’s enough, stop crying. They had it coming today. They kicked the wrong hornet's nest today. Tomorrow I’ll send them away from Apex. You’re going too.”

“Leave Apex? Why? I thought we were making a home here.”

“Just trust me and do as I say. And you need to do something about our daughter. Everything that happened today started because of her. If she does something like this again, it won’t just be her. Our whole family will be done for.”