I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra and Steven) novel Chapter 368

The door to the private room slammed shut. Out of my sight, Steven made a call to Gordon.

His brows were heavy with menace, his eyes glinting with a murderous intent. “I want you to fund Horace. Find him and sign him to a contract.”

Gordon was dumbfounded, his voice shaking with shock. “So suddenly? Mr. Lancaster, I think I must have misheard. Are we blacklisting him or investing in him?”

“You heard me. And remember, he is not to know that I'm the one backing him.”

Gordon's mind suddenly caught up. “Mr. Lancaster, are you starting your move against Horace? If we blacklist him, he'll just find another backer and pop back up. But if we buy him out, he'll have no choice but to follow the path you set for him. You could send him packing to another country, and he'd have to go. You're brilliant, Mr. Lancaster. But if we go too far, Mrs. Lancaster might...”

Steven's lips curled into a chillingly cold sneer, his anger rising. “Just do it. And stop asking questions.”

Back in the room, my lip was bleeding. I touched it and my fingertip came away red.

I opened the camera app on my phone to check the wound on my forehead. I had hit it hard in my anger. It was red and slightly bleeding, and it stung to the touch.

“Damn you, Steven.”

If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this mess.

I left the room and got back into the car. Ryan had just finished a game and grinned at me. “You're back so fast... What happened to you?”

His smile vanished when he saw the injuries on my face, his cheerful expression turning grim. “Did they hit you? Those bastards! Where are they? What are their names? I'll kill them!”

I waved his concern away. “They never showed up. I just fell. It's nothing. Let's go home.”

My little brother was impulsive. If I told him the truth, he would go after Steven, and he would be the one to get hurt.

Ryan clearly didn't believe me, his face tense, but he didn't argue. He just looked at me with worried eyes.

“Okay, let's go home first. We need a doctor to look at your injuries.”

When we got home, a doctor cleaned and dressed the cut on my forehead and the bite on my lip.

“It's nothing serious. Just a minor cut on the forehead. Keep it dry until it scabs over.”

Ryan saw the doctor out. When he saw Leonard come home, he immediately started tattling. “Bro, someone beat up her!”

I sighed.

He might do as he threatened: buy negative press, pressure the production to drop Horace, or rig the competition so he gets eliminated. I couldn't let that happen.

Leonard raised an eyebrow. “His show will be fine. Unless he's not good enough and gets eliminated on his own merit, you don't have to worry about anything else.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Leonard.”

“You still haven't told me what happened.”

I was quiet for a moment, then finally shook my head. “It's nothing. I just fell.”

The company was always busiest at the end of the year, and with the whole Horace situation on top of his usual workload, my brother was swamped. I had even attended the auction for him. I didn't want to add Steven to his plate.

Besides, I already had a plan to deal with Steven.

Leonard's gaze lingered on my injuries. He suddenly grabbed my wrist. I tensed, instinctively trying to pull away, but his grip was firm. There were red marks on my wrist, almost bruises, clearly from someone grabbing me forcefully while I struggled.

His eyes narrowed. “It wasn't some couple who hit you. It was your ex-husband, wasn't it?”