Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Theodric's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, his tie hanging crooked around his neck.
He stared hard at Camilla on the hospital bed, then glanced at Caspian holding a bowl of soup. Rage surged straight from his chest to the top of his skull.
"Camilla! Have you no shame left?" Theodric stormed into the room, jabbing a finger at her nose as he exploded. "I'm out there searching everywhere for my son, and what are you doing? Hiding in a hospital having a secret rendezvous with some wild man! Have you forgotten whose wife you are? You're not even dead yet and you're already shopping for your next meal ticket. You're disgusting!"
The vile insults detonated in the hospital room.
Camilla didn't spare him a single glance.
She turned her head, her gaze landing on the white wall. Her stomach churned violently. Her body trembled uncontrollably from the intense emotional upheaval and physical nausea.
Revolting.
Seeing this man, hearing his voice—she felt nothing but revulsion.
Caspian set down the soup bowl and covered Camilla's ears with his large hands.
He blocked out the filthy insults. Then he straightened to his full height.
Six-foot-three, combined with the oppressive aura he'd cultivated from years in positions of power, instantly made Theodric look like a pathetic clown.
"Mr. Clifford seems to be having a rough few days." Caspian looked down at him, his tone dripping with undisguised mockery. "The Clifford Group hit four consecutive limit-down trading days. The shareholders' meeting turned into a warzone. And that childhood sweetheart of yours is currently squatting in a detention cell eating prison food."
Caspian took a step forward. His leather shoes struck the floor with a dull thud.
"You can't even protect your own woman or your company, so you run to a hospital to rage impotently at a sick patient." Caspian's mouth twisted into a smirk. "Theodric, this is all you'll ever amount to."
That line landed squarely on Theodric's last nerve.
He'd spent the past few days begging for help. Every so-called brother and business partner he'd once toasted with was now avoiding him. Serena's case was ironclad—there was no getting her out.
Everything he'd prided himself on was crumbling to dust.
"Caspian, who the hell do you think you are?" Theodric completely lost it. He swung his fist at Caspian's face. "This is my family business! It's none of your damn concern!"
The fist never even touched Caspian's sleeve.
A dark figure burst through the door.
Flynn stormed in with two bodyguards. His movements were swift and decisive.
Flynn kicked Theodric square in the back of the knee, twisted his arm behind his back, and slammed him face-first onto the floor.
Theodric's face pressed against the cold tile, one side of it crushed and distorted. His suit jacket smeared with dust. His tie tangled messily around his neck. He looked worse than a homeless man on the street.
"Let me go! This is kidnapping! I'm calling the police!" Theodric thrashed on the ground like a fish out of water.
Caspian didn't even bother looking at him. He turned back to grab tissues and gently wiped the cold sweat from Camilla's forehead.
Ollie was terrified.
He huddled beside the bed, looking at his father rolling on the floor, then at his mother's deathly pale face. Suddenly, he burst into tears.
Hearing his son's cries, Theodric jerked his head up, eyes locked on Ollie.
"Ollie! Get over here!" Theodric snarled through clenched teeth. "Are you blind? You're just going to watch while your father gets beaten? Come home with me!"
He struggled free from the bodyguards' hold, scrambled to his feet, and lunged toward the bed. He grabbed Ollie by the collar and dragged him roughly toward the door.
"Let me go! I'm not going back!" Ollie fought desperately, his small hands clinging to the doorframe.
The boy's nails scraped against the wood with a sharp, grating sound. He sobbed hysterically. "I want my mom! I don't want to go with you! Let me go!"
Seeing her son treated so brutally, Camilla's heart seized.
She bolted upright, retching violently, spitting out a mouthful of sour bile.
"Camilla!" Caspian's expression changed drastically. He quickly supported her shoulders and rubbed her back.
Turning toward Theodric at the door, murder flashed in Caspian's eyes.
"Flynn!" Caspian's voice was low, every word laced with gunpowder. "Throw him out! Don't let him dirty this floor!"
Flynn understood immediately.
Several bodyguards stepped forward, forcibly pried Ollie's hands off the doorframe, and dragged both father and son out of the hospital building.
The hallway finally fell silent.
Camilla leaned against Caspian, gasping for air. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes—purely physiological.
"It's okay now." Caspian brought her warm water to rinse her mouth, his movements impossibly gentle. "I promise, he'll never set foot on this floor again."
The scene shifted.
A black Maybach tore down the road, blowing through two red lights before screeching to a stop in front of Clifford Manor.
Theodric yanked open the car door with a dark expression and hauled Ollie out of the back seat.
"Move!"
He dragged his son into the living room.
The massive villa was eerily quiet. At this time before, Serena would have been sitting on the sofa playing piano, and the servants would have been bustling about preparing dinner.
Now, there wasn't a soul in sight. A thin layer of dust had settled on the tables.
The fire inside Theodric burned even hotter.
He ripped the tie from his neck and threw it on the floor. Then he walked to the coffee table and grabbed the whip he used for discipline.
"Kneel!" Theodric pointed at the marble floor in the center of the living room.
Ollie stood frozen, eyes red and swollen. His clothes were wrinkled from being yanked around. Only one dirty white sock remained on his feet.
He didn't move.
"I said kneel!" Theodric walked over and kicked the back of Ollie's knee.
Ollie dropped to the floor with a thud, his knees hitting hard.
"Hands out!" Theodric raised the whip.
In the past, whenever Theodric got angry, Ollie would cower in a corner crying or run to Serena for help.
But not today.
Ollie bit his lip and held out both small hands.
The whip lashed down hard across his palms, immediately raising two swollen red welts.
"Got some guts now, huh?" Theodric's chest heaved violently with rage. "Learned how to run away from home? Ran to the hospital to recognize a thief as your father! What curse did Caspian put on you to make you disown your own dad?"
Ollie trembled all over from the pain. Tears welled in his eyes, but he clenched his teeth and didn't cry out.
He looked up at the furious man before him.
"Go ahead. Hit me." Ollie's childish voice carried unprecedented defiance—even hatred. "Just beat me to death!"
Theodric froze.
He never expected his timid, weak son to talk back like this.
"You've lost your mind!" Theodric raised the whip again.
"You're a bad dad!" Ollie suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the empty living room. "Ms. Nelson is bad, and you're bad too!"
The whip stopped mid-air.
Theodric's face turned ashen. "What nonsense are you spouting? Who taught you to talk like that? Was it that bitch Camilla?"
"Don't you dare call my mom names!" Ollie shot up from the floor like an enraged little lion. "You all bully her! Ms. Nelson pinched me, lied to me, and you never cared! You only ever yell at Mom!"
Ollie's tears finally broke free, streaming down his swollen cheeks.
"Mom's dying!"