Chapter 75 What a Reunion
For a moment, no one made a sound.
It was as if the world itself held its breath, suspended in a brutal, airless pause. The single flickering bulb above them cast a weak, trembling light, stretching shadows long across the concrete floor and illuminating the ruin of the man tied to the metal beam. Knight’s flashlight steadied, Casper’s breath hitched, Lucio froze mid-step, and Caelum’s grip around Deborah’s arm tightened instinctively, grounding her as the truth slowly, horrifyingly unfurled before them.
Lysander’s gaze didn’t waver from the broken figure. His chest heaved, breath shaky, ribs trembling beneath torn cloth. Every part of him looked battered, but his eyes.....red-rimmed, bruised, burning, were fixated only on one thing. One person. One ghost from the past.
The man sagged forward slightly, the industrial cable digging into his wrists, and when the shadow shifted enough for the flickering light to hit his face again..... Knight whispered hoarsely, disbelief cracking his voice.
“No way… No fucking way…”
Lucio’s jaw went slack, his eyes widening in pure shock. “You have got to be kidding me…”
Casper staggered back as if he’d been physically struck. “No.....no, that’s impossible. He was—”
Caelum’s face turned to stone, expression carved in a kind of cold, lethal stillness that Deborah rarely, almost never saw. His voice came out as a low, nearly soundless murmur, heavy with recognition and fury.
“Samuel Renard.”
Deborah inhaled sharply, her hand flying to her mouth in disbelief. The name alone felt like a blade sliding into the room, slicing through whatever fragile safety they thought they had left.
Because Samuel Renard wasn’t just anyone.
He was the last person they ever expected or wanted to see.
The Renards had once been allies, business partners, practically woven into the Valmere family’s history. Their fathers built empires together, signed multimillion deals, shared dinners, celebrated milestones at the same tables. Growing up, the Renard boys and Valmere sons shared tutors, security guards, competition after competition nearly brothers.
Until the wedding.
Until the betrayal that changed everything.
Aston’s wedding had turned into a disaster the media still whispered about. Contracts shattered, investments exposed as fraudulent, Renard involvement revealed as the snake-like root of the collapse. The chaos that unfolded afterward dragged the Renard family name through fire and scandal. Arrests followed. Trials. Headlines. Shame.
And Samuel Renard…?
He was the worst of them.
The mastermind behind the scheme. The one who forged documents. The one who leaked critical security intel.
He was arrested. Detained. Convicted. Gone. Until his family did everything.
Deborah felt a cold shiver crawl up her spine as she stared at him, at the man who once sat with Valmere sons at family lunches.
His bruised face twitched, one swollen eye cracking open, blood crusting at the corner of his mouth. Even half-conscious, even broken, his expression twisted into a warped, spiteful smirk.
Lysander swallowed hard, his voice raw but certain.
“I caught him. He was trying to escape through the loading tunnels.”
Lucio’s hand flexed around his gun, knuckles whitening. “You’re telling me this is the bastard who kidnapped you?”
Lysander nodded once slow, exhausted.
Knight cursed under his breath. “He was behind the whole damn attack.”
Casper’s voice cracked. “He couldn’t organize shit from this event because their family is banned.”
Samuel let out a hoarse, rasping laugh broken, ugly, but dripping with venom. “Oh, Casper… you really think a Renard hides up for long?” His voice scraped against the room like rusted metal. “Money changes hands. Doors open. People forget. A few favors… and suddenly your prison cell becomes nothing more than a temporary inconvenience.”
Deborah felt sick.
Caelum stepped forward, his stare a razor’s edge.
“You planned this.”
Samuel’s smirk widened just barely. “Every second.”
“Why?” Caelum demanded, voice dropping into that deep, deadly tone that always preceded violence.
But Samuel didn’t look at Caelum.
He looked at Deborah.
At her.
And his smile twisted into something far darker.
“Because your precious family destroyed mine.”
Deborah’s pulse stumbled. Knight growled, stepping between them immediately. “Don’t you dare look at her.”
But Samuel ignored him entirely. His gaze clung to Deborah with a venom that made her stomach clench.
“You..... Valmere sweethearts walk around in your glittering halls like your bloodline is untouchable. Like nothing can hurt you. But your family took everything from me.”
Caelum’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.
“What the hell are you talking about? You destroyed your own legacy when you stabbed us in the back.”
Samuel’s head jerked up sharply, fury sparking in his one good eye. “I did what any Renard would do. I chose survival. But your father…” His voice wavered with hatred. “Your father made sure we were humiliated. Arrested. Shredded by the press. The Renard name was dragged through dirt while the Valmere name stayed shining.”
Lucio scoffed, but the sound was laced with venom.
“You betrayed us at Aston’s wedding. That disaster nearly killed our family. Nearly destroyed our businesses. You’re lucky you walked out alive.”
Samuel’s expression twisted. “He deserved it.”
The room froze.
Knight’s jaw clenched. “Say that again.”
“He deserved it,” Samuel repeated, his voice sharp and cold. “All of you did. Your father. Your brothers. Your empire. Valmere thinks they can crush people without consequences? That you can ruin families and walk away? You should have expected revenge.”
Casper stepped closer, rage trembling through him. “Revenge doesn’t justify attempted murder. Doesn’t justify hiring gunmen. Doesn’t justify going after Lysander—”
Samuel cut him off with a rasping laugh.
“Lysander wasn’t supposed to survive.”
Deborah’s breath broke, her knees weakening.
Caelum snapped.
He lunged forward, grabbing Samuel by the front of his torn shirt with a force that made the cables strain against the beam. Samuel let out a small grunt, but even then, his expression remained drunk on hatred.
“You touched my brother,” Caelum growled, voice vibrating with barely contained fury. “You hunted him. You terrorized my family. And now you’re bragging about it?”
Samuel leaned closer, his lips curling. “I’m not bragging.”
His smile widened into something chilling.
“I’m just getting started.”
Deborah felt her heart plummet.
Lysander’s breath hitched sharply.
Lucio took a step back, eyes widening. “He’s not bluffing.”
Knight immediately raised his gun. “What the hell did you do, Renard?”
Samuel’s voice dropped to a poisoned whisper.
“You think tonight’s chaos… was the real plan?”
Deborah’s pulse hammered painfully.
Casper’s hand shook on his radio. “Don’t... don’t say there’s more—”
Samuel’s smile solidified into a chilling, razor-edged line.
“There’s always more when it comes to Valmere revenge.”
And then, that final word revenge hung in the air like a thundercloud ready to split open.
Every Valmere brother went still. Every breath in the room tightened. Every drop of fear in Deborah’s blood crystallized.
Samuel Renard hadn’t come for chaos. He had come for ruin.
"You all can't run from me. I planted a bomb here so we all die."