Chapter 145

The phone screen shattered into pieces. Lucien couldn't hold himself up any longer. His knees buckled, and he dropped to the floor in front of David. "Mr. Jones, I was wrong this time. Please, I'm begging you — let me off the hook just this once. I promise, from now on, I will never..."

Before Lucien could finish, David said with a half-smile, "Mr. Larson, I'm sorry to say this, but removing you from your position as Deputy Mayor wasn't my call. I'm in a pretty good mood right now, so you'd better disappear from my sight while you still can. If my mood turns, I'm afraid you won't be walking out of here at all."

Cruz, out of some lingering sense of goodwill toward Lucien, quickly urged him along. "Mr. Larson, you really should go. Don't push your luck with Mr. Jones any further."

Lucien was nothing if not decisive. Thinking back to Laurel's warning, and taking Cruz's advice to heart, he understood that even if he wanted to win this young man's forgiveness and reclaim his position, now was absolutely not the time.

David was still furious. The more Lucien said, the more it would only make things worse.

Realizing this, Lucien wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and scrambled to his feet. "Mr. Jones, I'm truly sorry about all of this. I'll take my leave."

Just as Lucien was about to walk out the door, Josiah asked through teary eyes, "Sir, what am I supposed to do?"

Lucien stopped in his tracks and said, his voice breaking, "What can you do? I've just been stripped of my position as Deputy Mayor. Are you really planning to stick around and keep working as my assistant?"

Everything had flipped so fast. The officers around them hadn't even had time to process it — their superior had gone from being dismissed to being named the new Deputy Mayor in the blink of an eye.

Josiah watched Lucien walk away, her hands balling into fists. She thought about her family — her younger brother studying at a university out of town, and her mother bedridden at home. Under the crushing weight of it all, she wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to walk out the door.

After Josiah left, Cruz stepped forward and barked at the remaining officers, "What are you all standing around for? Get out and wait outside!"

At Cruz's command, the officers holstered their weapons and filed out quickly.

The large private room felt hollow all of a sudden.

Pax and Conrad stood there in a daze — Pax especially. He had always assumed that as an Earl, he was, if not the most powerful person in Seabrook, at least someone of serious standing. But now, it was clear his position needed some serious reassessment.

David settled back into his seat and turned his gaze to Pax and Conrad. "Mr. Warren," he said calmly, "anything you'd like to say?"

The veins on Pax's forehead bulged. He knew that if he kept butting heads with David, both he and his son would only end up worse off.

With that in mind, Pax shot David a hard glare and turned to Conrad. "Let's go."

Before the words had fully left his mouth, David spoke up. "Go? Go where? This isn't settled yet. You think you can just leave?"

Pax forced down his rage and turned to stare David down. "What more do you want?"

David smiled casually. "Simple. You and your son both get on your knees and bow to me three times. Do that, and I'll let you walk out of here on your own two feet."

Pax nearly ground his back teeth to dust. He was silent for a few seconds, then said through clenched teeth, "Fine. Fine. But my knees are bad. Can my son kneel and apologize on my behalf?"

David shook his head, his expression somewhere between a smile and a smirk. "No."

Mia had broken out in a cold sweat more times than she could count. Seeing the dangerous glint in Pax's eyes, she stepped forward and whispered, "David, that's enough. Pax is one of the three Earls of Seabrook. Asking him to kneel and bow to you..."

David glanced at her sideways. "Look at you, scared of your own shadow. So what if he's an Earl? Does being an Earl mean you don't have to apologize when you're wrong? And what — old age means you get to skip the consequences? Besides, an Earl? That means nothing to me."

The moment he finished speaking, Pax dropped his walking cane and sank to his knees.

Conrad stared in disbelief. Snapping back to his senses, he rushed over and tried to pull his father up, crying out, "Father, you can't do this! You're the head of the Warren family, you can't—"

Pax cut him off sharply. "Kneel. Bow."

David sat back and accepted it all without a care in the world.

Once Pax and Conrad had finished bowing, David smiled faintly. "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off with your lives. But if you pull something like this again, I'll make sure the Warren family disappears from Seabrook for good."

Conrad helped Pax to his feet, and the two of them walked out of the room together.

Before long, only David, Mia, and Michael remained.

Mia and Michael looked at each other.

A few seconds later, Michael's eyes were practically glowing with admiration. He shuffled over to David in quick little steps, practically bouncing. "David, that was incredible! You are just so incredibly cool!"

Just as Michael's hand was about to land on David's shoulder, David quickly reached out to stop him. "Please don't touch me. If you have something to say, just say it. Keep your hands to yourself."

Michael's face fell immediately. He looked like a kicked puppy. "David, can you not keep me at arm's length like this? I'm a perfectly normal person, you know."

David smiled wryly. "I know you're normal. I just don't want you that close to me."

Mia sighed and turned to Michael. "Mr. Carr, why don't you sit down and eat? I need a word with Mr. Jones."

Michael had absolutely no appetite right now. What David had just pulled off had elevated him to godlike status in Michael's mind. The way he looked at David was pure reverence.

"Oh my God, dear Mia, how on earth could I eat at a time like this? Lord almighty, I am absolutely in love with this man! How can anyone be this impossibly cool?"

At that, not only did David get goosebumps all over — even Mia felt her skin crawl.

Desperate to get a moment alone with David, she stepped forward, grabbed Michael by the wrist, and dragged him out of the room, saying firmly, "Go outside and cool off first. Come back in when you've calmed down."