Chapter 182 Not a Penny Shall Be Yours
He'd only heard the tail end—Armando's furious accusations against Caroline.
Alexander's expression went cold as stone.
"Who gave you permission to speak about my wife that way?"
"You insolent—!"
Armando snatched up the documents and hurled them at Alexander's face.
The papers slapped against him with a sharp crack that echoed through the study. Alexander took the hit square on, didn't even flinch. His gaze stayed locked on his father, ice-cold and unmoving.
"Father, I remember what you told me. You said I needed to see my own heart clearly. To treat my wife well."
"That was before!" Armando roared, his chest heaving with rage.
"I told you to treat her decently because you were still drowning in the chaos of Edith's death. A man who's lost control of himself can't hold power in the Hamilton family. I needed you clearheaded, stable, maintaining the family's reputation. That woman was despicable, yes, but once you married her, what you did behind closed doors was your business. Outside? You had to keep up appearances. That's what protects the family's interests."
He stepped forward, jabbing a finger hard into Alexander's chest, his voice sharp as a blade.
"But now? I pulled you out of that hatred so you wouldn't fall into another kind of madness! For Caroline, you're making deals at a loss, selling off core family assets just to fill the bottomless pit of her family's debts, just to make her smile? Alexander, wake up! What has that woman done to make you lose your mind like this?!"
"She hasn't done anything to me." Alexander's voice was flat, cutting. "This is my choice. The Neville Group—it's a gift. And it's what I owe her."
"Owe her? You owe her nothing! It's the Nevilles who owe us! Caroline owes Edith a life!"
Armando was shaking with fury now.
"I'm ordering you—pull back all support and funding to the Neville family. Stop this idiotic compensation scheme. Now. Or don't blame me for what comes next. I'll make sure Damon and that lunatic woman end up bankrupt and behind bars. And if you push me far enough..."
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. He spoke each word slowly, deliberately.
"I'll send people to that island of yours myself. I'll deal with that woman. And the child she's carrying—the one that should never have existed."
"You wouldn't dare."
Alexander's fury detonated.
He surged forward, and the violence radiating off him made even Armando—a man who'd weathered decades of cutthroat business wars—take an involuntary step back.
"Armando Hamilton." Alexander used his father's full name, his voice cold as a knife's edge. "Listen carefully."
"I never planned to have children. The fight with Linus years ago made me sick of family infighting, of bloodlines tearing each other apart. I had a will drawn up long ago. When I die, everything—the Hamilton fortune, the assets, all of it—goes to charity. Every last cent. I'll use that blood-soaked money to pay for my sins."
Armando's eyes went wide. "You're saying what? Generations of accumulated wealth—you'd give it all away?"
"Why not?" Alexander's tone was merciless.
"But now, I have a child. My only child. Caroline gave me that. So everything I own legally will go to this child when the time comes. Caroline is the mother. She'll have permanent guardianship and protected rights."
He watched the rage and shock churn in his father's eyes, and a cruel smile tugged at his mouth.
"If you so much as touch a hair on Caroline's head, or on the child she's carrying—or if you even think about some twisted scheme to keep the child and get rid of the mother..."
He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a volume only the two of them could hear.
"Father, I promise you this: the moment you hurt them, you'll receive news of my death. If you only hurt Caroline, I'll take the child with me. And the Hamilton fortune will still be donated in full, according to my will. Not a single dollar left behind. You're my legal next of kin, but that won't change a thing. The will's conditions and notarization are already in place. If I die—or if I'm made to die—it executes automatically."
"You... you ungrateful bastard! For one woman, you'd throw away the family legacy?! You'd threaten your own father?!"
Armando's vision swam, his blood pressure spiking. He jabbed a trembling finger at Alexander, his voice breaking with rage.
"How did I raise a son like you?! A lunatic! Don't think you're so clever! You think you're the only one with contingencies? I've got my own plans! If anything happens to you—or to that insane woman and her bastard child—my people will take over everything! Your will? Ha! Whether a dead man's will gets executed depends on the living, boy!"
"Then try it." Alexander straightened, done with this conversation. He turned toward the door.
"Let's see whose plan moves faster. Let's see if the Hamilton legacy stays in Hamilton hands—or if it ends up renamed after some charity foundation."
His defiance finally shattered the last thread of Armando's restraint.
"Stop!"
Just as Alexander's hand reached for the door handle, Armando's voice cracked through the room like a whip.
The hidden panels on either side of the study burst open.
Armed security flooded in, surrounding Alexander and his men in seconds.
"Sir!" Liam's voice rang out, sharp with alarm.
He signaled, and Alexander's personal bodyguards drew their weapons, forming a defensive line.
The air went taut as a tripwire. One wrong move, and everything would explode.
Alexander spun around, staring at his father in disbelief.
"Armando! What the hell are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?" Armando stood behind the protective ring of his security, his face carved into the cold mask of a man who'd spent decades at the helm of an empire.
He smiled—cold, humorless.
"I can't stand by and watch that woman destroy you. I won't watch the Hamilton legacy crumble in your hands. If you refuse to see reason, then I'll use force."
He flicked his gaze toward the guard closest to Alexander.