Chapter 156

“I understand.” Louis nodded.
He left the doctor’s office, paused for a moment in the hallway, then walked straight out of the hospital.
He was going to find Daniel.
When Daniel finished his meeting and returned to his office, he found Louis waiting for him.
He’d deliberately left word—he wanted someone to come looking for him. Still, he hadn’t expected it to be Louis.
Masking his surprise, Daniel kept his tone indifferent. “What do you want?”
Louis got straight to the point. “If you’re willing to save Payne, I’ll do whatever you ask of me from now on.”
It was the biggest promise he’d ever made.
If it meant saving his child, he was willing to give up anything.
Daniel tossed his folder onto the desk and leaned back in his chair, spinning it lazily. “Where is she?”
He didn’t wait for an answer before clarifying, “Why didn’t she come herself?” Louis’s eyes darkened. So Daniel was after Aurora, just as he suspected.
He pretended not to see through Daniel’s intentions. “You mean Aurora? She’s at the hospital, taking care of Payne.”
Daniel studied Louis in silence for a moment.
They were both sharp men, each seeing straight through the other. Dıscover more novels at.net
“Louis, if you want to save your son, have her come and talk to me.” Daniel cut right to the chase, unwilling to waste words.
He had no interest in Louis; there was nothing more to discuss.
Louis stood up from the sofa and took a step forward.
As a lawyer, he’d always prided himself on his composure. But for Aurora, his anger flared.
“Daniel, Payne is my son. There’s no need for you to use this to threaten her.” “She’s divorced you,” Daniel shot back, rising to his feet with a face like stone. “Payne is still her son, isn’t he?”
“We split up three years ago. I’ve raised him on my own. She’s had nothing to do with it.”
“She gave birth to him. How can you say it has nothing to do with her?”
Louis’s voice grew colder. “She was already married to you by the time I left for the States. We haven’t had any contact since. There’s no need for you to be so petty, holding grudges over the past.”
“She told you herself she doesn’t love me,” he continued, his voice tightening. “She’s only at the hospital for Payne’s sake.”
Daniel had no patience for these excuses; to him, it all sounded like self-serving justification.
“I’ve made myself clear: if you want your son saved, she comes to me.”
Louis pressed his lips together, his words sharp as a blade. “Daniel, you claim to care about her—is this what you call love? Threats and manipulation at every turn?”
When Warner had referred Aurora’s divorce case to him, Louis had looked into her marriage with Daniel.
He knew exactly how that marriage had come about.
In his eyes, Aurora was the one who’d suffered.
Daniel had only ever been the beneficiary.
And yet, somehow, Daniel played the victim.
Daniel’s expression darkened further. “I don’t care about your moral lectures. I’m a businessman-I deal in profit. I don’t make losing trades.”
Louis couldn’t comprehend how Daniel could twist this into a negotiation.
He’d already promised to do anything Daniel asked. Wasn’t that enough?
“Daniel, I know your childhood was rough. Maybe you never learned how to care for someone, how to love someone the right way. But Aurora’s a real person. You can’t claim it’s love when you’re just keeping her trapped at your side-”
“Shut your mouth! Who the hell do you think you are to judge me?” Daniel roared, fists clenched.
He swung, landing a punch squarely on Louis’s jaw.
Louis had reached his limit. He didn’t hold back-he punched Daniel right across the face.
Within seconds, the two men were grappling, fists flying, locked in a vicious fight.