Chapter 933

Chapter 933:
Stella’s brows knitted. “You mean… he bullied you like that in your own home?” She couldn’t understand why none of the household staff ever said anything to Dexter. Didn’t anyone care?
“Meals the chef made would show up ice-cold by the time they got to my room,” William said quietly. “In winter, my heat would cut out every night. I’d be under the covers, teeth chattering, calling for someone to fix it. No one came. Or if they did, they just passed me around till I gave up. Even my favorite stuff—things my mom left me—they’d just disappear. Sometimes I’d find them broken and tossed in the trash. Other times, they were just gone.”
Stella’s chest tightened. She reached out and gripped his hand, holding it tight. How could a child—one who’d already lost so much—be treated like that? And in a house full of people?
William’s mouth twisted into a bitter half-smile. “And that was the easy part. Alonzo put on the ‘perfect uncle’ act in front of Grandpa—kind, concerned, always looking out for me. But behind closed doors? He made sure I had nothing. And he made damn sure the maids kept their mouths shut. I barely had any friends growing up. Any kid who got close either got scared off or bribed away.”
His eyes darkened a shade, like something specific had just come to mind. “One time, I took in this stray dog. Sweet little guy. Hid him out back so no one would see. But a few days later, he disappeared. I searched everywhere. Finally found him… in Alonzo’s garage. Already dead.”
He didn’t even have to say more. The cruelty was obvious.
Alonzo could’ve just tossed the body, gotten rid of it quietly, like he did with everything else William cared about.
But he didn’t. He left the dog there on purpose—just waiting for William to find him.
The message was clear. It was his house. If he didn’t want William to have something, it wouldn’t last.
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Stella sucked in a sharp breath, eyes brimming with tears as the weight of it all hit her—how cruel someone had to be to do that to a kid.
Even the dog didn’t deserve that.
Her voice quivered. “Did your grandpa ever find out?”
“He had a rough idea,” William said. “But Alonzo covered his tracks too well. If anything came up, he’d pin it on the staff. Grandpa laid into him a few times, even fired a bunch of maids, but none of it really stuck. End of the day, Alonzo was still family.”
His tone dipped, heavy with old exhaustion. “And Grandpa wasn’t young anymore. He had to keep the peace in the family. Most of the time, all he could do was slap Alonzo on the wrist—couldn’t exactly blow things up. I get why he handled it that way.”
William had never held it against the old man. His grandfather was the only one in the Briggs clan who’d ever shown him any genuine kindness.
But the man had limits. Age had tied his hands. A lot of things were just out of his control—and William had known that from the start.
The only one he ever hated was Alonzo.
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