An hour later, Honora was escorted into the VIP lounge. She started to move toward the empty seat beside Lucius, but a single, sharp glance from him froze her in her tracks. She stood before him meekly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain Trudy\u2019s disappearance,\u201d Lucius demanded, his voice flat and cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Honora relayed the events exactly as she knew them. \u201cTrudy left to chase after a woman who had escaped. Now, both of them have vanished without a trace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucius\u2019s eyes darkened, becoming deep and unreadable pools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who in all of Regal City would dare to so brazenly touch one of his people?\u00a0<\/p>\n
It could only be one of two individuals: Haskell Palmer or Larissa Judson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And at this point, it didn\u2019t matter which one it was. Those two were in this together now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a sudden clench of his fist, the wine glass in his hand shattered, sending shards and crimson liquid spilling across his\u00a0<\/p>\n
S\u00a0<\/p>\n
Honora rushed forward. \u201cMr. Lincoln, your hand!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She reached for a napkin, but he cut her off with a low growl. \u201cGet out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her hand froze mid\u2013air. Forcing a brittle smile, she said, \u201c\u2026Of course. Please, have your assistant clean that for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once Honora had fled the room, Lucius asked his assistant in a dangerously quiet voice, \u201cHave you found any trace of them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The assistant handed Lucius a clean handkerchief. \u201cNot yet, sir.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused for a moment before continuing. \u201cHowever, if you\u2019re looking for a way to vent your anger, I do have some news. Rigby, the actor who was dropped by Gale\u00a0<\/p>\n
Entertainment, immediately went to audition at Starlight Media. Larissa personally cast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucius\u2019s gaze turned impossibly dark. He took the handkerchief and slowly, deliberately, wiped the wine from his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that so\u2026 He knew perfectly well that Starlight and Gale are rivals, yet he ran straight to the enemy. It seems,\u201d he said, a cruel smile touching his lips, \u201cit\u2019s time to make an example of someone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next morning, Rigby was woken by a call from an unknown number. He answered it, his heart leaping when he heard the voice on the other end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:09\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was Larissa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRigby, send me your address. I\u2019ll come by this afternoon to check on your uncle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay!\u201d he replied, his voice thick with excitement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After hanging up, he immediately texted her his address. The thought of Larissa visiting spurred him into action. He wanted to be a good host, so he threw on some clothes and hurried down to the supermarket, returning with his arms full of groceries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At half past twelve, the doorbell rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rigby quickly set down the plate of fruit he\u2019d been cutting and rushed to the door, forgetting to even take off his apron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when he swung the door open, his joyful expression froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t Larissa. Standing on his doorstep was a face he knew all too well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kenric, the director he had punched on set.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The blood drained from Rigby\u2019s face. His body trembled as he instinctively tried to slam the door shut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was too slow. Two burly thugs at Kenric\u2019s side shot their hands out, catching the door and easily forcing it back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rigby paled, knowing this wasn\u2019t going to end well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A cold smirk spread across Kenric\u2019s face. He pushed the door wide open and stared at Rigby with pure, venomous hatred.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you hiding from, Rigby?\u201d he sneered. \u201cYou were so tough when you hit me on set. What happened? Seeing me now, you look like a frightened little gutter rat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rigby clenched his jaw but said nothing. He wasn\u2019t afraid of Kenric, but Sire was still unconscious in the other room. He couldn\u2019t risk anything happening to him, and he knew he couldn\u2019t take on this many men by himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Lincoln, this is Rigby,\u201d Kenric said, turning respectfully toward a figure standing near the stairwell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 583\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Wings of Broken Time by Alina Das 582 An hour later, Honora was escorted into the VIP lounge. She started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-throne-of-thorns-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}