Chapter 3 - The Broken Ring
"Is that true, Victoria?" Adrian whispered. His voice was completely devoid of human warmth.
Victoria began to hyperventilate. "Sir! The old woman is a scammer! She comes in here every week ordering the cheapest soup and begging for discounts! I was protecting the restaurant's reputation! I just wanted her cheap ring to ensure she never came back!"
Adrian’s eyes turned pitch black.
He slowly walked over to Mrs. Ellis’s table. The eighty-two-year-old woman was trembling, clutching a thin, gold wedding band in her frail hands.
Adrian gently knelt down on the expensive carpet, completely ignoring his immaculate black suit. He looked directly into the old woman's tear-filled eyes. The terrifying apex predator completely vanished.
"Mrs. Ellis," Adrian said softly, his deep voice cracking with a sudden, profound emotion. "Do you remember me?"
Mrs. Ellis blinked through her tears. She looked at his sharp, handsome features. She looked at his dark hair.
"Adrian?" she whispered, her voice barely a breath. "Little Adrian from the group home?"
The cinematic realism of the moment crashed over the luxury restaurant.
Twenty-five years ago, before Adrian Voss became a billionaire mafia boss, he was an orphaned teenager bouncing through the brutal foster care system. Mrs. Ellis had been a social worker. She was the only person who had ever treated him with dignity. When he was starving, she had secretly bought him hot meals out of her own meager paycheck.
"You bought me soup when I had nothing," Adrian choked out, gently placing his large hand over her frail, trembling fingers.
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Victoria physically staggered backward, realizing she had just fired a waitress for helping the one woman the mafia boss owed his life to.
👉 Victoria tried to apologize, but Adrian was about to unleash a financial slaughter that would destroy her entirely.
