Bride of Retribution: Aloof Billionaire's Dominant Game

”Evelyn has an ace up her sleeve. That woman’s got good luck—she gave birth to a son. In twenty years, that child will be eligible to inherit from the Hughes Family.” The Hughes Family rules were just like that; to prevent power struggles between brothers, they’d long ago set down strict regulations that every boy of every generation was assigned an inheritance path.

”You’re saying you’ll just hand over the empire you built with your own hands?” Alexander King couldn’t wrap his head around it at all. The Hughes Clan had expanded severalfold under his watch; that was his blood and sweat.

”That belongs to the Hughes Family.” Joshua Hughes stood by the window, already sensing the stench of conspiracy in the air, like a small patch of rotten meat molding in some dark corner, exuding a nauseating smell.

The spring chill still bit through; even on sunny days, the light refracted from those vast panels of floor-to-ceiling glass was icy cold.

In the vast, luxurious conference room, the atmosphere was grim and frigid. A string of footsteps came from the direction of the elevator. Inside the conference room, Luis Hughes, dressed in an off-white suit, smiled at the corners of his lips as he chatted with the veteran members of the board seated around him. Scattered across the table were stacks of photos; the woman in them was so beautiful it was as if she drained the color from spring itself, stabbing straight into those men’s eyes.

”I’ve already helped hold the line for our big brother, but this time, it’s really a bit much.” Luis narrowed his eyes and raised his voice, one hand braced on the table. The elegance and nobility running in the blood of the Hughes Clan showed clearly in him, only darkened by a layer of shadow.

”Of course, the Hughes Clan still has to be led by my big brother; I naturally only play a supporting role at his side. But this woman is truly dangerous—she actually managed to spirit away the head of the Hughes Clan to Sydney for fun at the most critical time. Impressive, really. I hear she’s a widow...”

With a creak, the heavy conference room door swung open. Several sets of footsteps approached slowly from outside. Joshua’s ink-dark eyes swept coldly over the group of board elders, his gaze sharp yet refined. He glanced at the photos scattered on the table; the bodyguards immediately stepped forward and swiftly gathered them all up.

”Ha, big brother, we’ve been waiting for you for so long...” Watching the table turn spotless as the photos were taken away, Luis forced an awkward smile and spread his hands. ”Miss Jane really is very beautiful...” He did it on purpose.

Joshua’s tall, straight figure advanced a few unhurried steps, his eyes like a bottomless pool. Luis’s smile still lingered on his face one second, and the next he heard a loud bang—man and chair both crashed to the floor. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth; his jaw throbbed as if it had shattered. One hand wiped at the blood on his lips, the other clutched the table as he panted for breath.

The Hughes’ fists had never been soft, and Joshua’s least of all. It fucking hurt...

The conference room erupted in an uproar. This was the first time Joshua had laid hands on his younger brother in a public setting.

Rumors that the two Hughes brothers didn’t get along had been circulating for a long time, but this time Joshua let everyone see it with their own eyes.

Joshua withdrew his fist. His ice-cold gaze fell on Luis, who was bent over the table, panting. He elegantly straightened his tie, and his magnetic voice spilled from his thin lips: ”That punch is the price you pay for laying those photos out here. This is the Hughes Clan, not a vegetable market. You’re not some gossiping housewife on the street corner. You’re the second young master of the Hughes Family. With your status, you shouldn’t be doing such meaningless things. At home, I tolerate your nonsense. But this is the Hughes boardroom. Every decision I make here is adding incalculable wealth to the Hughes Clan. Having those photos on the table is clearly out of place.”

”Ha, ha, ha...” Luis didn’t look angry at all; instead, he burst out laughing.

”My dear big brother, precisely because you’ve led the Hughes Clan down a brilliant road, I care that much more about your private life. Right now the Hughes Clan is at a critical, trouble-ridden juncture. Our cooperation with the Maitland Group is far from smooth, and there have been continuous accidents on the construction sites. Yet you still have the mood to fly a plane to Sydney to visit your mistress. Miss Jane works for the Hughes Clan, doesn’t she? I checked—she took leave to go to Sydney. Still, this Miss Jane is quite disciplined. She’s already your woman; even if she can’t throw her weight around inside the Hughes Clan, she’s close enough. Last month I looked at her records—she was late and on leave several times. Big brother, has something happened? You can’t even afford to keep a woman now and need her to come out and work? The real point is, she’s not doing her job all that well.”

Joshua’s harshness and refusal to show mercy were common knowledge, yet with this woman he kept making the same mistake over and over. He was the one who had handed him the handle; if Luis didn’t seize it and make something of it, he’d be letting Joshua down.