Chapter 299

"He deliberately tried to ruin you and destroy your future. He deserved that beating."

Adrian Valdemar froze, his lips trembling slightly. "But..."

His fists clenched, voice hoarse. "Vincent Valdemar won't let this go..."

Sophia Laurent scoffed, icy glint flashing in her eyes. "What can he possibly do to me?"

Adrian's pupils constricted violently.

The word "father" weighed heavily in his heart. His mother's obsessive love for Vincent had filled him with both hatred and fear toward that man.

Yet Sophia's casual remark sliced through his inner darkness like a sharp blade.

"Don't waste your pain on trash."

Suddenly, Adrian found it easier to breathe.

The nightmares that had tormented him day and night dissipated at this moment.

Damian Valdemar always used Vincent to humiliate him, calling him bastard and mongrel.

But when he stopped caring about that so-called father, those venomous words lost their power.

Sophia noticed the teenager's reddened eyes and gently pressed his trembling shoulder. "You've suffered."

Tears instantly spilled from Adrian's eyes.

"Sophia!" Damian shrieked from the floor. "I'll ruin your reputation!"

Only then did Sophia spare him a glance.

"How was he planning to hurt you?" she asked Adrian.

"He arranged for Beatrice Holloway, that old hag..." Adrian's voice shook. "They were going to film it...then call reporters..."

Sophia's eyes turned glacial.

Not just destroying someone's innocence, but public humiliation—this was meant to utterly crush Adrian.

No wonder he'd been trembling so violently before the camera when she arrived.

For someone as young as Damian to be this vicious, someone must be pulling his strings.

Adrian's face turned deathly pale.

If Sophia hadn't come tonight, he didn't dare imagine what would have become of him.

A ruined reputation would have been the least of it—he might have gone insane.

"Let me go!" Damian kept shouting. "When my father and brother get here, you're all finished!"

Sophia suddenly smiled.

She turned to Adrian. "Want revenge?"

"Yes." Flames ignited in Adrian's eyes.

The years of abuse from Damian had already pushed him to the edge of a cliff.

Even after being taken away by Alexander, the darkness in his bones never faded.

Sophia stretched lazily. "I need some air. I'll be back in twenty minutes."

She led everyone out, including Damian's bodyguards.

Damian finally panicked.