CHAPTER 173: YOUR PARENTS ARE LIKE FAMILY TO ME.

Gaped!

Immediately Aubrey opened the envelope, her fingers trembled as she pulled out the stack of photos.

The moment her eyes landed on them, her breath caught in her throat, leaving her speechless.

"Where... How... who gave you these photos?" Aubrey stuttered, her voice faltering as she struggled to make sense of the shocking images in her hands.

The pictures were a complete blow to her, and for the first time, her confidence seemed to crumble.

Augustine scoffed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Are you asking where I found it? Or are you asking how?"

His tone grew sharper, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as his eyes burned with barely contained rage.

Aubrey shot up from her seat, panic flashing across her face. "You... you have... you have no right to prove that I’m the one behind this! I didn’t do anything wrong, so you can’t... you can’t harm me!"

Aubrey’s voice wavered, though she tried to mask it with defiance.

"Woah! That’s rich coming from you," Augustine spat, rising from his seat with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You might think I can’t do anything... but darling, I can make your entire career crumble. And you know exactly how badly that would affect your mom and dad."

The voice of Augustine was low, simmering with cold fury as his words carry the weight of a threat.

"Augustine!" Aubrey snapped, her voice rising in anger as she clenched her fists at her sides, her heart pounding in her chest. "You... you have no right to harm me. You can’t involve my parents in this. They did nothing!"

Augustine casually nodded his head, a slow, almost indifferent motion. "That’s quite true," he muttered, sliding his hands deep into his pockets.

He took a moment to study Aubrey, the air around them thick with tension. "But even if I had the right to harm your parents, I wouldn’t. They’re good people. They treated me like their own son. It wouldn’t be fair to punish them because of the choices their daughter made."

"What? Do you think it’s fair for you to punish me instead?" Aubrey snapped, swiftly grabbing her handbag from the office table. "Hurting me won’t help you in any case, Augustine."

Aubrey voice sounded urgent, almost as if she demanded an answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. "Who... who gave you these pictures?" she pressed, her words trembling with a mix of fear and frustration.

Sigh!

"Do you think asking me who gave me these pictures will save you?" Augustine’s inquired with a mockery tone as he slowly walked toward Aubrey.

When he reached her, he paused, standing inches away.

With a quiet smirk, Augustine pulled his hands from his pockets and placed his right hand firmly on Aubrey’s shoulder, giving it a slight, almost possessive squeeze. "You’re in a deeper danger than you realize," he whispered, his eyes dark with unspoken threat.

"I can sue you for invasion of privacy," Augustine purred, his voice smooth like silk but laced with venom.

The devilish smirk curling his lips wasn’t playful—it was a warning wrapped in charm.

Aubrey’s throat tightened, and she swallowed hard, the motion visible and sharp, as though the weight of Augustine’s words had lodged themselves in her windpipe.

Her eyes averted to the brown envelope still lying open on the desk like a ticking time bomb.

"You’re not joking," Aubrey murmured, more to herself than to Augustine, her voice a fragile whisper against the storm brewing between them.

Aubrey knew that Augustine words weren’t to be taken as a joke, but instead, it should be taken seriously.

She swallowed again, her throat tightening. "So... what are you going to do?" Aubrey questioned, her voice trembling, though she tried to hide it.

"Hmm... I think I’ll stick with suing you," Augustine murmured, his tone laced with icy amusement. "That should do a fine job dragging your company’s pristine image straight through the mud—just like you tried to do with mine."

Augustine took a step closer, his presence overwhelming, suffocating.

Then he leaned in, lips brushing just close enough to Aubrey’s ear to make her body stiffen.

His voice turned sinfully low, smooth as silk and twice as dangerous. "How would you feel," he purred, "watching everything you’ve ever worked for... spiral right down the drain?"

Aubrey didn’t move. She couldn’t. Because in that moment, she realized—Augustine wasn’t bluffing.

The fine hairs on Aubrey’s skin rose instantly, her body betraying the terror that gripped her throat.

She choked slightly on her own saliva, a strained cough slipping out as her eyes remained glued to the floor, too afraid to meet Augustine’s gaze.

Slowly, Augustine lean away, his intense stare never wavering as he took in every inch of Aubrey’s trembling form, a twisted satisfaction flickering in his eyes.

"Can... can you at least spare me just this once?" Aubrey’s voice was barely a whisper now, shaky and uncertain. "I... I promise, what I did... it won’t happen again."

Augustine scoffed, his voice laced with mockery. "And what if it does happen again?" he asked, tilting his brows with a slow, calculating rise, waiting for her to squirm under the weight of his stare.

Aubrey clutched her handbag tighter against her stomach, her fingers trembling slightly as she fluttered her lashes, desperately trying to gather composure. "If it does happen again... then... then..."

Her voice faltered.

Slowly, Aubrey lifted her gaze to meet Augustine’s, lashes still flickering with nervous energy. "It won’t happen again," she whispered, her words more like a plea than a promise.

"Well, I think I’ll just sue you," Augustine said coolly, circling her like a predator. "Because it seems you’re too scared to tell me what I should do if you ever dare to invade my privacy again."

"No!" Aubrey blurted out, her voice sharp with panic. "If it does happen again, then—then you can sue me. And even my parents too."

Augustine clicked his tongue slowly, the sound echoing like a warning in the air.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he purred, shaking his head with a slow smirk curving his lips. "I told you already, Aubrey. I won’t do anything to harm your parents. They’re like family to me... unlike you."

"So don’t you think you’re being unfair? Am I not like a sister to you?"

"Hahahahaha!" Augustine burst into mocking laughter. "Sister? Darling, a while ago you said you don’t see me in a brotherly manner... or are you now having a change of heart?"

"No!" Aubrey quickly replied, swallowing hard once more. "So... do you promise to let me off the hook this time?"

Augustine scoffed, strolling back to his seat before lowering himself into it with casual ease. "If you don’t leave my office in the next ten seconds, I won’t just sue you... I’ll destroy everything you’ve ever built." he declared coldly, his voice stripped of all emotion.

Without hesitation, Aubrey spun on her feet and scrambled out of the office like a terrified mouse.