CHAPTER 266: CHAPTER 266

He paused, searching Oliver’s face for any flicker of mercy.

Oliver watched him for a heartbeat, the room heavy with expectation. He had not come for apologies. He had come for leverage, for restitution, for quieting a voice that had been used to wound people he loved. Yet the man standing now was not wily or sinister; he was simply a man cracked open by what he’d seen in a mirror he didn’t like.

"Do you understand what that means?" Oliver asked, not unkindly, which only made the moment more terrible for the family.

"Yes," Abigail’s father said, voice low and raw. "I understand."

He swallowed and took another breath, steadying himself like a soldier bracing for an order he had no right to question.

"Then do it," Oliver said. "And remember: obedience now is the only currency you have to keep your family from burning."

Abigail’s father dropped to his knees once more not in the theatrics of pleading but in the posture of a man wholly intent on correcting his course.

"I dedicate myself to you," he said, voice breaking under the weight of resolve. "Whatever you tell me to do, I will do. Whatever sacrifice it takes, I will make it. I will undo, to the degree I can, the damage my foolishness helped cause. I will serve you and do as you command so that the debt your family suffered at our hands becomes, in time, repaid."

There was an earnest stubbornness to the words now, stripped of pretense, steeled into something like purpose. Oliver regarded him for another long moment and then inclined his head almost imperceptibly.

"Noted," he said. "We’ll begin there."

And with that, the father meek, chastened, and finally certain of the path before him spoke the sentence that would echo for the family’s future. "Since I know that what I did in the past was wrong, and where we are now is actually because of Oliver’s parents, I’m dedicating my full loyalty to actually serve Oliver once more. That is going to be how he’s going to pay back the debt he actually owed Oliver and Oliver’s late father."

At that moment, Oliver said "No problem then. I have no issue with you. For now, when I need you, I’ll give you a call."

His voice was cold. Clear. Final.

Without another word, he turned and began walking toward the door, his shoes making slow, deliberate sounds against the polished floor. No one in the room dared to breathe too loudly. Abigail’s father and the others remained frozen, standing like soldiers waiting for their punishment to pass. The silence after Oliver left was sharp it felt like the calm after a thunderstorm, but the clouds were still heavy overhead.

Just as the door shut behind Oliver with a soft click, Abigail’s father spun around slowly. His eyes locked on his daughter, and something in him snapped.

"YOU FOOLISH CHILD!"

His roar cracked through the air like a whip. Before Abigail could react, he marched toward her, his steps loud and angry. Then.

"SLAP!!"

his palm landed hard across her cheek. The sound echoed through the entire living room like a gunshot.

Abigail gasped, her head jerking to the side from the force. Her hand flew up to her face, and her eyes immediately filled with tears not just from the pain, but from the deep shame now creeping into her bones.

Her father’s chest heaved with rage. "Why would you why would you go as far as to curse a man like Oliver? Are you insane? Do you know the kind of trouble you just dragged all of us into?" His face was red, his veins prominent across his neck. "We could have lost everything we worked for. Everything, Abigail!"

"I—I didn’t mean." Abigail stammered, her voice cracking, but he wasn’t done.

"You think this is some kind of silly drama? Some petty revenge over a girl you don’t like? What was your plan with that lady? What were you trying to do to her? You think she’s just another nobody? You clearly don’t understand. The fact that Oliver came here personally means she’s not just someone he knows she’s someone important to him. And you you went ahead and crossed that line?"

He was shaking now, not from weakness, but from how furious and helpless he felt. The whole room felt tense. No one dared say a word until Abigail’s mother stepped forward.

Her expression was no different. Cold. Sharp. Disappointed.

"I’m ashamed," she said quietly, but her words hit harder than the slap. "Deeply ashamed of you. I don’t even recognize you anymore, Abigail. All this bitterness, this envy... where did it come from? We didn’t raise you like this. We trusted you, gave you everything, and this is how you repay us? By putting our whole family in danger?"

At that moment, upon hearing her mother’s cold, disappointed words and still feeling the sting from her father’s first slap, Abigail’s lips trembled. Her eyes, once defiant, softened into shock. It was the first time her father had ever laid hands on her. In all her years, no matter how badly she had messed up in the past, he had never raised his voice like this, let alone his hand.

She touched her cheek gently, her fingers brushing the growing warmth where his palm had landed, and she could barely find her voice. Her mouth quivered as she blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears swelling in her eyes. She took a shaky step forward and lowered her head.

"I’m... I’m very sorry," she said in a small, cracked voice. "I really am. I miscalculated everything. I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I swear, I didn’t think it would turn out like this. I just."

But before she could finish, her father, whose chest was still rising and falling from fury, took one more step forward. And without warning, he landed another hefty slap across her face. This one was worse. Much worse.

The sharp, cracking sound echoed through the living room like thunder.

Abigail’s entire head turned with the force of it. Her body staggered backward, nearly losing balance. The side of her face was red, and clear hand marks were already beginning to form. Her eyes widened in disbelief not just from the pain but from the weight behind it. That slap wasn’t just out of anger.

His five fingers each one stood boldly across her cheek.