Chapter 815

While making her way back to the office, Daniela spotted Carol approaching with a bounce in her step and a smile that practically sparkled.

Leaning in, Carol lowered her voice just enough to keep their exchange private. "Nikolas looked like he'd been slapped across the face. That move of yours?Brilliant. Two birds, one stone."

Instead of answering, Daniela let a lazy smile curl at the corner of her lips.

Curiosity dancing in her tone, Carol asked, "Think he'll back off now?"

"He will," said Daniela, her voice calm, unwavering.Still, she couldn't shake the suspicion that somewhere deep inside, Nikolas was clinging to a final shred of resentment. "But how can you be so sure?" Carol asked,tilting her head.

With a shrug and a knowing look, Daniela replied,"Nikolas is different from Alexander. Alexander's shameless, but Nikolas grew up under Hamilton's wing. That kind of upbringing breeds arrogance and self-control. He clings to his pride like it's armor. My words stripped that from him. Now he sees the truth -he's just Nikolas. Not Cedric. And now that he's seen how ruthless I can be, even if something still lingers in his mind, he'll bury it deep and stay out of my way."

"But what if he doesn't?" Carol asked, not entirely convinced.

Daniela's expression darkened just slightly. "Then he's a fool. If he stays in line, I won't waste my time on him. But if he oversteps, he's out. No hesitation."

Even so, Daniela felt that if Nikolas had any sense, he would know better than to test his luck.

Whether or not Nikolas had the intelligence to take the warning seriously, though, was anyone's guess.

One person who definitely lacked the sense to back down was Alexander.

As he walked out of the building, his fury boiled over twisting his face into something nearly unrecognizable.

With his jaw clenched and eyes burning, he looked at the towering building before him and muttered to himself, "Daniela, one day you'll beg me to stay. On your knees."

Across the street, high behind tinted glass,Hamilton stood watching-expression unreadable-as Alexander seethed like a man unraveling.

He murmured, "What a worthless fool!"

Resorting to violence to control women? That was the mark of a man who had truly run out of worth.

"Alexander might be beyond saving at this point," his assistant said. Without replying, Hamilton pulled from his cigar,letting the smoke curl around his head like a storm cloud.

"Nikolas is now living under Daniela's roof. He and Cedric share a certain resemblance. Since you've already decided to pass your legacy to Cedric, why not give Nikolas a shot?" the assistant asked.

The comment drew a deep furrow between Hamilton's brows. "We'll give it time. I want to see if Nikolas could really win Daniela's heart."

Hope hadn't completely left Hamilton. Not yet.

But Nikolas had already lost his spark.

Most of his days were spent sunken into a couch,scrolling through his phone without purpose or pause, eyes glazed with disinterest.

If food was served, he ate. When work ended, he quietly rode home in Carol's car, never speaking much along the way.

That kind of routine wasn't living-it was unraveling. During one of those dull afternoons, Nikolas tagged along with Carol to the company and happened to cross paths with Hamilton.

Head lowered and steps dragging, he walked intothe building like a ghost of himself-someone drowning in failure before even trying to swim.

He appeared to be on track to end up as a deadweight.

Hamilton didn't miss a thing. The next time they ran into each other, he slapped Nikolas hard across the face and berated him as a useless failure.

It happened in broad daylight,on a crowded street,and by nightfall, the footage had already gone viral.

By the next morning, Nikolas' name had become a joke. Across Oiscoll, people whispered that he'd been cast out of the McCoy family like trash no longer needed.

Twice, Carol tried to talk him through it. But nothing she said made it through. He had already tuned the world out.

The new company launch consumed Daniela and Cedric. Their days blurred together with meetings,spreadsheets, and back-to-back social events.

Nikolas, on the other hand, spent his days idling. His responsibilities were minimal-sometimes he'd run a document across the building, other times he'd reappear with coffee. One afternoon, Hamilton dropped by and found him wiping down Daniela's office desk.

That sight sent Hamilton into a fury. He'turned and left without a word.

Despite the outburst, Nikolas didn't react. That evening, headlines hit the press-McCoy Group had issued a formal announcement stripping Nikolas of his board position. Alongside it came another bombshell: Hamilton had cut ties publicly, declaring that Nikolas was no longer his son.

For several minutes, Nikolas stared blankly at the statement glowing on his screen. Carol gave a weary sigh. "He's probably just trying to force you into pulling yourself together."

"You're wrong," Nikolas said quietly, placing the phone face down. "He doesn't play emotional games.Everything he does is calculated. And now that I'm of no use, he's thrown me away like trash."

After that, Nikolas stopped caring. He let his beard grow, ditched his dress shirts for wrinkled tees, and eventually quit showing up to work at all. Most days,he stayed in the villa, glued to the couch with a controller in hand.

Every night, as CCarol and the others stepped through the door, the sharp staccato of virtual gunfire echoed from the living room speakers.

Not once did Daniela lift a finger to interfere.

Watching him spiral, Carol couldn't take it anymore."He's not going to snap out of this on his own. If you don't step in soon, Daniela, he's going to rot away completely." He was dealt such a strong hand, but he threw it all away. It truly was a shame.

Instead of responding right away, Daniela looked over at Cedric, who gave her a playful wink.

That was enough to pull a short laugh from her.

Later that evening, as she stepped into the villa and found him still sunk into the cushions, she walked over, tapped the backrest, and said, "Hey,you.Put the controller down. You're coming with me to an auction tonight."