Chapter 191: I’ll not forgive you
Riya’s body went cold. Fear eclipsed her arrogance.
She had been so certain, so confident that her every move had been invisible. She had thought she had successfully slipped past the cameras. Yet Nathaniel had somehow managed to find her involvement with this incident.
She couldn’t help but wonder if there were other hidden cameras in the hall that she had not known about. The thought stabbed through her skull, sending panic flooding her veins. Her gaze flickered toward the phone, willing to snatch it and delete the footage.
"Nathaniel, listen to me." The words tumbled out in desperation. "That video must be fabricated. Someone is trying to frame me."
But Nathaniel didn’t listen to her. "You even had connections with Jaxon—the man who once kidnapped Zara," he hissed, his mouth curling in disgust.
Riya jolted upright so violently that the chair scraped against the floor. The sharp gasp that tore from her chest at the mention of Jaxon.
Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. He had only suspected that she might have a connection with Jaxon, but her panicked reaction sealed it.
"So it’s true," he said with venom. "You hate her so much that you joined hands with a criminal. A kidnapper. You’ve been hiding behind that sweet, innocent mask, but underneath, you are vile."
Riya’s knees gave out, and she crumpled back into the chair. Her shoulders sagged. Every lie she had spun shattered around her. Nathaniel’s trust was gone forever.
"You have crossed the bottom line this time," Nathaniel thundered. "You drugged Zara. You tried to send her into the hands of a wild man, to have her ruined." His eyes blazed with righteous fury. "This... I cannot forget and I’ll not forgive you."
The air thickened as he declared coldly, "You will face the consequences. I’m calling the cops."
"No!" Riya’s scream tore out before she could stop it. She lurched forward, nearly knocking the phone from his hand. "Nathaniel, please—don’t do this." Her trembling fingers reached for his arm, but he jerked away.
Panic clawed at her insides. If the cops came, everything would unravel—not just the drugging, not just Jaxon, but murdering the waitress.
"You don’t understand," she pleaded, her voice breaking. "I didn’t mean to hurt her like that. It was a mistake. Just one mistake." She clasped his hands desperately.
"A mistake?" He shoved her hands away as his anger radiated like heat from a furnace. "You planned every detail. You bribed, you schemed, you plotted with criminals. That’s not a mistake—that’s malice."
Riya dropped to her knees, clutching at the hem of his coat. Tears streaked down her cheeks, her once-cunning eyes now wide with terror.
"Please, Nathaniel, I beg you. Don’t call the police. If you do, my life will be over. I’ll lose everything. You cared for me...I am your sister."
But Nathaniel’s eyes were cold. "Now you remember you are my sister? When you plotted against Zara, drugged her, and joined hands with a criminal, did you think about the relationship we shared? Did you think about the Grant family’s name?"
Riya’s throat closed up, but she forced herself to keep pleading. She caught his wrist with desperation. "I realized my mistake. I only wanted to teach her a lesson for hitting me. I was angry. I know I was wrong, but please, forgive me just this once. I’ll never interfere with her again. Please...don’t hand me over to the cops."
Nathaniel shoved her away, his face contorted with fury. She stumbled back.
He thundered with finality, "You should have thought about that before even imagining hurting Zara. I have made up my mind. Nothing you say will change it."
The thought of jail, the ruin of her reputation, the disgrace splashed across headlines—it all tightened around her like a noose. She grew even more desperate.
"If the cops interrogate me, my career will be destroyed. And the Grant family name will be dragged through mud, too," she cried. "Please, Nathaniel, reconsider. My father gave his life to save yours. My grandfather donated a kidney to your father. Don’t forget that promise—to protect me for life. I’m begging you, forgive me this time. I swear I’ll never repeat such mistakes."
She leaned on the sacrifices made by her elders, knowing well that the Grants would always remember the debts they owed. As long as that sense of obligation lingered, she believed she could bend them to her will.
Nathaniel sneered, his jaw locking as he pinned her with his sharp glare. Yes, he could never erase the debts his family owed to Riya’s lineage, nor break the vow made to her grandfather on his deathbed. But what once had been a noble bond of gratitude now felt like a burden.
Riya was nothing like her selfless father and grandfather. She was a shadow of deceit, manipulative, and selfish. All those years, she had been hiding her true nature under that innocent façade. Now that her mask had slipped.
Nathaniel could never allow her to fool his family again. Yet the promise shackled him—he couldn’t hand her to the authorities, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn’t break the promise the elders of the family had given to that old man.
Across from him, Riya trembled under his glare, her body folding into itself. "Please, Nathaniel...I’ll change. I’ll listen to you. Don’t call the cops."
The more she begged, the angrier he grew.
"Alright," he declared, "I won’t call the cops—for the sake of that promise. But you can’t stay here any longer. I’ll send you abroad."
The words shattered what little composure Riya had left. She shook her head with pitiful desperation. "No, please don’t. I’ve just built my career here. If I leave, I’ll lose everything—I’ll have to start from nothing again. Please, Nathaniel. Don’t ruin me. I swear, I’ll keep my distance from Zara. I’ll obey you – just don’t send me away."
She wrapped her fingers on his wrist, her gaze pleading. But Nathaniel remained unflinching. He cast her a cold, warning glare.
"You disgust me, Riya. You used your father and grandfather’s sacrifices as a shield. But let me be clear—we owed to your father and grandfather, not you. You are nothing like them. You are in this family because of the promise to your grandfather. But if I find you trying to hurt my family members, I’ll break that promise."
He shoved her hands away. Riya nearly stumbled backward.
"I allow you to say here, you will be under my watch," he continued coldly. "But if you even breathe against Zara again, I’ll destroy you myself before the law gets the chance. There won’t be a time to regret."
He had said those things only to threaten her, but he would never send her away. He wasn’t done with Riya yet. Keeping her around was the only way to learn what Zachary was plotting.
"Thank you, thank you so much for giving me a chance."
"Now leave," he barked.
She sprang up, snatched her bag, and fled the office. But the instant the door closed behind her, the fear and desperation that had hollowed her eyes evaporated. They were replaced by a suppressed, smoldering fury.
The humiliation of being exposed, the sting of his reprimand cut into her pride.
She pressed her nails into the strap of her bag. ’Nathaniel,’ she muttered. ’I don’t know what sort of spell Zara fed him, she thought, venom coiling in her chest. You yelled at me because of her. You humiliated me. I’ll make you pay—every humiliation, every slight—a hundredfold. Everyone will suffer.’