The Day Silence Spoke novel Chapter 225

But Clifford no longer believed her. He gripped her chin, his voice a low growl. “Let me tell you something. Even without my title as CEO of the Lambert Group, you will never escape my grasp. Latisha, even if you die, you will die here with me.”

His words struck her like a bolt of lightning, leaving her stunned and disoriented. Latisha’s body went rigid. She instinctively wanted to pull back, but her rational mind forced her to stay still.

Clifford’s fingers traced a path to her earlobe, the light touch making her flinch. He removed the earpiece from her ear and slipped it back into his pocket.

“Stay home and be good. Lock the doors and don’t go out. Otherwise, I will break your legs. For real.”

He delivered the most brutal threat in the gentlest of tones.

Latisha’s fingers dug into the sofa cushions as she fought back a wave of terror and gave a slight nod.

Clifford stood up, went upstairs to change into a different brown overcoat, and left.

Latisha watched him go, then ran to the door and locked it. She leaned against it, her chest heaving as the words from the earpiece echoed in her mind. Clifford was leaving the Lambert family. He was going to lose everything.

She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself. No, that wasn't right. His expression was all wrong. If he were really about to be ousted from the family business, he would never be this calm. The man had to have another card up his sleeve. Either he didn’t care about the Lambert Group at all, or he had a much bigger ace to play.

This was just another one of his tests, like all the times he'd asked if she wanted to have a child. And she had almost fallen for it again. How could she be so foolish?

After all this time with him, she still had no idea which of his words were true. It was laughable.

…

After leaving the villa, Clifford drove straight to the office. It was well after hours, and the building was nearly empty. He went directly to Santino’s office.

The door was ajar, and Santino was still at his desk, buried in work. He looked up at the sound of knocking.

“Clifford, you’re here?” Santino immediately got up to greet him. “I thought you weren’t in the office today.”

“Oh?”

Clifford feigned surprise. “Didn’t she tell you? You didn’t know she sold her shares?”

Santino’s smile froze for a second before he recovered. “Oh, you’re talking about that. Yes, I know.”

“What else would I be talking about?”

Santino considered this. “I’ll find some time to go back and talk to her.”

“Don’t ‘find some time.’ Go now. If you don’t go back and talk some sense into her, she’s going to start going after our dad’s shares next.”

At this, Santino’s composure finally broke. He looked at Clifford in astonishment.