Chapter 354
Luna, who had been eavesdropping, turned pale and couldn't help but cry out, "Joseph, what's so special about this Cassie anyway? She's just a mistress's child. Is it because she flirts?"
"Luna, watch your mouth." Joseph warned her, expressionless.
Vera, red-faced with anger, argued fiercely, "Joseph, it was you who asked Luna to dance in front of everyone at the charity ball. The Hernandez family asked her to be your girlfriend. Now you're playing with the Leo family like it's some game, discarding her as you please. How is she supposed to marry anyone after this?"
Walter also felt guilty about the matter. "We will give the Leo family an explanation."
"Good," Vera said with confidence. "I trust you. If this isn't resolved, word will get out about the Hernandez family's lack of honor. No prominent family will want to form any alliances with you. And if the public gets wind of this, Joseph will be labeled a jerk by everyone in Madison."
After saying her piece, Vera grabbed her daughter and stormed out.
"Did you hear what the Leo family said?" Walter threatened with an ashen face. "If you keep this up, tomorrow I'll hand the Hernandez Corporation over to Liam. The Hernandez family doesn't revolve around you alone."
"I won't break up with her," Joseph said, the frustration evident in his furrowed brow, "Grandpa, I'm sorry."
"Get out." Walter was so angry he didn't even want to speak to him.
The expressions of the Hernandez family members were enigmatic, signaling a possible change of headwinds for the Hernandez family.
————
At eleven o'clock at night, Joseph, in a thin shirt, walked out of the hospital.
After a night of disarray, the usually impeccable Joseph hadn't looked this disheveled in a long time, the imprint of a slap visible on his handsome face.
Liam entered with lab results in hand, and upon seeing his elder brother, his lips curved into a harmless smile. "Big brother, are you not sticking around for grandma?"
"It's your chance to curry favor with the old folks; isn't that what you wanted?" Joseph gave him a cold glance. "Are you satisfied with the turmoil you've orchestrated tonight?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Liam shrugged. "Come on, big brother, you take my date and then say something like that to me? Not cool."
"Liam, I underestimated you," Joseph admitted. Maybe Liam had just been too good at keeping secrets. "When Cassie hid in my room during her last visit to the Hernandez estate, you saw her, didn't you?"
Liam arched an eyebrow, his response noncommittal.
A dark glint flickered in Joseph's eyes. "You shouldn't have hurt her. You shouldn’t have lied to her."
The smile on Liam's lips slowly solidified into something crueler. "It was never me who hurt her; it was always you. I just brought her out of the darkness into the light."
"There are many ways to step into the light, but not through disgrace, Liam. This isn't over between us."
Without looking back, Joseph strode away, long-legged and resolute.
Back home
He pushed open the door to his bedroom, finding it shrouded in darkness.
The scent of antiseptic faintly permeated the room. Under the silk covers, a small figure lay curled up, her back to the door.
Circling to the other side, standing by the bed in the moonlight, he could see the bandages covering her once pretty face, obscuring almost her entire cheeks, leaving only her delicate chin exposed.
Her cheeks used to have a baby's fullness, pinchable and cute. Now, they were hollow.
Joseph's fingers brushed gingerly against the bandages on her face, feeling a sense of failure and powerlessness for the first time as a man. Tonight, as many turned against her, he couldn't protect her.
She must despise him.
Suddenly, she turned from his touch, her empty eyes staring at him.
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