Watching Sophie, who had clearly pieced everything together, Colby sighed and said, "Babe, can I lie?"


    "No."


    Getting a firm no from Sophie, Colby pulled out his phone. The screen showed a series of calls from an unknown number from the night before. But to Sophie, this number was all too familiar. "James... really put on quite the show," Sophie said, her voice calm.


    Later, at the Burke Estate....


    Rick walked into Gordon''s room, unable to hold back his words. "Sir, you need to step in."This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    "Step in for what? He brought this on himself," Gordon replied, his face expressionless. "I didn''t force him."


    "But if this keeps up, Colby''s going to bring down the entire Aldridge family!"


    Gordon rubbed his temples, feeling a headache brewing. He really shouldn''t have let all these people move in.


    "Go check on him."


    "Yes, sir."


    Rick pushed Gordon''s wheelchair into the hallway, where they could see Colby sitting in the living room, expertly throwing darts at a vase worth a small fortune. The next second, the vase shattered.


    Colby then picked up a paring knife from the table, and Rick, fearing the worst, rushed over. "Colby! You can''t throw that!"


    "Who said I was gonna throw it?" Colby replied coolly, picking up an apple. "Just peeling an apple."


    п


    Rick nced at the mess in the living room, where a maid was nervously cleaning up.


    "If you wanna break stuff, do it at your own ce, not mine," Gordon said.


    Colby, clearly in a foul mood, didn''t respond. Gordon added, "You brought this on yourself. Who else can you me?"


    Hearing this, Colby''s knife slipped, the apple peel breaking off suddenly. He shot Gordon a cold look. "Wanted to lie, didn''t dare."


    His words were a mix of resentment and defiance.


    "Where''s Sophie?" Gordon asked, then realized. "Oh, right, she must''ve gone to look for James. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be here smashing up someone else''s house."


    No sooner had Gordon finished speaking, Colby drove the paring knife into the apple on the fruit tter with such force that it shattered the te.


    "Oh, my bad, it slipped."


    Colby stood up and headed for the stairs without a backward nce. It might have been an ident, but at that moment, he almost wished he could''ve aimed for Gordon''s mouth. en.swhovels


    Rick immediately checked the fruit tter. The paring knife had nearly embedded itself into the table. "Sir... the table''s ruined."


    Gordon said indifferently, "Put it on the tab. Sophie can pay for it when she gets back."


    Rick hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Sir, Mrs. Costello probably went to find Mr. Burke. If she actually finds him..."


    "She won''t," Gordon replied. He knew


    James wouldn''t show himself,


    which is why he hadn''t tried to


    silence Colby. This whole act wasn''t meant to fool Sophie but to shape public opinion. Now that the public had seen James wielding a knife and knew Colby had been hospitalized from a stab wound, it didn''t matter whether Sophie knew the truth.


    Once the three-month period was up, James Burke would no longer be the CEO of Burke International.


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