Chapter 362: Surviving Evil Billionaires Should Count as a Degree

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a laugh.

This probably wasn’t the best moment to find humor, Oliver!

This was a serious family showdown, and I really should have been acting like a mature adult instead of watching my boyfriend dismantle his father with the precision of a very skilled demolition crew, complete with hard hats and a tasteful warning sign.

Damien stood there calmly, hands in his pockets, while William’s face cycled through several shades of red I had previously only seen on expensive wine lists, each one somehow more offended than the last.

Behind him, the penthouse stretched out in all its polished glory, from the gleaming marble floors to the ridiculous floor-to-ceiling windows, and I couldn’t help noticing that the whole space seemed to be holding its breath alongside me.

Evelyn finally shifted, smoothing out an imaginary wrinkle on her sleeve before locking eyes with Damien, the way someone might size up a business rival or a particularly disappointing dessert. There was a stillness about her that I found far more unsettling than William’s volume, the stillness of a woman who had spent decades perfecting the art of being frightening without ever once raising her voice.

"So this is what all those years of hard work have led to," she said softly. "We tried to make you see what was at stake, and yet you threw it all away for him. Now that you’ve taken charge of the company, you think you can do whatever you want, consequences be damned?"

"I can make my own choices now," Damien shot back. "That’s kind of the point."

"You believe that having control of Lockwood Group makes you invincible."

"No. I believe it gives me the power to stop you from using it to dictate my life."

Her gaze shifted to me, and I could feel the temperature in the room drop a notch, as though someone had quietly opened a window onto the arctic. I resisted the urge to check whether my breath was fogging.

"Alright, fine then. And you," she said, her voice smooth yet laced with a threat, "will come to regret getting involved with a man whose family will never accept you. You have no idea what you’re stepping into, and I promise, neither of you will find this situation as easy as you think."

I held her stare, which took roughly all the courage I owned and a small loan from my future self. My palms had gone damp, my knees were conducting a private meeting about whether to remain functional, and yet somehow my voice came out steadier than I had any right to expect.

"Mrs. Lockwood, I’ve made it through four years without your son, and I’ve dealt with the aftermath of being loved by him despite what you did. Trust me, I can handle your little disapproval."

Her expression hardened.

"You two will regret ever crossing paths."

"That sounds like a threat," Damien said, his voice suddenly low and dangerous. "I’d think carefully about your next words."

Evelyn looked at him for a long moment before glancing away, seemingly deciding she’d said enough for now, though the tight line of her mouth suggested she was filing the whole encounter under things to revisit with a lawyer.

But William wasn’t going to let the last word go.

"You will both regret this!" he shouted as he stormed toward the door. "Do you hear me, Damien? You have no idea what you’ve set in motion, and when this little fantasy collapses, don’t expect your mother and me to clean up the fallout!"

"Don’t worry," Damien called after him. "You’ve already made plenty of messes for one lifetime."

William whipped around, his face contorted with anger, but Evelyn grabbed his arm and guided him toward the exit, her calm demeanor somehow making him look even sillier, like a toddler being escorted out of a restaurant by a very dignified babysitter.

At the doorway, she paused and glanced back at Damien.

"You’ll be hearing from us again."

"I’d be disappointed if I didn’t," he replied. "It would be a shame to waste all that effort you’ve put into making my life miserable."

The door shut behind them before William could start another rant, and the sound echoed through the penthouse with a satisfying finality.

For a moment, the place was quiet. The city outside sparkled under the afternoon sun, completely indifferent to the fact that I had just stood up to one of the richest men in the country and somehow lived to tell about it. For the second time, no less, which I felt deserved some kind of commemorative plaque, or at the very least a free coffee.

I glanced down at my hands and noticed they were shaking a bit, which was embarrassing, because it turned out that courage did not stop adrenaline from turning your body into an excited mess.

I flexed my fingers a few times, as if I could simply instruct them to stop, and they ignored me with the same enthusiasm my students showed for assigned reading.

Damien turned to me, his expression softening as he took both my hands in his, steadying them without making a fuss about it.

"Oliver?"

"I’m fine," I reassured him, though my voice came out a little breathless. "I just need a moment to process that your father is somehow even more unbearable than I remember."

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

"That bad?"

"Damien, I’ve met toddlers with better emotional control." I chuckled and touched my ear, which was still ringing in protest. "I mean, why does he yell so much? Does he get charged by the decibel? Is that how he made his fortune?"

He chuckled softly, but the sound faded as he pulled me into his embrace, letting me rest my forehead on his shoulder while the tension slowly drained out of my body. His hand moved in slow circles against my back, and I breathed in the familiar scent of him until my heartbeat remembered how to behave.

After a moment, he pressed a kiss to my hair.

"It’s over for today," he murmured. "They came expecting us to back down, and we didn’t. You didn’t run, and neither did I."

I wrapped my arms around him tighter.

"You’re still a jerk for having parents like that."

"I’ll try to be more picky next time."

"Please do. They should have a much more thorough application process for your next family."

His laughter rumbled against my cheek, and I finally smiled, lifting my head to meet his gaze. His eyes were warm and a little tired, and I realized that standing there in the middle of the chaos he had grown up with, he looked less like the untouchable CEO the newspapers adored and more like the man who had once stolen my blankets and lied about it.

Outside, the city lights were starting to twinkle, glowing softly against the windows of the home we’d built together.

For the first time since his parents had shown up, I realized that while their threats still hung over us and the road ahead wouldn’t be easy, they didn’t hold the power to dictate what happened between us.

Damien brushed his thumb along my cheek before leaning down to kiss me, and I met him halfway, holding on as the penthouse settled into a peaceful quiet around us, and for once the silence felt like ours.