He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

Back at the villa, the heavy tension in the air did not simmer down. If anything, it threatened to boil over completely.

Richard stood up from his seat, adjusting the cuffs of his dark jacket. "I guess we are officially done here," he said, his voice flat. "So I need to be on my way now."

He turned and took a firm step away from his chair. He had barely cleared the rug when Nicholas’s sharp voice sliced through the quiet room.

"Are you not even going to ask me how things are going for me at Riggs Group?" Nicholas asked, his tone dripping with taunting arrogance.

Richard stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw instantly hardening. He turned slowly toward his brother, and the alarming text message Ethan had sent him earlier echoed in his mind. His own flesh and blood was a traitor and was now trying to lure him into a trap.

Not now, Nick. Not tonight, Richard thought, clamping down on his rising temper. He turned his back once more and kept walking toward the exit.

"Well, if you and everyone else in this room refuse to ask me about it, then I will just tell you myself," Nicholas announced, a smug smile spreading across his face.

"Nobody is interested, Nick," Pamela said, shaking her head in annoyance. "Learn to read the room for once."

Nicholas turned to her, his taunting smile growing wider. "You should seriously consider joining Riggs as well, Pam," he offered smoothly. "Unlike Vance Enterprises, we actually appreciate talent over there. Trust me, little sister, your skills would be far more valued."

"Nicholas?" Henry interjected, his dark brows pulling into a deep frown.

"What on earth do you think you are doing, Nick?" Margaret said, her voice rising. "You should be thinking about protecting your family, not tempting your sister to join the enemy."

Nicholas let out a loud scoff. "No, Mother," he said, standing up to face them. "I spent years slaving away here because of ’family,’ and what exactly did that get me?"

He paused, looking around at his parents and then at Richard, who had stopped again to listen. "When I left this house, you all expected me to return with my tail between my legs, begging for my old job back. But trust me, my life has never been better."

Pamela frowned, her eyes reflecting a flicker of genuine curiosity as she looked at him. Richard noticed the shift immediately and felt a chill.

Nicholas’s subtle manipulation was working on her.

Nicholas fixed his gaze directly on Pamela. "I am already the third most important executive at Riggs Group," he boasted, his smile widening. "And in just a few short weeks, I will be named the vice president of the company."

Henry scoffed softly. "I think you are rejoicing far too soon, Nicholas. I believed I taught you well enough to know that not all shiny things are made of gold."

Richard let out a cold laugh. "There is no point wasting your breath on him, Father," he said. He looked straight into Nicholas’s eyes, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "I only wonder what terrible price you had to pay Thomas this time, considering the ridiculous scandal you pulled off the last time you switched sides."

Nicholas laughed, the sound harsh and hollow. "You surely cannot hold that against me, Richard," he replied. "You are the one who constantly creates messes that work so cleanly in my favor."

Richard stared at him for a quiet moment, then slowly shook his head, his dark eyes filling with pure pity. "And what will happen to you when you no longer have anything of value to offer Thomas? Have you ever paused to ask yourself that?"

Nicholas’s faltered for a fraction of a second, and Richard caught the tiny crack in his facade. But the hesitation vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by another broad smile. "I don’t think I will ever have to worry about running out of leverage," he declared.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Margaret demanded, her brows pulled tight in suspicion.

"It is simple, Mother," Nicholas said, laughing lightly. "This family creates chaos and public scandals without even trying. That means my growth over at Riggs will be continuous."

"You should not be speaking about your own blood that way," Henry chimed in, his deep voice filled with profound disappointment. "This is your family. When everything falls apart, these are the only people who will ever have your back. Not Thomas, not his ambitious father. No one else. Just us."

Nicholas scoffed, shaking his head with bitter amusement. "Oh, Father," he shot back, his tone laced with deep-seated resentment. "When have you ever prioritized me? When have you ever truly had my back over Richard’s?"

"You are a grown man, and one day you will have to own your choices," Henry said quietly.

"There is no use trying to reason with him, Henry," Margaret cut in coldly. She turned her hard gaze onto her younger son. "Do whatever you want! But whatever you heard in this room tonight must remain strictly between these walls. Am I clear?"

Richard scoffed at her naive demand. "Stop deceiving yourself, Mother. We should start preparing right now for the fallout of this disaster," he said bluntly. "Nick does not consider himself a part of this family anymore. The sooner you accept that reality, the better off we will all be."

Every eye in the room turned to Nicholas. He simply shrugged, his expression entirely unbothered.

"You should probably listen to Richard. Who knows?" Nicholas teased softly, his voice dropping an octave.

"You are free to play whatever games you want," Richard said, his tone dropping dangerously low as he took a slow, menacing step forward. "But if you try to build another scandal using Roxanne or my unborn child, you had better be prepared for the consequences."

Nicholas scoffed, standing up, meeting his brother’s gaze head-on. "And what exactly is the almighty Richard going to do about it?"

Richard’s fists clenched at his sides, his eyes blazing now. Nicholas’s smile slowly disappeared as he stepped even closer. "I will make sure you lose everything you think you have built at Riggs," he said quietly.

Nicholas’s eyes narrowed, though he leaned back slightly. "You wouldn’t."

Richard’s lips curved into a cold smile. "You know me better than that."

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