Benjamin tried to block him again, but Andres forcefully shoved him aside.
Seeing the situation escalate, Benjamin's bodyguards aggressively surged forward.
Andres's men were no pushovers either.
The moment Benjamin's guards moved, Murray snapped his fingers in the air.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of security personnel swarmed in, completely encircling Benjamin and his men.
A lively birthday party had instantly transformed into a tense gangland standoff.
The heavy atmosphere put everyone on high alert.
Benjamin signaled his men to stand down, barking a reprimand:
"You blind idiots, Mr. Andres is one of us."
"What are you doing flexing your muscles on his turf? Fall back!"
Scolded, the bodyguards tactfully retreated.
Andres also signaled Murray to hold his ground.
"I must admit, I don't quite understand your little game today, Boss Bright."
He jutted his chin toward the box. "Who is inside?"
Benjamin's eyes filled with intense murderous intent as he looked at the crate.
"A dying person. More accurately, a dying animal."
The person inside seemed provoked by this, thrashing wildly and making the box rattle again.
Slade couldn't hold his tongue any longer.
"Boss Bright, that's just out of line."
"It's Andres's birthday today. What kind of stunt is bringing a dead person here?"
Jasper cleared his throat and corrected him.
"Pay attention to the phrasing. He said a dying person, not a dead person."
To Slade, there was no real difference; it was terrible luck either way.
Andres had no patience for Benjamin's low-level word games.
He shot Murray a look, ordering him to open the crate.
This time, Benjamin didn't physically stop them, but he did offer a warning.
"You're Maeve's man, and I'm Maeve's family. Through her, we're technically in-laws."
Completely out of the loop, Michael nodded in agreement.
"He actually makes a solid point."
For his input, Michael received a vicious eye roll from his friend.
As the thrashing inside the box grew more violent, Andres gave Murray a direct order.
"Open it."
Murray didn't hesitate, grabbing a few guards to pry the crate apart.
It took less than two minutes to crack the lid.
Worried about booby traps, Murray cautiously pried open a tiny gap first.
The moment he peered inside, a familiar face entered his line of sight.
Never in his wildest dreams did he expect the woman—tied up and gagged with duct tape—to be Nancy Grover.
The heiress of the Grover family, and his boss's rumored ex-girlfriend.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Divorce Failed My Wife's Secret Identities Shock the World