The Billionaire’s Secret Quartet novel Chapter 1196

Thalassa listened silently, her eyes fixed on nothing in particular as she absorbed the world around her.

She knew her friend Hertha was defending her honor, and she couldn't help but agree with her fiery words.

Debby wouldn't have done well getting out of jail early if she hadn't figured it out.

Hertha glanced at Debby's mother, who was still on the ground, wailing and crying, completely ignoring the advice being offered to her.

Hertha's anger boiled over as she snapped, "Do you think hobbling on one leg to buy your daughter's freedom is helping her? You're only making things worse. She'll become more demanding, more reckless. Let me be clear, we are not going to plead for your daughter, and we certainly won't forgive her. Thalassa nearly lost her life. Who showed her any sympathy or pity? You want to stay on your knees? Fine, then stay there."

With those last biting words, Hertha grabbed Thalassa's hand and steered her around the front of the car, opening the passenger door to let her in.

Just then, a sleek black Rolls-Royce glided smoothly towards them, its engine purring as it pulled up behind Hertha's car. The door swung open, and out stepped Lysander, a vision of elegance and authority.

Dressed in a black suit with a short-sleeved shirt and a neatly tied tie, his mere presence seemed to thicken the air, the atmospheric pressure dropping and instilling a sense of foreboding.

Thalassa's eyes locked onto Lysander as he emerged. His face was a cold mask of aristocratic beauty, his stride purposeful as he approached. The air seemed to ripple with his presence, slowing breaths and chilling hearts.

Hertha's grip on Thalassa's hand loosened instinctively, fearful of what Lysander might do if he saw them too close.

Debby's mother, too, noticed Lysander and her pleading expression immediately turned to one of sheer terror. Her body began to tremble involuntarily.

Moments before, she had been able to articulate her pleas to Thalassa to spare Debby, but now, in Lysander's presence, she was struck dumb, gripped by fear and dread.