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Chapter 586
Chapter 586:
The impact caught Susan perfectly across the cheekbone. Her head snapped violently to the side, her body spinning a full half-rotation before her heels gave out entirely. She crashed onto the marble floor in a heap of pink sequins, the elaborate architecture of her hairstyle destroyed on impact. A thick line of blood ran down her chin where her teeth had cut into her inner lip. The welt across her cheek was already swelling red.
Richard stood motionless for two full seconds, his brain failing to process what his eyes had witnessed.
Then his face went purple.
“You—!” He raised his fist and lunged.
𝘞𝖾 𝘶p𝘥a𝘵𝖾 𝘦𝘃𝗲𝗿y 𝗐𝖾𝖾𝘬 𝗼𝗻
Brogan was faster. Young, athletic, and operating on pure fury, he seized Richard by the lapels and drove him backward into the nearest stone pillar with a controlled, bone-jarring impact. His forearm pressed flat against Richard’s throat.
“Move one muscle,” Brogan said, his voice perfectly quiet, “and I will break your neck p>
On the floor, Susan registered what had happened and began to scream.
“Assault! Call the police! I’ll have Cole kill you — you’re dead!” She kicked her legs against the marble like a child, hands clutching her bleeding face.
June stepped forward and looked down at her from a composed, absolute height.
“Kill me?” June’s voice was barely above a whisper. It chilled the blood of everyone close enough to hear it. “Tell him to try p>
She moved the toe of her stiletto to within an inch of Susan’s face and held it there.
“But before you call your precious son-in-law,” June said, each word precise and unhurried, “you should know exactly who you just insulted p>
She turned her body and offered Dr. Zhang a deep, genuinely respectful bow.
Then she brought her gaze back to the figure on the floor.
“This ‘raggedy old beggar,’” June said, her voice carrying clearly to every corner of the lobby, “is Dr. Zhang. Nobel Laureate in Physiology. Current Chief Medical Advisor to the White House p>
The words landed like a detonation.
The patrons nearest to them drew sharp, audible breaths. Those further away leaned in, eyes widening with immediate, unmistakable recognition. The elderly man in the faded grey suit suddenly occupied an entirely different position in the room.
June looked back down at Susan.
“One phone call from him, and the Beasley family enterprise will be permanently blacklisted from every medical supply chain in the United States. You will be bankrupt before sunrise p>
Against the pillar, Richard stopped fighting. The blood left his face in a visible wave. His knees buckled, and if Brogan’s forearm hadn’t been holding him in place, he would have gone down. He understood, with absolute clarity, what federal power meant for a man in his position.
At that moment, the glass doors of the restaurant burst open.
Alycia stumbled in, breathless and flushed from arguing with the valet. She took in the scene in one sweeping glance — her mother on the floor, her father pinned against a pillar, the lobby full of staring faces — and then her eyes landed on the elderly man in the grey suit.
She recognized him. The White House press briefing. The Forbes cover. The face that appeared whenever serious people discussed the intersection of science and federal power.
If her parents had offended the White House, Cole wouldn’t just distance himself from them. He would bury them personally to protect his own interests.