Meanwhile, over at the Yeager estate in Goldridge, everyone had been woken up in the dead of night and ordered to stay alert. No one was allowed to sleep. Over 500 guards were now fully armed and ready for war. If necessary, they would paint the ground red with blood. Adam slapped Joseph across the face twice.

Joseph was tied up like a prisoner, tears brimming in his eyes. He sobbed and begged, “I messed up! I swear I won’t do it again! Please, just give me one more chance!”

The poor guy was barely into adulthood, yet he was already begging for his life.

Adam glared at him coldly. “You worthless brat. You were willing to betray your entire family because you couldn’t think with the right head! Why the hell should I let you live? So you can turn around and destroy the family from within?”

Joseph was miserable. “I was young and stupid! I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! It’s just… my junk, it has a mind of its own!”

Adam raised his hand to slap him again, but stopped mid-air.

Matthew stepped in, raising a brow. “Why’d you stop? If you’re pissed, just hit him. I’ve got more sons. I won’t miss one! Besides, I can still… make more!”

Joseph wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. He thought, ‘What kind of father says that?’

The two Yeager elders stared at Joseph with disgust. “Forget it. Beating him won’t solve anything. And to be fair… he has a point. Every man’s got a phase when he can’t control what’s in his pants.”

Isaiah said, “Even I was like that once. But I never imagined the price of giving in to temptation would be plotting to kill the two family elders and nearly dooming the entire clan.”

Matthew barked, “Joseph! You don’t need me to tell you what you have to do next, right? This is your one chance to make things right.”

Joseph nodded hard, desperately shouting, “I get it! I do! I’ll text Scarlett right now and tell her the mission was a success!”

Matthew waved his hand. “No.”

Joseph blinked. “No? Then what do you want me to do?”

Adam frowned, too. “Matthew, don’t overdo it. What we need is for Henry and the others to fully believe Joseph pulled it off, so they’ll attack head-on. Once they’re in, Isaiah and I will crush those bastards for good. No need to play extra games.”

Matthew replied, “It’s not about doing anything extra. Think about it… If Joseph just sends a simple message saying, ‘All done,’ won’t that seem too easy? It might tip Scarlett off.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got a point. So what do you suggest?”

Matthew pulled out Joseph’s phone and smirked. “Simple. We’ll have Joseph send a voice message, telling her he wants to sleep with her. Tell her everything at the Yeagers has been taken care of. And after this, she has to wear black stockings and a nurse’s outfit to give him the reward of his life!”

Adam sneered coldly. “Matthew, I’m afraid that’s what you want to say to Scarlett yourself, isn’t it?”

Matthew coughed repeatedly, choking badly. “How could you think that of me? That’s unfair. I just want to make the performance convincing. The more desperate and pervy Joseph sounds, the more Scarlett will believe him. Isn’t that what we want?”

He cursed inwardly, ‘Seriously, we’re all adults here. Can’t we just stick to the unspoken rules? See it, but don’t say it out loud!’

Ever since he saw those explicit clips of Scarlett in Joseph’s files, Matthew could not deny that he had developed an itch for her, too. She was the type of strong, dominant woman he secretly wanted to conquer.

Joseph was untied and handed the phone. He took a deep breath, gathering himself for a moment, then used a high-pitched voice to send Scarlett exactly what Matthew had instructed him to say.

Adam waved a hand. “Take this brat away! Out of everything, I hate that damn squeaky voice the most!”

Meanwhile, Scarlett, still en route to the Yeager estate, just received the voice message.