Chapter 0218

Hansel quickly pulled his hand back, like a child caught doing something wrong. “I’m sorry, Mimi. I didn’t mean to. I… I don’t even know what’s wrong with me. I just don’t want you to run away, to be so far from me.”

“Don’t touch me!” Miranda clutched her head, tears about to fall from the pain.

At that moment, Calvin finally arrived, rushing over with Sam right behind him.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked, moving past Hansel to reach Miranda; his voice laced with urgency.

When Calvin had called him, Sam had been at a business event, about to close a sixty-million-dollar deal that night. However, the moment he heard that Miranda might be in trouble, he abandoned everything and left immediately.

He sped through the streets in ten minutes and met Calvin at the corner. Without a word, they both headed straight for Miranda’s building and found Hansel causing a scene.

Miranda not only resisted Hansel’s approach but also shied away from Sam’s concern. She stepped back slightly, just enough to lessen the overpowering scent of his cologne, and slowly shook her head. “I’m fine now.”

Sam’s eyes fell on her disheveled hair. Her scalp was visibly reddened, yet she insisted she was okay. He felt a pang of sympathy. “You’re a woman, Miranda. You don’t always have to be so tough.”

Before Miranda could respond, Hansel snapped, “Who the hell said you could speak, Cooper?”

Sam remained calm, his face impassive except for his dark, intense eyes. “My mouth is on my face. I’ll speak when I want to speak. What are you going to do about it?”

Hansel’s anger flared, while Sam’s steady demeanor only seemed to heighten the tension between them.

Hansel turned a cold glare to Calvin. “Did you bring this guy here? What’s the deal? Are you trying to humiliate me, or just letting him hit on my woman right in front of me?”

Calvin, caught in the crossfire, could only offer a weary smile. How had things spiraled so out of control, landing him in the middle of this mess?

Sam frowned and said, “If you’ve got issues, don’t take them out on others. Calvin’s here because he cares about you as a brother. If he didn’t, why would he bother with how much you drank, what you did, or whether you’re dead or alive?”

“Ha, a brother?” Hansel scoffed. “I treated you as one too, but what did you do? That’s not what brothers do! And don’t forget: If we’re brothers, you should be calling Miranda your sister-in-law!”

Sam laughed in disbelief. “Hansel, I’ll pretend you’re just talking nonsense because you’re drunk. Miranda broke up with you a long time ago. Sister-in-law? You’re out of your damn mind!”

“So what if we broke up? Haven’t you heard the saying, 'don’t mess with your friend’s woman'? Or 'don’t shit where you eat'? You’re practically shitting all over me!”

Sam shot back, “If I remember right, you were the one who broke up with her at the nightclub.”

Hansel fell silent, momentarily stunned.

Chapter 0219

Sam turned to Miranda and said, “You go on up. I’ll handle this.”

Miranda frowned, feeling unsure.

Sam reassured her softly, “Trust me.”

Calvin also gave her a slight nod.

Hence, Miranda turned and headed upstairs. She hadn’t wanted to get involved in the first place, and besides, she couldn’t do much anyway.

If someone could handle Hansel, that would be ideal—it would save her the trouble of calling the police.

If it had been just Sam, she wouldn’t have felt as reassured, but with Calvin there too, she hoped there wouldn’t be any major issues.

Hansel’s gaze followed her retreating figure, and he tried several times to step forward and chase after her, but Sam blocked him each time.

“Get out of my way!”

Sam replied, “Can’t you see the disgust on her face?”

Hansel shot back, “She’s disgusted with you!”

Sam chuckled. “When are you going to stop fooling yourself? When you two were together, do you think she didn’t know about all the crap you were pulling? Now that you’re apart, do you really think she’s going to keep pretending she hasn’t seen everything?”