The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Not long after Herman finished his call with Dailey, someone knocked on the study door.

"Come in," he said, his voice cool and even.

Tavon stepped inside, holding up two bottles of whiskey. "Hey, son-in-law, want a drink?"

It was barely morning. Herman didn't usually touch alcohol this early. He eyed Tavon. "Is something up?"

Tavon dropped into a chair with a heavy sigh. "Ana just can't snap out of it. Honestly, I don't even have the energy to do much these days. And Herman, I keep thinking about it... This is on you."

Truth was, Tavon had already had a couple of drinks before coming over-he needed the courage. He wanted to get ahead of things, afraid that once all this blew over, Herman would come up with some excuse to walk out on Anastasia.noveldrama

He was here to stand up for his daughter.

Herman just folded his hands on the desk, expression unreadable, waiting for Tavon to finish.

Tavon took a breath and dove in. "Come on, just admit it-Ana's gone through so much, all because of you. She's always been a good girl, never caused trouble for anyone, but ever since she married you, people have been out to get her. She's suffered a lot, hasn't she?"

By now, Tavon's voice was getting stronger.

"Yeah," Herman said simply, taking the blame without hesitation.

That threw Tavon off. He blinked, caught off guard by Herman's easy admission. He gulped some whiskey, trying to gather his thoughts.

"At least you're owning up to it," Tavon said, a bit more confident now. "Ana's like this because of you, so you can't just walk away. Whatever happens, you can't abandon her. Even if you two split someday, you'd better not leave her with nothing."

Herman saw right through Tavon's intentions and answered, "As long as I'm alive, I won't divorce Anastasia. It's 'til death do us part."

He meant that he and Anastasia were in it for the long haul-there was no other ending for them.

But Tavon misunderstood

completely. His face went pale and he shot to his feet. “You want to kitt your wife? Herman, have you lost your mind? Ana gave you three kids she might not be perfect, but she's done her part! And none of this was her fault-"

Herman was speechless, his brow furrowed in confusion. When had he ever said anything about killing his wife?

He didn't even get a chance to defend himself before Tavon launched into a

tirade, scolding him as if he were a misbehaving teenager.

Nobody had ever spoken to Herman like that—Tavon was the first. Herman's face stayed cold, but he let him rant.

Tavon's voice kept rising, "Herman,

you say you love Ana, but this is

what you do at the first sign of trouble? Just because of some rumors, you want to dump hert's not like she asked for any of this she was dragged into it!"

Herman's patience was wearing thin. His jaw clenched. Finally, he cut him off. "That's enough!"

Herman,

Tavon jumped, suddenly remembering exactly who he was talking to the guy everyone in the business world called the 'Ice King.' And here he was, giving him a piece of his mind.

Tavon hurried to grab the whiskey and make his exit, but Herman stopped him with a word.

"Anastasia will always be my wife. No matter what happens, that won't change." He figured he'd better clear things up before Tavon's imagination ran wild again. Tavon let out a shaky breath, finally realizing he'd misunderstood.

He thought about asking Herman to go easy on Morton Group, but the words died on his lips.

Herman had already gone all in-no

mercy. Sandy couldn't handle the pressure, every contract she had

lined up fell through. With just one word from Herman, Morton Group wouldn't last much longer

Even their main business—tea—was dead in the water. With so many other tea sellers out there, no one wanted to risk crossing Elysian Technologies just to work with the Mortons.

This time, Herman wasn't giving Sandy any more chances.