I injected the liquid into the Tiramisu, and instead of throwing the used syringe into the dustbin, I put it into my jacket pocket. I made sure never to leave any evidence behind.

It would take about an hour until the laxative would take effect, and then Good-Boy Noah would spend the rest of his night on a commode wishing he'd died instead. It was harmless. I mean there was nothing wrong if I wanted Good-Boy Noah to empty his bowels right? It was good for his health.

I laughed to myself.

And then stopped.

Mom wouldn't want me to do that. She said people did not poison other people that they hated, it just wasn't right. They also did not hit or kill other people just for the heck of it.

But Noah had stepped out of line. He'd insulted me and my family. If he thought I was a madman, well he needed to see what a madman could do firsthand.

I closed my eyes and waited for the pain in my head to recede.

I'm not mad

I'm not mad.

I'm not mad.

The pounding in my head continued and I was close to having a panic attack, so close to slaughtering someone. When I told Vicky that I'd changed, I'd lied. I never lie to Vicky, but if I told her the truth, would she accept me?

It took me a minute to compose myself before I walked out of the kitchen with three cups of the dessert. Noah's eyes followed me as I brought the dessert to the table and placed it in front of them. "Sorry it took me long," I said and settled down opposite the mother and son.

Mrs. McCloy took the dessert bowl into her hand and scooped it into the spoon. She was just putting it in her mouth when Noah slapped her hand. The spoon went flying on the floor.

"You can't eat that, Mom!" Noah exploded as he pointed an accusing finger at me. "You poisoned the dessert! Didn't you?"

I maintained a poker face. My first instinct was to smile, but that would plainly give me away. So I just stared.

"Noah, that's an awful thing to say." His mother pointed out. Her gaze flicked to me in silent apology and back to her son. "Apologize to Tyler."

"I'm not lying. I know he put something in that Tiramisu. I'm positive!"

I sat silently watching the exchange and eating my dessert.

"This is delicious." I complimented her as if her son hadn't just implied that I'd poisoned this very dessert.

"Apologize right now, Noah." She pressed him.

"I'd kill myself before I apologize to him," Noah said and pushed his mother's and his own dessert bowl towards me. "Eat this. Let's see who is actually lying."

Noah gave a challenging look. He wasn't as stupid as he led people on, and I already knew that.

I picked up the two bowls, ate some out of one and then from the other.

"Finish it." He commanded.

I sighed and Mrs. McCloy shook her head as if she was shamed for her son's rude behavior. "This is ridiculous."

I did just as he'd told me. I finished up both their desserts, including mine so there was no more room for doubt.

Noah stared at me, waiting. I grasped my neck in horror and coughed loudly before I stumbled and fell off the chair onto the floor. I was having body seizures and I could hear Noah's mother yelling or screaming for the housemaids.

You could clearly see the look of triumph on Noah's face as I doubled over in pain. "I fucking knew it!" He spat.

I was hacking a loud cough when I looked up at him.

My gaze flicked to his mother's horrified face, and that of Noah's face filled with hatred mixed with a sense of relief. He was feeling elated to see me in pain. He wanted me to die choking on my vomit. I could almost hear his malicious thoughts about me 'The world would lose nothing with Tyler Lockhart dead.'

I looked between the two and smiled. Noah's 'know-it-all' expression turned to that of a confused man when the room filled with the sound of my laughter. I cracked up too fast, I'd planned to draw this out a little longer. The maid took a few steps back as if sensing the mad man inside me. His mother was still shaking.

I sat back in the chair and addressed his mother. "I'm sorry, Debbie, but your son really wanted to see me die and I'd thought I'd at least give him a little benefit of the doubt." I cleaned the dessert bowls with my spoon and ate the rest. "I have a very dark sense of humor, I've been told. Don't mind me." I chuckled because I couldn't help it.

Debbie McCloy's face had turned red. "I'm so very sorry, Tyler." She glared daggers at her son. "Noah, you will apologize properly to Tyler and you will do it right now."

"I don't understand! He put something in our desserts. I just know it!"

"ENOUGH!" Debbie shrieked so loud she might have burst a vein.

I climbed to my feet, "It was a very entertaining dinner, best I've had after a long time." I grinned. "Thanks, Noah. I shall forever remember your generous hospitality."

I picked up my coat and made my way out of the kitchen. I heard Debbie say 'you will go see him to his car and apologize, Noah. That's not how we treat our guests, and for god's sake, definitely not a Lockhart.'

Don't get me wrong, I wanted to hurt that asshole with everything that I had, and I'd come really close to doing just that. I'd infused the laxative into the dessert but thought better of it and had thrown it into the garbage. Mom believed she raised me right and I was not going to disappoint her. Hurting Noah would have given me immense pleasure but it had also made him look like a fucking victim, and that's exactly what he wanted. Noah wanted to make me look like a villain in front of everyone, especially Victoria so he could pretend to be a good guy. Let's not forget the humiliation my mother would have to go through if news got around. Bad news in Cold-Bay spread faster than a fart in an elevator. It just got nasty by the time it made a full circle; I was a good example of that.

I'd lived, suffered and swallowed up gossip like nobody's fucking business. Heck, my life had been consumed by it for a while. It's just the weak who fall deeper into the web of rumors and refuse to rise. I was here to stay. To fight back.

My motto had always been this: Stay out of my life. I do the same to yours. Screw with me, and then hope that God listens to your prayers.

"Lockhart." I heard him call out to me.

I opened my car and threw the coat into the passenger seat, turning my attention to him.

"I'm not going to apologize because I knew what you were up to." He said. "If you're trying to scare me..."

"Scare you?" I gave out a laugh, "You mean more than you already are?"

He was keeping a safe distance from me, I mean if that wasn't being scared than what was it? He might as well be shaking like a leaf on a breezy day, and I didn't even blame him. People had this effect when they were around me, same as my father. The Lockhart's inflicted fear deep into people's mind and souls, so dark was our history.

"Listen, McCloy." I took a step towards him, he took a step back. I said in a low baritone. "Nothing personal but if I wanted you dead, you would have been dead by now. I have people who would clean up after me for any amount of money. And fortunately, I have an abundance of both money and time on my hands. And as you already might be aware, I get bored very often. Boredom leads to getting creative and trust me on this, Noah, you don't want me to show you my creative side. It's come to my knowledge that it's a tad bit disturbing."

He was completely mute; I suspected if he was even able to hear me. "What you saw back there was a warning. You try to throw shit at me again, talk bad about my family and I'll see to it that I make very good use of my free time. Someone might suddenly take a flight downstairs, break a neck, or someone gets stabbed in their own bedroom. The possibilities are endless, but the choice is yours. You see, even though I'm a threatening type of guy, I do give out subtle warnings. I'm nice that way. Most of my family isn't, they just go for the kill so consider yourself lucky." I gave him a friendly pat on his back. "Nice dinner that was. Thanks for having me. You should swing by the mansion; we could play a game of pool. I'll even let you beat me to it, just like old times."

He was still staring at me, not a word coming out of his mouth. He kinda reminded me of those dolls that Maya played when she was little. Those dolls that stopped talking because they needed a change of batteries, Noah apparently needed to change his too.

I went home that night in a really good mood. Somehow seeing Noah speechless like that seemed far rewarding than getting arrested for poising someone. I slept in my bed that night thinking about Vicky and what I could do to her to get her mad at me because when I made her mad, she'd call me or come calling at the mansion.

I picked up my phone from the dresser drawer. She'd probably received about fifty back to back calls and a string of other messages. She'd replied with one text.

She hadn't responded to my message after that and I'd fallen asleep. My eight-year-old Pit-bull, Alpha slept beside me. He was rescued from a neglected home, and when I'd brought him home, he was starved and on the brink of death. He had complete hatred for humanity. Now, the guy enjoyed belly rubs. For a dangerous-looking dog, he was goofy as hell, but if provoked, he'd tear you to pieces. I'd trained all my dogs that way.

"Young Master Tyler!"

There were loud rapping sounds. I buried my face into the pillow. One look at the grandfather clock told me it was early noon. Why the fuck would the housekeepers wake me up right now? I was going to visit the company late that evening, and enjoy the look of surprises on the faces of all the company employees and maybe gloat a bit in my dad's office which mine now, with me working as acting CEO and all.

"Go away!" I said in a sleepy voice.

"Young Master Tyler, this is important." That was Celeste, the maid that looked like an equivalent of a mouse. She had a very annoying girly voice that I found nerve-grating.

Alpha started barking and that was going to make my ears bleed.

"Shut the fuck up! All of you!" I groaned.

"Young Master Tyler..." that was Morgan. If Morgan was had to leave his work and come upstairs to wake me up, it meant something was important. "This is very important."

Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed and slipped on a silk robe before opening the door. "What is it, Morgan?" I asked in a sleep-induced irritated tone, "And why was Celeste rapping on my door so loudly? It was loud enough to wake up the end."

"Well, we wouldn't have woken you up if it wasn't important," Morgan explained. It sounded like he was annoyed by me. Ever heard of an employee annoyed by his employer and making no attempt at hiding it?

"Out with it," I said.

"Two police officer's outside want to speak with you."

My first thought was 'Did Vicky make good on her promise and complained about me stalking her?'

"Did they tell you what it was about?"

"It's about your father."