Tears of humiliation welled up in Shawn's eyes as he clenched his teeth and muttered, "Got it!"

Andrew slapped him again, harder this time. "I didn't ask if you got it. I asked if it's okay."

The weight of shame nearly crushed Shawn from the inside out. Nonetheless, he did not dare resist. He did not even flinch as he squeezed out, "Okay!"

No one missed how low he had sunk. Even Quinton, the proud heir of Blumedale, had lost all his swagger, and now Shawn had no one to count on. He was completely on his own.

Andrew looked down at him and said coldly, "You can fuck off now."

Shawn acted like he had just been pardoned from death row. He scrambled to his feet and bolted straight back to the Fields family.

From that day on, he swore he would check the stars before leaving his house, and he would make damn sure Andrew was not in the same zip code. If their paths might cross, he would rather stay home or take a two-hour detour.

"Alright, Fran, let's go," Andrew said, brushing o