Lucas dropped the phone the moment the line cut off, the faint echo of the disconnected call lingering in the silent room like a warning.
"Are you going to pay him the remaining money?" Gerald asked, his voice calm but probing. He had heard every word Mr. Smith said, thanks to the phone being on loudspeaker, and there was no mistaking the implication behind the question.
"No, I don't plan to," Lucas replied nonchalantly.
He walked toward the drink cabinet with an ease that contrasted sharply with the tension in the room. Opening it, he retrieved a bottle, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one gulp as if it were water. Gerald watched him quietly, his sharp eyes studying his son, waiting, patient, calculating.
"Why the change of plan?" his father finally asked.
