Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) novel Chapter 1478

Andrew simply smiled and replied, "Mosby, don't take it personally. I didn't want to see today's outcome either! But you guys tried to hog the treasure for yourselves. Since that's how it was, I figured I might as well go all out and make it known to everyone.

"I figured if we're going down, might as well take everyone with us—nobody gets to come out ahead!"

Mosby opened his mouth and cursed furiously, "You bastard son of a bitch, what good does this do you? Huh? What do you gain from this?"

Andrew sneered dismissively. "If I cared about gaining something, do you think I would have exposed the treasure map business? No, actually, I don't need anything at all. As long as you and Rafael don't succeed either, that's enough for me!"

Mosby was devastated. "So you're seriously just here to mess everything up?"

Andrew snorted. "I've got no interest in arguing. The Wrights already know about the treasure map, so forget about settling this peacefully. And the secret to the Rhodes family's piece of the map? I hold it.

"You tell Rafael: if he wants the full map, he'd better come find me—with real sincerity. If not, then no one's getting a damn thing."

With that, Andrew turned and walked away, completely ignoring Mosby's murderous glare.

Meanwhile, Kevin was staring viciously at Quinton, who was kneeling on the ground. "Quinton, you truly are worthy of being my son—you've hidden things quite well!"

Quinton tried to explain. "No… Wait… Father, listen to me—"

Kevin was not having it and simply slapped Quinton. It was so hard that blood sprayed from his mouth.

Tora reached into Quinton's pocket and pulled out a rolled piece of parchment. "Mr. Wright Senior—here!"

Andrew did not deny it. He smiled and admitted, "Exactly. That was my plan. But hey, don't be mad. Let me ask you something: did you lose anything?"

Kevin paused, then shook his head. "No. I can't say I did."

Andrew chuckled. "See? Now the Wrights are officially in the game, and you've got one piece of the map—that means your leverage just doubled. With a treasure this legendary—the treasure of the Fallen Crimson Dynasty—I'd say the Wrights are the top contenders now."

Kevin's eyes lit up. He nodded again and again, unable to hide his excitement. "You're right! Even if you did use the Wrights, I can't deny that you've helped me in a huge way. If this treasure really surfaces, and the Wrights rise to the top, you'll also earn your share of the glory."

Quinton's eyes blazed with fury. He never imagined Kevin would fall this far under Andrew's spell. "Father! You can't trust Andrew! Yeah, you've got part of the map now, but he's definitely hiding something."