Reborn With a Money-Making System: Ruined Actress to Nation's Treasure-Chapter 158: Husband, Take Me Home

Author’s POV

"Young Master, isn’t this a bit too early for you to be here?" Mr. Micho, Lando’s driver, asked as he glanced at the clock. It was only seven in the evening, and the young madam had probably just ordered her food inside the grill bar.

"The earlier, the better, Mr. Micho," Lando said.

He opened the candy wrapper in his hand. Honestly, he didn’t even know where the candy came from.

For some reason, he always found candies tucked inside the pocket of his coat. And even if he never caught the culprit, he already knew it had to be his sweet wife.

She even bought him low-sugar candy because he once said he didn’t want to eat too much sugar.

How sweet of her. She was so sweet that Lando couldn’t help but feel the urge to throw his brother far, far away from his wife forever. Helcia didn’t explain the full story, but he knew Kai must have invited everyone to the grill bar on purpose, just so he could spend more time with her.

That was why Lando rushed straight to her location and parked outside, keeping watch like a hawk. The grill bar had clear, glass walls, so Lando could see Helcia and her coworkers easily from inside the car.

He clenched his jaw every time Kai leaned closer to her. In his heart, Lando swore that if he ever succeeded in destroying the Brixtons, Kai would be the first person he threw into a cage full of hungry lions.

For more than two hours, Lando didn’t look away from Helcia even once. He kept making sure no one bullied his sweet wife. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"She’s not eating well enough," he muttered.

He knew Helcia didn’t eat much, but he had never seen her lose her appetite this badly. She barely touched her food, barely drank anything from her glass. She also became unusually quiet, and even when she laughed, it was nothing more than a forced laugh, something someone only did to show respect to their superiors.

Lando had never seen his wife look this exhausted around people before. He always thought she was a little sunbeam who would brighten any room she walked into, but tonight, her light was dim.

A moment later, he suddenly received a message from his wife:

[My sweet wife: Husband, I want to go home. Can you pick me up now?]

Lando was about to reply when he saw Kai ordering another glass of alcohol for her.

Her coworkers cheered, encouraging Helcia to drink it. She waved her hands, trying to refuse, but maybe because of the pressure, she eventually lifted the glass and drank it.

"What time is it?"

Mr. Micho suddenly woke up from his nap, narrowing his eyes when he saw the clock already showing nine at night. When he turned around, he was a little shocked to see Lando still in the same position after such a long time.

"Young Master... you do realize you look like a stalker right now, right?" Mr. Micho sighed. "I’m sure Young Madam is fine. You don’t need to worry so much."

"No, she’s not fine." Lando narrowed his eyes, focusing on Helcia’s face as it gradually turned bright red after drinking the alcohol. He knew his wife was a bit weak with alcohol, but she wasn’t this weak.

She only drank pinata cota, and the alcohol level wasn’t even high, and that was enough for Lando to know something was wrong.

"Mr. Micho, help me get out of the car," he said urgently. "Now."

===

Meanwhile, inside the grill bar, Helcia suddenly felt a severe headache. Her vision spun, turning blurry until she couldn’t even recognize the faces in front of her.

When she touched her face, it felt burning hot, just like the rest of her body. "My phone..." she whispered weakly. "Where’s my phone?"

She reached for her purse, but something that was usually so simple suddenly felt impossible. After a moment, she realized her phone had been sitting on her lap the whole time. But when she tried to lift it, her hand went limp, and the phone slipped from her fingers and hit the floor.

Fuck...

It seemed like someone had spiked her drink. Why was she so sure? Well, because the last time she was involved in a drug scandal, she experienced the exact same symptoms.

However, her body felt even stranger now. Maybe the drug used this time was worse than whatever she had accidentally drunk back then.

Fucking Kai.

She should never have accepted that drink. She needed to call someone—no, she needed to call her husband!

But forget asking for help, she couldn’t even get a single word out of her mouth.

Not long after, she felt Kai’s hand wrap around her. She tried to push him away, but she had no strength left.

"Helcia, are you sick?" Kai asked, pretending to be concerned. "I’ll take you home."

Eric, already drunk, didn’t notice anything wrong. He simply nodded and said, "Young people these days are so weak with alcohol. Helcia, if you feel that bad, just let your brother-in-law take you home!"

"N-no..." she whispered, but her voice was too soft. "Husband... I need... to call my husband..."

Kai stood from his seat and grabbed her purse. "Oh, don’t worry about your husband. I’ll tell him I’m taking you home." He tightened his grip on her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, let’s go."

No, she didn’t want to go home with him!

She was absolutely certain Kai wouldn’t bring her home. He would probably take her to some suspicious place and who knew what would happen to her there?

"H-help..." she breathed out.

"Yes, I’m helping you right now," Kai insisted as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She tried to push him away, but her knees buckled and she almost fell.

"Why are you struggling? I’m not letting you go home alone," Kai said, tightening his hold on her.

"She’s not going home alone." A cold voice cut through the noise.

Lando walked toward their table, leaning on his crutches. Behind him, Mr. Micho followed closely, his face tense. "I’ll be the one taking my wife home."

Kai clenched his jaw the moment he saw his brother standing there. How the hell did this bastard suddenly appear out of nowhere like a creepy clown?

"Brother..." Kai forced a smile, pretending everything was normal. "I didn’t expect you to come here."

Lando handed his right crutch to Mr. Micho, then immediately pulled Helcia out of Kai’s grip. "My wife asked me to pick her up at this hour. And since she’s clearly unwell, I’m taking her home now."

He gave a quick signal to Mr. Micho, who stepped forward and took Helcia’s phone and purse from Kai’s hands.

Lando gritted his teeth, his eyes sharpening the moment he felt how hot Helcia’s skin was.

"Did you force her to drink something?"

For a second, Lando didn’t even bother pretending to be polite in front of his rotten brother. Knowing how rotten Kai was, Lando had already guessed that he had spiked her drink.

He then looked toward the table, and her glass was no longer there, probably taken away by the waiter.

That was strange, because waiters in a place as fancy as this grill bar were trained not to remove empty plates or glasses unless the guests had left.

Because of that, Lando immediately suspected that the waiter took it away to cover up something dirty.

The other people at the table finally sensed the strange tension between the two brothers. They put down their utensils immediately and chose to focus on the drama unfolding in front of them.

"What are you talking about, brother?" Kai replied, still faking innocence.

"I only offered her one glass of alcohol. How was I supposed to know she’s this weak with drinks? And why would I ever hurt my precious sister-in-law?"

Lando’s jaw tightened. "You don’t even know how to lie properly," he said coldly. "She only took a few sips, and she’s already burning up like this. Even a child wouldn’t get drunk this fast."

Kai’s smile twitched, but he didn’t drop the act. "Brother, you’re overthinking it. Maybe she’s just tired."

"Tired?" Lando repeated, his voice dropping dangerously low. "If she was only tired, she wouldn’t be struggling to stay conscious."

He shifted Helcia slightly in his arms, and several people gasped when they saw how pale her face had become.

"Lando..." Helcia whispered weakly, her voice trembling. She forced her eyes open, and the moment she saw a familiar face in front of her, she finally let out a relieved breath. "Husband... please... take me home."

Oh... someone had saved her now.

Kai, on the other hand, no longer looked as patient as before. He was clearly annoyed because Lando had ruined his plan.

"Look, brother," he said through clenched teeth. "You’re obviously overthinking. If you hadn’t shown up, I would’ve taken her ho—"

"You will not take her anywhere," Lando snapped, his voice like ice. "Touch her again, and I’ll break your arm."