Orphan To Unbreakable Queen - Chapter 123: Chapter 123

After a restless night of barely any sleep, Aubree woke up feeling completely disoriented. When she heard Bowen's voice, she instinctively pulled the covers tighter around herself. 'How am I supposed to face him?' she wondered, feeling utterly lost. After gathering her courage with a deep breath, Aubree finally opened the door.
Bowen wore a black windbreaker, with his hair down and lightly tousled bangs framing his forehead, giving him a fresh and well-groomed appearance. "Breakfast is ready! Do you want to hit the skating rink after we eat?" Bowen said.
"Oh, and this." Bowen pulled a gift envelope from his pocket, its festive shimmer catching Aubree's eye. "Pocket money for you," he said casually, as if the events of the night before had never happened.
Aubree looked at Bowen with suspicion. "Last night..." A wave of indignation washed over her; she felt utterly used and then dismissed. 'Is he playing dumb, or had he forgotten?' she wondered.
"Last night? I was drunk—I honestly don't remember what happened," Bowen said with a look of confusion, his expression completely deadpan.
Aubree said, "Last night, I visited your room—"
Bowen lightly interrupted, "So, you brought me that hangover remedy, right? Dad mentioned it. The cup broke, but it's all cleaned up now. Did I… do something to upset you when I was drunk last night?" he asked, feigning concern. "I can't remember." He frowned, adopting a troubled expression.
Aubree felt all her resolve fade away; everything she wanted to express was lodged in her throat. 'How could I possibly ask Bowen why he pinned me down and kissed me last night?' she wondered, frustration bubbling inside her.
Bowen looked at her before suddenly pausing. "What happened to your lip?"
"I..." Aubree felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
"Did you bite it yourself?" Bowen asked.
'Like hell I did! This masterpiece is all your doing!' she fumed inwardly. But all she could do was nod. "Yeah, I had a dream last night." She thought, 'Some shameless scoundrel kissed me!'
"Anyway, I woke up this morning, and it was like this." Aubree gritted her teeth, imagining a hundred different outcomes but never considering that Bowen would forget. "Alright, fine. You said we were going ice skating. I'll go get ready."
Bowen's eyes sparkled with amusement as he waved the gift envelope in his hand. "You still haven't taken your gift," he remarked.
Aubree thought it was just a good luck charm as she felt the thin envelope in her hand. Assuming it contained only a small token amount, she accepted it absentmindedly.
She returned to her room and changed her clothes. Before leaving, she glanced at the gift envelope on the bed, intrigued by the amount inside. She squeezed it and immediately felt that something was off. Upon opening the envelope, she discovered a bank card inside.
Wait, is this how the Turner family gives out pocket money?' Aubree wondered with a hint of disbelief in her mind.
She checked the balance on her card using her phone—the significant amount stared back at her. However, she didn't need this money at the moment.
She thought about returning it, but realized that Bowen certainly had enough money. Since he had given it to her, he probably wouldn't let her refuse it. Rather than making a fuss, she tucked the card into her pocket.
As Aubree descended the stairs, Alvin was just about to take a bite of his oatmeal. He glanced up, did a double-take, and spat it out in shock, his eyes wide. "What the—Aubree! What happened to your lip?" Alvin exclaimed.
Last night, Aubree went to Bowen's room with the handover remedy, then returned to her room and never came back downstairs. Alvin had figured it was just the same old story—Bowen was probably showing off again. But now, he doubted so.
Ethan, who was sitting closest to Alvin, quickly shifted away with a hurt expression. "Alvin, I lost all my money to you last night. Did you have to do that?"
Right then, Samson sharply nudged his arm and tilted his chin toward Aubree. At the dining table, Bowen and Enrique seemed the least affected. Aubree felt utterly embarrassed. With Alvin causing such a commotion, she was half-convinced he had figured everything out.
"Just a bite mark," Bowen interrupted before Aubree could explain. She could only nod in reluctant agreement, unable to speak the truth.
After breakfast, Enrique, who wasn't eager to go out at his age, handed each of the five a gift envelope and then settled down to watch TV at home. Since one car couldn't accommodate all five of them, Aubree, intentionally avoiding Bowen, insisted on one car for herself.
Bowen didn't provide any further comments, and the two cars left one after the other. Once inside the car, Alvin immediately muttered under his breath, "Uncle Bowen, I take back what I said about you being a beast yesterday."
Bowen shot him a glance. "You're a total monster," Alvin added.
Bowen tried to restrain himself but ultimately couldn't resist and gave Alvin a light smack on the head. "Could you show some respect, please?"
Alvin clutched his head but responded with a serious tone, "I'm judging you, Uncle. That bite mark? I'm pretty sure you did most of the biting."
Bowen gave him a long, meaningful glance. "It was bitten," he said.
Alvin's expression shifted, and he scoffed, "Whatever."
"I drank too much last night," Bowen said, trying to change the topic. Both Alvin, sitting beside him, and Ethan, driving up front, silently rolled their eyes at his blatant lie.
Ethan couldn't help but stir the pot. "Mr. Turner, blaming it on booze is one of the oldest excuses out there. If you were truly that drunk, you would have passed out completely—there's no way you'd be capable of anything else."
Suddenly, Ethan felt a chill running down his spine. "Bryce's team is understaffed. After Christmas, you'll be going there for two months," Bowen said.
Ethan fell silent immediately. Each of the nine had their responsibilities. Samson and Ethan stayed with Bowen, while Jase and Jay were tasked with protecting Alvin. Bryce oversaw operations in Yastraria.
Zachary was typically assigned to conduct surveillance or investigations while the rest of the team provided backup support, always ready for assignments.
"Mr. Turner, I was wrong," Ethan said, his expression filled with regret.
Bowen shot him an icy glare. "Make it three months. After we leave, you'll head directly from Shiyvania. Notify Gilberto—when I return, he'll take over your responsibilities."
Ethan was now properly chastened and didn't dare to utter another word.
After returning from the skating rink, they decided to shorten their stay in Shiyvania and head back early, rather than remain for a few more days. They had initially planned to stay until Aubree and Alvin returned for school. Little did they know that unexpected trouble had arisen in Rithol City—Playzy was in serious trouble.
Recently, due to the MindDrift situation, Aubree had Vincent exhaust his annual leave and lay the groundwork for her plan to expose MindDrift's scandals right after the New Year.
Once that occurred, authorities would undoubtedly shut down MindDrift. Even if Carmen somehow managed to evade personal consequences, the platform would be doomed. A live-streaming platform struggling with fatalities and rampant money laundering, Carmen lacked the expertise to keep it running smoothly.
Aubree brought on Vincent to engage with regulatory officials, subtly promoting new regulations for live streaming. Once those regulations were established, she planned to launch PK battles and live-stream shopping on Playzy. Subsequently, she would collaborate with Aidan to develop a marketing campaign for Zappy's short video platform.
Little did she anticipate that before she could take any action against MindDrift, someone else would act first. It seemed that whatever had happened with Emery had motivated Ronald to take a step forward.
At one point, Ronald got involved with a woman whose son was obsessed with live streams. The boy believed he could become a top streamer, but Playzy didn't allow users under eighteen to stream on their platform. He ended up glued to the screen all day, refusing to go to school.
No one quite understood how Ronald managed to sway the family, but the boy eventually fell from a building. In the aftermath, his family stirred up a storm online, accusing Playzy of leading the young astray and killing their drive to succeed.
When news of the incident surfaced, a wave of self-proclaimed concerned parents followed—some seemingly sincere, others more interested in fueling the uproar. As for the child, he remains hospitalized—alive, but he may never regain consciousness.
Aubree's team had already begun investigating the details. Before her flight home took off, Aubree sent a message to Vincent: [Expose the dirt on MindDrift. There's no way we're working hard while they sit around.]
'If that's how they want to play, then no one's getting off easy,' she thought coldly.