Chapter 35 - Between Boundaries and Temptation

Samuel could not hold back the sudden laugh that burst from him, and the sound filled the room like an unexpected crack in his otherwise professional demeanor. In all his years working for Blake Enterprise, through countless negotiations, security briefings, and moments where tension could cut sharper than a blade, he had never once heard anyone compare his powerful and intimidating employer to something as ordinary as a slab of beef displayed in a butcher's window. The absurdity of the thought struck him so deeply that the mental image alone was almost enough to bring him to tears. To imagine the formidable Alan Blake, the man whose name carried weight in every boardroom and whose presence demanded silent obedience, reduced to an image that belonged behind a glass counter with a price tag was just too much. For a fleeting moment, Samuel's carefully maintained composure dissolved, and he shook with quiet amusement, though he immediately tried to rein himself back in.