Maria couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at Sam lying on the floor. She had known him to be a skilled fighter and wondered how Alex could have killed him without even touching him.
Everyone knew that Alex was a martial arts expert, but they hadn't expected that. He had sounded so indifferent, as though Sam's death was nothing to him.
Riley and Maryann were particularly shocked. They knew that Alex was very skilled, but they hadn't known just how much he was capable of.
Micah, however, still underestimated Alex.
He looked at Gabriel, who was injured, and then he looked at Sam, who was lying on the floor, and he became furious. He screamed and rushed at Alex, but Alex grabbed him and flung him to the floor.
As Micah was getting back up, his face suddenly started feeling extremely itchy, and he started scratching it vigorously. But the more he scratched his face, the itchier it became. He scratched and scratched until his face turned red and swollen.
"Help me!" he cried in agony.
Some members of the Ghosts rushed to try to help him, but Micah continued to scratch his face. The Ghosts grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face, preventing him from doing any more damage.
Unable to control himself any longer, Micah started to scream hysterically, and then he fell backward onto the floor.
Everyone looked at him in horror.
Micah's face was covered with angry red marks, but he was still thrashing around, trying to lift his hands to his face. The Ghosts kneeled beside him, keeping their firm grip on his wrists, refusing to let him do any more damage.
No one could look away from the scene. Micah continued to howl for another minute, and then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he stopped fighting and lay very still.
Riley frowned. Alex only threw Micah onto the floor, he thought. So how did his face end up so itchy that it was driving him insane?
One of the Thornton family's bodyguards examined Micah and found that he was still breathing.
Maria heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that Micah had just fainted, which was probably a mercy. At least now, he had gotten some relief from whatever had been happening to him.
Maryann was shocked, but she knew Alex had done that to Micah to punish him for trying to kidnap her and take her to Gabriel.
The method Alex had chosen to punish Micah meant that the police wouldn't be able to arrest him because there was no evidence that he had done anything wrong.
Meanwhile, Maria started to panic. Things hadn't gone as she had planned, and she knew more trouble would come pretty soon.
But Alex was indifferent to the situation. To him, it was just a small incident. He strode forward, casually stepping over Sam's body as he looked around the room. A chill shot down the spines of several onlookers, and they wished they were elsewhere.
A whimper came from Micah as he tried to lift his head. His face contorted with pain, and he mumbled something indecipherable. Alex went over and looked down at him, but Micah closed his eyes and died without making another sound.
Everyone was terrified. The calmer Alex seemed, the more afraid they became of him. They had all underestimated him, and they hadn't realized that he could be so ruthless. After what they had just witnessed, they considered him to be the most powerful man in Baltimore.
Riley was also stunned. The more he understood Alex, the more dismayed he became. However, it only increased his determination to get rid of him. By making an enemy of Alex, Riley had put himself in a difficult situation, and there was no going back now. He understood that if he let Alex go now, he wouldn't get another opportunity, and Alex would only become more powerful.
The room fell silent, and no one dared to make a sound.
The atmosphere grew uncomfortable, and Maria felt obliged to say something. She knew the power of the Ghosts. If she didn't make a statement now, she knew they would question her later, and that would be unpleasant.
"Alex, you're forcing my family and me to become enemies with you," she said. "You should know better than to mess with us. You'll regret it."
Everyone was surprised by her confidence.
Maria was angry that Alex was targeting her family and the Ghosts. She was aware that her plan to work with the Ghosts could be ruined.
She still didn't know how Alex had defeated so many people and had killed Sam and Micah. Alex was nothing compared to the Thornton family, so where did he get the nerve to take them on?
Her bodyguards had been hesitant to fight Alex, and he had single-handedly killed them. She shook her head, not knowing whether she was more angry or frightened. But she decided she would take the risk and use all her means to get rid of Alex.
Riley signaled to his men, and they immediately pulled out their guns, training them on Alex.
Riley winked at Maria, who looked at the gunmen. With Riley's support, Maria felt confident that they could get rid of Alex.
Nobody dared to challenge Alex alone. But if they attacked together, they might be able to overwhelm him.