Chapter-65
"Rhys! What is your problem? So you got lucky and saved the old man! You don't have to be so rude about it!" Florence cried, clearly upset. How dare he treat her daughter that way? Did he think he was all that?
"At least I saved him. What about all of you? He almost lost his life because of you!" Dustin retorted coldly.
"You… What is this attitude?!" Florence sputtered. She had almost reached her limit.
"Enough! Stop yelling at each other! What a disgrace!" Henry then demanded, "Florence, all of you, go outside. I need to speak to Dustin for a while."
"Humph!" Although Florence was not happy about it, there was no other option but to leave.
"As soon as they left the room, the group started muttering.
"Say, do you think Old Mr. Nicholson wanted to talk to Dustin about his will or something?"
"I'm not sure. That guy is great at getting on Old Mr. Nicholson's good side. No matter what, we need to be careful!"
"Ha! I don't understand. James is his biological grandson, and yet Old Mr. Nicholson favors that guy more. I really don't know what's wrong with him!"
They murmured to each other, expressing their dissatisfaction.
"Oh, that's right. Where's James? Why isn't he here while Old Mr. Nicholson is sick?" Dahlia scanned the room and realized her brother was not present.
"He went drinking with his friends. We couldn't get through to his phone. He probably left it on silent mode," Florence said, shaking her head.
"Humph! He only knows how to go to bars and drink. No sense of responsibility at all!" Dahlia's expression darkened. With behavior like that, it was no surprise that her grandfather favored this other guy more than his biological grandson.
"Ms. Nicholson! Something's wrong!" Lyra cried as she arrived in her work attire. She looked like she was in a rush.
"What happened?" Dahlia asked, confused.
"I was notified that your brother started a commotion and got into a conflict with some people. They started a fight." Everyone was shocked to hear Lyra's words.
"What? Who's got the guts to bully my son?!" Florence demanded as her blood started to boil upon hearing the news. She had evidently missed the fact that her son was the one who had started the fight.
"I don't know the details, but I heard that the other party had many more people. If we don't get there in time to stop it, James might be in trouble," Lyra added.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go help him!" Florence rolled up her sleeves, looking like she was ready to fight.
"He only knows how to get into trouble. How annoying! Lyra, hurry and get more people to the bar!" Dahlia instructed. She led the group to the pub. After all, James was her brother. If he got into trouble, she had to clean up his mess.
Meanwhile, in the other hospital ward, Dustin received a phone call from Duane.
"Hey, Dustin. I found the incredibly rare Panax root that you asked for. Are you free now? We should meet up and have a chat."
"Oh? Where are you?"
"I'm at Enchanted Tavern. I'll wait for you to get here!"
"Alright. I'll be there." Dustin hung up the call, said his goodbyes to Henry, and headed to his destination. 500–year–old Panax root was invaluable. Now that Duane had gotten his hands on it, Dustin could not miss the opportunity.
Half an hour later, as Dustin arrived at Enchanted Tavern, he noticed Dahlia waiting next to her car.
"Why are they here?" Dustin wondered. He was confused, but he did not reach out to them. He followed a group of people inside.
There were a lot of people gathered in the bar. Some of them were spectators. Others were involved in the fight.
The group that the onlookers were most interested in was a small group led by James. A few of them had bruises covering their faces and blood rushing from their faces. They were forced to kneel on the ground, looking hopeless.
"James, how did you end up like this?" Dahlia could not help but frown when she noticed James' injuries.
"Sis! You're finally here!" James staggered as he stood up. It was almost as if he had met an angel.
"Oh! My poor son! Who did this to you? Tell me. I'll give them what they deserve!" Florence shrieked at James, heartbroken. Even when her son made a mistake, she could not bring herself to life a finger against him. There was no way she would allow others to beat him up like this.
"Mom! That's the bastard who hit me!" James pointed behind him, looking vicious.
Florence followed his gesture, and her eyes fell on a beautiful woman in a revealing dress sitting calmly at a table. Behind her stood a few burly, strong–looking men.
"Bitch! You are all dead meat! My sister is the president of the Quine Group! You will pay for hitting me!" James roared. They would pay twice the price of what he had gone through!
"The Quine Group? Is it powerful?" The woman in the red dress swirled her glass of wine, unfazed by his words.
"Humph! You don't even know the Quine Group! I knew you guys looked uncultured! Let me warn you. Hurry up apologize to my son and settle for his medical fees. Otherwise, you'll all pay the price!" Florence warned.
"Old bitch! Do you dare disrespect our boss? I'll rip your tongue apart!" shouted one of the men standing behind the woman in red. He pulled out a switchblade.
"What? Are you threatening me? You think you scare me?" Florence scoffed as she stumbled two steps backward with fear. She was stubborn.
"What happened?" Dahlia had always been the rational one. She started asking about the situation.
"What happened? You should ask your brother about that." The woman in the red dress stood up slowly and pointed at James. "He started making a commotion at my place. He even started hitting my men. I was just teaching him a lesson. I'm not crossing the line, right?"
"I'll pay for the damage done. But why did you have to be so cruel to him?" Dahlia asked, frowning.
"Cruel? Haha! I already went easy on him. Otherwise, he would've lost more limbs!" The woman sneered. Enough! I won't waste another second with you. If you want to settle this peacefully, hand over 700 thousand dollars! If you don't, none of you will leave this room!"
"700 thousand dollars? Why not go rob someone?!" James roared.
"That's right! I haven't dealt with you for hurting my son! How dare you ask us for money? Where did you get your guts?!" Florence glared at her.
"You guys better come to your senses while I'm still being nice. After my man gets here, it won't be as simple as handing over money," the woman replied calmly.
"So what if you have a man? Tell him to come here this instant if you dare! I want to see how capable he really is!" Florence pushed, unafraid.
"You're messing with the wrong guy! Do you know who our lady's man is? He's Sir Draco! Our leader of South City, the Cobra!" boasted one of the men.
"The Cobra?!"
The Nicholson family immediately turned pale.
Swinton had four main territories: the North, South, East, and West Cities. East City was ruled by the King of the Underworld, Trevor Spanner. Meanwhile, South City was ruled by the infamous Cobra!
Compared to the King of the Underworld, the Cobra was said to be even more relentless and vile. According to legend, the Cobra loved raising alligators. Anyone who dared cross him was fed to his gators. People from West City could not afford to offend the Cobra.
They really were in trouble this time!