Chapter-100
"What do you mean it can't be cured?" Edwin repeated.
"Are you telling me that only that Rhys punk can cure my daughter's sickness?" He furrowed his brows as the color drained from his face.
"You certainly need the right person for the right job, so we'll have to track him down no matter what it takes." The doctor confirmed.
"I can't believe this bastard! How dare he use such underhanded tactics!" Edwin growled through gritted teeth as his eyes flashed with anger.
"What should we do now, Sir Hummer?" Fletcher asked.
They had failed to bribe Natasha, and Dracor was now in critical condition from getting beaten up. It seemed like both civilized and uncivilized methods had failed to work. Dustin seemed to be a thorn in their side lately.
But most importantly, Tina's life was literally in that man's hands. So, even if they had any countermeasures up their sleeves, they were still afraid of making the first move.
After remaining silent for a while. Edwin finally decided. "Call that punk and get ready to negotiate with him!"
"Yes, Sir!" Fletcher obliged. He then proceeded to hastily ask someone for Dustin's number. After dialing the number, he swiftly handed the phone over to Edwin.
"Hello, who is this?" Dustin's voice came from the other end.
"Edwin Hummer speaking." Edwin greeted coldly while holding back his anger.
"Let me ask you one thing, kid. Did you harm my daughter in any way, or did you not?"
"So it's Sir Hummer on the line. Well if you're referring to the curse, then yes, they were from me," Dustin replied dryly.
"You got a lot of fucking nerve, boy! How dare you lay your hands on my daughter?!" Edwin roared while gnashing his teeth.
"Why don't you ask your daughter about the things she's done? How would she have ended up like this if she hadn't pushed her weight around so much?" Dustin retorted indifferently.
"Hmph, you're the last person I want to talk to about this right now! You'd better cure my daughter right this instant!" Edwin ordered.
"What makes you think I should do everything you ask right away? Don't you think you're being a little too cocky right now?" Dustin scoffed.
"So you want to bargain first, don't you? Fine, we can do that! As long as you cure my little girl, I promise not to hold you accountable for anything else in the future! Edwin barked.
"Heh, that's it?" Dustin sneered in reply.
"I'll also lift the ban on the Nicholsons immediately so that the whole family can get back on track."
"I'm afraid you're still mistaken about what I truly want. I do not need these" Dustin replied.
"What do you want then?" Edwin growled.
"It's simple. I just want your daughter to apologize to me," Dustin said.
"What?! You want her to apologize to you?!" Edwin shrieked, his face turning cold in an instant.
"Is it unreasonable to ask for an apology from someone who assaulted you for no reason?" Dustin asked rhetorically.
"Who do you think you are, kid? How dare you request that a Hummer apologize to you? What makes you think you deserve the honor?" Edwin roared while burning with anger.
While he did not intend to pursue the matter, which was already out of the reach of the law in the first place, he felt that this man was full of himself for thinking that the Hummers owed him an apology!
"If you refuse to give me an apology. I'll just save my breath then. However, you can't blame me for not reminding you that your daughter won't be able to hold on for much longer, Dustin said, then immediately hung up the phone after.
"Does this punk think that he can push me around?!" Edwin bellowed.
Edwin was so furious, he almost smashed the phone in his hands onto the ground. Who did he think he was? exactly?
He was one of the Mighty Three, the richest man in his city, and was also known as an important figure in the Underground World,
Within his domain, it could be said that he was the one who called the shots and that he could get anything he asked for at the drop of a hat.
He couldn't remember the last time he had been humiliated like this.
What would happen to the Hummer's reputation if word got out that they visited the Nicholsons to offer an apology? Would they still have any dignity left after that?
"I feel it would be wiser to be the bigger person in this situation, Sir Hummer. We should agree to his terms first in order to save Ms. Hummer." Mr. Lawson advised from the side.
"If we agree to his terms now, won't any Tom, Dick, and Harry gain the right to shit and piss on the Hummer name from then on?" Edwin snapped in a booming voice.
"This is just one way to slow him down, Sir Hummer. Once we manage to save Miss Hummer first, we can still take our time in thinking up ways to get back at that punk," Mr. Lawson suggested.
Edwin fell silent after hearing that. His suggestion was reasonable, but the prospect of giving up the reputation of the Hummers to lower themselves to offer an apology to others was an unbearably uncomfortable thought to him.
"Dad, it hurts It's so painful! Save me! Tina Hummer moaned profusely as she lay in bed.
Looking at his daughter's pain–stricken face, Edwin took a deep breath and finally decided to settle on a compromise.
He dialed Dustin's number once again and spat into the phone. "I'll adhere to your terms, kid, but you'd better not play tricks with me!"
"The apology has to be sincere. If you insist on acting like this, then we have nothing else to talk about," Dustin said indifferently.
"How dare you-"Edwin stopped as the corner of his eye began to twitch.
"Fine, you win! I'll send someone over today at noon to give an apology in person!" He roared while forcefully holding back his anger.
"I'll be waiting." Dustin replied.
During noontime, inside a VIP ward in East Swinton Hospital, Dahlia had woken up a long time ago, and the redness and puffiness on her cheeks had already faded quite a bit.
Her hands were still wrapped with bandages, so she was advised not to move around too much for the time being.
When Dustin walked through the door with a fruit basket in hand, he noticed that members of the Nicholson family had gathered together and were discussing something.
Even old Mr. Nicholson, who had been living in seclusion, had shown up.
"The nerve of you to show your face here, Rhys! Do you have the slightest idea about the amount of damage you've caused us? Because of you, the Hummers banned us! Are you happy now that the Quine Group is on the brink of collapse?" Florence yelled at him the moment she laid eyes on him. She went from her initial state of calm to jumping to her feet and spewing expletives.
The others remained silent but eventually started donning indignant looks on their faces. Even Dahlia was frowning at him.
She received news of the Nicholsons' ban from the Hummers the moment she woke up, and the reason for that was that Dustin had allegedly given Ms. Hummer a beating.
Although she knew that she herself was the person he had done it for. But his 'help' had ultimately sent the entire Nicholson family to the fiery depths of an inferno instead!
"Alright, alright, stop bickering already. We all know that Dustin did all that to stand up for Dahlia, While it was somewhat impulsive, I'd like to think that he did it with pure intentions in mind," Old Mr. Nicholson tried to calm everyone down.
"Are you honestly still speaking on his behalf when things have gotten to this stage, Dad? Do you only intend to stop when the family is in shambles? Florence said through gritted teeth.
"Don't worry, I've already taken care of the problem with the Hummers, Dustin spoke up calmly.
"What do you mean you've taken care of It? What's your solution? If you were that capable in the first place. Would the Nicholsons still be banned by now? You'd better scram right now. I don't want to see your face anymore! Shoo!" Florence screamed.
In the middle of her rage, she grabbed the fruit basket from Dustin's hands and smashed it onto the ground.
"That's enough! Now's not the time to point fingers. Since we're in a tight situation now, what everyone needs to do is help one another out and ride out the storm together, not grab each other by the throat!" Old Mr. Nicholson yelled after witnessing Florence's burst of rage.
"Easy for you to say. This is the Hummer's ban we're talking about. Who knows, all of us might go bankrupt in a couple of days and no longer have a place to call home in Swinton anymore!" Florence snapped in fury.
"That's right! If it wasn't for Dustin, who kept stirring up trouble and dragging us down with him, how could the Nicholsons even have ended up in this situation today?" James spoke, and the rest agreed with him.
"What's going on, Dustin? I believe that you can enlighten all of us here?" Dahlia suddenly piped up. She was giving him a chance to explain himself properly.
"Tina was unruly and unreasonable, which is why I decided to put her in her place," Dustin replied bluntly.
"See, everyone heard that, right? He beat up the girl first, so he was the one who instigated this whole thing in the first place. So, he's entirely to blame for the ban on the Nicholson family!" Florence shouted even more fiercely.
"You're a thorn in our sides, Dustin! You owe us an explanation for every affliction you've caused all of us!"
"I suggest kidnapping him and handing him over to the Hummers so that we can quell their rage!"
A bunch of chatter erupted from the crowd, and it could be seen that most of them were in favor of kidnapping him.
"You are too impulsive, Dustin! Do you even know who Ms. Hummer is? What makes you think you're worthy of going head–to–head with her? Do you know how much trouble you've caused?" Dahlia scoffed with a frown.
"So what you're telling me. Is that I should've just sat there and watched as you got brutally beaten up and humiliated?" Dustin sneered coldly.
It didn't matter if Florence and the others didn't understand, but if Dahlia still insisted on pinning the blame on him, then he'd feel that all his efforts were for nothing.
"Don't you twist my words! I am trying to tell you to consider the consequences first before doing anything! Not only did you get us into trouble, you even hurt your reputation in the process!" Dahlia retorted with a scowl on her face.
"I'm not the type to dwell on the details. All I know is that I'll get revenge on anyone who crosses me!" Dustin said in a cold voice.
"You guys heard it yourself! This kid is still as stubborn as ever! Thus, we must hand him over to the Hummers! "Florence instigated as she gestured at two of the younger Nicholsons.
The two immediately understood her intention and placed their hands on each side of Dustin's shoulders." You'd better be more cooperative with us, or else you'll get what's coming to you!"
Dustin frowned and was ready to pounce on them when Julle suddenly burst into the room with a panicked look on her face. "This is bad, Auntie! The Hummers have brought their men here to kill us all!*
"What?!" A collective gasp arose from everyone in the room as the news startled them.
They thought it was already bad that the whole family got banned, but they never expected the Hummers to be this cruel.
They were already knocking at their doors. Were they trying to drive them into a corner?
"It's over, it's over! We're dead meat this time!"
"How could this happen? Why can't the Hummers give us a break for once?"
The crowd panicked and started jumping to their feet anxiously.
"It's all because of that damn bastard! It's all his fault!"
"That's right! The Hummers must have come for Dustin, so let's hand him over and we'll be all right!"
Everyone in the crowd immediately turned their gazes to Dustin, causing a million laser–like glares to land on him at the same time.
In their opinion, if they could sacrifice Dustin to save themselves, that would be the best course of action.
Just as the crowd was still in an uproar, a group of people from the Hummer family started boldly entering the venue.
The leader of the procession was Tina, who was sitting in a wheelchair, Following behind her were a few representatives from the Hummer family, as well as a few escorting bodyguards.
At the time. Tina looked weak, as her eyes were half shut and half open. Both of her hands and feet were in casts, her entire face was bruised and swollen, and her features seemed to have been disfigured completely.
If someone were not closely acquainted with her, they would have a hard time telling between her current and actual looks.
"M–Ms. Hummer?" The crowd let out a gasp.
Everyone from the Nicholsons was taken aback as they stared at the nearly paralyzed and disfigured Tina. Although they knew that she'd gotten her ass beaten, they didn't expect it to be that bad. Her face had swelled up so much that it almost resembled a pig's head.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed that the young, spoiled–to–the–core lady of the Hummer family would even live to see such a day.
Wasn't this Dustin fellow too much for doing that though?
"D–Dustin—Don't tell me you were the one who beat Ms. Hummer up this badly?" One of the Nicholsons asked shakily as he looked at the others in shock.
"Rhys! You'd better admit everything by your own choice later and not drag us into this!" Florence shouted as she broke into a nervous sweat.
The situation was much direr than she had anticipated.
James went straight to the point. After walking three steps forward, he immediately fell to his knees with a loud "Thud" in front of the Hummers. The inertia generated by his fall caused his torso to slide forward by a few inches.
"Ms. Hummer, this has nothing to do with us! It was Dustin Rhys who beat you up, so if you want to plot your revenge, please just plot it on his head. Please spare our family!" James pleaded in desperation.
Upon witnessing this, the majority of the Nicholsons unanimously approved of his actions on the inside. They admired him for his humble and responsible nature and thought of him as one of the good men in the Nicholson family.
He was probably the type to rush forward in the face of danger too. They were certain that the Nicholson family would continue to thrive and prosper, what with such an outstanding individual in the family.
"Huh?" A collective gasp arose from the people from the Hummers.
When they all saw James kneel on the floor, some of them exchanged glances with one another, completely dumbfounded by what had just happened in front of them.
Shouldn't they be the ones apologizing? How come it's the other way around now? What the hell was happening now?
"I suppose you must be mistaken about something, kid?" The butler of the Hummer family asked with a perplexed look on his face.
Even though he had imagined countless horrible scenarios that could come out of this, this wasn't in his predictions at all
"Oh right, before I forget" Before the butler could finish his sentence, James immediately assumed that the butler wasn't planning on letting them go.
He turned around and started flailing his hands in the air. "Someone, anyone! Bring Dustin to me! I'll get him to bow down to the Hummers and beg for their forgiveness!"
"Heh, I'll do it myself," Dustin said, shaking off the two men before he trudged forward.
"Everyone! That's him! He's the one who beat her up, " James shouted while pointing at Dustin.
When the Hummers finally saw what had unfolded in front of their eyes, their expressions changed dramatically and all of them fell to their knees with a loud 'Thud".
"Huh?!" James" jaw dropped to the floor looking at the representatives from the Hummer family kneeling toward him.
Everyone's eyes were as big as saucers as they stared in disbelief. Who would've thought that the high and mighty Hummer family would ever kneel toward them in their lives?
Were these mega–bigshots ever this humble before? What was wrong with them today? Were they sick or something?
"What's happening? Didn't the Hummers come to retaliate? Why are they all kneeling?"
"What are the Hummers doing? This isn't some kind of reverse psychology tactic, right?"
"Something's fishy here. I think this is part of their plan!"
As the Nicholsons continued to stare at the Hummers who were kneeling in front of them, not only were they not the least bit happy about this, but this even frightened them tremendously.
Some of their legs even gave out as time passed. That was because the scene in front of them was too overwhelming for them to handle.
To think that a mega bigshot would kneel for them? They couldn't even see it happening in their dreams.
"Forgive me. Ms. Nicholson. The Hummers were the ones who were at fault last night. Thus, we are gathered here today for the young lady to offer her sincere apologies to you in person. I hope you can forgive us, Ms. Nicholson." After Fletcher took the lead and spoke up, he immediately bent down and kneeled on the ground with the utmost sincerity.
"Our sincere apologies, Ms. Nicholson!" The representatives from the Hummer family shouted. All of them kneeled in unison afterward, without much thought for their reputation.
Such a turn of events dumbfounded the Nicholsons yet again. So, it was true! The Hummers were apologizing to them!
But the question now was, why?
"W–why are you all? What is going on, Mr. Lawson?" Dahlia stuttered while lying on her hospital bed. She was so antsy about the situation that she immediately got out of bed.
Weren't they here for revenge? Why were they kneeling toward her?
"The Hummers aren't unreasonable people. We admit our mistakes when we've done wrong, so we hope that you can forgive us for our trespasses, Ms. Nicholson, Fletcher replied with his head lowered.
"What are you talking about, Mr. Lawson? Please get up quickly! I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding. We'd already be glad if the matter was dropped entirely. What other reason do we have to accuse the Hummer family of?" Florence apologized profusely with a big smile after she came to her senses.
"Yes, she's right! Please get up from the floor, Mr. Lawson!" The Nicholsons were still in a state of shock even now.
To them, it was already a huge relief that the Hummers were willing to let the matter slide. They wouldn't ever have the guts to coerce them into apologizing to them.
"As long as you continue to refuse to accept our apology, we'll continue kneeling like this until the end of time. Ms. Nicholson." Fletcher insisted stubbornly.
"Please get off the floor, Mr. Lawson. Let's just pretend none of this ever happened, alright? Dahlia spluttered. somewhat at a loss for words.
Even though Tina was the one who was at fault, she ended up being the one who suffered more severe injuries than Dahlia.
While she was expected to recover in about three to five days, she doubted if Tina could even get out of bed by herself without resting in bed for hall a month first.
This was the main reason she was so speechless when she heard that Tina, a member of the usually pigheaded Hummer family, was even going to apologize to her.
"Thank you, Ms. Nicholson, for being so kind to us!" Fletcher exclaimed as his face lit up with joy. He proceeded to give her a bow before gesturing for the representatives from the Hummer family to get up off the floor.
"This is great. So it was a misunderstanding, after all. We should be fine now." Florence let cut a long sigh of relief.
Although she didn't know what had just happened, it was obvious that they managed to tide through this time of crisis unscathed.
"That's right! Peace and harmony bring wealth, after all!" James grinned, even though his back was drenched in a cold sweat.
Just when everyone thought that they were sale, Dustin suddenly spoke out, "Wait a minute. Tina was the one who beat Dahlia up, so it's only fair that she apologize too,"
The crowd immediately burst into an uproar the moment they heard that. Some of the representatives from the Hummer family started exchanging glances with frowns on their faces.
Meanwhile, it felt as if the Nicholsons had been struck by lightning, as all of them remained frozen on the spot.
Was that man batshit crazy?!
The Hummers had already announced that they planned to drop the matter entirely, so why was it that this man still insisted on courting death on their behalf?
It was one thing to beat her up and cause such a huge disaster to happen in the first place, so why did he still insist on getting an apology out of Ms. Hummer when the Hummers had already decided to drop the matter?
The fucking audacity of this bastard!
"Rhys! Have you been kicked in the head by a donkey? If you don't know what to say, then shut up!" The moment she reeled back from her shock, Florence barked at him out of fear,
"You little shit! If you want to fucking kick the bucket so much, why don't you keep us out of this!" James cursed and felt like going up to him to throw hands.
"Some balls you got. Rhys! The Hummers let you off by the grace of their hearts, and yet you still dare to say that so shamelessly! Do you want to die so badly?"
To them, Dustin was a lunatic who spouted nonsense. Both parties had already reconciled with one another, so why bother stirring up trouble again?
What if this angered the Hummers? Then, who would be the one to take the fall?
"Is it not right to seek an apology from someone who beat you up? Am I wrong?" Dustin asked plainly.
"Shut the fuck up, Rhys! You're a nuisance. You're going to get us killed!" Florence jumped to her feet and cursed.
"Dustin! Please stop this, okay?" Dahlia pleaded as she broke out in a cold sweat too.
She hadn't expected the man in front of her to spew such outrageous words from his mouth in their current predicament.
"Fine. I'll shut up. I'll leave the rest up to all of you," Dustin replied. Without saying anything more, he retreated to a corner, by his own admission.
"I think his brain must have been fried, Ms. Hummer. Thus, you shouldn't pay him any mind." Florence immediately lunged forward to apologize, as she was afraid of offending the Hummer family.
"Yes, yes! This guy is a psychopath. He no longer has dealings with the Nicholsons." James was also full of smiles as he feigned humility.
However, instead of feeling any sort of relief, the representatives from the Hummer family turned extraordinarily gloomy instead.
After Fletcher whispered a few words to Tina, who was nearly fully paralyzed in her wheelchair, Tina gritted her teeth and finally opened her mouth to croak something.
I'm sorry…it was all my fault," She said, out of breath.
The whole room fell dead silent the moment she finished.
Florence and the rest were even more shell–shocked, as their expressions immediately twisted into shock.
Did the spoiled young lady of the Hummers, the one who called all the shots in Swinton, actually just apologize?