Carefully, I chanced a glance at where Audrey had been earlier, glad to see that it was empty.
She must have listened to me and gone back to my room.
John had raised Audrey abroad all along, and she was the apple of his eye, so she had a little stubborn streak of her own. Fortunately, she was still an obedient child when she was with the family.
“Okay, Stanhope, Featherstone. Let me tell you my plan!” Lucas was vastly different from Quince. First of all, he was much taller and cruder. Furthermore, he was rather enthusiastic and immersed in his own world. “You’ll be the ones in charge of opening the clubs, starting from K City to the rest of the country. You can leave the security details to us. The headquarters of Skull will be based in K City. As for the deal with the Chanaean police, we’ll go into more details later.”
“Stop,” Anthony interrupted Lucas’ train of thought. Immediately, the room fell silent.
Fortunately, it seemed like they had learned about Chanaea’s way of hosting guests before they came, so they were not angry about his interruption. Instead, Lucas beamed and gestured for him to speak as he patiently waited to hear him.
“The club isn’t planning to take over the country nor do we have any plans to collaborate with others,” Anthony said, dismissing Lucas’ entire plan.
However, Lucas thought Anthony was not done with his piece, for he continued to smile and wait for him to continue.
Once he was done, Anthony pressed his lips together and fell silent. He did not have any thoughts of trying to soften the revelation for the other man at all.
As seconds ticked away, the atmosphere turned tenser and tenser, and the smile on Lucas’ face faded away.
“Mr. Featherstone, what do you mean? Do you think that our organization isn’t fit to do business with your daughter?” Quince questioned.
I knew it. I knew he was up to no good. I’m right all along! He’s waiting to stir things up all this time.
Nevertheless, who was Anthony? Even when he was powerless in J City, he had already made his move against Cameron and Zachary. The word fear was never in his dictionary.
Without any changes in his expression, he let his right leg cross his left and adjusted himself into a more comfortable position. Only then, he nonchalantly replied, “Kids have their own ways of doing things, and we’ve got to give them an opportunity to try things out. If you’d like to talk business with me, then you’re always welcome. However, if you’re thinking of laying a finger on my daughter, then you should turn right once you’re out of the house and take a left turn at the sixth traffic light.”
“What do you mean?” Quince asked.
“That’s one of the jurisdictions of K City’s cops,” John said with a half-grin. Clearly, he was enjoying the show, and the look in his eyes would infuriate anyone it was directed to.
Lucas and Quince took two seconds to figure out what he was talking about. Once they realized what cops were, Lucas slammed his hand on the armrest and jumped to his feet. “What do you mean, Featherstone?”
People like them hated the police the most. Of course, that excluded the ones who worked for them.
All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the room turned tense. The few underlings behind Lucas had also sneakily put their hands into the pockets of their suits.
Anthony still had a cold look when he raised his head to stare into the other’s man frenzied eyes. In a flat tone, he said, “I meant what I said. There’s a saying in Chanaea that I’d like to enlighten you with— thieves are the only ones who come uninvited.”
To my surprise, Lucas shrugged and put on a hurt look. “Why do you say that? Your woman has told me that visiting foreign friends brings joy. I thought you’d be happy.”
“My woman?”
“His what woman?”
Both Anthony and I spoke almost simultaneously. Then, we shared a look before quietly turning back to Lucas, waiting for his answer.
“Lorraine, isn’t it?” Lucas hastily explained. He then snapped his fingers at one of his subordinates behind him, and one of them fished out a stack of photos to hand it to him.
Lucas then threw the photos onto the table and said, “Look, isn’t this you?”
I did not know why he was abruptly furious. Bewildered, I stepped forward to take the photos before sitting back on the couch to examine them with Anthony.
Once we went through the photos, we realized what was going on.
While Rylee and Anthony were indeed in the photos, the photos had been photoshopped.
They were various photos of Anthony and Rylee, who had undergone plastic surgery, in different places. I could see that Rylee was the one initiating the intimacy between them.
It was not the first time I had seen such photos, but the last time I saw it, Rylee still had her original face.
Hence, I realized what happened right away. Rylee had gone overseas and used Anthony’s name to trick the gang members before throwing the responsibility to us.
She was right; she had successfully disgusted us.
What ill fate.
Anthony took the photos from my hands, put them back on the table, and pushed them to Lucas. Then, he said in a solemn tone, “I don’t know this woman.”
“You don’t know this woman?” Clearly, Lucas did not think well of his reply. “Are you saying that we’re trying to trick you?”
At the end of the day, the matter started because of us. At this point, regardless of whether Anthony and Rylee were associated or not, Quince and Lucas had come for Anthony’s influential power. That was something we could not deny.
It was apparent to me from Lucas’ earlier attitude that he wanted something from me too, and I had realized that I had to set things right. Hence, I interrupted, “Calm down, Mr. Lucas, that isn’t what my husband meant. However, since we’re both saying two different things, it has become important for us to find out the authenticity of these photos. Mr. Lucas, you have many talented men with you, so I’m sure you’ll be able to have someone authenticate them, right?”
Although Rylee’s move in framing us for this was an excellent one, she had forgotten something important. In K City, she was a dead woman. Having a new start with a new face meant that the woman who once had a relationship with Anthony was no longer around.
Both Anthony and I knew what the results of their authentication would be, but letting them do it would convince them better.
Although people like Lucas earned their money through illicit means, they were rather reasonable and strict with their own rules. Even if they were to lose their dignity, they would not fly into a rage when faced with the truth. Hence, I was certain that things would not go out of our control.
Indeed, Lucas frowned after hearing my words. He paled as if I had caught him red-handed, and he stammered, “O-Of course.”
At that, Anthony and I exchanged a glance, and the both of us knew that things were going our way.
“Well, then, do ask your men to authenticate the photos. Once the results are out, we’ll all know the truth, won’t we?” I said softly with a smile.
They were coming after Anthony’s assets and power. In other words, they were coming after the entire Chanaea’s grey area businesses. I was almost sure that she must have tempted them with the idea of a bright future in a gilded empire. That idea must have then been so enticing that they only thought of meeting their future business partner and neglected the need to authenticate the photos. It was only after hearing our words, then did they finally realize that they had been tricked.
Despite that being the fact, I knew it was not a good idea to embarrass them by being too frank about it.
After all, a cornered animal would bite back and the force behind that bite would be unimaginable.
Therefore, despite everything, Rylee had indeed sent us a bomb.
Lucas was blinking, clearly thinking of how to proceed with everything. Unfortunately, his brain did not seem to have grown with his body size, for he could not come up with anything. Slowly, a stumped look crept upon his face.
However, I knew Lucas was not the terrifying one between the two.
As I expected, the smaller man—the slyer one—spoke again, and he threw the blame on Anthony. “That’s just a trivial matter. We’ve come from a faraway land with nothing but sincerity. Even if the photos turn out to be fake, are you still not planning to work with us, Featherstone?”
If I were someone else, I would have applauded him for his well-chosen words. He had made me and Anthony, become certain that Quince was the brains of the organization. Unlike Quince, everything Lucas thought about was written on his face.
Nevertheless, there was something I could not wrap my mind around about.
Why would a scheming, witty man like Quince be willing to share his power with someone simple- minded like Lucas?
When There Is Nothing Left But Love
Still, all of these were minor issues. Dealing with Quince would be ten times tougher than dealing with Lucas. Quince had already stated his goal—regardless of the authenticity of those photos, they were already in K City, so they were not going to return empty-handed. If we did not agree to their terms, then he would assume that we were deliberately going against them and looking down on them.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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