Chapter 188
“You think you scare me just ‘cause you are challenging me to a fight to the death? I might be old, but I’m not afraid to risk my life with the likes of you.”
Her bold words completely clashed with the way she stumbled backward, nearly tripping over her own feet.
If anyone bothered looking, they’d notice how badly her hands were shaking.
Sophia, trying to defuse the tension, raised her palms.
“Look, there’s no need to blow this out of proportion. Can we at least talk this through and figure out what happened before limbs start flying?”
The man in white cocked an eyebrow and gestured at Jack like he was pointing at a piece of trash.
“Why don’t you ask that genius what happened? He strolled in, grabbed my woman like a drooling dog, and threw punches at my men when they told him to back off.”
“That’s more than enough reason to hand him a lesson. Now you show up like a pack of chihuahuas, yapping about calling more people to bust up my bar?”
Sophia’s gaze swung to Jack. The idiot was still clutching his swollen cheek, fear and anger warring on his face.
“Jack,” she snapped, “did you seriously grope this guy’s girlfriend? Are you out of your mind?”
“She was flirting! She was basically begging me for it!” Jack protested, though it came out as a whine.
A second later, he got slapped again–hard–by the thug’s ringed hand. A fresh trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
“Jack!” Florence shrieked, frantic. “Why do you have to be so rough on him? Look at his face–it’s like you’re trying to kill him!”
“Kill him?” The man’s lips curled into a chilling smile.
“Lady, you should be thanking me for not snapping his arms off. That would have been rough. Anyway, I’m done playing games. You wanna make peace? Fork over 800 grand–or else we bury your cocky brat right here.“,
Jack nearly choked on his own breath. “Eight…eight hundred thousand? Are you out of your damn mind? Where the hell do you think we’ll get that kind of money?”
Florence thrust a trembling finger at the man’s face. “You’ve got some nerve, demanding money after you battered my son like a slab of meat! If anything, you owe us!”
The man gave a sardonic laugh that bounced off the bar’s smoky walls. “I can make him owe me more than money, lady. And I’m done listening to your screeching.”
One of the bigger bodyguards took a menacing step forward machete glinting under the neon lights.
Jack, face going pale, shrank back behind Florence, while she herself retreated another step, heart hammering so loud it was practically audible.
“You fools better cough up while I’m still in a generous mood,” the man said, jaw set.
“But if you want to keep running your mouth, fine. Once my big brother gets here, the price doubles — and you definitely won’t get outta here with all your limbs intact.”
Chapter 188
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Florence stiffened, summoning one last shred of her façade “Oh yeah? So who’s this big, scary brother of yours? Some random meathead?”
“The man smirked at the sheer stupidity of the question. “You must be new around here… or suicidal. Ever heard of
“The Viper‘?”
The second those words hit the air, half the bar gasped; the other half fell dead silent.
Fear washed over the spectators like a tide. Even Sophia fel her heart stutter.
The Viper was a name that came with rumors of dismemberment, drug rings, and a human trafficking ring.
The stuff of nightmares–someone no sane person poked with a ten–foot pole.
“Oh… oh God,” Jack moaned, cold sweat gathering at his hairline.
Of course this place was owned by The Viper. If he’d had an inkling of that, he would’ve crawled under a rock instead of starting this fight.
Florence, normally a mama bear on steroids, now stood mute, all her fire extinguished.
She could bully small fry all day, but The Viper was a whole other beast.
The man in white ginned nastily. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you all have plenty to say earlier? Go on, keep throwing your threats around. Entertain me.”
At that moment, Charles Kingston appeared, smoothly cutting in. “There’s no need for that. They’re with me. If anyone’s going to decide how this ends, it’s me.”
Relief flashed across Florence and Jack’s faces.
They’d almost forgotten about their precious golden ticket–Charles from the almighty Kingston family. 19
For them, that name was a fortress. No matter how infamous The Viper was, surely he wouldn’t dare cross someone with the Kingstons‘ clout.
Jack latched on to Charles’s arm like a drowning man clinging to a lifebuoy.
“Charles… are you sure you can handle this? I mean, The Viper… he’s practically the king of the underworld here.”
“Underworld scum is still scum, no matter how high they think they are.” Charles gave a smug shrug. “Trust me. This Viper is nothing to me.
Florence’s bravado reignited at those words. “Damn straight! You heard him–we have the Kingston family on our side. You wouldn’t dare lay a finger on us now.”
Eyes narrowing, the man in white observed Charles with cool detachment
“So you’re from the Kingstons, huh? Big deal. I’ve seen guys from a rich families scream when their bones are getting sawed through. If you think dropping your family name is enough to scare me, you might be in for a nasty surprise.”
Charles’s lips quirked in a half–smile. “I don’t need to scare you; I just need you to back off before you provoke the wrong people. My family is not someone you can afford to offend.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd. People recognized the Kingston name, the lord of Vancouver and it did carry weight.
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Chapter 188
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Charles gave a smug little half–smirk as he surveyed the fear in the young man.
“Sa you’ve heard of me. Wonderful. Saves me the trouble of schooling you. Now tell me how are you going to fix “this crapfest you started?”
The young man’s jaw clenched, forcing out a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
He sure thinks highly of himself.
“Mr. Kingston, since you asked so nicely… let’s chalk this up to a misunderstanding. We can drop it.”
“Drop it?” Charles let out a disdainful snort.
“My friend here got smacked around by your goons. You really think two measly words are enough to settle the score?”
The young man’s brow furrowed. “What else do you want?”
“First, you’re going to apologize–on your knees, if you have any brains. Then, you’re going to cough up some cash.” Charles spoke as if it were the most natural demand in the world.
“Apologize? Pay up?” The man in white felt his temper spike.
If this were just a personal scuffle, he might have swallowed his pride. But it wasn’t just about him—this was Sir Viper’s territory.
Kneeling to these stuck–up brats would be spitting in his big brother’s face.
“Are you deaf, kid? Get on with it!” Florence shrilled, her earlier fear replaced by that toxic arrogance she always displayed when someone powerful had her back.
“You heard my mom,” Jack piled on, rolling his shoulders like some big shot.
His face was still swollen from the beating, but his mouth sure wasn’t.
“You punks bashed my face in. Hand over a million dollar in compensation for my pain and suffering! Let’s see if that covers it.”
The young man’s expression turned downright murderous.
“Look, Mr. Kingston. I’m just trying to keep things chill for everyone’s sake. This is Sir Viper’s turf. Show us some respect, and maybe we can all walk away.”
Charles sneered, arms folded behind his back like he was royalty.
“Respect? Who the hell do you think you are? Even if the Viper himself slithered out right now, he would owe me an apology. So I sure as hell won’t be bowing to his flunkies”
At that exact moment, a gravelly voice thundered through the bar: “Really? You think I owe you what, boy? Do you really have a death wish, Charles Kingston?”
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