Chapter 11

A young man drove out of a mansion somewhere in Swllowston after answering Simon’s call. That young man was George Livingston, son of one of the richest men in Swallowston, and had a close relationship with Donald Kushner, the richest man in the city. After Simon got acquainted with George, the Cowells wanted to be associated with George, so they proposed a partnership between their companies. Clara added fuel to the fire and suggested that Samantha would sleep with him. At that moment, George’s luxury car drove into the streets of Swallowston toward Adrian’s place. However, there were sudden bursts of engine noise from all directions. The next moment, military SUVs popped out of nowhere and blocked his car from all sides. “Wh-What’s this?” George’s eyes opened wide when he saw the sudden fleet of cars. Before he could react, his car was surrounded by more than a dozen cars. The cars stopped, and Daniel got out of one of them. George shuddered and said, “General Summers, what brings you here? Wh-What’s happening?” Daniel frowned. The only message he got from Adrian was instructions to capture George. Daniel barked an order. “Take him away.” The men rushed forward and held George down. He panicked and yelled, “General, what did I do?! Let go of me! My dad is William Livingston, the richest man in this city!” “Even if your dad was Zeus himself, he still wouldn’t be able to save you.” “Take him away!” Daniel thundered. *** At Adrian’s home. Clara and Simon were waiting for George, but after a long time, he still had not shown up. They were very curious. Clara looked at Adrian, who was still reading, then whispered to Simon, “What’s going on? Why isn’t Mr. George here yet?” “I’ll call him again. Maybe there’s a traffic jam.” Simon picked up his phone and called George again. “Hello, Mr. George? What did you say? You got taken away by the army and are locked up? What happened? Why are they doing this?” After he hung up, Simon took a sharp breath and said to Clara, “On his way here, Mr. George was taken away by the military. He’s locked up!” “What? How did that happen?” Clara was stunned. What was going on? Why was George taken away? Simon looked at Adrian and yelled, “Adrian, it’s your lucky day! If it wasn’t because something happened to Mr. George, you wouldn’t get away with this!” Clara added, “We’re going to come back for you. Simon. Let’s go!” As they got ready to leave, Adrian stood up. “Did you forget what I said?” “What?” Clara and Simon paused. “I said that if he doesn’t show up, I’m going to tear you two new mouths.” There was suddenly a bang as Adrian picked up a wine bottle sitting on the table and smashed it into Clara’s face. She howled in pain and fell to the floor. Adrian picked her up and started slapping her. One. Two. Three. He slapped her twenty times and her face swelled. Clara opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out except tears and snot. Simon was stunned. Before he could react, Adrian picked up a chair in the living room and slammed it against him. One of Simon’s arms broke and he yelled as he grabbed his arm. After that, Adrian dragged them to the door, opened it, and threw them out into the garden. He then picked up his phone and called Daniel. “General, eliminate Mr. George.” “Yes, sir.” *** After he was done, Adrian went back to the living room and Samantha walked out of her room. She knew the couple had been there but did not come outside. Samantha asked, “Have they left?” Adrian nodded. “Yes.” Samantha nodded and did not say anything more. Clara had gotten braver and braver over the years. The Cowells never saw Samantha as a person, so she had given up on her family a long time ago. “The Cowells aren’t nice to you, so why don’t you leave them?” Adrian asked. Samantha was a Cowell. Her grandpa, John Cowell, was the decision-maker in the family—including her marriage to Adrian. But soon after their wedding, John passed away because of a sudden sickness, and his wife, Violet, took over. After Adrian’s family sent him away, Harold stole the company that Henry had built and Adrian’s family lost their fortune. Violet changed her mind about Samantha and kept trying to force her to remarry. She never saw Samantha as a person. Samantha had thought about leaving them, but she could not do it. She shook her head and replied. “Blood is thicker than water. Out of respect for my late grandfather, I don’t want to fight with my grandmother. He loved me so much when he was still around. I have to go through this for his sake.” Adrian felt helpless. Among all her family members, John had been the nicest to Samantha. Her grandfather practically raised her after her parents passed when she was a child. Samantha said, “But my grandmother will lose it because you beat up Clara and Simon.” Adrain did not say a word. Adaline walked out of her room and said to Adrian, “You should change your approach. Use your head instead of your fists.” Adaline’s attitude toward Adrian had not changed. He knew that this sister of his would not forgive him any time soon.