Chapter 11 Adrian’s Change Of Attitude

It was true that Adrian was a Larson, but he was the bastard son of a mistress. He did not have much authority in the family, and his share of the annual profits was also far less than the sons born to legitimate wives. On the other hand, Zayn was a son born of a legal wife, so he was a true heir to the Larsons! Before Zayn was kicked out of the Larson family, Adrian had been of a lower status and he would treat Zayn respectfully, never doing anything above his station. More specifically, Adrian would never take a seat when Zayn was standing, and when Zayn was seated, Adrian would never lie down. Anything else would have been seen as disrespectful! Technically, Zayn had been kicked out of the Larson family and lost his status, so Adrian did not need to defer to him anymore. However, Adrian had to respect Zayn even more now! It was because Zayn’s innocence had been proven, so he would return to the Larsons sooner or later. Most importantly, his grandfather transferred 70 percent of his properties to Zayn prior to his death! It would not be an exaggeration to say that Zayn had become the highest authority in the Larson family and all of them had to obey his commands. Moreover, some time ago, the family issued the order that whoever encountered Zayn must show respect to him, do their best to ask for his forgiveness, and invite him to return to them to take charge of the overall situation. Still, he could not figure out why Zayn would make an appearance at this point. Ethan was unaware of all these details. As he stood in front of Adrian, his entire body was trembling with fear. His mind was chaotic as he attempted to control his voice, trying not to sound shaky. “Mr. Larson, I…Frankly, Thomas is not my brother-in-law and I’m not actually related to him at all…I wouldn’t dare to oppose you even if I had the chance.” As it was, Adrian was not paying attention to Ethan. He looked at Zayn and composed himself. Just as he was preparing to flatter Zayn when he noticed Zayn was glaring at him. His eyes were cold and threatening. Adrian was a wise man, so he immediately understood Zayn’s intentions. He did not wish to be recognized by Adrian. He was terrified by Zayn’s actions. Could it be that he had made Zayn that angry? Zayn let out two feigned coughs and quickly walked in front of Faye. He asked, “Dad, Mom, Faye, is Thomas alright?” Faye did not attempt to conceal the revulsion and loathing on her face upon seeing him. She rudely chided, “I thought I told you to wait in the car. What are you doing here?” Ruby furrowed her brows as well and yelled, “You useless piece of sh*t, who gave you permission to come here? Go back to where you came from!” Waine was not very fond of him either. From the side, Adrian was dumbstruck upon witnessing the situation. Why was Zayn being shouted at and humiliated by these three people? Moreover, he did not have the nerve to respond. Zayn cast a glance at Adrian, and he could not help shivering in fear. He realized that this was the family that Zayn married into! That meant Thomas was Zayn’s brother-in-law. He was doomed. He had savagely thrashed Zayn’s brother-in-law, so he was a dead man! Just as he was so startled that he was shivering in fear and was preparing to bow down and seek Zayn’s forgiveness from Zayn, he heard Faye say to him, “Mr. Larson, we truly can’t afford to pay so much money. We are not of great wealth and are not qualified to negotiate with you, but we hope that you can let my brother off, okay? I’m willing to do anything for you.” Adrian was immensely terrified because this woman was Zayn’s wife. How could he have the audacity to behave rashly anymore? He hastily said, “I was only joking with all of you! Why would I make you pay so much money, huh?! Speaking of which, it was my fault. My gang of friends and subordinates went too far by beating up Thomas so severely. I’m sorry.” What was going on? Faye was stunned. Ethan was dumbfounded. Waine and Ruby widened their eyes in astonishment. Never mind them, one by one, Adrian’s gang of rich kids were incredulous as well. Only Zayn’s expression remained unchanged. He cast another glance at Adrian then he stepped forward to help Thomas stand up and said, “Tom, let’s go home.” Hatred and disgust could be seen emerging in Thomas’ eyes obviously when he saw Zayn. He shoved Zayn away and softly told him to get lost. He then stood up and made his way to Adrian. Bowing deeply, he loudly apologized. Adrian maintained the smile on his face. He patted Thomas’ shoulder and said, “Mr. Carter, I’m sorry for beating you up earlier.” “No no, nothing…” Thomas was shocked by the unexpected boon, and in his panic, he could not put any words together. The rest of the group found it incredible as well. Was Adrian suddenly behaving so courteously? Could it be that he was playing a trick on them? As he watched everything unfold, Ethan did not have the courage to stay anymore. He bowed to Adrian respectfully before saying, “Thank you, Mr. Larson.” Then, he winked at Faye to signal them to leave quickly and give Adrian time to change his mind. “Mr. Larson, why did you let them off? That b*stard Thomas had the audacity to scold you. It’s not very like you to let him go with both his legs unbroken after that.” “That’s right, Mr. Larson! Moreover, Thomas’ sister is drop-dead gorgeous. If you could get your hands on–” There was a loud slap. The kid had yet to finish his sentence before Adrian stunned him with a slap. Adrian coldly yelled, “Shut the f*ck up!” The rest of the gang was bewildered as well because they could not figure out why Adrian had hit him. However, they did not have the gall to question him either. Even though they were rich kids, they were nowhere near Adrian’s level. After all, he had the weight of the Larson family behind him. Not caring about their feelings, Adrian issued a warning, “From now on, anyone that tries to make trouble with Thomas and his sister will have to deal with me!” They nodded hastily and did not inquire further. Judging by the situation, they assumed Mr. Larson had taken a liking to Thomas’ sister. Zayne followed Faye and the others as they walked out of the pool hall. He felt relieved and thought about how Adrian was quite intelligent. The boy was able to understand the look he gave him and did not expose his identity. When he married into the Carter family, he concealed his background from Faye completely because he did not want her to misunderstand. Moreover, from the bottom of his heart, he did not want to have any connection with the Larsons! After leaving, Faye was feeling deeply thankful and said to Ethan, “Ethan, thank you for your help earlier. Had it not been for you, we wouldn’t be able to save my little brother.” Ethan was stunned for a moment. He quickly waved his hand and said gracefully, “Hey, Fifi. No need to talk like that. What’s yours is mine, so what's the big deal? Did you think that I’d just stand by and do nothing to help?” Waine held Ethan’s hand and exclaimed excitedly, “Ethan, we are genuinely grateful for your help! Without your impressive reputation, there’s no telling how badly that foolish boy of mine would have been tortured. The Carter family owes you a huge favor!” Ruby hastily expressed her gratitude to Ethan as all. Moreover, she pushed Thomas forward and made him thank his savior properly. Ethan smiled joyously. In reality, he had no idea why Adrian suddenly had a change of heart and let them off. Could it be that it really was because of his great status? Hmm, it must have been! He was the only one in their group with a reputation. Adrian must have shown respect to him because of that. Could it be that it was the good-for-nothing Zayn’s presence? That would be a huge joke!