Frank nodded thoughtfully. "You'd like me to talk to Noel?""That's right," Vicky said, absolutely confident in Frank's charm. "You have this in the bag, what with your animal magnetism."Frank thought about it. "Alright. Once you put the Rejuvenation Pill into production, I'll bring a finished product to see her."They certainly should not rush things—without a finalized product, all they could offer were words, and that did not inspire confidence."Alright. Then that's decided," Vicky said, stretching her back before laying sprawled on Frank's bed. "I'll sleep here tonight."Frank shook his head exasperatedly and lay down beside her.Vicky then gently slid her leg on him, but Frank did not move, almost as if he was lifeless.Vicky certainly doubted that and started to caress him all over, even breathing into his ear, "Frank…""Zzz…" Frank started snoring audibly, and Vicky rolled her eyes.Still, grogginess soon overcame her and she fell asleep, holding his arm.-When F
Helen frowned and promptly grabbed Gina. "Why are you shouting, Mom?""Oh, where have you been?!" Gina cried urgently. "Why didn't you answer my calls?!"Helen sighed exasperatedly. "I was in a meeting.""This is serious!""What's serious?" Helen remained calm, having gotten used to her mother's eternally jittery behavior."It's your brother!" Gina cried frantically. "Why else would I be so worried?!""What happened to Peter now?" Helen actually felt panic as she feared whatever mess her brother made now."He was at a bar last night but somehow ended up in a fight this morning," Gina explained.Helen inhaled deeply as she clenched her knuckles—could Peter not ever tone down his misdemeanors? "Who was he fighting with?" she asked."I don't know, but I think it started because of some girl," Gina said before pressing her. "Oh, stop asking questions—they have your brother! You have to help him!""I have to ask," Helen retorted, gritting her teeth. "I should at least find out w
With those words, Scarlet brought up the security footage. Everyone hence watched as Peter got drunk and started to mess around, groping a waitress.He even got upset when she pushed him away, bragging about how important his family was…Helen was left speechless after watching the video and shot a glare of disappointment at Peter.On the other hand, Gina completely did not care, even standing akimbo as she snapped, "So what?! What my son did to that girl is between them. What's it to you?"Scarlet slowly rose to her feet. "I own this place, and I'm responsible for anything that happens to my employees.""That's enough." Helen stepped up just then. "My brother is at fault, so I'll apologize. What do you ask for compensation? You can ask anything as long as it's reasonable.""What are you doing, Helen?!" Gina snapped, clearly upset.In her mind, that mere waitress was lucky her son was interested in her, though she would not allow him to marry her."Your brother made a mess on
Helen was helpless, but Peter was tugging at her arm, crying repeatedly, "Come on, Helen! Do something!"Helen could die from a stroke right then—would they be here in the first place if not for him?!"Hah! Phineas Tomkins? So what?" someone suddenly said.Everyone was stunned—who could be that bold, belittling Phineas Tomkins himself?!It was none other than Chris.As he strode up to stand in front of Helen, Gina's eyes lit up—they were saved!Scarlet studied Chris and his suit in turn before asking in curiosity, "Who are you?"She could see that he had a strut and a confident way of speaking—was it really possible that he was a match for Phineas?"I'm Chris Steiner from Omens Industries."Chris… Steiner?Scarlet was actually not familiar with that name, but she had heard of Omens Industries.After all, the company had established a foothold in Riverton in no time at all, and they were said to have the backing of the Salazars' heiress. He did outrank Scarlet in influence,
Scarlet hurried to Phineas' side, and he wrapped an arm around her slender waist.Gina, seeing that Phineas had brought a lot of men, was promptly silent.She slid tentative peeks at Chris, wondering if he could resolve the issue for them…"Who demanded my girl's apology?" Phineas suddenly barked."I did," Chris replied, puffing his chest fearlessly.As Phineas wheeled on him right then, Scarlet whispered to him under her breath, "Chris Steiner. Owner of Omens Industries."Phineas narrowed his eyes. "So you're Chris Steiner?"His sharp glare left Chris' heart skipping a beat, and he started sweating down his back in apprehension.Still, he braced himself and strode forward, forcing a smile as he said, "Mr. Tomkins, I presume? I ask nothing much other than that your girlfriend apologize to Peter here. After that, we can let bygones be bygones."Smack!As soon as Chris finished, Phineas slapped him across the face resoundingly!"Oof…" Chris was left stunned and dazed by the sl
Phineas ordered right then, "Break that bastard's arm!"Helen gritted her teeth right then and ran up to stand between them and Peter. "Please, Mr. Tomkins. We will pay, alright?"Reasoning was now not an option—she had to pay through the nose to avert this disaster.Nonetheless, Scarlet snorted. "That's what we've been asking earlier, but you refused. Are you scared now? You really should've known when to stop."Helen braced herself as she said, "The problem is I don't have that much money. Could I pay in installments?"She had already invested all her funds into the West City project and had nothing to spare right now."You mean you're not going to pay?" Phineas asked, turning toward her right then."I'll pay, but in installments," Helen quickly said. "I'm not trying to run, and I'll have my brother apologize too. Let's just put this behind us, alright?""Put this behind us?" Phineas snorted. "Easy for you to say. None of you are leaving until you pay up!"And with those wor
Phineas was left bleeding from Frank's kick, but he remained unfettered."You're dead meat, son," he growled. "My men number up to the hundreds—you're not getting away even if you kill me."Frank scoffed. "I can't say about the others, but you're definitely dying here."His haughty reaction certainly did not sit well with Phineas. "Fuck! Try me! I'm warning you—Skyblade Dojo has my back. Have you ever heard of them?!"In the end, mobsters like Phineas either involved themselves in business to turn legitimate or allied themselves with important families or factions. Leo Grayson did the latter by swearing fealty to the Chandlers of Middleton, and Phineas did the same with Skyblade Dojo of Riverton.And he was certainly getting conceited about it!"Skyblade Dojo…?"Both Gina and Helen were bemused—they did not usually go out of their way to learn about Riverton's major factions. In fact, they had heard about Skyblade Dojo, but not why they should be feared. On the other hand,
Phineas believed that once Frank released him, his legion of thugs would dispatch Frank with relative ease.On the other hand, Gina breathed a huge sigh of relief at Phineas' offer and told Frank, "You heard the man! Let go of him and break your arm.""Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" Frank shot her a look of disdain."Frank Lawrence!" Gina bellowed right then. "You've been freeloading from my house for three years! You can save Helen now, but you're refusing to do it?! Is your arm more important than Helen's life?!""I'd tell you how stupid you are, but you'd never believe me." Frank snorted coldly. "You're all going to die if I let him go."Phineas quickly said, "I swear—break your arm, and I won't press the issue, and we can all go our separate ways."Chris promptly yelled, "You heard Mr. Tomkins! We have his word—men like him always value honor above all else. Break your arm!""Are you deaf?!" Peter snapped in frustration since Frank was not moving. "What di