“Mr. Smith! You’re here!”Seeing the named man and a few companions exiting from a Porsche Cayenne, Esther was quick to greet them. In response, Smith nodded and asked, “So, is Mr… Mr. Larson here yet?”“He’s on his way. Pretty sure he will be here shortly.”A cold glint flitted through Smith’s eyes as he nodded. “Good. I’ll be waiting upstairs. I hope he doesn’t back out!”Esther felt a jab in her gut instincts—a subtext nestled within his word choice. Still, she decided to forgo delving too deeply; after knowing who Zayn was, Smith would know to restrain any display of aggression and antagonism, right?“Huh. Where’s Miss Laking?” Smith inquired after a cursory scan around failed to show him where Annabelle was.“She’s waiting for everyone in the reserved room,” came the reply.“Great,” Smith said, nodding again before leading Kenneth and the rest of his retinue up the stairs.Sure enough, the first thing that caught their eyes upon entering the room was Annabelle. Kenneth’s r
A storm shadowed Annabelle’s mien.That crossed the line—he was openly objectifying her!Even her two bodyguards, who could not understand Esperanto, were aggravated. They could read from the cavalier half-smile and lustful expression on his face to know that Kenneth must have made a sexual remark against Annabelle.Smith himself was flummoxed, too. In his case, it was because he never expected Kenneth to be so open about his advances. Of course, it soon occurred to him that his companion was aiming for more than just a sexual request: Kenneth wanted to take the girl in as his mistress. He wanted her.To that, Smith decided to not interfere. As the nation’s champion boxer who earned thousands of millions of dollars a year, Kenneth was more than capable to regale a Rheasian celebrity with splendor and riches.Honestly, if he had the chance, Smith would gladly beat Kenneth to owning such a pretty little thing himself!Annabelle tried hard to suppress her broiling blood, but it was
Zayn could already sense in his guts that Smith’s intention was impure. He could sniff the ulterior motive, the trap hidden behind an apologetic pretense. To think, some foreign celebrity would have the audacity to set up a trap in what was effectively Zayn’s home-turf! How amusing.Zayn could not wait to see what kind of surprise Smith had in store for him.Esther pushed the door open, and Zayn’s eyes came face-to-face with the newcomer, Kenneth, and the full glory of his pillar-thick neck, his almost similarly-sized face, and his bulking muscles pushing against the man’s shirt. He had the potential energy of a loaded shotgun. Then, judging from the calluses paving his knuckles as he set his fists on the table, Zayn was sagely enough to know that he was looking at a professional boxer with commendable skills.So, Smith managed to get a pro on his side. No wonder he worked his damnedest to secure Zayn’s attendance—things were about to get interesting.Zayn, impossibly perceptive as
Smith and his people were so red, the tips of their ears were crimson. Despite the humiliation, no one raised a rebuttal. No one wanted to risk going against Kenneth.“Hey, man. You shouldn’t underestimate that guy over there—he knows Rheasiano, man. He’s tough,” one of Smith’s bodyguards warned in an undertone. After experiencing Zayn’s terrifying prowess, he thought it would be better to caution Kenneth.Unfortunately, it sounded more like an insult to Kenneth’s ears. With a forceful sneer, he snapped, “Shut up, trash. I can’t believe a wimpy little Rheasian scared the balls of out of you dumb*sses! Rheasiano’s a performative art, for God’s sake. All style and no substance.”The lion’s share of disdain Kenneth felt for Rheasiano could not be understated. Even when the foreigners had taken to speaking in undertones—thus eluding Annabelle, whose attention had all been trained at Zayn—the man could still hear it all.A new veneer of frost had shadowed Zayn’s mien. He had hoped that
Zayn curled into a lopsided smile. Riling these foreigners was his precise intention.So what if a few Rheasians with inferiority complex had humbled themselves so much that it inflated these foreign races’ ego that after a period of time being served as master, they thought they could lord over everyone else. But Zayn, oh he would not feel welcomed and entitled at all. They were in Rheasian land; they were the ones who should bend under the host and their rules!Smith was balling his fists so hard that he could hear his knuckles popping from under the table. With almost impossible willpower, he managed to keep his ire from spilling out while forcing a mechanical smile out of his lips. “Excuse me, Mr. Larson, but I was wondering where did you learn—”He had not even finished his sentence when Zayn suddenly turned to Annabelle and said, “Oh, Miss Laking, I forgot. I’m craving some top-notch pork ribs, so please help me order it.”“O-Oh!” Annabelle was stunned for a second, but her e
“I’m sorry, Mr. Larson. Please accept my apology!”It was a sentence Smith had to push out of his unwilling throat and his clenched teeth. Watching him, his compatriots felt just as humiliated and indignant.Seeing his purpose achieved, Zayn decided to drop his charade. Getting under these people’s skin was enough; anything more than that and he would seem oh-so-irritating and an asinine prick.“Well, seeing how genuine you are, I guess I have to forgive you after all!” Zayn replied in markedly proficient Esperanto—he was so good, there was not even a hint of regional accent in it!Smith’s bile multiplied exponentially. He was so close to flipping the table. He knew it! This bastard could speak Esperanto—he was just trying to make things difficult. What a piece of sh*t!Whatever rancor in Smith’s face, however, could not beat the one on Kenneth’s glower.It was precisely what Zayn wanted to achieve. These foreigners went around in Rheasia pretending to be king, lording over so ma
Anabelle and Esther were stunned upon witnessing the scene. What was going on? Did Smith not invite Zayn out to dinner with all the intent and purpose of apologizing? How did it turn into Smith challenging Zayn? Moreover, they could tell at a single glance that the man named Kenneth was very skilled in fighting. How could Zayn possibly be his match? “Mr. Smith, since Mr. Larson is a business owner, it’s inappropriate for him to engage in hand-to-hand combat with your friend, isn’t it?” said Anabelle with a frown. Although she knew that Zayn was rather skilled in fighting, she felt that Zayn would not be able to defeat Kenneth who was a professional boxer.It would be bad if Zayn ended up hurt from that altercation. Smith shrugged and said, “It’s only a spar. Kenneth will be merciful and he won’t hurt Mr. Larson. There’s nothing to be scared of.”Zayn sliced into his food and ate slowly. He chewed every bite of food slowly to savor the scrumptiousness of the food. “Forget about
Kenneth leaned against the chair with a bantering expression with his legs crossed. He appeared as self-conceited as one could be. Their scheme was finally revealed—they had invited Zayn for dinner tonight for the purpose of seeking revenge. Annabelle was infuriated. She had trusted Smith so much and spared no effort in inviting Zayn to the meal, yet she ended up being used by her co-star. “Mr. Smith, how could you do this? You told me that you wanted to apologize to Mr. Larson, yet you brought a boxer with you to make things difficult for Mr. Larson,” Annabelle fumed. Smith did not feel guilty at all. On the contrary, he felt even more delighted in his heart to see Annabelle being so furious. He shrugged and said, “I did apologize to Mr. Larson, and you all heard it. Now, my friend is asking for a match with him. Will that be an issue? Moreover, he mentioned earlier that my friend is no match for him, but he’s scared now. Is that my fault?”Annabelle was rendered incapable of