Darius tapped a finger on the other armrest, which was intact. Then, he pointed at the bodyguard who'd spoken. "What's his name?" Though his eyes were still on the bodyguards, it was obvious who his question was directed at.Edward immediately understood this and stepped forward to stand beside Darius as he said, "Clive Reid, sir."Darius nodded and repeated this name under his breath. Then, he looked up and asked, "If that's the case, I'm assuming you all carry the Reid name?" Ugly looks crept onto the bodyguards' faces, but none of them responded to his question, including Clive. Darius turned to Edward and pointed at the bodyguards. "Edward, I'll leave them to you. While you're at it, tell them how they should answer me when I ask them questions in the future." With that, he shut his eyes and rocked the rocking chair leisurely. As the pained screams and curses rang out around him, he frowned. Bridget immediately understood what this meant and hurried to join Edward. The screams an

With that, Darius straightened up and strode off, heading toward his room. Clive frowned and asked, "Aren't you going to do anything else to us? Are you backing down without a fight?"Darius stopped, turned around, and smiled. "Yes, this is all I'm gonna do. You're the only person who'll suffer a beating from me." Bridget gave Clive a pitying look. Unless her eyes were playing tricks on her, she felt like she'd caught a hint of delight over Clive's plight in Darius' eyes. This meant he was in for a rough ride, and she raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, trying to puzzle out Darius' reaction. At this moment, Darius walked toward Clive, who had been flung onto the ground again. Seconds earlier, two bodyguards had dragged him away, then dragged him back because of the noise he'd made. Now, he stared up at Darius in terror, looking ashen. Darius raised an eyebrow, looking calm. Still, the words he uttered made the bodyguards tremble in fear. "Alright, as long as you cooperate with me, I can

"Still, doesn't he have anything to say about you accepting his sponsorship and not doing anything for him?" Darius was poker-faced.Clive gulped and nodded. "He does, of course. That's why he warned me before that if I messed up again, he'd do everything he could to kill me. And so, I accepted this mission to keep an eye on you. I thought you guys were fighting over an inheritance, which meant neither of you was good or bad. Of course, it could also mean you were all bad." He rubbed his bruised face, then smiled. "Then, when you beat me up earlier, I realized I was wrong—perhaps you were a good guy. If I could work for someone good, why would I want to remain loyal to a nefarious character?"Darius smiled and said, "That's a surprising comment." He nodded at the door. "Well, that's all I wanted to know, so you can go now." With that, he shut his eyes and exhaled deeply.Clive slinked out of the room and tried to shut the door behind him as silently as he could, but there was still a

"If we were to line up according to our skills, I should be the first in line! None of you have bested me before!" Another man stepped forward with his hands on his hips. He had a bulging belly and held his head high, his blond hair gleaming under the lights."Oh, get off it! You had no choice but to settle disputes with violence because no one wants to take you seriously. We don't need to always resort to violence, which makes you think you're stronger than us.""Shut the fuck up! Say one more word, and I'll end you right here!""I'll show you whether you're worthy of standing in front of us!"Darius raised an eyebrow, surprised at their squabbling. Then, he scoffed and called out, "I actually don't care how you guys line up, but you should know I can hear everything you say and do outside there. If you do anything to upset me, I'm not going to leave a record of whatever you say. And I'm sure you still remember what will happen if your name doesn't show on my list."This only agitate

"My name's Robert Reid. As you can see, I have an appearance that calls for attention, so no one wanted to take me under their wing, which also means I'm solely loyal to the Reid family. However, before coming here, many people approached me, wanting me to secretly work for them. They felt that my appearance and clean slate would make me a likely candidate to be picked to protect you—if Bridget and Edward were busy with other things, that would free up space for new bodyguards to work with you." He paused here, then added, "Of course, this is everything that they told me. I didn't probe around for any of this information. I'm sure you're aware of how closely the Reid family guards its members' information. There's no way I'd be able to dig up these things on my own." Then, an apologetic look crept onto his face. "Rest assured that I didn't agree to work for any of them despite desperately needing their help. They picked other people over me, which has made me a prime target for bull