"You mean there's a bomb here," Edward said bluntly. At this moment, Darius arrived at the top of the basement stairs and heard their conversation. He raised an eyebrow and walked down to join them.Ursula, who lay on the ground, cracked her eyes open by a slit and rasped out a breath. This attracted their attention, but when they turned to look at her, she'd shut her eyes again. "She's awake," Bridget frowned and said coldly. "And she's stronger than we thought. An ordinary person would've died from those injuries, but she hasn't."Edward nodded. "Should we search her and the rest of the basement?"Darius shook his head. "That's not necessary. You've hit the nail on the head with your suspicions—Ursula's the one who planted the bomb here." He pointed at a corner of the room, then moved his finger in a circle, indicating the other corners of the room before continuing mockingly, "There are five surveillance cameras here; I saw everything that happened here from my computer."Ursula's
There was a pool of blood around him, which soiled the green grass. Darius raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Bridget. "I want you to gather the bodyguards from the Reid family around. They've been protecting me for a while now, but I've yet to speak to them formally." Then, he headed to his room.Bridget's eyes lit up at this, and she hurried away. Soon, her voice rang out over the PA system. "All of the bodyguards from the Reid family that have been stationed here, kindly gather in the backyard. Mr. Reid wants to speak to you." She repeated this message twice before turning the PA off.Darius sat in his room, looking helpless when he heard the announcement. He straightened his bathrobe and glanced at the bathtub, which had yet to be filled. After estimating the time he'd need for this, he turned the tap off before heading out of the room. As he headed out, he silently told himself to remember to get a smart bathtub after this. He looked extremely relaxed when he showed up in h
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
Now, it seemed Darius wasn't the same as what they'd heard, and it looked like nothing would help them avoid Darius' rage. They looked up at him and blurted out in unison, "We don't!" This wasn't something that was easily achieved, and it made Edward's and Bridget's faces darken.They hurried to Darius' side and said lowly, "Sir, these people were probably trained by the same person." Darius nodded, and Edward added, "None of the Reid family's bodyguards are supposed to speak to you like that. According to the rules, they have a heavy price to pay for that."Darius nodded again, looking unruffled. He'd pretty much expected Edward's and Bridget's reactions, so he wasn't too surprised by this. He calmly put his hands behind his back, but his calmness made the bodyguards feel even more on edge. Bridget asked, "Sir, should I report this to Bruce? It's a major mistake to have sent bodyguards who are loyal to others to protect you."Edward shook his head. "I disagree—Bruce would never have
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
"If he doesn't have the time to see me now, I can wait." Clive dropped his eyes to the floor.Bridget nodded. "Alright, but stop pacing. Mr. Reid doesn't like it when people pace outside his room while he's working. You may have lighter footfalls because you're a martial artist, but Mr. Reid is infinitely more powerful than you and I."Clive's head shot up, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Is Mr. Reid even more powerful than you?"Bridget raised an eyebrow and said matter-of-factly, "Of course! Mr. Reid's more powerful than anyone I know! And so, I feel obliged to tell you that you're making the smart choice. If you insist on opposing him, that would truly make it difficult to keep you alive." She smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes. Then, she turned and headed into Darius' room.He looked up to see her holding a stack of documents and raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"Bridget smiled. This time, it was a genuine one. "Erin asked me to bring these to you. She said you need to go thro
"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
"No, no. It's just that you look pretty scary right now." Winston gulped, looking helpless.Darius chuckled and tapped a finger on the railing. "I don't know whether you're lying or telling the truth, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and take it that you're not lying. Of course, I do hope that I'll see some results."Winston immediately sat up and looked at him seriously. "Yes, sir. Rest assured that I'll complete my mission!" He scrambled to his feet and hurried away.Almost as soon as he left, Bridget came in. She stopped beside him, and he gave her a surprised look. "You look conflicted. What happened?"She sighed. "I just didn't expect Winston to show up here and now. I thought he'd be busy battling the people of the Evans family.""Has something happened to them?" Darius quickly deduced this.Bridget smiled and nodded. "Yes. Everything's a mess there, especially because of Bennett's conflict with you. Those who were always working against him heard about this and now wa