"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
"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
Everyone's attention fell on him. At the same time, some of the more agile bodyguards started searching for the source of this sudden attack. Then, they saw Darius standing behind the crowd with his arms crossed and a faint smile curling his lips. In that instant, everyone gasped.Darius put his hands behind his back and smiled at them. "Are you guys stopping because I'm here? Go ahead!" No one dared to move because his smile didn't meet his eyes—he obviously wasn't in a great mood. When he saw this, he continued, "All of you had plenty to say earlier, right? Why so silent now?" He yawned. "I remember making myself clear when you guys first showed up at my door—I wanted you to silently get in line and that I would see you one by one when the time was right. Yet, we're already in the wee hours." As he spoke, he lifted his watch to show them the time. "Look at the time."Then, he lowered his arm and put his hands behind his back again, balling them into fists. "I'm almost done signing
"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
Darius let out a chuckle when he saw the newcomer. "I'm surprised to see you here. I thought we'd talked about everything earlier."Winston smiled. "We did, but I didn't want anyone to know about that. That's why I'm here again. I'm sorry for wasting your time." He gave Darius a sharp bow. At the same time, he gave Darius a pleading look, not wanting Darius to expose his true identity.Darius crossed his arms and smiled mockingly. "Still, I'm curious—how did you sneak in here as part of the team of bodyguards? As far as I'm aware, they all know each other. You shouldn't know any of them, and vice versa."Winston smiled. "That's where you're wrong. We all know each other because I've driven them around before. We've had some fun times together. They don't know I'm not one of the Reid family's bodyguards, but I suppose my presence here will make them think I'm from a batch before theirs or something. Perhaps they think I'm not doing too well for myself, which would explain why I'm here
"It's just that no one bothered telling you anything." Darius shook his head.As a professionally-trained bodyguard, Winston suddenly sensed the murderous intent hidden in Darius' gaze and actions—he wanted to kill him. Winston tensed, not knowing what had caused this sudden change. He patted himself on the chest and thought, "I've never even thought about hurting Darius from the moment I met him, nor do I intend to do anything to him." Still, Darius obviously didn't share this viewpoint. Winston gave him a pained look and said, "Darius, I've never done anything to harm you, but you're being really hostile now. I'm sure you're aware of how obvious your emotions are right now."Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled mockingly. "So what if I were to kill you now? You showed up here pretending to be one of the Reid family's bodyguards. If you were to try to harm me in any way, I'd have every right to end you. Everyone, including the authorities, would agree with me on this. Even if you wer