William dropped Russell at the shore of the river Agnar. Most of the world didn’t even know why the river was really called Agnar, and Russell used to be one of them. Now, he knew better.“This is as far as I can accompany you, Young Master,” William said, handing Russell a bag that had food, water, and a GPS gadget. “From here on, you’re on your own. If you want to get an audience with the Agnar family, you have to row that boat upstream until you find their hideout.”Russell was shocked to hear that. “But my condition is still…”“You’re the one who chose to come here, so don’t give excuses,” William softly said. “Inexperienced people would find it extremely tiring and difficult to row the boat by themselves for a long time. It will be a test of your will, so don’t give up.”Russell had no experience with rowing a boat. The only positive thing about this whole journey was that he knew how to swim. That was all.William didn’t stay for another second and left in the car.“Wait, are th
Russell opened his eyes and found himself inside a stone building. The walls, the ceiling, and even the floor was covered with stone. Heck, even the bed he was resting on was a stone bed, and yet he didn’t feel all that uncomfortable even though there was no pillow.“I remember chasing the old man, but then…” he got up from the bed and suddenly realized something. He looked down at his abdomen. The bandages were all gone. The stitches were removed, and some kind of clay was applied to his belly. “What the hell is this?” he rubbed his fingers against it, but it had already dried up.Wanting to find out where exactly he was, he came to the stone door. Luckily, it was open. All he had to do was push the leafy-curtain aside and step out into what looked like a small village built in the middle of the thick wilderness. Small to medium sized stone houses were neatly integrated in the midst of the trees so much so the houses were hard to distinguish from one another. It looked like they were
“H-How did he lose his arms by arm-wrestling?” Russell looked baffled. “Is something like that even possible?”“I broke your wrist a bit, didn’t I?” Raquel responded casually. “If I had not let go of your hand even after winning and then just put a little more strength into my hand and pulled your arm with a jerking motion, it would have been enough to tear your shoulder muscles and rip your entire arm out. Want me to show you?”“N-No, no, no,” Russell began to look at Raquel and others in a different, scary light. Stress played on his forehead.“Are you going to take the challenge or not?” Raquel asked.“If I don’t wrestle, then I have to leave, right?” Russell asked back, though he wasn’t sure if they'd let him leave just like that if he were to refuse to continue playing their sick wrestling game.“Yes, you just have to leave the way you came,” Raquel replied.Russell’s face lost color. How was he supposed to row the boat for miles with a broken wrist? This wasn’t even funny. While
Russell had suffered many humiliating defeats in his life, but the most recent one was definitely one of the toughest if not the toughest to swallow.Everyone around began to clap, which made it even more difficult to absorb the loss. However, what Russell didn’t get was that even Natasha was clapping.“W-Why are you clapping?” he asked, looking as clueless as ever.“That’s because you passed our preliminary test,” Natasha stopped clapping.“What test?”“To see whether you’d wrestle for three times or not,” Raquel said, “after getting your wrist broken in the first round itself.”“T-That’s…” Russell didn’t know what to say. “So, the whole thing about winning at least once was unnecessary?”“Well, we would have been greatly impressed had you won,” Raquel said, “but your power was within our expectations, and you lost the three rounds. In fact, only a handful of people ever managed to win one round, and just one person managed to win all three.”“Someone won all three rounds?” He was sl
“Let’s talk.”These two words that came out of Roddick’s mouth were like two mountains that weighed on Seth’s shoulders.Why did Roddick come to the hotel? And what did he want to talk about in public, nonetheless?Seth didn’t want to have anything to do with Roddick because it was made obvious to him after Russell attacked Roddick and broke his knuckles using a car’s door that they were enemies, despite how they made it appear on television and news.“Sit down, Seth Jones,” Roddick said calmly, putting one leg over another and sitting comfortably. “We have a lot to talk about.”Seth loosened his tie and sat down at the table, on the ground floor itself. Irene was able to see them from a distance and could only wonder what they were talking about.“Why would you want to talk to a nobody like me?” Seth asked in a low voice.“No one can perfectly scratch their own back, which is why I’m here.”“Pardon?”Roddick smiled and pushed a folder forward.“What’s this?” Seth reluctantly opened t
At the Lynn estate.All the guests except the Bennett family had left. These guys stayed back because Liam told them to stay here for a couple days.But Liam’s words didn’t give Charlotte any peace of mind because Jennifer had been bothering her since morning. She followed Charlotte like a tail and kept asking her about everything, from her dresses to even how her business worked. It was obvious that Jennifer was a smart woman, but Charlotte didn’t like the fact that this woman was putting her nose where it didn’t belong.If not for the fact that they were distant relatives, Charlotte would have probably scolded Jennifer in her face. Because Charlotte was raised in a way to never makes enemies out of relatives, she somehow bore with all the torture Jennifer unintentionally put her through.In a similar way, Kyra had to put up with not one but two annoying souls. Both Viola and James sat in her bedroom and kept talking and talking without the least consideration that Kyra might want to
Viola wanted to enter the Alpha Wolfe car so much, but Kyra didn’t let anyone enter her car. Instead, she told Viola and her family to come in Russell’s new car, the black Audi R8 that Charlotte had gifted to him.When James saw the car, he was slack-jawed. Its engine sound almost gave him an orgasm. He wanted to drive it so badly, but right now, Russell was behind the wheel.“To think Charlotte gave you such a top-end car,” Jennifer’s heart was swimming in the clouds, “you must have made a good first impression. Keep impressing her, and you’ll receive more such precious gifts.”“Brother, take me with you,” James begged.“This is only a two-seater car, James,” Russell reasoned with him. “Viola asked me first, so I’ll take you next time.”“Hmph,” Russell snorted and angrily left for the 10-seater SUV, which Arnold was told to drive.Jennifer, Arnold, and James traveled in this SUV, whereas Viola sat next to Russell in his car. Even though Viola wanted to ride in the Alpha Wolfe car, th
As soon as Viola entered, she was shocked to see Irene there. “Y-You… what are you doing here?!”Irene’s exaggerated reaction made many people turn their heads.Naturally, Irene’s heart skipped a beat. She forced herself to smile before saying, “I work here, ma’am.”Getting called ‘ma’am’ by Jessica’s friend was like music to Viola’s ears. She laughed out loud and patted Irene’s shoulders. “It’s so good to see you here.” She then leaned closer and said in a low voice, “You are really smart. You know my brother has a soft heart, and so you chose to work here. That way,you won’t necessarily lose your job even if you screw up a few times.”Irene’s chin trembled as she controlled herself from pinching and twisting Viola’s nose. (I’m too overqualified for this job, and yet this little chick is telling me that it’s a privilege for me to work here?) Viola’s words were definitely hard to digest for her. Still, she had maintained her smile somehow. This was one of the hardest tasks of being a