Chapter 89

Many people were gathered in the bar; some were spectators, others involved in a fight. The onlookers were most interested in a small group led by a bruised and bleeding James. Forced to kneel, they looked hopeless.

"James, what happened to you?" Dahlia frowned, noticing his injuries.

"Sis! You're finally here!" James staggered to his feet, as if relieved.

"Oh, my poor son! Who did this? Tell me, and I'll make them pay!" Florence shrieked, heartbroken but unable to bring herself to blame him, let alone allow others to beat him.

"Mom! That bastard hit me!" James pointed, his voice vicious.

Florence followed his gaze to a beautiful woman in a revealing dress, calmly seated at a table with several burly men.

"Bitch! You're all dead meat! My sister is the president of the Quine Group! You will pay for hitting me!" James roared, vowing to extract double the price of his suffering.

"The Quine Group? Is it powerful?" The woman in the red dress swirled her wine, unfazed.

"Humph! You don't even know the Quine Group! I knew you looked uncultivated! Apologize to my son and pay his medical bills, or you'll all pay the price!" Florence warned.

"Old bitch! You dare disrespect our boss? I'll rip your tongue out!" one of the men shouted, drawing a switchblade.

"What? You think you scare me?" Florence scoffed, stumbling back in fear, her stubbornness evident.

"What happened?" Dahlia, always the rational one, sought to understand the situation.

"What happened? Ask your brother," the woman in red said, rising and pointing at James. "He caused a commotion at my establishment, attacking my men. I merely taught him a lesson. Fair, wouldn't you say?"

"I'll pay for the damage, but why were you so cruel?" Dahlia asked, frowning.

"Cruel? Haha! I went easy on him. Otherwise, he'd have lost more limbs!" the woman sneered. "Enough! Seven hundred thousand dollars, or none of you leave this room!"

"Seven hundred thousand dollars? Why not rob a bank?!" James roared.

"That's right! And you dare ask us for money?! Where did you get your nerve?!" Florence glared.

"Come to your senses while I'm still being nice. Once my man arrives, it won't be so simple," the woman calmly replied.

"So, what if you have a man? Bring him here! I want to see how capable he really is!" Florence challenged, unafraid.

"You're messing with the wrong person! Our lady's man is Sir Draco, the Cobra, leader of South City!" one of the men boasted.

"The Cobra?!"

The Nicholson family paled. Swinton had four main territories: North, South, East, and West Cities. East City was ruled by the Underworld King, Trevor Spanner; South City, by the infamous Cobra. The Cobra was considered even more ruthless and vile than Spanner; legend had it he fed his enemies to alligators. The Nicholsons were in serious trouble.