<b>Chapter 155 </b>
Honestly, Ashton couldn’t be bothered with this so–called Garza family. They weren’t even on the radar of Shoneport’s top tier families, so it made sense that he didn’t know much about them.
Both Ashton and Hamish turned their eyes to Reece, who instantly lit up. Reece had people from all walks of life under his wing. When it came to the city’s hidden corners and shady dealings, there was hardly anything he didn’t know.
Reece rubbed his short, prickly hair and spoke up, saying, “The Garza family has roots that trace back to the Grza family. A long time ago, during some tough times, they changed theirst name to Garza to stay under the radar and avoid trouble. Even after things improved and they moved to Shoneport, they never really caught the attention of the wealthy people around here. Most of their business dealings are a bit shady and happen mostly overseas they hardly interact with people in ourmunity.”
Hamish, clearly getting annoyed, cut in, “Reece, just get to the point. Tell us about this Hayden guy.”
Briar and Frank nodded in understanding before Frank added, “Yeah, spill more information about that guy.”
Reece chuckled, “His name’s Hayden. He is the youngest in the Garza family, just 20 years old. He is incredibly intelligent, and he holds a double from Atrington University overseas. He only returned this year, and met Emily at a banquet…”
As he spoke, Reece nced at Hamish before adding, “Oh, and that banquet? It is the one your family hosted.”
Hamish was left speechless<b>. </b>
“So what’s Hayden into these days?” Ashton, who’d been silent this whole time, finally zeroed in on the real question.
Reece shot a nce at Ashton, who wasn’t in a good mood, and replied, “Gray market stuff. Ashton, you know how it goes…”
A lot of things like looting and violence were legal abroad, and nobody even bats an eye at it.
Ashton nodded in understanding, then slowly turned to Briar, who was practically buzzing with curiosity. He asked gently, “Briar, you said you wanted to handle this guy yourself, right?”
Briar raised an eyebrow, quickly catching on to what Ashton meant. She probed, “Ashton, what are you nning? As long as you don’t kill him or ruin their ns, I’m fine with whatever.”
<i>“</i>Alright,” Ashton replied as he ruffled Briar’s hair before turning his gaze to Reece. “I will get my men to take care of him.”
Reece made a “do as you like” gesture, then leaned back next to Hamish with a clear conscience, ready to see what Ashton would do next.
“Conner,” Ashton said coolly. “I want Hayden to lose a hand and a leg.”
<i>Connor </i>instantly straightened up with a serious expression and replied, “Got it, Ashton. Consider it done tonight.”
The group hung out at the Blue Bar until 11:30 PM before finally heading out. On the way back, Connor didn’t tag along with Ashton and Briar, and Ashton drove Briar home himself.
Connor took Frank in another car and left a few minutes ahead of the others.
Briar gazed at the neon lights streaming past outside the window, her mind clear about what was going <b>on</b><b>. </b>
“What are you thinking about?” Ashton asked/driving with one hand while stubbornly holding onto Briar’s left <b>hand </b><b>with </b><b>the </b><b>other</b>. <b>He </b><b>nced </b><b>at </b><b>her</b>, noticing her eyes glued to the window.
Briar snapped back to reality and responded, “I was just thinking about <b>that </b>dude <b>Connor’s </b><b>targeting </b><b>tonight</b><b>.</b><b>” </b>
<b>1/3 </b>
<b>A </b>smile flickered across Ashton’s face as he softly chuckled, “Are you curious? Do you
want
to watch?”
Briar grinned in response, “Yeah, I’m pretty curious about it. I want to see, but if it gets too bloody, I’ll just look away. I’m terrified of that stuff.”
Ashton turned the car sharply at the intersection, saying, “Whenever Connor is in charge of things, you can be sure that as long as he doesn’t bring <b>out </b><b>a </b>gun, there won’t be any bloodshed.” He nced over and added, “If you’re curious, let’s go and find out for ourselves.”
Instead of taking Briar home, Ashton called up Connor to ask where they
were
In
no time, their car sped off down the road.
Hayden, the spoiled child of the Garza family, owned several homes in the city of Shoneport. Coincidentally, he was living in the same neighborhood where Emily had bought her house justst year. Their homes were only three houses away from each other.
As their car pulled into the neighborhood, Ashton’s gaze turned incredibly cold. With this many “coincidences” stacking up, it was starting to feel less like fate and more like something was up.
1:|::
Out of Ashton’s view, Briar couldn’t help but smile slightly as she silently mused, ‘No matter how much those people try to hide in Dasmieca, having someone as clueless as Hayden on their team must be frustrating for them. It seems like Uncle and the others were onto something. Betting on Hayden to be our key to sess was a smart move.’
Ashton’s car pulled up to a vi with its outer gate wide open. He rolled down the window and listened closely for any sounds from inside. The fron was shut, and there was nothing but silence. Well, that was just like Connor’s way of working. He never left a trace, and there was no way he’d leave behind something as obvious as a clue.
“If you get scared once we’re inside, we’ll just leave, alright?” Ashton said, holding Briar’s hand as they got out of the car. As they walked toward the front door, he did not forget to reassure her.
Briar agreed, “Okay.”
When they knocked on the door and walked in, they saw an utterly pathetic–looking young man kneeling at Connor’s feet, tears and snot streaming down his face as he begged for mercy. His miserable state was enough to evoke sympathy in anyone.
Well, anyone except the stone–cold Connor, and Frank, who was lounging on the couch with headphones on, totally focused on his game.
The whole atmosphere was eerily weird, yet oddly fitting.
In the living room, Hayden’s wailing paused for a split second when Ashton and Briar walked in. The moment he recognized them, he looked like he had just spotted his savior. He immediately let go of Connor’s leg and scrambled to crawl over to Ashton.
But there was <i>no </i>way Connor was going to let him go<b>, </b>not with Hayden looking so pathetic. He wasn’t about to let Ashton see that mess.
With a sharp kick, Connor sent Hayden sprawling to the floor before he started another ruthless round of beating. Years of running jobs overseas had made Cormor an expert in this matter. Every punchnded hard, but except for a bit of blood at the corner of Hayden’s mouth, his body looked spotless. It was obvious that all the damage was on the inside, <i>not </i>the outside.
Only someone who had spent years fighting could pull off moves like that.
Frank was really into the game when he noticed someoneing toward him. He turned around and was surprised to see Briar standing behind Ashton. His first thought was to make sure she didn’t get scared. So, without thinking twice, he quickly pulled Briar over to sit next to him on the couch. He said, “Don’t look at the screen, it’s super intense. Kids like, us shouldn’t be watching stuff like this.”
Ashton, too<b>, </b>casually positioned himself in front of Briar, as if shielding her from the scene. It was clear all the guys thought scenes like this would freak
her out.
Briar stared at it and could not help but wonder, ‘Do I even get <b>a </b>choice here<b>? </b>
To be honest, this kind of violence didn’t bother her in the slightest<b>. </b><b>If </b><b>it </b>were her doing the beating, she’d probably <b>go </b>even <b>harder</b>.
Too bad all three guys insisted on treating her like <b>she </b>was made of ss. Briar could only y along<b>, </b><b>acting </b><b>all </b><b>soft </b><b>and </b><b>delicate </b><b>as </b><b>she </b><b>sat </b><b>obediently </b><b>on </b><b>the </b><b>couch</b><b>, </b>listening to Hayden’s cries like it was some kind of background music.
<b>2/3 </b>
<b>10:37 </b><b>Mon</b>, <b>18 </b><b>Aug </b>
With her wealth of experience, she could even tell which part of Hayden’s body was getting wrecked just from the sound of Connor’s punchesnding.
AD
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