Chapter 3 The Lawsons
Leo went up to the master bedroom on the second floor, where a middle-aged man with greying temples and weak breath lay bedridden. His name was William Ford.
William’s eyes were closed as he breathed uneasily.
Murderous rage flashed in Leo’s eyes.
His father had been very healthy five years ago, but now, he had become like this…
He sat down beside William’s bed to feel his pulse.
But before he could do anything, Caroline came in and pulled him away. “What are you doing? Do you think you’re a doctor all of sudden?”
“I’ve learned some medical tricks in the past few years,” Leo replied, smiling.
“Are you trying to kill my dad?”
Unexpectedly, Leo’s reply made Caroline raise her voice by an octave. “You can’t act like a doctor just because you have some basic medical knowledge. Do you even have a medical license?”
“Caroline, leave him. He’s just putting on a show anyway.” Raymond hurried over and pulled his girlfriend over to comfort her.
“But…” Caroline was still worried.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Leo examined William’s pulse.
He let go of William’s hand after thirty seconds and took out a box of silver needles.
“What? Are you trying to cure my dad with needles? You must be kidding me!”
Caroline grew furious at the sight of the needles. Even the most experienced specialists in Emerdale could not save her father. How could a few silver needles bring him back from the brink of death?
“Caroline, he might be your dad, but he’s mine too. Why would I hurt him?” Leo forced a wry smile.
Caroline scoffed. “Who knows what’s on your mind…”
Leo ignored her and pierced three silver needles into the acupuncture points on William’s body, including the anterior midline of his lower abdomen, the center of his neck, and the midline of his abdomen.
He was so quick at the acupuncture process that there was no pause throughout the process.
It went so smoothly that it was oddly mesmerising to watch.
“Hmph. Drop your act. Do you really think you’re a miracle worker?”
“What good is this kind of treatment? Instead of saving him, you could be harming him instead!”
Despite Leo’s clear expertise, his relatives looked disdainful and Raymond was also sneering in the corner.
More and more silver needles were placed on William’s body as time passed, and Leo’s expression became more and more focused.
However, at a time when Leo’s need for focus was most necessary, a loud noise came from outside the villa.
A Land Rover had crashed into the gates of the villa and stopped in the yard.
A group of men in black stormed out of the car, rushed inside the villa, and began smashing the furniture inside.
In the blink of an eye, all the furniture was smashed into pieces, and glass debris was all over the floor.
“Ahhhh!”
The women screamed in horror, and Leo was forced to stop the acupuncture process. A cold killing intent flashed in his eyes.
“Leo Cohen, how dare you!”
A man’s arrogant laughter came from outside the door. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to come back to Emerdale when you know that my sister is still looking for you.”
Then, a blond man entered with a cigarette in his mouth.
“Chris Lawson?”
Caroline and the rest of her family turned pale at the sight of the blond man.
The Lawsons’ acquirement of the Vesper Corporation meant that the final corporation under the Fords’ had changed hands. The Fords now had to rely on a handful of small businesses to make ends meet. Seeing a member of the Lawson family in their midst made them feel like a mouse in front of a cat.
Leo was the only one who reacted indifferently. He stood up and looked at Chris dully. “To think that you would come to me before I come for your family,” he said coldly.
Chris did not seem perturbed. He walked up to Leo with a smile and poked him on the shoulder. “If I were you, Cohen, I would hide somewhere and lay low until I finally died. I wouldn’t have the guts to show up here again,” he said. “See how your family looks at you? You’re free once you escape but the Fords will have to clean up the mess you leave behind!”
Leo’s eyes became full of murderous rage but he still turned his head to look.
The Fords were looking at him with grim expressions. It was obvious that they wished that they could kill him.
“Mr. Lawson, take him if you want him. He has nothing to do with us!” Rebecca pleaded with Chris with a desperate expression.
Her words were not enough to hurt Leo’s feelings. His expression remained calm.
“My dad’s illness has nothing to do with you, right?”
Leo’s sudden question was presented in a tone so flat that it sounded inhuman.
Chris spread out his hands and said fearlessly, “What are you talking about? Of course not! I’m here to catch you, and pass on a message to the Fords on my sister’s behalf.” He turned to the Fords. “You have a week to accept the jobs that she has assigned to you or be fired.”
The Fords turned pale at these words.
Even those who had finally climbed to the top of the company hierarchy after great difficulty trembled at this news.
It would be all too easy for the Lawsons to fire them. All it would take is a mere phone call or two.
“I hope you’re not lying to me.”
Leo smiled faintly as if he had only heard the first half of Chris’s words.
“What do I get out of lying to you? You won’t live long anyway…”
With a sinister smile on his face, Chris made a gesture and his bodyguards quickly gathered behind him.
“Um, Mr. Lawson.”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Seeing that Chris was about to attack, Raymond immediately went up to him and said awkwardly, “Please be careful. He’s a good fighter.”
“You think I’m as useless as your guards?”
Chris patted Raymond’s head and said disdainfully, “No matter how skilled he is, he’s just one person. I have over ten people under my command!”
Then, a dozen bodyguards behind him closed in on Leo with grim expressions on their faces.
“You’re right.”
Raymond cast Leo a look of pity. It was the perfect payback for knocking out his bodyguards earlier!
“Cohen, why don’t you kneel and kowtow to me? I’ll spare you and send you to my sister intact. What do you think?”
Chris laughed out as he thought of something. “I still remember how pathetic you looked, lying in front of my sister five years ago.”
“Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness!” Raymond was also gloating. He could not wait to see Leo debased.
Unfortunately for him, Leo was as calm as ever.
He gave both men a look of pity, as if they were the ones who were about to kneel.
He looked at them impassively as if they were just mere insects brandishing their pincers at him.
“I told you to kneel! Didn’t you hear me?”
The look in Leo’s eyes angered Chris, prompting him to shout at his bodyguards, “Cripple him!”
“Yes!”
The bodyguards blocked all possible escape routes and charged at Leo.
Before any of them could touch him, a thin silhouette appeared above them like a bolt of lightning.
Then, before anyone could grasp what had happened, all the bodyguards were lying motionless on the floor. In a single movement, they were rendered unconscious.
Even more frightening was how twisted their joints looked. Even if they managed to make a full recovery, they would be disabled for the rest of their lives.
At some point, a woman clad in black leather clothes and boots had appeared behind Leo.
A gust of wind lifted her waist-length black hair and revealed a pair of deadly crimson eyes.