Chapter 154
When Frank said that, no matter how you listened, it just sounded off. And when he got to the part about “taking her out,” his eyes were practically twinkling.
It was obvious he was dead serious and sincere about it. It was clear that he hated Emily.
Briar knew Frank wasn’t the type to be violent or aggressive, and she asked curiously, “What’s the deal? Do you not like her?”
Frank pouted, his face full of open dislike for Emily, “Who would ever like her? Among everyone in the Wade family, Justin’s family is just the worst. Seriously, every time I go back to the Wade Mansion, it’s always them who pick on me the most.
“Briar, you have no idea how rough my childhood was. All the misery I went through was thanks to Justin’s family. And don’t even get me “farted on Emily–every time she played tricks on me, she’d always end up luring me into the doghouse…”
Even though Frank sounded genuinely miserable, Briar almost burst out laughing as she thought, ‘Tricked into the doghouse? Is he serious?
‘Getting tricked into the doghouse once is bad enough, but every single time? That’s impressive!’
Frank grew increasingly upset as he spoke. He buried his face in Connor’s chest and sobbed, “There were a few times when she’d lock me in doghouse and just forget about me. I had to spend the whole night in there all alone. One time, it even started pouring rain in the middle of th and I cried and screamed, but nobody heard me…”
Connor gently patted Frank’s head and comforted, “There, there. You don’t be scared. Didn’t I come looking for you and get you out in the end?”
After that incident, Frank became especially attached to Connor. As long as Connor was around, Frank would cling to him like a little koala, following him everywhere he went.
After hearing Frank’s tragic tale, Briar barely managed to hold back her laughter and gave his shoulder a sympathetic pat.
“Even though you’re aware that Justin and his family are trouble, you still keep getting caught up in their schemes? That shows some impressive ability,” Briar thought.
“So, you want me to take out Emily? With these harmless hands of mine?” Briar teased as she held up her soft, delicate hands in front of Frank and wiggled her fingers.
Frank fell silent.
Ashton pulled Briar over to sit next to him and said, “Alright, let’s get down to business.”
‘These two were gentle and kind–hearted. If anyone thought they could do something sneaky or unfair, the troublemakers would have already made a
run for it,’ he inwardly sighed.
With the life–saving pills in his hands, it was obvious Ashton wanted to get back at Emily and her family. The group huddled together, whispering and plotting their next move.
Briar was left hanging on the sidelines, utterly speechless.
‘If I’d known, I wouldn’t have handed over those pills so fast. Great, now they don’t even need me for anything.
‘How annoying!‘ Briar grumbled inwardly.
Frank was probably used to scenes like this by now, and he didn’t mind at all. He comforted, “Briar, don’t be mad. You’ll get used to it. Come on, let’s grab something to eat.”
What else could Briar say to that? She ended up hanging out with Frank, snacking, and goofing around. Even if she wasn’t part of Ashton’s scheming, she still caught every bit of their plotting, whether she was supposed to or not.
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One of them asked, “No matter who she ends up hiring, if we spread the word, no one will dare to take her contract. Ashton, what do you think?”
Ashton paused, glancing sideways at Briar, who was playing with Frank. His half–lidded eyes held a lazy gentleness as he agreed, “Fine, If they can behave for once, we’ll just treat this as a warning for them.”
Hamish and Reece exchanged a knowing glance. It was clear that Ashton had no intention of letting Emily and her family off easy.
They all knew Emily and her family had always pushed their luck and never knew when to quit,
If they ever found a chance to strike at Ashton, with the way those people are, there’s no way they’d just let it slide.
Honestly, when it came to being cunning and calculating, no one could hold a candle to Ashton.
“Alright, that’s the plan. I’ll spread the word and see how Emily reacts,” Reece said as he pulled out his phone.
“And don’t forget to make sure the informant doesn’t get exposed,” Hamish reminded him as he took a couple of sips from his glass.
Reece flashed an ‘OK‘ gesture, then got up and headed off to make the call.
With the situation pretty much wrapped up, Ashton, who was still lost in thought, suddenly felt something cool being pressed into his hand.
He snapped out of it and looked down to see that Briar had handed him an orange.
Ashton flashed a graceful smile, “Would you like an orange?”
Briar had noticed the hint of sadness and loneliness in Ashton’s expression and wanted to distract him, worried he might be feeling down. But Ashton misunderstood her intentions, thinking she wanted to eat an orange but didn’t want to peel it herself.
With his long, graceful fingers, Ashton began to peel the orange for Briar, moving with a slow, unhurried elegance that was simply mesmerizing.
Before long, Ashton had peeled the orange and, with thoughtful care, separated it into neat segments before placing them back into Briar’s hand.
Briar lowered her gaze to the orange in her palm. For some reason, Ashton’s effortless kindness sent ripples through her heart.
“Come on, you need to eat,” Ashton said when he saw Briar staring at the orange in her hand. He gently squeezed her hand to encourage her to take a
bite.
Briar nodded and slowly ate the orange, one segment at a time.
Reece had only called everyone together tonight to give Ashton a heads–up. Now that all the serious talk was over, it was time to go wild and just have some crazy fun.
Before long, the private room was filled with loud laughs and excited shouts. The loudest one was Frank, who grabbed the karaoke microphone and refused to share it, even though he couldn’t sing at all. He just wouldn’t let anyone else have a turn!
To be honest, describing his singing as “ear–shattering” is an understatement. Among those present, only Connor seemed to like it; the others made a point to stay as far away from Frank as possible.
Briar covered one ear, and she asked, “Ashton, is this why you never want to bring Frank out with you?”
Ashton pressed his throbbing temple and sighed, “Yeah, this guy is just way too much chaos.”
Hamish kept a straight face and commented, “If were Emily and had a brother who sang like that, I’d lock him in the doghouse too.”
Reece stayed chill. After all, he owned the bar and had heard worse than Frank’s singing. He laughed, “Hey, that’s not fair. Look at Connor. He seems to enjoy it.”
Hamish snorted, “Connor’s got it bad for him. Frank could do anything, and he’d still think it’s great.”
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Jalen nodded silently. Out of everyone present, Connor was the only guy who could be both cold blooded and hopelessly lovesick at the same time, and somehow, that image fit him perfectly.
Once Frank finished his out–of–tune singing, the crowd quieted down. Just at that moment, Reece’s phone started ringing. He gave Frank a quick “be quiet” sign because Frank was still pretty excited, then he answered the call and put it on speaker so everyone could hear.
“Go ahead,” Reece said.
The person on the other end immediately reported, “Mr. Goodwin, we’ve got the information you requested. The last person Emily called was someone named Hayden from the Garzas family in Shoneport.”
Reece replied, “Got it,” then hung up and looked over at Ashton.
Ashton narrowed his eyes, a brief look of confusion flashing across his face, like he was trying to remember who the Garzas family in Shapeport even
was.
AD
