Chapter 26

The next morning, Julie stood in front of the cracked mirror, brushing her hair and adjusting her modest coat. Jaden emerged from the tiny room they shared, his sharp eyes scanning her. "You ready?" he asked.

Julie nodded. "Yeah. Let's go see Aunty."

They walked into the living room where Marvin sat on a worn-

out sofa, sipping tea.

"Dad, we're heading out to visit Aunty," Julie said.

Marvin smiled warmly. "That's good. Greet her well for me. And you both take care of yourselves, alright?"

"We will," Julie replied.

Jaden simply gave a slight nod.

Moments later, the two left the house, the wooden

door creaking shut behind them.

An hour passed.

Suddenly, the front door exploded open with a loud crash, wood splinters flying across the floor. Marvin jolted to his feet, his teacup shattering on the ground.

A group of men

marched in without a word, dressed in black jackets with a golden emblem: the mark of the Nova Company.

Marvin's face paled the moment he saw the man leading them.

"Stone..." he muttered.

Stone, tall and broad with a snake tattoo curling around his neck, walked in with the confidence of a man who believed he owned the world. He strolled right up to Marvin, grabbed the front of his shirt, and yank "Hey old man," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Where's the seven million dollars you owe the Nova Company? Hmm?"

Marvin's breath caught in his throat. "Seven million?" he asked, confused and rattled. "That's not right. That's not the agreement-"

"You

think I care about what the 'agreement' was?" Stone growled. "The amount's changed. And I want the full payment. Now!"

Marvin struggled to keep calm. "Stone, this wasn't part of the deal. I only borrowed half a million. And I've been paying back every year-"

"Shut your mouth!" Stone snapped, slapping Marvin across the face so hard the old man crashed to the floor.

Blood trickled from Marvin's lip as he looked up. "You... you can't do this. I need to speak to your general manager. Where's Mr. Norman?" Stone laughed darkly, pulling out his phone. "You wanna speak to Mr. Norman? Good. Let's see what he thinks of this old dog wasting his time."

He dialed. "Yo, Mr. Norman? I'm at Marvin Hale's place. Yeah, he's trying to weasel out again. You coming? Great."

Stone hung up and glared down at Marvin. "He'll be here soon. You wanted to talk? You'll talk. Right before I beat your wrinkled face in." Marvin slowly pushed himself up from the ground, wiping his bleeding mouth.

"You've got

no idea what you're doing, Stone. I don't think your boss knows you're pulling this stunt. You'll

be the one in trouble, not me."

Stone's face twisted with rage. "Still mouthing off?"

He signaled one of his men, who handed him a thick, rugged cane.

"I'll beat some sense into you before Norman even gets here," Stone said, raising the cane high.

Before he could bring it down, a loud voice cut through the tension.

"Stone!"

Everyone turned to the doorway.

Mr. Norman stepped inside, limping slightly. Bandages wrapped his forehead, and his left arm was in a sling. Behind him were two more men- Bob, also bandaged, and another bruised goon.

it's obvious they haven't recovered from the beating yesterday.

Norman was a direct subordinate of Crusher Kane in their little street cult.

Stone blinked in confusion. "Mr. Norman?" he said, lowering the cane. "You're here."

Norman didn't speak. His eyes locked on Marvin-

then flicked to the cane in Stone's hand.

Without warning, Norman charged forward and struck Stone with a vicious slap across the face. Stone stumbled backward, stunned.

"You worthless scum!" Norman shouted. "Do you even know who you're threatening?! You dare lay a hand on Brother Marvin?!"

Stone held his cheek, still in shock. "What-what did I do?"

Bob stepped up and slammed his boot into Stone's gut, sending him to the ground with a groan you idjøtt, That's the family of the man who humiliated us yesterday! The one who almost killed us!" Content S

Stone blinked. "What man?"

"The King! Norman barked. "The Demon of Ravenmoor! He thrashed Elder Dusk! Crippled Lucian Thornfell's son! Sent Reaper

1.n

vel.)

srawling away like a dog! And that man's sister lives in this house."

Norma still in rage, after what happened yesterday seeing his boss Crusher Kane scared of a common man, he did some investigation and found out Jader was no ordinary man as he humiliated the Thornfells and walked off like nothing

happened. no ordinary man could do that.

Norman turned to Marvin and immediately bowed slightly, ignoring the others. "Sir... I had no idea this was happening. If I knew, I'd never have let this animal near your home." Marvin, still breathing heavily, stared at him. "You'd better fix this."

"Yes! Absolutely!" Norman turned to his men. "Clean this place up! And you trash, get here

kneel and apologize to him immediately!" 1

Bob grabbed Stone by the collar and yanked him up. "You got lucky the king wasn't here, fool. You'd be a corpse by now."

As they dragged Stone out, Stone looked around