Chapter 3 Defiers Will Be Executed
916 Words
Ryan danced across the ground with lethal grace, evading a brute's punch before driving his foot like a piston into the man's gut.
"Bam!"
The sickening impact sent the hulking figure airborne in a perfect arc, a spray of blood erupting from his mouth as he crashed to the floor.
As other thugs surged forward, five shadowy figures materialized behind them like vengeful specters.
"Aaaagh!"
"Gah—!"
A chorus of pained screams erupted as the remaining enforcers collapsed like puppets with cut strings, taken down before they could even register the attack.
"Hiss—"
The crowd collectively gasped, their expressions shifting from disdain to awe as they reassessed the young Lancaster heir.
This wasn't arrogance—this was raw power!
Could this really be the scion of that fallen family?
How had he become this formidable?
Two servants scrambled to Quantrel's side, their faces ghostly pale. "Master... the young master's been crippled," one whimpered.
The quiet statement sent tremors through Quantrel's body. His face twisted into something inhuman—eyes glinting with murderous intent, jowls quivering with barely contained rage.
The tension shattered as new figures flooded through the mansion doors. Leading them was Levi, Jadehaven's notorious crime boss, his greasy middle-aged frame glistening under the chandeliers.
A street thug who'd ruthlessly climbed the ranks, Levi now controlled the city's underworld, his influence stretching deep into both criminal and legitimate circles. The mighty James and Ethan families themselves kowtowed to this undisputed kingpin of Eastborough.
"Even Levi's here!"
"It's over. With his ties to the Radiance family, Ryan's dead!"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd like wildfire.
"What's this mess?" Levi's voice cut through the chatter as his beady eyes scanned the wreckage.
Quantrel's face lit up with desperate hope. "Levi! Tear him apart! He maimed my boy!" he shrieked, spittle flying.
"What? He dared touch my nephew?" Levi's flabby cheeks quivered with performative outrage, though inwardly he was tallying the favor's worth. "Seize him!"
"Scram."
Ryan's single word hit like a physical blow. Had Jadehaven not been part of his plans, Levi would've joined the groaning bodies on the floor.
A wave of dominance flooded the hall, making even the crime boss shudder involuntarily.
What the hell?
This punk...?
Levi flushed with rage and shame, his triple chins wobbling as he raised a meaty hand—when suddenly, his phone rang.
"Who the hell is this?" he barked into the receiver, irritation dripping from every syllable.
Whatever was said on the other end of the line made Levi's fury vanish instantly, replaced by sheer terror and reverence.
"Y-yes... I... I understand..." After a long pause, Levi stammered, wiping sweat from his brow with a shaking hand.
He stared at Ryan with undisguised fear, forcing a groveling smile as he bowed deeply: "My deepest apologies, young master! This fool Levi failed to recognize true greatness! Please forgive my ignorance!"
"You dare call the General 'brother'?"
Tobias moved like lightning, seizing Levi by the throat and hurling him across the room.
CRASH!
The overweight crime boss slammed into the floor, then immediately threw himself to his knees before Ryan, wailing: "I was wrong! I deserve death! I'll stay out of your sight! Let me summon my men to wipe out the Radiance trash for you!"
Ryan didn't even glance his way. "Scram."
"At once! I'm gone!" Levi tumbled away like a kicked sack, fleeing the estate in complete panic.
The crowd stood frozen.
What the hell just happened?
The crime kingpin who ruled Jadehaven's underworld... reduced to this by one phone call?
Even more terrifying—Ryan hadn't even moved a muscle.
Sharp observers quickly realized—this was no fallen rich boy. The power behind this man... was unimaginable.
"Remember," Ryan's voice cut like a blade's edge through the silence, "how you and your father destroyed my family? I might have let it go... until you forced my sister into marriage." His icy gaze pinned Quantrel in place. "Did you think the Lancasters were defenseless?"
"I vowed the four families would beg for death." Ryan stepped forward as Quantrel scrambled back. "Well?"
"Now..."
"Are you ready?"
Quantrel opened his mouth—
CRUNCH! Ryan's boot shattered his ribs, sending him flying in an arc of blood before landing like a broken doll.
A shocked gasp rippled through the crowd. Even Alahia stood staring dumbfounded, unable to reconcile this unstoppable force with her childhood protector.
"Throw every Radiance dog out of Jadehaven. Transfer all their assets to Alahia." Ryan's commands snapped sharply. "Bury tonight's events—anyone who talks will pay dearly."
"Lastly, deliver this message simultaneously to the James, Brianna, and Ethan families—one month from today marks my mother's memorial. Every last one of them will kneel at her graveside in repentance!"
"Those who refuse... will be shown no mercy!"
After issuing the command to Tobias, Ryan guided his shell-shocked sister out of the mansion's entrance. Tear tracks glistened on her cheeks, her mind still reeling.
The night's events had slammed into her like a freight train. Her brother, vanished for seven years, had returned with a vengeance—systematically dismantling two members of the mighty Radiance Family. And through her dazed disbelief, she'd caught fragments of his thunderous decree...
Her brother had commanded the other three great families to kneel at their mother's grave on the anniversary of her death...
Death for disobedience?
Alahia's breath caught in her throat once more.
What hellish trials had forged her brother... during those seven missing years?
- Writer
