Lila didn’t want the situation to continue escalating. She pushed through the crowd to speak to Caleb, saying, “I’m taking them out of here now. Do you have a problem with that?” She had already met Caleb before, and she believed that he had guessed her identity.
“Who are you?” Joshua, who was a relatively influential figure, retorted, clearly aggravated after being beaten up in his own bar. “If you want to take him, strip off your clothes!” Joshua felt the need to show his dominance; otherwise, who would fear him in the future?
Caleb, who had been drinking that night, initially hadn’t noticed Lila. When he finally recognized her face, the alcohol in his system seemed to evaporate. He quickly pulled Joshua aside and whispered, “Joshua, let it go. We shouldn’t be fighting in the bar.”
Joshua shoved Caleb away and glared at Lila, saying, “I don’t care about your relationship with Caleb. You’re not taking them anywhere today! It doesn’t matter who comes; it won’t help!”
“Joshua! Stop it! She’s the granddaughter of the Carter family. Her grandfather is Anthony Carter!” Caleb tried to reason with Joshua, not wanting to offend the powerful Carter family. Wasn’t that asking for trouble?
“What Carter family? I don’t know them! I’ve said it, you take off your clothes and then you can take them!” Joshua was fuming with anger and had lost all reason. He couldn’t even remember who Anthony Carter was.
There were plenty of people named Anthony Carter in New York City!
Caleb, sweating coldly at the side, thought, ‘Wake up, Joshua! Anthony Carter is not someone we can afford to offend. Asking the Carter family’s heiress to strip? We’re doomed. Totally doomed!’
Lila wasn’t fond of using her family’s influence and was furious at Joshua’s words, but she hadn’t lost her sanity. She didn’t know William’s temperament. This newly emerged Soulmancer might accidentally use excessive force and cause harm or even death, which would not be ideal.
“William, don’t do anything! I’ll handle this!” As soon as Lila finished speaking, she delivered an elbow strike, knocking down a person beside her. The next moment, she had her hand around Joshua’s neck, coldly asking, “I’ll ask you one more time, will you let them go or not?”
Lila wasn’t a Soulmancer, but she was skilled in martial arts. Today, she wanted to ensure William and the others left safely without escalating the situation.
The security staff around Joshua were about to intervene, but Caleb stopped them. No one could lay a hand on the Carter family’s heiress. If Lila were hurt in his bar, it would be a major issue.
“Let them go!” Caleb had no choice but to give the order for Lila and the others to leave. It was the best option.
Joshua, held by Lila, was pushed all the way to the bar’s entrance.
William hadn’t expected Lila to play the role of a heroine for him.
He followed slowly, holding Evelyn’s hand, and exited the bar.
“Get a cab!” Lila’s sports car could only accommodate two people, and she was still holding Joshua’s neck, fearing that if she let go, Joshua might attack again.
“Alright,” William said with a smile, pulling Evelyn into a taxi without hesitation.
“William, what about her?” Evelyn was worried. She hadn’t expected Lila to be so formidable, but she was outnumbered. If anything happened to Lila, what could they do?
Without explaining, William pulled Evelyn into the car. He could tell that Lila had some martial arts training. Dealing with these hooligans should be manageable, even if she couldn’t defeat them all, escaping should be no problem. Besides, given Lila’s status, even if she were captured, would they dare harm her?
“Please take us to East 62nd Street,” William instructed the driver and reassured Evelyn, “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I’ll keep an eye out.”
After speaking, he didn’t get in the car but closed the door instead.
Lila could indeed handle the current situation on her own, but if he just left like that, it wouldn’t be appropriate, especially in case anything went wrong.
Evelyn wanted to stay, but after a moment’s hesitation, she realized she would only be a burden if she stayed. It would be better to call the police. As soon as the car pulled away, she called the police and then asked the driver to stop not far from there and got out.
William turned around and came back, but Lila wasn’t surprised. Even the weakest Soulmancer wouldn’t fear these ordinary people. But her worry wasn’t about William getting hurt. She was concerned that William might go overboard if he took action.
She was considering this for Joshua’s sake.
Who knew if Joshua and his group would be moved to tears when they realized Lila’s intentions.
“Let go of Joshua, you little bitch! Or else I’ll rape you first, and then kill you!”
Some of Joshua’s lackeys couldn’t stand it anymore. Their boss was being choked and threatened by a woman. It made them look useless.
“Slap!”
Caleb smacked one of the lackeys, leaving them bewildered.
“Caleb, what are you doing…”
“How dare you talk to this esteemed lady like that?!” Caleb was at his wit’s end. He had finally realized that, no matter how much Joshua courted death, he couldn’t join him in doing so. He quickly turned to Lila and said, “Miss Carter, I’m truly sorry for what happened today. We were wrong. Please forgive this man and let him go.”
Joshua’s face was red from being choked, unable to say a word. He couldn’t understand what Caleb was thinking.
“Joshua, Miss Carter is Ryan Carter’s sister. We all know each other. Can we let this incident slide?” Caleb’s suggestion was already giving Joshua some face.
Ryan wasn’t the one to be feared; it was the Carter family, especially Anthony Carter!
Ryan’s sister would be Anthony Carter’s granddaughter.
Joshua considered himself somewhat influential in New York, but compared to a big shot like Anthony Carter, he was nothing.
At that moment, he finally snapped back to reality.
Oh, my God!
What had he just done? He had demanded Anthony Carter’s granddaughter to strip off her clothes in front of all these people!
This wasn’t just any ordinary courting of death; this was courting death in the extreme.
“Um…” Joshua tried to speak, but he couldn’t help his tears. If Lila didn’t forgive him today, or if she sought revenge later, he wouldn’t be able to run a bar anymore. In fact, he wouldn’t have a foothold in New York, let alone the world.
Seeing Caleb reveal her identity, Lila didn’t have anything to fear anymore. She let go of Joshua and calmly asked, “Can we leave now?” .𝘯𝘵
Joshua coughed heavily and stammered, “Miss Carter… I’m truly sorry for what happened earlier! I didn’t recognize you… You can punish me however you see fit.”
The people around them were stunned. Many of the lower-class thugs didn’t even know what the Carter family represented. They only knew that Joshua had connections.
She merely revealed her name, and Joshua was already cowering.
A group of tough men facing a fragile woman, and they were afraid.
“Strip naked, run to the end of the street, and that will be enough,” William had already come over and had thought of a solution for Joshua. This was what Joshua had wanted Lila to do earlier, so it was fitting as a punishment. In doing so, he was already showing considerable leniency.
