Meanwhile, in the Gray Wolfe’s headquarters in the Carmen country, a middle-aged couple was deep into a furious ‘argument’.
A man with scraggly black beard and crooked nose slammed his fist down on the table as he glared at the woman in front of him. “All of this happened because you made a promise without asking me first!”
In sharp contrast to the man in front of her, the woman was not only graceful, but also unperturbed by his rage. “Calm down, Sanders. No one knows your son better than me. After all, I raised him for so long by myself.”
The man’s expression turned down with guilt, and some of his earlier fury was immediately quenched. “Allie… when will you forgive me? You know I never loved that woman, but my family…” He sighed helplessly. “Forget it, what’s done is done. Let’s just hope that the old snake will be able to take care of everything.”
To the man, Alexander wasn’t just their son, but also the proof of his love for his wife. Even his name was formed by combining ‘Allie’ and ‘Sanders’, and it was the most he could do while he was forced to keep their relationship hidden before taking over as the leader of the Gray Wolfe.
Allie was the winner of their national beauty pageant back in the day, and Sanders had always felt guilty for forcing her to live the life of a ‘kept woman’ who had to be hidden from the public, but he just couldn’t let her go either.
They had to be so secretive that Sanders didn’t even dare to show up in front of his own son too often, for fear of being recognized, and most people assumed that whoever Allie’s ‘boyfriend’ was, he must have run away after getting her pregnant… that is, if Alexander wasn’t the result of a one night stand.
Although things were no longer the same and he had already proudly proclaimed Allie as his wife and Alexander as his son, the past wasn’t so easy to forget or erase. He still had to tread carefully around his wife’s old wounds, making his son all the more precious in his eyes.
He could never imagine the mockery and humiliation the two of them must have faced for so many years, and could only do his best to make up for it now.
Allie smiled as she went around the table to take a seat on the man’s lap. “Have you finally calmed down?”
Sanders leaned back into his chair with a sigh. “I’m sorry… I was just worried for Alexander’s safety… When I received that call from Oriana country…”
The graceful woman snorted. “Would any of this have happened if you hadn’t panicked?”
Sanders couldn’t help but feel a little guilty in his heart.
Although the Old Snake’s skillset leaned more towards espionage and assassination, his primary purpose for arriving in the Oriana country had always been to protect Alexander, and Sanders realized it wouldn’t be so bad to use his ‘fame’ to clarify the importance he placed on his son.
Though Sanders couldn’t deny that he had made the order in a somewhat panicked state after hearing about the ‘situation’ from his wife, Sanders was easily able to realize that the old snake would actually be quite good at handling sabotage and other underhanded tactics being used by the twins against his son.
He knew his own children quite well, no matter how he hated them. While they could barely accept a fair competition, things would definitely not be as peaceful if they became aware of the ‘fixing’ of the results.
This was why Alexander had been given such ‘unfavorable’ conditions from the start, and the redirection of funds and investors had all been done in a meticulous manner to ensure that the twins would never be able to find anything strange until it was too late.
It was what he had been planning for decades, but now… it would be far more complex to continue with this plan without major modifications. Had it been anyone but his beloved wife who ‘ruined his plans’ like this… Sanders would never be able to tolerate it.
After all, if his son really showed up at the Golden Crown, it would be impossible for the twins to remain so oblivious to what was going on.
Sanders could only hate the iron for not becoming steel, but it didn’t change the choice he’d already made in his heart. Only when he made Allie’s son the sole heir to his corporation would he feel like he had done her justice!
As for the twins… heh.
While there was no way to be sure what they would do once they discovered the ‘set up’, neither Sanders nor Allie believed they would remain ‘obedient’ and focus on competing fairly when they knew they were bound to lose. As for how far a pair of children who could poison their own father and stepmother with infertility drugs could go… who knows?
Although there was no proof that those two did it, they were the ones who would benefit the most from such a thing, and the leaders of the Gray Wolfe weren’t stupid enough to not realize such a thing.
With their ability and ruthlessness, it was very likely for them to hire people to either poison or attempt to murder their son, as that would leave the couple with no choice but to pick the next heir from one of them.
And who would be a better option to counter such things than the Old Snake?
Sanders nodded after convincing himself so. “Don’t worry, Allie… Although I sent him over in a panic, in hindsight, it was actually the best decision!”
Although there was some regret in his heart for not allowing the old snake enough time to ‘sneak in’ instead of forcing his identity to be exposed like that, he didn’t believe anyone would be brave enough to lay a hand on the Gray Wolfe’s men.
Of course, his wife believed that everything would have been much better if he just hadn’t interfered, but Sanders could only insist on what he believed to be true.
Allie smiled. “I sure hope it’s like this. If my son really suffers because of this… I’ll be moving out of your mansion.”
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Meanwhile, the old snake was going through the biggest crisis of his life.
As his top priority, more than half his attention had been focused on ensuring Alexander’s safety, and when his car moved away suddenly, he had been caught so off guard that it was impossible for him not to slip up.
Normally, it would only lead to a slight injury and he could still retreat to chase after Alexander and see what was going on, but this wasn’t a normal opponent, after all.
The moment the opponent was able to land a full-strength kick on his knee, the old snake knew it was over.
Having just arrived from the airport, he hadn’t yet had the time to make any preparations, and didn’t even have the hidden weapons he was used to. Those were still waiting for him at the pre-arranged location… and would probably wait for him forever, as it was impossible to escape from here with a shattered knee.
The other members of the ‘Martial Arts Alliance’ had been naturally paying close attention to the ‘duel’ of the two ‘powerhouses’ as well, and they couldn’t help but be dumbfounded when the fight that had seemed like it was just getting started ended so abruptly.
”Old snake lost just like that?!”
”Lord Brown is too amazing!”
Grandpa Brown chuckled as he easily shattered the man’s other knee as well, and with his impaired mobility, the old snake was naturally powerless to resist. “Tell me, what did you come here for? Or should I take you back and dig the truth out slowly?”
The old snake grimaced as he tried his best not to groan out loud in pain. “Humiliate me if you will, but there are things that you cannot afford to touch, and people you cannot afford to offend. I suggest you release the people you took away immediately, before calamity befalls you!”
Grandpa Brown couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you joking, Old Snake? People I can’t afford to offend? We all know you’re from the Nightingale Clan, the lapdogs of the Gray Wolfe. But… so what?”
The old snake naturally knew that someone who ambushed him wouldn’t be unaware of his identity, not to mention that this old man Brown wasn’t an unfamiliar face in the first place.
But even still, their Nightingale clan couldn’t afford it if something went wrong with Alexander while he was supposed to be here to protect him, and he could only take a gamble. “Old Brown, do you even know who is it that you’re messing with? That’s the heir to the Gray Wolfe Corporation!”
The shocked expression on Lord Brown’s face confirmed that he hadn’t been truly aware of Alexander’s identity, and the old snake breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as he could deter them from harming Alexander, everything else was secondary.
Of course, although grandpa Brown had only thought the young man who pestered Emilia must be related to the Nightingale clan, but not their heir, his expression quickly returned to normal. “So what? This isn’t the Carmen country. Even if I break his arms and legs… what can anyone do to me?”
The old snake’s expression turned ashen as he stared at his opponent with both fear and hate. “Y-You wouldn’t dare?!”
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