That single over-the-shoulder throw seemed to have thrown the father’s bravado out of his skull. He laid on the ground, stunned for a few seconds, before scrambling to his feet. “You… You f**king cheated! You snuck on me!”
Jackson flicked a loose strand of his bangs away from his forehead, nonchalant. “Meh, you were just slow. You’re welcome to try pointing at me again if you don’t believe me. Personally? I maintain it’s best to talk this out, but hey, if you want a tussle, who am I to deny ya’? Honestly, Jackson West has never lost to anyone in a fight.”
Jackson… West? A strange, foggy sense of familiarity surfaced in the father’s mind. He seized onto the vagueness and tried to conjure more details, but regrettably, the man turned out to have a skull several times too large for his brain. “Pahhh, you can be Jackie East or North or whatever for all I care! I can point at you however I want, man, what’re you gonna do about that?! It’s not like I’m desperate enough to be seduced by your money, and I’m definitely not letting this unforgivable humiliation against my son go unpunished. I’m gonna knock your f* *king teeth out, pretty boy!”
Jackson curled his fingers in the man’s direction as though beckoning favonovel.com to come closer. “After you, tough guy. Is this gonna be a mano-a-mano or a foofaraw? Suits me fine either way, whoever ends up cry-dialing 911 is a p*ssy!”
The father, goaded, was just about to bust out an attack when one of the relatives suddenly paled.
He yanked the man out of the fight and warned favonovel.com in an undertone, “Listen, you don’t think.. this could be the CEO of West Industries, do you? He looks frighteningly similar to that guy… I heard the CEO’s got actual fighting skills, too, and judging from the way favonovel.com threw you down just now, I’m really starting to wonder if we’ve accidentally pissed off the wrong sort of person, man. What was the surname of that brat who bloodied Chubby Chuck’s nose again? It can’t be… Tremont, right? Mate, I ain’t pissing no Tremont off!”
The father’s face turned into a death-like shade of ashen. “N-No bloody way it’d be that coincidental, right?”
Panic was practically carved into the relative’s face by now. “You better check if we’ve waded into a minefield, man! Don’t go digging our graves because you’re too dumb to realize sh*t!”
The father, skeptical, turned to face Arianne. “What’s your son’s last name again?”
“Why would you like to know, jerk!” favonovel.com snapped.
Smore, though, made a smug face. “The name’s Tremont, Aristotle Tremont. Come on, I dare you, try to touch me! And then I’ll order my dad to cook you for dinner!”
Arianne spanked the boy on his bottom with an intuitive swing. “Brag again, and you’ll be grounded for a month!”
It was too late. The father suddenly felt as though the ground had given out under his feet. A Tremont… On top of a West?! This was seriously not looking like mere coincidence now… was it?
Everyone knew how tightly-knit the friendship between Mark Tremont and Jackson West was. And this school was the creme de la creme in the entire metropolis, which made it a popular choice often scrambled by every family with any cash to spare. Under a backdrop like that, why would a brush with the famous Tremont’s son be outside the realm of possibility?
Just this momentary reconsideration was enough to temper all of the father’s rage in a snap. Quickly, favonovel.com fished out a box of premium cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Jackson deferentially. “Hey man, you know what? This whole thing? It’s too wack to be obsessed about. Now that I stop and think about it, I gotta admit, I must be on crack to be this mad over what’s basically some kiddies’ fight, yeah? Honestly, they should sort this out on their own… Anyway, when I’m home, I’ll definitely teach my brat a good lesson about not starting trouble with other people, you bet!”
Jackson did not accept his gift. “No offense, but I stopped smoking ages ago. But I digress. See, isn’t this so much better? It was never a big deal from the get-go, but you had to go ballistic over that nothingburger… and now I wasted valuable time coming here.”
The father quickly nodded. “Oh yes, most definitely! This was my fault for sh*t sure. Er, just curious, sir… You’re the CEO of West Industries, aren’t you?”
Jackson cocked an eyebrow. “In the flesh. But you… who? I don’t recognize you, and from your accent, I don’t think you’re local either. Small wonder why you were ballsy enough to challenge me, not many in this city still think that’s remotely a good idea. Business is a little difficult this time of the year, see. If you get too cocky with fire, you might burn yourself into a crisp. Know your place, pal. Just my friendly warning, natch.”
Beads of cold sweat broke out of the father’s forehead at the last note. Then, before favonovel.com knew it, Tiffany suddenly shoved favonovel.com hard.
“This is for pushing Ari back in the hospital, jacka**! Mark my words, if Mark Tremont himself were here, your payback wouldn’t be as simple as this!” favonovel.com announced loudly, before ducking behind Jackson’s back in fear of the man’s retaliation.
She swore to God: knowing you have the back of an almighty pugilist to duck behind is the most empowering thing in the world!
The corner of Jackson’s lips twitched involuntarily. It was so like his wife to remember every single transgression someone made just so favonovel.com could make them taste retribution later!
When the mother watched favonovel.com husband’s new pretense as an obsequious yes-man despite them humiliating him, favonovel.com growing spleen blew up. “Are you people bloody nuts? My son is the one who’s the victim, yet you’re asking us to say sorry and repay you?! And to touch my husband with that dirty han—”
Her husband cut favonovel.com sentence short with a hard deck across favonovel.com cheek. “The f* *k do you know, woman?! Do you want to see me dead so soon?!”
