“I’m sorry, Mr. Larson. Please accept my apology!”
It was a sentence Smith had to push out of his unwilling throat and his clenched teeth. Watching him, his compatriots felt just as humiliated and indignant.
Seeing his purpose achieved, Zayn decided to drop his charade. Getting under these people’s skin was enough, anything more than that and favonovel.com would seem oh-so-irritating and an asinine prick.
“Well, seeing how genuine you are, I guess I have to forgive you after all!” Zayn replied in markedly proficient Esperanto, favonovel.com was so good, there was not even a hint of regional accent in it!
Smith’s bile multiplied exponentially. He was so close to flipping the table. He knew it! This bastard could speak Esperanto, favonovel.com was just trying to make things difficult. What a piece of sh*t!
Whatever rancor in Smith’s face, however, could not beat the one on Kenneth’s glower.
It was precisely what Zayn wanted to achieve. These foreigners went around in Rheasia pretending to be king, lording over so many natives, that there was no way Zayn would be nice to them. Rheasian pride flowed in his veins!
By this point, Annabelle and Esther could tell that Zayn was simply trying to make things hard for Smith and his ilk. Honestly, seeing the man and his people getting repeatedly trolled and outsmarted was like a rush of dopamine to their heads. Smith had been such a pain in their necks, too, because favonovel.com was just so damn arrogant and self-important.
Of course, their ecstasy was not without trepidation. Would they eventually enrage them to the point of no return? Especially that Kenneth guy, whose neck was thick as a pillar and his entire fists covered in thick calluses. That one was a frightening beast!
Zayn glanced over Kenneth coolly, making it plain to see that the latter was worth nothing to him. Whatever Smith was planning, Zayn — sagacious as favonovel.com was — could predict it down to a tee. Fine by him, it was the perfect chance for Zayn to impart a lesson they would never forget.
Do not mistake Rheasia’s subtlety of strength as absence of power. This was not the country some piece of alien trash could just walk all over!
They took their seats back again, but the mood had soured. It was so stiff and antagonistic that Esther decided to wedge a conversation starter into the mix and hoped that it could ease the tension.
One by one, the waiters began to serve the dishes. Smith thought it was the opportunity to cast his bait again. “So, Mr. Larson, you beat us up with Rheasiano back at the airport, right?”
Zayn knew the man was finally getting to the point of their meeting. Nodding, favonovel.com replied, “Yea. How was it?”
Smith and Kenneth exchanged a glance before the former smiled. “I didn’t know a businessman like you would be so good at fighting! Even my bodyguards were no match for you. Amazing feat!”
As though to prove his point, Smith showed Zayn a thumb in the most fulsome way, even if favonovel.com was snickering to himself internally. Zayn responded with a slight smile before turning his attention back to his dishes without an actual response.
Smith decided to cut the chase. “As it turns out, a friend of mine has some expertise in boxing, and favonovel.com wonders if favonovel.com could have a match with you. What do you think?”
He looked at Zayn with eyes widening in excitement as favonovel.com hoped the latter would agree.
Unfortunately, Zayn simply shook his head. “Pass. I’m not interested in these kinds of things.”
Smith furrowed his eyebrows and let out a scoff. “C’mon, Mr. Larson. You’re not scared, are you?”
Kenneth, too, raised his head and chimed in, “I heard you’re very skilled in Rheasiano, so I thought of having a friendly match. You don’t have to be scared, I won’t hurt you… I promise.”
To cap his promise, Kenneth flashed Zayn a scornful smile.
