Chapter 2

Turning, Tony studied Lex and finally realized who he was. He asked quietly, "Lex Fisher, was it? Any relation to Andrew Fisher?"

Lex laughed loftily. "That's my father—Riverton's most famous entrepreneur! What, are you scared now? Then go down on your knees and apologize, and I'll let slide the fact that you hurt Benji!"

Tony rolled his eyes.

He had spent the last three years investigating the massacre of his family, but the culprit had been well-hidden.

Still, he was just starting to find some clues recently, and there were links to one Andrew Fisher.

And if the Fishers were involved in the massacre of the Quill family, then their doom would closely follow.

With that in mind, Tony found the goodness in his heart to turn to Kate, warning her, "It's over between us, but we were once married after all, so here's some advice—stay away from the Fishers, or you'll regret it!"

Kate glanced at her grandfather Pierce before she knew it but only found him closing his eyes in silence.

On the other hand, Lex was laughing without a care. "Regret? How laughable—she might really regret it if you keep dragging her feet!

"Tut, tut… And you used to be an heir to an important family, but just look at you now, looking like a complete loser! But I must thank you for being so respectful toward Kate… I mean, not even holding hands for three years?"

Even as Lex spoke, he made a grab for Kate's hand.

She was a little resistant to the idea but ultimately did not stop him.

That further emboldened Lex, who leered at Tony gleefully. "Have you ever thought that maybe the real reason Kate is divorcing is because you're impotent? Because you don't have an ounce of masculinity in you?"

It was a clear and direct insult that even Kate scowled a little, but the rest of the Willows were laughing out loud.

However, Rain was not about to abide her brother being insulted and his ex-wife being so apathetic, and she shot back angrily, "Why would my brother lay a finger on filth who only gets her success from marrying rich?"

"Watch your mouth, brat! Who do you think you're calling filth?!"

Helen Zander, Kate and Benji's mother, had been clutching Benji's form until now, but she came to her senses at Rain's insult and bellowed just like a fishwife, "Tony Quill is nothing but a loser! If he's a man, he wouldn't be living off our family and now leave without giving us anything! He even did this to my son!

"Get out! You siblings are troublemakers! Jinxes! Mr. Fisher, you have to help us—you can't just let him hurt your brother-in-law and get away with it!"

Lex promptly nodded at Helen, "Yes, ma'am… I mean, Mother-in-Law! Don't worry, that brat will either answer for this, or he's not getting away!"

Striding toward Tony, he threatened, "You have two choices now! Either go down on your knees and apologize, so we can put this behind us…

"If you do, I'll let you attend my engagement party during the commencement of the Willow-Carter joint project! Otherwise, I'll break your legs and show you what a real man is like—"

"You, a real man?" Tony suddenly wheeled on him and growled, "You have no business laying a finger on Kate, let alone calling yourself a man! In fact, you and your family should go down on your knees before me instead!"

Lex was at first taken aback but soon laughed even more loudly. "Haha! What are you even saying?! Have you really lost your mind because you were dumped?! Me, kneel—"

Smack!

Before Lex could finish, Tony had already moved and thrust a needle into his body, sealing his libido!

Then, with just the tip of his foot, he knocked Lex on his kneecap so quickly that it was as if he never moved.

Thud!

His knees buckling, Lex was suddenly kneeling in front of Tony as if he had every intention to.

It was such a strange sight that the parlor was left so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

They only came to their senses when Tony growled as he looked downward at Lex. "Your engagement party is going to be your family's funeral!"

And it was Helen who started yelling first. "Oh! That brat's really lost his mind, hurting Mr. Fisher!"

The rest of the Willows were at once embarrassed and furious too and were all on their feet, ready for a fight.

"You've really done it now, Tony!"

"You are not leaving until you answer for what you did!"

"So, you want to go down swinging, do you?!"

Even Kate was snapping at Tony before she knew it. "Do you know what you're doing?!"

"What? Beating up the man you threw yourself at?"

As Tony looked up and leveled a cool look at Kate, he continued slowly and clearly, "Don't misunderstand. Hurting him has nothing to do with you marrying him!"

He was not the type who would stoop so low as to beat up a person in order to vent his frustrations.

The only reason he would attack Lex at all was because the Fishers were found connected to his family's massacre, and beating up Lex would speed up the investigation directly, among other things.

Seeing that things were quickly getting out of hand, Pierce finally bellowed, "Are you people done?! Just leave already, Tony!"

"No!" Helen promptly cried, intent on goading Lex to get payback for her son. "Don't let him leave! He just attacked Mr. Fisher—"

She turned quiet before she could finish, as Pierce was leveling her a furious glare.

For his part, Tony said nothing else as he took Rain's hand and led her outside, leaving Lex still on his knees and the rest of the Willows flustered.

As soon as he left, his phone rang, with the name Ingrid Carter showing on the screen.

Rain craned her neck for a look. "Is that the Carters?"

Seeing Tony nod, she promptly huffed, "The Willows have gone too far this time! You should tell the Carters to call off their joint project, and they'll come begging!"

Tony shook his head. "That's unnecessary."

That left Rain puzzled. "But don't you hate her?"

Tony smiled bitterly. "Love and hate matter less than compatibility when it comes to relationships…. You're young, but you'll get it when you're older."

Hate?

Even though their marriage was at its end, and even though Kate had cheated on him, he more or less had the feeling she had her reasons.

He answered the call, and a bewitching woman's voice asked, "Mr. Quill, we've already done what you asked for and included the Willows among our list of partners. Can you please help my grandfather as agreed?"

Despite being an amazing healer, Tony rarely stepped up and had only agreed to the Carters' requests for Kate's sake.

And before he could answer, Rain leaned in and shouted over the call, "Ms. Carter! Kate Willow has divorced my brother, so he has nothing to do with the Willows now! There's no need to partner with them."

There was a long silence as Ingrid was clearly stunned for a while before blurting, "Divorced… Is that true, Mr. Quill?"

"We are," Tony replied, not bothered to keep it a secret.

"Well, what about our agreement?"

"Don't worry," Tony assured her. "I was the one who agreed to treat your grandfather. I'll head over to the hospital right now."

Ingrid breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Quill. I'm actually in the neighborhood—I'll come pick you up."

Rain watched as Tony soon hung up and complained, "Come on, Tom! Why should we help the Willows after what they did to you?"

Tony forced a smile. "Forget it. It's the last favor I'm doing for her!"

Even if the Willows could treat him like a tool, he was not one to add insult to injury.

Ding!

That was when Tony' phone rang again—this time with a text from an unknown number that left him frowning.

[Someone is going to hurt you and your sister. Get out of Riverton while you still can!]

Who could it be?

Many names came up in his mind, but he could not start to guess who would come after him and his sister, let alone who was warning them.

And when he tried to call the number, the device was already turned off.