Miles' face immediately darkened. He turned to Liliana and demanded, "Is what Mr. Lloyd said true?" Liliana felt her chest tighten and snapped at Andrew, "You seriously ran off and ratted on me?" Andrew chuckled coldly. "Nope. I said it right to your face. Didn't hide a thing." Liliana choked on her words. "You…" Miles' voice dropped, razor-sharp. "Liliana, pack your things and get your ass home. Then, go straight to Dad and tell him what you did. And after that, you'll buy something decent and take it to Mr. Lloyd's house to formally apologize." Liliana felt utterly humiliated and screamed, "Miles, I won't do it! Even if this guy is some kind of chairman, I'm still the heiress of the Peck family. Who is he to demand an apology from me?" Miles flew into a rage and slapped her hard across the face. "Shut up, you stupid brat. If you insult Mr. Lloyd again, I swear I'll stop treating you like a sister and beat some sense into you right now." Holding her stinging cheek, Lilia
Miles was a privileged heir from the Peck family, one of the Five Apex Families, and was on the same level as people like Elon from the Golding family. In Blumedale, he was naturally considered a top-tier second-generation elite. Lately, Miles had even started his own company, trying to break away from his family and build something on his own. That kind of ambition was not unusual among young heirs. After all, none of them wanted to be seen as soft trust-fund kids with no bite. Everyone wanted to prove themselves without leaning on their last name. Then again, most of the time, the smartest thing a wealthy heir could do was not start a business. Instead, they should just live comfortably off their family's wealth and assets. More often than not, once they started entrepreneurial ventures, even the most substantial family fortunes could not withstand the losses. While Miles was not reckless, his company's financial situation was dire, and he could barely make payroll anymore.
Liliana declared, "I'd be willing to do anything for Joe!" Andrew smirked. "Well, Ms. Peck, aren't you quite the romantic! Let me congratulate you in advance on winning your prince charming." Liliana snorted coldly. "Hold on, don't rush off just yet. I'm not done yet!" Andrew, who had been about to leave, stopped again, and his expression darkened. "Liliana, you talk way too much. I'm giving you one last chance, so speak up!" Liliana was secretly furious at his dismissive tone, as if he was telling her to hurry up and say her piece. Andrew really disgusted her to no end, and she found him absolutely repulsive. "Don't get cocky, Andrew. Your lucky streak is about to end! Nobody has a chance of winning against Joe in combat, but I want you to voluntarily give up this match with him." Now it was Andrew's turn to look confused. "And why would I do that?" Liliana's eyes darted around as she looked Andrew up and down, then her expression turned contemptuous. "The reason, of c
Andrew had already left Nova Fight Club. He exited the same way he came, calm and unbothered. No one even dared to stop him. Liliana said angrily, "Joe, why? With your personality, there's no way you'd tolerate such an insignificant bug acting so arrogantly! You could have crushed him with a single slap!" Joe's eyes were deep and thoughtful as he shook his head. "Liliana, none of you really understand me. Everyone thinks I'm the Driscoll family heir, a peerless genius, an untouchable golden boy! "Maybe the old me enjoyed all that vanity and those titles. But my excellence and talent don't need other people's applause to validate them. My path in life doesn't need my family's background to prop me up so I can bully others and lord over them." He added, "Andrew has every right to compete with me for Lauren. So I'll defeat him fair and square, openly and honestly, and tear him apart! I won't look down on him just because he's a nobody. This is the insight my recent martial arts
Andrew leaned down and patted Leon's face mockingly. "Weren't you acting all tough and badass just a minute ago? What happened to all that attitude? The beef between Mr. Driscoll and me is none of your business, you piece of trash. "What gives you the right to get involved? Huh? I'm asking you, what makes you think you qualify?" Leon shouted, "I'm the eldest son of the Mercer family! Our family runs Blumedale, we—" Before he could finish, Andrew slapped him twice, and blood immediately gushed from Leon's nose and mouth. Liliana, Gary, and the others stood frozen in shock. They all wondered where Andrew got this kind of nerve, especially with Joe still standing there. "So what if the Mercer family runs Blumedale?" Andrew growled, yanking Leon up by the collar. "You might be a Mercer, but what does that have to do with me?" He hissed, "You think you can act tough in front of me, you worthless piece of garbage? Believe me, I could kill you in a heartbeat! If you have a problem
Joe's face darkened for the first time, cold as ice. He said flatly, "Andrew, I never wanted to lay a hand on you. Because if I did, Lauren would think less of me. She'd think I'm a bully, that I'm using my power to crush an outsider like you." He continued, "But Andrew, you really don't know your place. In all of Gabo Creek and the southern region of Holtrien, there aren't more than people who would dare to stand up to me like this. And you? You're nowhere near that level." Andrew slowly rose to his feet, calm and unfazed. "Whether I'm qualified or not, Mr. Driscoll, why don't you enlighten me?: He was not interested in playing games anymore. The tension between the two men snapped like a rubber band. They were like two raging lions on the plains, both dominant and ready to kill for their pride and their woman. Andrew was more than ready to throw down, no tricks, no nonsense. He was eager for a clean, brutal fight. However, Liliana finally lost it. She jabbed a finger toward