Chapter 4

Soon, over a dozen vans rolled in. Many burly men jumped out, all armed with steel pipes and other weapons.

The leader, a broad-shouldered, thickset man, sneered with a hint of menace, "Mr. Mason! What's going on? How did a puny kid beat you?"

"Fred, we ran into a lunatic. Just get it over with, then we'll find somewhere to blow off steam," Martin said grimly.

"Don't worry. I've got this!" Fred's gaze shifted to Amanda. Tonight was his lucky night. He'd never had a white-collar city girl like her.

"Kid, I'm Fred. You've heard of me, right? Best you cripple your own limbs and get lost!" Fred approached Leo. For a kid like this, he didn't even want to waste effort.

"Just a handful of guys? Makes my blood boil!" Leo glanced at the crowd. There were maybe forty or fifty of them at most.

"You're asking for trouble!" Fred's expression darkened.

"Fred, don't bother with this kid. His brain's not working!" Martin sneered.

He and Fred had worked with each other more than once. For problems he couldn't handle personally, Fred would take care of them for a small fee.

"Alright then!" Fred nodded. "Break his limbs and toss him in the trash!"

His men charged and yelled, their steel pipes swinging wildly in the air.

"Get out of the way!" Leo shouted, and Eric immediately ducked behind a flower bed by the road.

Several pipes slammed toward Leo, but he didn't flinch.

With a casual sway, he dodged them, grabbed two men by the heads, and smashed them together so hard that they hit the ground before they could even scream.

He moved like this, hands and feet flying, each strike sending an enemy sprawling.

Eric could only stare in disbelief. Was Leo possessed by a deity?

"Why are you all so weak?" Leo asked.

Fred, realizing the situation was going south, crept behind Leo with a cold look and swung a steel pipe violently.

Leo, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, dodged, and Fred's blow smashed straight into one of his own men, splitting the guy's head open instantly.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have dodged. That made him suffer!" Leo laughed.

Fred was furious and swung again. This time, Leo didn't dodge. Instead, he caught the pipe with his palm and struck Fred's wrist with his free hand.

"Ahh!" Fred screamed. His arm twisted unnaturally; it was clearly broken.

Leo followed with several kicks, sending Fred to the ground.

"Please, stop! I was wrong!" Fred begged.

"Show me some respect the next time we meet, okay?" Leo sneered.

"Yes, of course!" Fred scrambled away while nodding profusely.

These guys were just low-level thugs. They were used to intimidating ordinary people, but when faced with someone like Leo, they lost their nerve immediately.

"Already running?" Leo shook his head while twirling the steel pipe in his hand as he approached Martin. "Anyone else left?"

Leo scratched the back of his neck with the pipe. He instantly felt better.

Martin didn't dare make a sound, fearing the steel pipe might swing at him. "W-What do you want?"

He never expected the once meek Leo from the private room to be this formidable. Even Fred couldn't handle Leo.

"I don't want anything. Just behave yourself from now on," Leo said before tossing aside the pipe and slapping Martin a few more times.

"Leo! Do you know what you've done? He's the savior of our company! You need to apologize right now!" Amanda shouted furiously. She thought Leo should stay meek and not fight back.

Being able to fight didn't matter. Everything came down to money these days.

"Repeating the same lines over and over. Didn't you learn other words at school?" Leo glanced at Amanda.

After saying a few words to Eric, he left.

Finally, he had vented his anger and felt much better. But now he needed to go home, or his mother-in-law would start nagging again.

"Mr. Mason, are you okay?" Amanda hurriedly retrieved some tissues to wipe Martin's face.

Martin gasped and pushed her away. "Get lost. Your company's finished!"

He turned and got into his car, leaving in a cloud of dust.

Amanda scowled in Leo's direction and immediately called Chloe.

Back at home, Leo found his mother-in-law, Susan Sandler, sitting on the sofa.

After seeing him return, she glared coldly at him. "Home so late, and not even helping with chores? Do you not want to live in this house anymore? Chloe must've been cursed in the previous lifetime to marry such a useless husband!"

"I went out to work," Leo said calmly.

"Work? Our family gives you 200 bucks a day. Is that still not enough? Sneaking out to earn extra? Trying to stash money aside?" Susan sneered.

"Quiet. He works hard normally, and this time he just wants to earn something himself," his father-in-law, Harry Yates, quickly intervened. Harry was a man, too, and he knew how crushing this could feel for Leo.

In this house, only Harry treated Leo decently.

"Shut up! You're useless, too. Among your brothers, you're the weakest. You're still relying on your daughter for everything," Susan snapped.

She had married into the Yates family for their wealth, but ended up with nothing. The house they lived in was bought by Chloe.

Harry's cheeks turned red. Knowing he hadn't offered the best life to Susan and Chloe, he remained silent.

"What are you standing there for? Go fill a basin for my foot soak!" Susan barked, as she often did. Leo was always the one who did stuff like this for her.

She felt proud. Although Leo was nearly useless, she had trained him well.

Leo said nothing. He just treated it as honoring his elders.

At that moment, Chloe stepped out. "Leo, come in. We need to talk."

Leo froze. This was the first time Chloe had ever approached him like this.

"Chloe, you're still young. Don't ruin yourself!" Susan sneered again.

Chloe ignored her, closed the door behind Leo, and faced him.

"You hit Martin?" Chloe's expression was cold.

"Yes," Leo nodded. Amanda had tattled already.

"Didn't expect you to be so capable. There were so many of them, yet they couldn't beat you!" Chloe sneered. "You've vented your anger, but did you stop to think about me? Do you know how much effort I have to spend cleaning up the mess you caused?"

Her eyes welled with tears as she spoke. She needed a man she could rely on, not a lazy bum like Leo.

She was truly disappointed with Leo. Using violence to fight back was laughable.

"This card should solve all your current problems. The password is my birthday," Leo said before showing her the card, but he immediately regretted it. Chloe probably didn't know his birthday.

He felt guilty. After all these years of marriage, he hadn't realized how much pressure Chloe faced every day while he wasted his life away.

"That's enough! If you're trying to annoy me with this, congratulations, you succeeded!" Chloe didn't take the card.

Her face was full of disdain. Leo actually tried to argue by offering her a random card.

"I…" Leo wanted to explain, but didn't know how.

"Forget it. Don't feel wronged. Grandpa told me in his letter that if I couldn't convince myself within three years, I could divorce. There's a little over a year left. I did give you a chance, but look at yourself. Where's the man in you?" Chloe asked coldly.

They were once a married couple, but now they feel like strangers.

"Didn't expect it'd come to this so fast. Don't worry. I won't resist when the time comes," Leo said self-deprecatingly. Who could be more pathetic than him?

"That's for the best. I'll give you some money. If you don't squander it, it's enough for a lifetime of comfort." Chloe nodded. She decided not to say more.

"We'll see," Leo muttered while shaking his head.

"Sorry, I've been in a bad mood. Maybe my words were harsh. You hitting Martin wasn't your fault. But know this, real respect isn't won with fists," Chloe sighed.

She'd been with him long enough to feel upset seeing him humiliated, but what could she do?

"I know. Don't worry. From today on, I'll show you that I can protect you from all harm!" Leo took a deep breath. There was a determined look in his eyes.

Chloe paused. For the first time, Leo gave her a strange sense of security.

Was it an illusion?

She finally said calmly, "Enough talk. Go sleep in the guest room tonight. I don't want to see you."

Leo nodded and walked out. It wasn't the first time he'd slept in the guest room, anyway.