An Understated Dominance - Chapter 144

“What do you mean it can’t be cured?” Edwin repeated, his voice rising in disbelief. “Are you saying only that Rhys punk can help my daughter?” His face turned pale as worry filled his eyes.

“We definitely need the right person for the job,” the doctor agreed. “We have to find him, no matter what.”

“This is outrageous!” Edwin growled, his fists clenched. “How could he use such dirty tricks!”

“What should we do now, Sir Hummer?” Fletcher asked, looking concerned.

They had tried to bribe Natasha, but it failed. Dracor was in bad shape after being beaten up. Both polite and rough methods hadn’t worked, and Dustin had become a real problem lately.

But the most important thing was that Tina’s life depended on that man.

Even if they had plans to fight back, they were scared to make the first move.

After a moment of silence, Edwin made up his mind. “Call that punk and get ready to negotiate!”

“Yes, Sir!” Fletcher replied quickly, rushing to get Dustin’s number.

He dialed the number and handed the phone to Edwin.

“Hello, who is this?” Dustin’s voice came through the line.

“This is Edwin Hummer,” Edwin said coldly, trying to control his anger.

“I have one question for you, kid. Did you hurt my daughter or not?”

“Oh, it’s Sir Hummer on the line. If you’re talking about the curse, then yes, that was me,” Dustin replied without any emotion.

“You’ve got some nerve, boy! How dare you hurt my daughter?!” Edwin shouted, his teeth grinding in fury.

“Why don’t you ask your daughter what she’s done? How do you think she ended up like this?”

“Dustin, why are you acting so high and mighty?” Edwin snapped.

“Why should I do what you say right away?” Dustin shot back. “You’re a bit too confident, don’t you think?”

“Are you trying to bargain? Fine! Cure my daughter, and I won’t hold anything against you in the future!” Edwin barked.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Dustin sneered.

“I’ll also lift the ban on the Nicholsons so they can get back on track,” Edwin added.

“That’s not what I want,” Dustin replied calmly.

“What do you want then?” Edwin demanded, his patience wearing thin.

“I want your daughter to apologize to me,” Dustin said simply.

“What?! You want her to apologize?!” Edwin exclaimed, his expression turning icy.

“Is it too much to ask for an apology from someone who hurt me for no reason?” Dustin asked.

“Who do you think you are? How dare you ask a Hummer for an apology? What makes you think you deserve it?” Edwin roared, his anger boiling over.

Though he didn’t want to escalate things further, Edwin thought it was ridiculous for Dustin to believe the Hummers owed him anything.

“If you won’t give me that apology, fine. But remember, your daughter may not have much time left,” Dustin warned, his tone serious.

Edwin hung up the phone, his anger boiling over.

“Does this punk think he can push me around?!” he shouted.

He was so furious that he nearly smashed the phone on the ground. Who did this person think he was?

Edwin was one of the Mighty Three, the richest man in the city, and a major player in the Underground World. In his domain, he called the shots and could get anything he wanted in an instant. It had been a long time since he felt humiliated like this.

What would happen to the Hummer family’s reputation if word got out that they had visited the Nicholsons to apologize? Would they still have any dignity left?

“Sir Hummer, I think it would be wise to be the bigger person here. We should agree to his terms to save Ms. Hummer,” Mr. Lawson suggested, standing nearby.

“If we agree to his terms now, won’t anyone think they can walk all over the Hummer name from now on?” Edwin replied loudly.

“This is just one way to slow him down, Sir Hummer. Once we save Miss Hummer, we can come up with a plan to get back at that punk,” Mr. Lawson proposed.

Edwin fell silent. His suggestion made sense, but the idea of lowering himself to apologize felt unbearable.

“Dad, it hurts! It’s so painful! Save me!” Tina cried out from her bed, her face twisted in pain.

Seeing his daughter suffer, Edwin took a deep breath and decided to compromise.

He dialed Dustin’s number again, his voice sharp as he spoke into the phone. “I’ll agree to your terms, kid, but don’t you dare try to trick me!”

“The apology has to be sincere. If…”

“You want to act like this? Then we have nothing more to discuss,” Dustin said flatly.

“How dare you—” Edwin started to shout but stopped when his eye began to twitch.

“Fine, you win! I’ll send someone over today at noon to apologize in person!” he yelled, struggling to control his anger.

“I’ll be waiting,” Dustin replied calmly.

At noon, inside a VIP room at East Swinton Hospital, Dahlia had been awake for a while. The redness and puffiness in her cheeks had faded a lot.

Her hands were still bandaged, so the doctors had advised her to stay still for now.

When Dustin walked in with a fruit basket, he saw that the Nicholson family had gathered and was deep in conversation.

Even old Mr. Nicholson, who usually kept to himself, was there.

“The nerve of you to show your face here, Rhys! Do you even realize the damage you’ve done? Because of you, the Hummers banned us! Are you happy now that the Quine Group is about to fall apart?” Florence shouted as soon as she saw him. She went from calm to furious in an instant.

The others in the room were silent at first, but soon their faces showed anger too. Even Dahlia frowned at him.

She had heard about the ban from the Hummers as soon as she woke up, and it was all because Custin had allegedly attacked Ms. Hummer.

Dahlia knew he had done it for her, but his so-called “help” had only put the entire Nicholson family in a tough spot.

“Alright, alright, let’s stop fighting,” someone finally said. “We all know that Dustin did what he did to defend Dahlia. It was a bit impulsive, but…”

“Let’s try to stay calm. I believe he had good intentions,” Old Mr. Nicholson said, trying to ease the tension.

“Are you really still defending him after everything that’s happened, Dad? Are you waiting until our family falls apart?” Florence replied, her teeth clenched in anger.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already handled the issue with the Hummers,” Dustin said, speaking softly.

“What do you mean you’ve handled it? What’s your solution? If you were really capable, would the Nicholsons still be banned? You need to leave right now. I don’t want to see you anymore! Go away!” Florence screamed.

In her frustration, she snatched the fruit basket from Dustin and threw it to the ground.