An Understated Dominance - Chapter 18

“Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and beg Mr. Spanner for forgiveness!” Chris shouted, enjoying Dustin’s embarrassment. He felt jealous when Dustin was showing off earlier, so he wanted to get back at him.

“Will he kneel? If he does, he’ll be too ashamed to show his face again. But if he doesn’t, Edward might hurt him,” Chris thought to himself.

“Hey punk, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance! If you grovel at my feet today, I’ll let you off easy. If not, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Edward said, poking Dustin’s chest with a smug look.

Edward thought, “What does it matter if he can fight? He has no power or status. To everyone else, he’s just a foot soldier.”

“Are you aware that you’re playing with fire?” Dustin asked, staring at Edward’s finger.

“Playing with fire?” Edward laughed. “I want to do more than that. I’m going to have my way with your woman tomorrow while you watch. Not just me, but my men will take their turns too. I want you to see what it’s like to feel hopeless, to wish for death!”

Dustin’s face turned dark with anger at Edward’s words, and he couldn’t hold back anymore. “You asked for this!” he yelled as he lunged forward, grabbing Edward by the throat and lifting him off the ground.

Then, he raised his other hand and landed two hard punches into Edward’s stomach. Edward gasped for air, feeling the impact.

Dustin’s stomach twisted, making him feel like he might throw up, but he couldn’t because his throat felt tight. His face turned red as he struggled to breathe. Suddenly, he realized he had made a big mistake. “Stop it!” Dahlia shouted, stepping forward to help.

But Dustin ignored her and threw another brutal punch, this time hitting Edward in the groin. A sickening sound echoed as flesh hit flesh, and blood began to pool on the floor.

Edward groaned and his body shook with pain. He wanted to scream, but the agony was too much, and eventually, his head drooped to one side as he fainted.

Everyone around them stared in shock at the bloody scene. They could hardly believe that Dustin could be so cruel as to potentially harm Edward’s future with one punch.

After all, Edward was the son of Sir Spanner! Sir Spanner was the kind of man who would come after anyone who even touched his son, let alone hurt him. It was clear that Dustin had just brought down Sir Spanner’s wrath upon himself.

“Have you lost your mind?” Dahlia’s face changed as she pushed Dustin hard. “Do you even realize what you’ve done? You’ve really messed up this time!”

If it had just been a small injury, an apology or money might fix things. But now that Edward was hurt so badly, Trevor wouldn’t let it go easily.

“All I did was deal with one of society’s bad guys. Is that so wrong?” Dustin replied, staying calm.

“That’s not the point! You shouldn’t have hurt him!” Dahlia scolded, frowning at him.

“Hey Dustin, don’t drag us all down with you if you’re looking for trouble! Do you even know what happens when you hurt Sir Spanner’s son?” Chris said, his face red with anger.

Dustin was filled with anger. He had hurt Edward, but Chris had also pushed Edward earlier. This made Chris nervous about what would happen when Sir Spanner found out.

“That’s enough! You need to get out of here now! Run as far away as you can while you still have time!” Dahlia urged quickly.

She realized that once word got out about Edward’s injury, Sir Spanner would be furious. When that happened, Dustin would be trapped and unable to escape his wrath.

“I don’t think I need to run,” Dustin replied, sounding unconcerned.

“Stop pretending you’re tough! Sir Spanner is stronger than you think. Your fighting skills won’t save you!” Dahlia warned.

Even if he could fight, he couldn’t stop bullets!

“Dahlia, he’s not the kind of person who listens to reason. Let’s not get involved in this mess; we don’t want to bring trouble on ourselves,” Lyra said quickly.

“Exactly! He can’t escape!” Chris suddenly blocked the exit, realizing something. “What if he runs away? What if Sir Spanner comes after us instead? We’ll be the ones to take the blame!”

“Mr. Nolan is right!” Lyra agreed, seeing the same danger. “If Dustin runs, we’ll pay the price!”

“What are you saying? Dustin just helped us!” Dahlia frowned.

“No one asked him to help! He interfered in our business!” Lyra scoffed.

“Right! He caused this mess, so he should deal with it!” Chris added, sounding self-righteous.

Dahlia’s expression turned cold as she prepared to speak.

Dustin interrupted her, saying, “You all can relax. I will take responsibility for what I’ve done; I won’t involve any of you.”

“This is a matter of life and death! Can you please stop acting tough?” Dahlia said, a bit annoyed.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Ms. Nicholson. This doesn’t involve you at all, so just sit back and watch,” Dustin replied loudly.

“What do you mean by that? Do you think I’m worried about getting blamed?” Dahlia asked, frowning.

“Isn’t that the case?” Dustin looked at Lyra and Chris as he spoke.

Dahlia was left speechless by his hint. The idea had never crossed her mind, but her secretary had already made that clear earlier.

Dustin believed her secretary’s words reflected Dahlia’s own feelings. “I don’t care what you think; you need to leave today!” Dahlia’s voice became more forceful.

“And I don’t care what you say; I’m not leaving,” Dustin shot back.

With that, he turned and walked out to the flower garden.

“You!” Dahlia was angry.

“Why is he so defiant?” she wondered.