“Since you were here, I can go home straight. Then I could start cooking early. What dish did you prefer tonight?” Hailey did her best to sound and look sweet. It is the charm she is using to coax her father or Bryan and the boys.

However, Vince remained expressionless in front of her. Another moment passed, Hailey heard Vince hurl a long sigh.

“Forget making dinner tonight. We can dine out. But before that, there’s something I wanted to do.”

Hailey remained silent. There’s no enthusiasm in Vince’s tone. It means what he is about to do is to be feared…

And before she could ask, Vince already took her hand and pulled her toward the car.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?” Hailey asked, pretending she did not know what was going on. She already guessed that it relates to what happened, and so she hopes that Vince just let it off and leave this place. To what he is acting right now, Hailey was sure that Vince heard about the encounter today. “Can we just leave now?”

“Not until I’m done,” said Vince. He drove his car toward the resort’s main building, where the private halls and suites are located. He parked at the entrance, and before getting out of the car, he told Hailey, “Stay in the car.”

She wants to raise a protest, but Vince already slammed the door closed. Biting her lower lip, she was pondering whether to follow him.

It’s not the first time that someone insulted her as Vince’s woman. In the past, Vince would deal with them in silence. But today, she was nervous. The expression Vince has when he gets out of the car is the same as the last time…

Meanwhile, climbing the patio, displeasure was written on Vincent’s face. Earlier, he was in the middle of a meeting when he received a video. After watching it, he wanted to kill that person who treated Hailey like trash.

“President Shen!”

The manager of the resort rushes to meet Vince halfway. He looked like he was going to piss on himself.

“Where is he?” With rage in his voice, Vince asked the manager. When the manager didn’t reply, he glanced at him with fury. “Do I need to repeat myself?”

Shuddering, Vince’s cold voice sent him to hell. The manager, Edgar Reid, knows that he must obey him. After all, the Shen family is an investor of this resort.

It pressed Edgar Reid between two giant rocks. However, he is more afraid of the family background Vincent Shen had.

Leading the way, Edgar is wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead. He brought Vince to one of the VIP’s rooms and opened the door for him.

The moment he stepped inside, Vince swept his eyes in the hall. He fixed his gaze on a particular person, the one he saw in the video.

They formed a group of 16 people: 9 men and seven females. When everyone fell silent, one gathered the courage to greet Vince.

“President Shen! What an honor to have you!”

The man named Ken Gutierrez stood on his feet. But the rest couldn’t dare to move or breathe. It appears to them that Vince’s facial expression is like a person who was about to murder someone.

Instead of replying, Vince only ignored Ken but shot sharp stares at the host of this exclusive party.

Sensing that burning stares shooting at him, Howie Gu lifted his head and glanced at the door. At the sight of Vince, Howie smiled awkwardly, but arrogance in his eyes remained.

He sat up on the couch he was seated at, then strides to meet Vince halfway. “Welcome, President Shen! I thought you were busy at work, so I didn’t invite you. But come and join us!” 

Howie Gu was overconfident. It was what his friends thought. 

Honestly, they could not think of why someone like Vincent Shen would spare time to join them. Shen and Gu would not be a close family unless one of them offended Vincent.

It answered their question too soon. Those who remained seated stood on their feet and stepped backward. The female gasps in shock, and most of them hide behind the men.

*

Vince walked straight to Howie Gu. The moment he had a glimpse of him. Only one thing is in his mind; to beat him up.

And to Howie’s surprise. He wasn’t able to react quickly when his body made contact with the floor.

Vince kicked Howie on his stomach using his right foot, and no one could dare to help him. Now, Howie lay flat on the floor, still surprised by what just happened. Vince kicked him out of the blue.

When he comes back to his senses, Howie attempts to get up. He reaches for his stomach when pain ripples his body.

Howie was cursing Vince. And before he could sit up, he received another kick from Vince. This time, Vince steps on his chest, pressing him on the floor.

“What is your problem!?” Howie shouted. He attempted to look fierce despite the pain he felt on his body and a bit of fear forming inside his chest.

However, Vince keeps pressing his foot on his chest. The tip of his shoe is pointing at his throat, making it hard to breathe.

“Vince!” Later, a woman rushed to the room and pulled Vince away from Howie.

Hailey didn’t wait for Vince to come back. She followed him, and the scene she saw shocked her. Vince is stepping on the man’s throat, firmly pressing him on the floor. “Stop! It’s not worth wasting your energy on him!”

She begs Vince, pulling his arm. But Vince was like a huge rock; she cannot move.

“No one can insult my woman!” Vince’s voice is echoing in that room.

Hailey was rendered speechless. A scene like this is not new to her. It’s just an ordinary act.

Bryan, Geoffrey, Leo, and the rest of the boys beat the people who harass and do wrong to her. But this time, it was someone considered a stranger man who protects her other than the boys, which filled her chest with warm feelings she never felt before being a woman.

It touched her that Vince takes revenge on people that humiliate her. It was a different feeling compared to what she felt around Bryan and the others.

She felt more special… and loved?

Remembering these facts, Hailey snaps herself to wake up. She stared at Vince, and he looked determined to beat up the guy. But to think over, it saddened her it was only an act.

“Vince…” Hailey called his name one more time.

But Vince only shrugs her hands. He kneeled on one knee, and his one foot remains on Howie’s chest.

Helpless, Howie wanted to scream at his friends to help him. But everyone didn’t even dare to watch the scene but turned their heads in different directions.

Howie could not believe that his friends were useless. It enraged him. But at the moment, his life was at stake.

“I… I’m sorry… I didn’t know that she is your girlfriend. It was just a joke!” Howie tried to apologize, between his lack of air. He felt like the air passage on his lungs was blocked, and it was because Vince put his weight in his chest and throat.

“Your apology is useless!” Vince hissed. He went on. “But since you just came back to the country. I will give you two options.”

“Anything! Please!” This time, Howie swallowed his arrogance but submitted to Vince. The way the guy looking at him was like daggers slashing his pride as a man.

“Very well, then. So listen carefully. First, you should regret coming home to P Country. Second, you should regret that I’ve seen you in Metro City.”

Howie remains silent. He’s trying to process the words, Vince told him. And he doesn’t like it because that was not an option but a threat!

It was a warning that he should not step on Metro City from now on!

*

Even though Vincent left already, Howie remained to lie down on the floor, frozen, staring at the high ceiling of that hall. He just came back to his senses when someone stressed out at him. 

“Idiot! What did you do, and you offended Vincent Shen!? Did you dare to touch his woman?”