Chapter 2 The Last Resort

• How dare she! No one else has ever told me to leave like that! At the thought of that, an angry look flashed across Harvey’s face, but when he recalled the fact that Alice was his wife—although in name only—he suppressed his anger and got over it, considering his indebtedness to her grandfather.
• “What’s wrong? Are you giving me the silent treatment, huh?! You can hold your own well—I’ll give you that—but have some sense of shame, would you?!” Alice grunted indifferently as she didn’t want to see Harvey any longer. Thus, she stepped out of her car and walked away before disappearing into the darkness amidst the quiet night.
• Meanwhile, Harvey only fixed his gaze on the lady while recalling the past ten thousand years, during which he had been practicing the mystic arts in isolation. At the same time, he had also abstained from bodily and physical pleasures over the past few millenniums. Thus, now that he was back to the worldly society, he treated his return as a test to achieve greatness on his path to enlightenment.
• Furthermore, Harvey was still looking for someone whom he thought he was going to need help finding. After all, he believed the person he was searching for had still not attained enlightenment and was still in the earthly world. Therefore, he was planning on using the Brown Family’s power to find that person. Instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, the Browns may be able to help me find some useful clues at the very least.
• At the thought of that, Harvey calmly followed behind Alice until he returned to the Brown Residence, where he was greeted with a harsh scolding. “Look at what you’ve done, Harvey! How could you do something so shameless?! Even the police station had to call up and inform us about your disgraceful deed! You could shame yourself all you want, but don’t you dare tarnish the Brown Family’s name!”
• Polly Jameson seemed very unhappy to learn about Harvey’s prostitution scandal after receiving a call from the police station. If word about this gets out, the Brown Family will be a laughingstock across the city! What has this guy ever done over the years? He never once contributed to the family, and when he did, he did it in a bad way by ruining our reputation. Great!
• Polly then seized Harvey’s arm and harshly berated him while pointing at his face. “You’ve been sponging us off for the past four years! Now, everybody is calling us blind for having a son-in-law like you! That’s some great ‘contribution’ that you finally made to the family! What have we actually done to you to deserve this?! Or do you think of Alice as a pushover?! Let me level with you—if it weren’t for Old Master Aaron, you would never have stood a chance to even set foot in this house!”
• “That’s enough.” Martin Brown glared at his wife, disappointed with her missing decency. He then frowned and approached Harvey closer in frustration while ordering him with a deep voice, “Kneel, Harvey.”
• Kneel? Harvey responded with a glacial gaze. No one else besides my master has ever told me to kneel, and I will not kneel before anyone, including my father-in-law.
• While Harvey seemed reluctant to submit, Martin couldn’t help but grow even more furious. If Pop hadn’t insisted on keeping this idiot, I would have driven him away long ago! Considering the Brown Family’s reputable status in Vanstead City, Martin was worried that Harvey’s scandal would jeopardize their image. Besides, he didn’t think Harvey deserved Alice; he was calling him a failure deep down while feeling sorry for his daughter about her useless husband.
• “Did you see that, Pop?! Harvey won’t even listen to us now! Those who don’t know what’s going on may even think that we’ve gotten ourselves an ungrateful parasite!”
• In the meantime, Polly gave Harvey an evil stare as she tried to make things worse; she was determined to cast Harvey out of the Brown Family. After all, she reckoned her daughter deserved someone better. Hence, in a fit of rage, she raised a hand to Harvey, ready to give the man a slap in his face, but Harvey didn’t dodge this time; instead, he got a hold of her wrist and glared at her glacially.
• “What the heck?! How dare you stop me!”
• “Let go of her, Harvey.”
• Initially just standing by and watching, Alice was surprised by Harvey’s resistance as she thought he would just quietly listen to the scolding from her parents. Since she had seen how strong Harvey could be, she was afraid for her mother’s safety, so she quickly intervened by rushing toward the man. For the first time, she looked at him with a slightly intimidated gaze. Fine! You’re just a man who is trying to protect your pride anyway! I’d like to see how you’re going to do that because I don’t believe a useless crap like you, who’s been incorrigible for four years, could change overnight.
• “Alright. You said you were set up, so I’m going to give you one day to prove your innocence. If you manage to do that, I’ll let the matter slide; if you fail, you will leave the Brown Family forever and make sure we don’t meet again!” Deep down, Alice deemed that deal her last resort to get rid of Harvey after putting up with him for four years. This is my choice, and no one can make it for me!
• In response, Harvey met the lady’s cold gaze and frowned. While their marriage wasn’t really a concern to him, he was determined to find the culprit because no one had ever set him up and gone unpunished. Thus, he grunted indifferently and replied, “Deal!”
• ...
• On the other hand, a lady with heavy makeup was whining tearfully beside Patrick’s bed in Vanstead City Hospital. If it weren’t for the man’s condition, both of them would probably indulge in a passionate hot intimacy there and then. “What happened to you, Young Master Patrick? Seeing you in this state really breaks my heart!”
• At the same time, Patrick couldn’t help but think of Harvey’s face when he looked at his fractured legs. In a fit of pique, he gritted his teeth and angrily made a phone call. “Akela, I need you to kill someone for me!” I am the son of the O’Neill Family, and I’ve never suffered such a shame before! How dare the Brown Family’s son-in-law disrespect me! If it hadn’t been for the Browns, I would’ve gotten rid of him a long time ago.
• After a moment of silence, the voice on the other end of the phone said, “1 million.”
• “Deal! You could have anything as long as you kill that ba*tard! There is one more thing! I want you to tell him that he should have never messed with me, Patrick O’Neill!”
• “Don’t worry, Mr. Patrick. Pay half of the amount upfront as a deposit, and I’ll make sure that poor b*stard disappears in three days.” Akela heaved a sigh of relief, thinking it was going to be a piece of cake to deal with Harvey. After all, he reckoned the Brown Family wouldn’t stand up for him anyway.
• Upon hanging up the call, Patrick grinned eerily and said, “Who do you think you are to stand up to me, Harvey Smith?! I hope you’re ready for what’s coming to you because killing you is as easy as crushing an ant to me! As for Alice, I swear I’ll make you bend to my will after turning me down again and again! When I have you, I’d like to see how you’ll resist me, you self-righteous b*tch!”