Hearing that furious shout, George froze, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. His legs went weak, and the arrogant swagger he’d shown to Kayden just moments ago vanished entirely. Now, he slumped into a defeated posture, like a balloon left to lose all its air.
It was clear that Memphis’s presence was nothing short of overwhelming. In Vernon, he was the undisputed most influential figure!
“Mr… Mr. John!” George wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. There was a quaver in his voice as he stammered, “Forgive me. I had no idea you were coming, otherwise I wouldn’t have dared act like this. Never would I have the guts to stir trouble on your ground.”
“You seem to know your place,” Memphis replied coldly, “But do you even know what you are doing right now?”
George darted a confused gaze at Memphis, then shifted his gaze to the gaunt young man beside him. No, there was no way this loser could know Memphis. Memphis was someone they could only gaze up at with awe. How could this loser possibly have the chance to know Memphis?
George had made the judgment in his heart, so he spoke to Memphis, “Mr. John, this guy and I had some friction last night, and he even insulted me. I couldn’t stand it, so I came to confront him. But if I had known you were here, I wouldn’t have dared to come and disturb your quiet time! But Mr. John, this guy’s really a tough one. I swear, he…”
Slap! With a furious swipe, Memphis’s hand shot up and landed a resounding slap across George’s face. The sharp smack echoed through the room. It stopped George in mid-sentence, leaving him stunned and silenced in an instant.
George’s face burned with fiery pain. The same spot where he had been slapped the night before was now stinging again, and in less than twenty-four hours, he had taken two slaps.
As the ruler of Vernon Underworld, with tens of thousands of loyal men at his command, George could easily snuff out someone’s life. Yet here he was, in front of his own men, being humiliated and given a slap. The worst thing was that he was completely powerless to strike back.
Neither Lorence nor Memphis was someone he could afford to mess with. George stared at Memphis, confusion and shock clouding his mind He had no clue why Memphis slapped him, but he dared not ask. All he could do was to endure, and he had to stay unmoved because it would be considered a lack of respect if he fell to the ground before these big shots.
“You piece of trash!” Memphis growled, his eyes burning with fury. He snapped with a chilling authority, “Kneel!”
The words hit George like a sledgehammer. He stood frozen, disbelief spreading across his face as he stared at Memphis.
Kneel? In front of all these people? No way! It would strip away every ounce of dignity he had left! They could slap his face-he could stomach that. But kneeling? That was a whole different kind of humiliation.
It’s all about dignity and pride! A man would be nothing without his dignity and pride! If he knelt here, right before everyone’s eyes, his name would be forever nailed to the wall of shame. With so many of his followers standing behind him, he simply couldn’t allow it to happen.
He wouldn’t kneel. He couldn’t!
He mustered up his courage and asked, “Mr. John, you’ve got to give me a reason to kneel! I know you’re a man of great stature, and I’d never dream of defying you. If you asked me to take down an enemy or handle some tasks, I’d lay down my life to get it done, with no hesitation. But asking me to kneel for no reason at all-that’s something I just can’t swallow! I’m almost forty years old! How can you demand such a thing without offering an explanation?
He said all this in one breath and then bowed his head deeply, not daring to look Memphis in the eye.
Surely, Memphis’s expression turned as cold as steel. He nodded slowly and said, “Fine, I’ll give you the reason. You’ve offended someone you should never have crossed. The one you offended is an important guest of our John family. Now you got it? Kneel!”
George shot his head up as if wanting to say something, but before he could speak, Memphis raised his hand up. The next moment, a loud smack echoed through the room again. The slap came without warning, swiftly and brutally landing on George’s face.
With a light, almost pitying sigh, Memphis fixed George with an icy gaze. “If you refuse to kneel, I won’t hesitate to send you to your grave!”
He lifted his hand in a signal, and instantly, several men in black emerged from the shadows, each carrying a submachine gun.
The cold, menacing barrels of the guns locked onto George, and he could almost feel the chill of death in the air. All it would take was one squeeze of the trigger, and he’d be reduced to a lifeless, blood-soaked mess. Facing down the lethal weapons, George gave in immediately.
He collapsed to his knees with a loud thud in front of Memphis, like a dog with its tail between its legs. All the swagger and arrogance he once held vanished in an instant! He knelt! In the end, he had no choice but to kneel!
Even the proudest person might yield in the face of death. George had been the boss of Vernon Underworld for years, and he always acted as if nothing in the world could scare him. However, the moment death became a certainty, terror still took hold.
Memphis was not joking! George knew that. Because those big shots like Memphis would never bother to waste any of their precious time on someone of his status!
“Mr. John, I was wrong! Please forgive me!” George didn’t remember he had ever offended any member of the John family, but all he could do now was kneel and apologize. For the first time, he felt the suffocating oppression of power!
“The one whom you’re supposed to kneel to is not me,” Memphis said coldly, “but him!” He pointed toward the young man George had just tried to target.
George’s eyes bulged with disbelief. “What?”
Memphis paid him no mind and turned to face Kayden. With a deep bow, he said in a voice dripped with respect. “Dr. Scott, I hope my actions have met your approval.”
The words hit George like a bolt of lightning, and he felt as if he were about to be torn apart completely!
Dr. Scott!
This loser turned out to be Dr. Scott!
George had heard about the John family’s efforts to find the best doctors for their young master’s illness. They offered a substantial reward for a cure. Now, Memphis was calling this man a doctor. George had just realized the gravity of the situation-he had messed with the most distinguished guest of the John family!
This man could save Memphis’s son, and that’s why Memphis couldn’t easily let go of anyone who offended this man, like George. Thus, Memphis came personally to kick George’s ass and even forced him to kneel! And all the elaborate arrangements by the John family were solely to please this man!
No wonder this young man carried himself with such arrogance. He knew the John family needed him-desperately.
Watching Memphis’s attitude toward this young man, George felt his heart sink. He had truly messed with the wrong person. It didn’t even matter whether this guy could actually save Memphis’s son. Memphis’s attitude already made one thing clear-to offend this young man was to make enemies with the John family.
While George might be impulsive by nature, he wasn’t entirely stupid. Swallowing his pride, he fell to his knees before Kayden. His voice trembled as he stammered, “Dr. Scott, I… I’m sorry! I had no idea who you were! If I had known you were a friend of Mr. John, I wouldn’t have dared to cross you! Please, Dr. Scott, forgive my foolishness!”
Kayden shot him a glance, his eyes as cold as ice. His expression remained distant as though he stood atop the world, unmoved by the trivial dramas of mortals. He carried himself like a monarch-one who had been used to seeing the deaths, the rises and falls of the life.
Without sparing another look at George, Kayden turned to Memphis. In a sharp and frigid voice, he boomed, “What? Do you think I couldn’t handle him without your help? Are you under the impression that you’ve done me some great favor?”