“Don’t call me ‘old man’!”
The gray-clad old man glared at Darnell and cursed, “I’m not that old!”
“Can’t you see my pockets are empty? I don’t even have a penny. How could I have picked up their stuff?”
“They searched me and found nothing. How could I have hidden anything?”
The old man was furious and continued ranting, “My daughter works in a high-end office building, earning over ten thousand a month. Do I need to steal things?”
“Do I need to take off my clothes for you to see? I can go to the police station and let the police decide.”
He pointed at Darnell and shouted, “You brat, are you with them? Why aren’t you speaking up for me?”
“Why would an old man like me with no background steal from these gangsters?”
Tia tilted her head slightly as she said, “Darnell, he’s just a poor old man. How could he have the guts to provoke these people?”
“Not necessarily.”
Darnell laughed loudly, then stepped on the old man’s foot. As the old man cried out in pain, Darnell patted his back.
Two crisp sounds rang out as two golden objects fell from the old man’s mouth, along with two broken fishing lines.
The golden objects rolled on the ground. They were clearly two gold rings.
The old man was stunned.
He instinctively bent down to pick them up, but Darnell blocked him with a smile. “Ancient people swallowed gold to commit suicide, but you hid gold in your throat. Very clever.”
The old man’s face changed as he struggled to run.
Tia stepped forward and kicked him over, cursing angrily, “Bastard.”
She was furious at being fooled.
A round-faced man rushed over, picked up the gold rings with a tissue, and said happily, “Yes, these are the rings.”
Then he became furious again. “Old man, still saying you didn’t steal?”
He then picked up a stone and threatened, “Damn it! Hiding it in your throat, huh? Let me stuff a stone down your throat and see if you can hide it.”
Several companions rolled up their sleeves and surrounded him. “Good idea!”
The old man was so scared he crawled away frantically. “Stay away from me! I didn’t mean it!”
Tia frowned but didn’t stop them this time. To her, the old rogue was worse than the gangsters.
“Gentlemen, please stop.”
Darnell waved his hand to stop the round-faced man and his group. Then he looked at the cowering old man, stating, “Beating him brings no satisfaction.”
“As he said, he doesn’t even have a penny on him. He’s old and frail. What’s the point of beating him?”
“If you hurt him and attract the police, it would be more trouble than it’s worth. Better take the rings and leave.”
The round-faced man thought for a moment. Seeing many people watching, he threw the stone at the old man and pointed at him angrily.
“You’re lucky today. This young man pleaded for you. Otherwise, I’d stuff a stone down your throat.”
“Don’t let me see you again. Don’t come back to Vantage, or I’ll break your limbs.”
He waved to his companions and declared, “Folks, let this old bastard go for this young man’s sake.”
They backed off.
The round-faced man looked at Darnell. “My name is Konnor. Thanks for your help today. If it weren’t for you, we would’ve lost the rings. Next time you’re in Vantage, food, drinks, baths, whatever you want, it’s on me.”
Darnell smiled and shook hands with Konnor. “Sure thing. See you around.”
Konnor and his group left with the rings.
“Helping evildoers will bring you no good end.”
The old man cursed angrily, “You helped them bully me? Shame on you.”
“Those gold rings mean little to them but are life-saving for my family.”
“You know how important those rings were? My family is counting on them.”
“And now you’ve ruined it! If anything happens to my family because of this, I’ll hold you responsible.”
The old man grabbed a shoe to hit Darnell. “You brat! I’ll beat you to death for meddling!”
Before Darnell could react, Tia kicked the old man flying and said coldly, “Get lost!”
The old man fell hard but dared not retaliate against Tia. He spat out one last threat,
“Just wait! Remember my name, Pablo Lennard. I will settle accounts with you sooner or later.”
Tia lifted her right foot again, and Pablo ran off instantly.
Not long after that incident, Pablo appeared in an old dilapidated house on a nearby street. He gulped water from a kettle as soon as he entered the house.
Before he finished drinking, a woman wearing a gold chain rushed out from inside with an eager look. “Pablo! Where are the rings?”
“Let me see!”
“You said this afternoon that you’d got two rings weighing about fifty grams. I couldn’t even sleep thinking about it. With that money, we can pay off our debts.”
“Don’t mention it. I had them but got robbed halfway home by some brat who even beat me up. I didn’t even get my socks back,” Pablo muttered under his breath.
“What? You got robbed?” The woman shouted anxiously, “Call the police then!”
However, calling the police would send Pablo straight to jail. Realizing her mistake immediately, she still felt indignant.
“Where does that bastard live? Let’s go rob them together. That’s over ten thousand dollars.”
Pablo shivered as he thought of Tia’s fighting skills. “They’ve already run off. We’ll have to settle scores later.”
“No! Without those gold rings we can’t sell them for money. How will we pay our debts?” The woman complained, “If we don’t pay up, the Apex will chop off our hands.”
“Don’t worry. We still have our promising daughter,” Pablo licked his lips and continued, “She’s about to get paid. Let’s ask her for money. Raising her all these years should be worth eighteen thousand.”
The woman’s eyes lit up instantly. “Right! Bailee has money…”
While Pablo plotted debt repayment plans involving his daughter’s salary,
Tia looked softly at Darnell. “Thank you. Without you, I would have made a mistake.”
“You’re just kind-hearted,” Darnell chuckled while glancing at Tia’s fair chest.
As he spoke, he took several more glances at Tia. He hadn’t looked carefully before, but today, the woman was wearing a denim miniskirt and a light-colored T-shirt.
Her bare legs curved down to her plump thighs, giving a sense of their smooth and lush touch.
She exuded a cold aura, and despite her peerless beauty, it deterred strangers from approaching.
Darnell licked his lips before saying, “But to show your gratitude, words alone would be too perfunctory, too insincere. How about letting me give you a kiss as a token of your appreciation?”
He enjoyed teasing her.
“Okay!”
Tia stepped forward decisively, lifting her pretty face as if offering it up for the taking.
Darnell was left stunned.
Tia’s pretty face turned cold. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”
Darnell made a hasty retreat.
Tia suddenly laughed, a joyous, cheerful, and radiant laugh, like a hundred flowers blooming all at once, stunningly beautiful and beyond compare.