“What? I know nothing about it! Don’t involve me!” Ritchie protested.
“How dare you talk back to me?!” Patrick was so angry that he slapped Ritchie across the face.
“I’ve spent a fortune for you to study abroad. And this is the thanks I get?” This was the second beating
Ritchie had received today. He was a grown man and felt utterly humiliated.
“Damn it! Damn you! I already told you that I have nothing to do with it! It’s all mom’s fault!” Ritchie
couldn’t hold himself back anymore and spat on the ground angrily.
“You sent me abroad because you were afraid that I would end up in some shitty community college and
disgrace the whole family! You think I don’t know that? You’ve always been ashamed of me! You’ve
always thought that Seth and Ethan were way better than me! You’ve always wanted to beat me up,
right, Patrick Lester?”
Ritchie finally gave vent to all his pent up feelings over the years. Patrick stomped his foot angrily. He
hated it when people tried to go against him. In his eyes, Ritchie was just trying to piss him off.
“How dare you?! I’ll beat the crap out of you!” He was so angry that his face turned as red as a tomato.
He looked around the room until his eyes fell on a mop. He grabbed it and raised it above his head,
poised to hit Ritchie.
But Ritchie acted fast. He jumped up and ran around in the living room.
“Mom! Help me! He’s trying to kill me!” Ritchie hid behind Elissa like a little child.
Elissa gritted her teeth and dodged Patrick’s advances. She roared irritably, “Patrick Lester! What the hell
are you trying to do? Do you want to break up this family?”
Just as Patrick was about to swing the mop, the phone in the living room suddenly rang. Amidst the
chaos, the boldest of the servants went to answer the phone.
“Hello, Lester residence. You want to speak with Mr. Lester? I’m afraid he’s… Busy right now.”
The servant glanced at Patrick, who was about to hit Ritchie with the mop. The caller seemed persistent
so she handed over the phone to Patrick, her body trembling slightly.
“Sir, it’s your assistant.” Patrick was in a fit of rage. He snatched the phone from her impatiently and spat
into the receiver, “What?”
“The police have caught several of our men. The man who was sent to kill Ethan is among them,” the
assistant reported anxiously.
“Sir, we have to get him out of there. If the police followed this lead, they’ll trace it back to the Lester
family soon. We have to stop them!” The assistant was so anxious that he raised his voice. Patrick heard
his words loud and clear. Ritchie, Elissa, and Patrick all froze in place with a look of horror on their
faces.
Ritchie cursed, “Fuck! Ethan moved really fast! Mom, we’re in trouble now!”
Elissa’s face turned ghastly pale. She tugged at Patrick’s arm and asked desperately, “What should we
do now?” The mother’s and son’s reaction gave Patrick a headache. He hung up the phone and said
through gritted teeth, “This is all your damned fault. This isn’t over!”
Then he stormed out and slammed the door behind him. When Patrick left the house, Elissa’s knees
buckled from underneath her and she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
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