1226 Winning Over the Sawyers
Ethan blocked the door, preventing Joel and Anthony from leaving.
Joel stopped, but his face was still full of anger as he said, “Mr. Sawyer, you don’t need to say anything else. Mr. Cross and I came all the way here with the intention of forming an alliance and resolving the problem together. But look at the way Mr. Hale and Mr. Cole are behaving. It’s clear that they don’t take us seriously! In that case, what else is there for us to say?”
“Hah, they actually want to go to war with the Hamiltons. They must be dreaming! The Hamiltons are so powerful that even the eight top families of DC don’t dare to provoke them easily. We are just a bunch of small fries!
“Since we can’t reach an agreement and the two of them insist on courting death, of course we can only leave to look for other allies! I don’t believe that we can’t find other families to form an alliance with in our three states!”
!!
Anthony said, “We came here only to discuss with you because the Coles and the Hales are on par with us in terms of power and capabilities. But apart from them, there are also many other decent families in Arizona and Nevada! Why should we continue staying here and tolerating their insults and terrible attitudes?!”
Ethan hurriedly said, “Please calm down, you two. Having different opinions is a common matter. Let’s sit down and talk things over calmly!”
Then Ethan looked at Edmund and Bruce and said, “Mr. Cole, Mr. Hale, don’t be so hostile! We’re all allies, and we’re all doing this for the sake of our families. We can just talk things over nicely and come up with a plan.
“Actually, I think Mr. Gillen and Mr. Cross make a lot of sense. Going hard against the Hamiltons will do none of us any good. So I think we’d better agree to let them establish footholds in our states first. But we also have to keep an eye on their situation. In any case, we mustn’t let the Hamiltons really dominate our territories.
“If the Hamiltons are really so greedy as to want to dominate our three states and annex our power, it won’t be too late to fight them head-on then. What do you think?”
Bruce glanced at Ethan and shook his head. “If the Hamiltons really secure a footing here and control other wealthy families, what will be the use of the few of us joining forces against them?”
His words immediately left Ethan speechless.
Indeed, the Hamiltons weren’t fools. If they really established footholds and took root here, it would be difficult to get rid of them in the future.
But the thought of going to war with a terrifying family like the Hamiltons made Ethan afraid. He didn’t want to face such a situation at all. So he tried his best to convince Edmund and Bruce to compromise and give in to the Hamiltons for the time being.
Edmund saw through Ethan’s thoughts and sneered. “Ethan Sawyer, you don’t have to say anything else. If you’re so scared of the Hamiltons and don’t dare to fight them, go ahead and join Joel Gillen and Anthony Cross! It’s up to you if you want to submit to the Hamiltons and become their dogs!
“Speaking of which, I didn’t see you help Mr. Gray when he encountered a crisis in San Francisco! Later, when he became the overlord of California, you came running back to him! You’re quite smart, huh? Hmph!
“Let me make things clear. If we really resolve the problem with the Hamiltons under Mr. Gray’s lead this time, you can’t be shameless and run back to try to get a slice of the pie, okay?”
Edmund was an extremely upright and straightforward person, and he hated two-faced fence sitters, so he looked down on Ethan.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Ethan seemed to be on good terms with Lucas and had quickly developed into the third top family in California thanks to Lucas, Edmund would have ignored him.
Bruce said, “That’s right. Ethan Sawyer, you can either fight against the Hamiltons with us or leave early since you’re so afraid of facing revenge. Stop sitting on the fence. If you continue saving yourself during times of danger and then come running back to reap benefits when it’s safe, I will look down on you too.”
Edmund and Bruce spoke harshly and didn’t bother saving Ethan any pride.
In fact, they had long been displeased with Ethan’s behavior.
The moment Joel and Anthony came over today, Ethan had repeatedly spoken up for them. It was apparent that he just didn’t want to offend the Hamiltons. Bruce and Edmund were very much dissatisfied with him.
Ethan turned pale and gloomy.
He knew that his behavior was indeed mercenary, but he felt that it was only human nature to want to avoid trouble.
But when Edmund and Bruce said that he was a shameless fence sitter, it made him extremely uncomfortable.
Frankly speaking, Ethan had indeed yet to make up his mind.
Although the Huttons wanted him to obey Lucas as much as possible, he didn’t trust Lucas that much, nor did he want to bet the Sawyers’ future on him.
Joel patted Ethan on the shoulder and guffawed. “Mr. Sawyer, I see it’s hard on you too! How about this? Since the Coles and the Hales are alienating you and even mocking you, I think you should just leave California. You don’t need to put up with the humiliation anymore!
“Just come to Nevada with your family to develop! I promise I’ll turn you into the second most powerful family in Nevada once you come, and you don’t have to suffer such insults either. What do you think?”
Anthony said with a smile, “I admire you very much too, Mr. Sawyer. If you’d like, Arizona will also welcome you to join us. You’ll immediately become the second top family in Arizona!”
They weren’t talking nonsense. After all, they were the helmsmen of the top families in Nevada and Arizona, and the Sawyers were second only to the Coles and the Hales in California. If he went elsewhere, he might really rise up a notch.
All of a sudden, Ethan began to waver.