Chapter 4 Beating Howard Into a Pulp

Ashton's eyes widened in rage when the pendant got crushed.

His mother gave him the pendant when he left his family. It was for him to give to the woman he loved when he met her in the future. That was because having the pendant proved she was Ashton's wife and the Levin family's daughter-in-law. There was only one pendant like this in the world, and its worth could not be measured in money.

"Smashed so easily? What kind of rubbish quality is this? Is it even worthy of being called a treasure? Mom, I think you've got it wrong." Howard was giggling and acting frivolously. Ashton was utterly enraged by his expression.

"You're dead meat!" Ashton grabbed his collar with such force that he nearly destroyed Howard's windpipe.

"Let go! What are you doing?" Howard was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat. 'How did this son of a bitch get so strong?' he thought.

If it were someone else, Ashton would not have spared him. However, that bastard was Alora's brother. Ashton forced himself to suppress his murderous intent and smacked him across the face several times instead. After that, he threw him out of the door.

"Both of you get the fuck out of here! I never want to see anybody from the Latham family, Alora included!"

Florence was stunned as she did not expect that to happen, but she finally regained her senses. Seeing that her son was severely injured, she felt heartbroken and angry. She could not care about the pendant anymore and lunged at Ashton with her arms raised.

"How dare you hit my son, you scumbag! I'm going to kill you!"

"Fuck off!" Ashton exclaimed, his eyes ice-cold.

Florence was so terrified by two brief words that she froze in place, her legs becoming so weak that she nearly fell to her knees.

"Murderer! This son of a bitch is trying to kill his mother-in-law! He's trying to kill me!" Florence sobbed.

Howard struggled to get up from the floor, holding his swollen cheeks. He was so enraged that his neck was flushed. He quickly grabbed his phone and dialed. "Fuck! Are you here yet, Edison? Jake? Come upstairs quickly. I've been beaten up!"

"Got it, Howard! Hang in there! We'll be right there!"

Howard sneered even after putting his phone away. He was not so stupid as to show up with only his mother with him. He had already called for backup on his way over, and they were all hooligans he had become friends with. Everyone in the underworld respected him because they knew his sister was Alora.

Very soon, a group of people rushed up the stairs. They looked like troublemakers, and some even brought their girlfriends with them.

"Howard, who hit you? We'll rough him up for you!" a skinny, tall young man shouted arrogantly.

Howard pointed at Ashton. "That's the son of a bitch. Be careful. He's a little strong. Catch him. I want to beat him up myself!"

"Don't worry, Howard. I've roughed up plenty of nasty people since joining the gang. I'm just afraid he can't take a beating, so I can't have my fill of it." Edison lit a cigarette. Then he signaled his girlfriend to stand back a little as he was about to strike.

"You son of a bitch, how dare you attack Howard? Do you know which gang we belong to? Have you not heard of my name? Who do you think you are?" Edison took a big puff of smoke before he took a few steps back. After that, he jumped, looking like he was about to attack Ashton with a flying kick.

"Cool!" the crowd exclaimed.

However, Ashton shot him a cold glance in the next second and, with a roundhouse kick, struck him at his back. Edison flew backward, hitting right against the wall before he lay motionless on the ground. Nobody knew if he was alive or not.

"Fuck, Edison is not his match. Let's attack together and stab him to death!"

The group took out their weapons and charged toward Ashton.

"Stop right there!" Right then, they heard an incredibly cold voice coming from the stairs.

A lady in a black dress appeared before them downstairs. She was tall, and her slender, beautiful legs were partly visible under the hem of her dress. She was cold and elegant, like a black rose.

The bodyguards behind her were in full tactical gear and controlled the entire stairwell.

The hooligans had never encountered such a situation before, so they were so frightened that their legs immediately turned to jello.

"Who dares to lay a finger on the legendary Doctor Levin?"

"Legendary Doctor Levin? Who's that? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Florence was frozen in place.

On the other hand, Howard's face immediately lit up when he saw the beautiful lady. He quickly got up to straighten his clothes and comb his hair. Then he came to the lady with a courteous smile. "Hello there, pretty lady. You must have been mistaken. There's no doctor here, let alone a legendary one. Also, my name is Howard. I'm from the Latham family of Edren County. Have you heard of my family?"

The girl in the black dress glanced at Ashton before glancing at Howard. Then a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "That's the family in Edren County that rose in ranks in the past two years."

Howard got excited and took another step closer to her. "Yes, that's right. Since you've heard of my family, this next part will be easy. Let's grab something to eat at a restaurant and get to know each other. It's my treat. I can introduce my sister to you later, and you might even get to collaborate with her."

The girl snapped her fingers while smiling, but in the next second, she slapped Howard across his face. "The Latham family from Edren County is nothing to me. How dare a lowly peasant like you attack Doctor Levin?"

Howard was dazed. Ashton slapped him a few times before that, and his face was still swollen in pain. Then, he was hit by the woman again on the very same spot.

He was Alora's brother, the second son of the Latham family, and the future heir of the family's business! However, he was still slapped! How humiliating!

"You dare to slap me? You actually dared to slap me?" Howard asked.

"So what if I did?" The girl's tone was full of disdain.

Kendra Lockwood was the family's eldest daughter who owned the Royal Sealift Group. She held so much power that it would not matter if she killed him, much less slapped him. Howard had indeed overestimated his ability when he was just a small fry.

However, her casual response immediately made Howard blow his lid. "I don't care who you are, bitch. If you don't apologize, I'll make you go bankrupt, begging me on your knees to spare you!"

Kendra snickered and waved her hand. The next second, an armed bodyguard approached from behind her and restrained Howard by grabbing his shoulders. After that, Kendra put on a pair of black lace gloves.

"What are you doing?" Howard was scared. He was genuinely terrified. The woman was nuts!

After she delivered repeated slaps, Howard's face was completely swollen.

Ashton shook his head when he saw that.

Howard truly deserved it. The Royal Sealift Group was nothing to Ashton, but it was a group that the Latham family absolutely could not afford to offend. Howard was simply pushing himself into a dead end.

Seeing her son beaten up so severely, Florence rushed over ferociously, crying and cursing. "Howard! You bitch, I'm going to fight you to death!"

She might be able to stop Kendra if she was alone. Unfortunately, Kendra came with backup. A bodyguard immediately pointed the gun at her and made her kneel on the floor.

After a while, Kendra got tired from the slapping, so she stopped.

Howard's mouth was full of blood, and he looked at her with a vicious gaze. He secretly swore that he would seek revenge on her if he could get home. He would capture the woman to torture and humiliate her all day and all night. Only then could he vent the hatred he felt!

Florence had the same thought as him. Ever since the Latham family became more powerful, she had never been humiliated like that. Kendra had stomped on and crushed her dignity.

Kendra glanced at the two of them, then took off her blood-stained gloves. "Tie them up with rocks and let them sink to the bottom of the Edren River."