SWNOVELS Chapter 25
Chapter 25 Trouble on Site
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Lucian’s explanation this time seemed more believable to Freya and her parents. Finally, Frank and Annie came to terms with it and signed the agreement. Their attitude toward Lucian had also softened slightly. The man had just gifted them a $20 million villa after all, so what else could they say?
Tammy felt relieved and much less guilty knowing that Freya’s family would have a roof over their heads tonight, and a very lavish one at that. She quickly remembered the thousand dollars she was supposed to return. “Aunt Annie, please take this money back. My parents don’t know any better, so I’m here to apologize on their behalf,” Tammy said. She did not bring up the matter her parents had asked her to.
Annie received the money from Tammy. “Tammy, darling, this has nothing to do with you. You don’t have to apologize,” she told her niece. Even though her relationship with Tammy’s mother was strained, Tammy herself was a good kid. She refused to let the children carry on their parents’ grievances.
“Ring ring!” Frank’s cell phone rang. The frown on his forehead seemed to deepen as he listened to the person on the other end. “Bad news, everyone. Apparently, the gangsters near Monsalt are causing some trouble at the village and stopping the demolition works. They’ve destroyed the bulldozer and injured dozens of workers!”
“What?!” Freya exclaimed. “Lucian, take me there now!”
Twenty minutes later, Lucian drove Freya to the project site in Frank’s car. Frank and Annie wanted to come along, but Freya did not allow them to. She did not want her parents to have to deal with a bunch of thugs. She could handle it on her own together with Lucian. Even from a distance away, Freya and Lucian spotted the gangsters attacking the bulldozer with metal rods.
The site workers had been rounded up at the side, trembling in terror as they watched the gangsters tear the machine apart. As soon as they noticed Freya’s arrival, they went up to her anxiously. “Ms. Harrison, your project is too dangerous to take on! We did not know there were
We did not know t gangsters involved!” Hank, the project leader told her. They were just ordinary workers who wanted an honest living and could not afford to cross gangsters like these. Hank himself was originally a farmer who had brought his siblings into the city together with him to look for work, but all they received so far was a good beating from the ruffians instead of their salary.
“I’ll deal with it, Hank,” Freya promised. It was difficult to find good, honest workers like Hank who did not ask for much. She would have a tough time trying to replace Hank and his workers if this incident seared them off. She turned to the gangsters who were hellbent on destroying the bulldozer. “Stop right there!” she yelled at them furiously.
As soon as they noticed her, the thugs ganged up and strode toward her menacingly. Their leader was a scary looking, big sized man with a full sleeve tattoo. His name was Steven Wool, the leader of the Earth Snakes, the local offshoot of the bigger Snake Gang that had territories all over Sioux. He leered at Freya up and down, smiling smarmily.
“Ms. Harrison, you finally showed up!” he greeted her while tapping a machete in his hand. “How
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Chapter 25 Trouble on Site
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rude of you to not invite the Snakes to the grand opening of your project? We busted two bulldozers and beat up a few of your workers as a small lesson for disrespecting us. You should know what to do next time, don’t you? Steven sniggered, implying that as long as Freya paid him off, his men would leave them alone.
Freya shook with fury. These Snakes were being absolutely unreasonable. Lucian gently tapped Freya on the shoulder and whispered to her. “Let me handle these snakes!”
Lucian stepped forward and looked Steven square in the eye. “Let’s take a look at the damage you and your men have incurred. A single bulldozer alone costs $3 million, two of them cost $6 million. Including our workers’ medical expenses and compensation for their me ntal trauma as well as their loss of work, it adds up to a nice little sum right there. We’re not unreasonable people at all, so tell your boss to compensate us with $15 million and we’ll call it a day,” Lucian said as a matter-of-factly.
“What did you just say, you little punk?!” Steven said through gritted teeth. “You’re asking US to compensate YOU? You’ve truly never experienced pain before, have you?” As he spoke, Steven’s men surrounded Lucian like a bunch of vultures circling their prey.
Sensing the tension in the air, Freya approached him from behind and whispered to him. “Don’t start a fight with them, Lucian. We can’t afford a delay on the demolition works.” Everyone in Monsalt knew of Steven and the Earth Snakes, including Freya herself. The Snakes owned two casinos and plenty of nightclubs nearby, and Steven himself had a reputation for being cruel and vicious to anyone who dared to cross his path. Even businessmen and property tycoons had to kowtow to the gang if they wanted their projects in the region to be a success.
Lucian knew Steven was up to no good. Sure, he was destroying bulldozers and beating workers up for now, but it would only escalate in the future considering the project was going to be ongoing for at least a few years. If they gave in to Steven’s demands now and paid him a protection fee, he was going to keep coming back for more. Lucian needed to nip the problem in the bud immediately.
“I’ll give your boss ten minutes to bring the money. Ten minutes, that’s all,” Lucian’s eyes were icy as he barked at Steven.
“Are you kidding me?!” Steven burst out cackling. “No one has ever asked us for money! It’s always been the other way around, kid. Let me give you a word of advice. Get me the money right now, or don’t blame me when my boss comes around!”
“How much do you want?” Freya asked Steven directly, not wanting the situation to escalate.
“Three million dollars,” Steven replied. “Sounds about right for a project of this size, don’t you think?”
“What?” Freya paled. It was a ludicrous sum of money that she did not have since she had poured all her money into the project.
Lucian’s expression darkened. “$3 million? I’m starting to regret what I just said…”
“Ha ha! You finally decided to be a rational man!” Steven smiled slyly, “Kiddo, I can promise you
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this…. If you don’t pay me the $3 million, you can give up on your project now because I will make your life a living hell from this day onward.”
“You heard me wrong, Steven,” a ghost of a smile appeared on Lucian’s lips. “I’m regretting asking you to pay us $15 million because that would be letting you off way too easily. Get your boss to bring $50 million, or I’ll teach you lot a lesson!”
Teach us a lesson?? Lucian’s words reverberated through Steven’s skull. No one had ever disrespected the Earth Snakes so badly in the history of them running this town. Steven held the machete up and charged toward Lucian furiously. “You’re not walking out of here with your legs intact tonight!”