Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer
Chapter 188: Uninvited Guest (1)

Chapter 188: Uninvited Guest (1)

"Yes... sir," Michaela Williams, John’s secretary of guild affairs, murmured. "The DRA arrested Madam Eudora, accusing her of conspiring against Shinon Flintlock."

Michaela waited, but no response came from the other side, just her boss’s angry huffing. It wasn’t a secret that John and Eudora shared a marriage of convenience, which she knew very well after spending most of her nights wrapped around John. So she didn’t expect him to get so mad about the news.

And she was correct. John wasn’t enraged because of Eudora’s arrest but because his plan to get rid of Shinon had failed, and now he was at the risk of getting into legal trouble.

’I can’t let her open her mouth in custody,’ John thought, ’But I know that bitch wouldn’t hesitate before blurting everything out.’

In many ways, Eudora was similar to him. That’s why John knew what she was capable of and wanted to silence her before things got out of hand.

But how? Eudora was already under DRA protection, and no matter how influential John was, he couldn’t mess with the DRA without risking serious trouble.

While John couldn’t get rid of Eudora inside DRA custody, he could ensure his safety by throwing some money.

’DRA is a mighty organisation, but it’s also rotten to the core. As long as I pay the right people at the right places, my name won’t be mentioned in any reports.’

However, merely getting his name off the reports won’t be enough. Even though he’s a big shot in America, with influence over the government, he still needs someone to clear his name in the court of public opinion.

John couldn’t risk having a stain on his reputation, especially since everyone sees him as a hero.

"Michaela, reach out to Ross and Jones’s firm. Pay them whatever they ask, but make sure my name stays out of the mess. Tell them to prioritise my case and drop everything else!"

"I’m already on it, sir," Michaela responded, adjusting her specs. "But what do we do about Shinon? I don’t think he’ll stay quiet for long, and we can’t even shut him up with money."

"...I’ll deal with him soon," John replied. "Till then, warn the news stations and publications to ignore anything related to the arrest. Squash anyone who dares to go against... and find the one responsible for this mess."

"I... don’t get it, sir?"

"I know what Shinon is capable of, and this isn’t something he could have pulled off without outside help," John’s voice cut through the air like a blade, sending shivers down Michaela’s spine. "Track down the bastards who aided him."

"...Roger."

***

Back at Joseph’s apartment...

While Ava was still mourning the loss of her son, Joseph and the rest were busy plotting their ’revenge’. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do legally.

"Even our lawyers don’t think we’ll win," Joseph said through clenched teeth. "And the others? When they hear they’re up against George Jones of Ross and Jones, they back away from our case without hesitation."

Jacob nodded, his gaze fixed out of the balcony while Emma watched them, wondering how their lives could get messed up within days of Adrian’s arrival.

She couldn’t help but wonder if her decision to cheat on Adrian had been a mistake. Despite his ’faults’ and nice guy vibes, he had been a good partner, perhaps even the best she’d ever had.

Yet, driven by her family’s greed, she had chosen Joseph over him, believing he offered a more promising future. Now, that decision seemed to come to bite her in the ass.

Suddenly, a thought crept into her head, and she got up, preparing to leave. But as she was about to walk out, Joseph stopped her.

"Where are you going in the dead of the night?" he asked, putting his drink down.

"Jessica had a bad breakup and wanted to meet me," Emma lied as she had countless times before to meet her lovers. Joseph, preoccupied as usual, accepted her explanation without probing further.

She continued, "Since I’m not contributing much here, I thought I’d go and offer her some support instead-"

"Sure, tell her I said hi," Joseph responded, casually waving his hand.

Once she left, Jacob said, "You place an awful lot of faith in her."

Joseph snorted at his father’s suggestion. "Faith? If it weren’t for her connections, I’d never have entertained the idea of marrying her in the first place. And as for the friend with the breakup? Bet you can guess who her ’ex’ really is."

"You’re both despicable," Jacob shook his head in disappointment. "But your private life is none of my concern. Let’s figure out how we can get rid of that bastard son of mine."

Joseph nodded, getting lost in his thoughts. While they had silenced plenty of people before, this time, things were different, and they couldn’t deal with the matter harshly, or it would cause trouble down the line.

’Dealing with Adrian is a sensitive matter because of mom,’ Joseph thought. ’There’s no saying what she would do if something happened to Adrian.’

But that didn’t mean they could sit idly and not do anything. Since they would lose in the court, it was clear they had to handle the matter outside.

At first, Joseph thought intimidating Adrian would work, thinking his brother was the same timid man he had been all those years ago. However, he remembered how easily the guards he had hired went down, licking the dust.

While he wasn’t sure if Adrian had done that himself or not, physical intimidation didn’t seem like it would work on him.

As for emotional blackmail, the only one capable of that was Ava, their mother. But it didn’t seem like she would do anything to risk upsetting Adrian more than she already had. Things were not looking good for them.

"Dad... let’s contact them," Joseph mumbled so only Jacob could hear him.

"By them, you mean-"

"Yeah, the White Tiger Clan. But not to kill Adrian, just to mess him up so bad he can’t take care of himself," Joseph went on. "Then we can send Mom to look after him, and we’ll handle everything else, just like we always do. It’s the only scenario where everyone would be happy."

"...I’ll contact them."

***

The night was still and quiet as Adrian and Seraphina prepared to face each other. While Adrian wanted to test his new skills, Seraphina instead advised him to focus on his martial arts first, as she had noticed he depended too heavily on his abilities, which wasn’t good.

"Ready?" Seraphina called out.

Adrian nodded, taking an offensive stance. With a sudden burst of energy, they launched themselves towards each other. Since everyone else had gone to visit Vesper, they had the house to themselves, and without any spectators, Seraphina decided to go all-out since that’s what Adrian had asked of her.

Their movements turned a blur as they exchanged blows and counterattacks. However, Seraphina’s prowess began to show as she deftly dodged Adrian’s strikes while the latter struggled to do the same.

Frustrated, Adrian tried harder. His punches and kicks were precise and powerful as he sought to gain the upper hand.

But Seraphina matched him move for move. Her defences seemed impenetrable as she easily countered his every attack.

"Take hold of your emotions," Seraphina said, dodging another attack. "Blinded by frustration, you’re leaving too many openings."

"Got it!"

As the spar continued, the intensity of their movements increased, each of them pushing themselves to their limits. Sweat covered their skin and clothes, and their breath began to become unsteady, more so for Adrian than Seraphina.

Seraphina had been dodging his attacks, but she underestimated Adrian’s range and got hit in the face by a rogue fist, causing her to stumble.

"Interesting," Seraphina let out a menacing smile that Adrian had never seen before and knew things would get more intense.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t given any opportunity to prepare himself. With a sudden burst of speed, Seraphina closed the distance between them, and before Adrian knew it, she was standing behind him.

He tried to create some distance but failed as she executed a perfect sleeper hold submission on him. Adrian struggled against her grip, his breath coming in short gasps as he fought to break free.

But Seraphina’s hold had no gaps. The more Adrian struggled, the tighter her grip got around his neck. She tightened her grip further, forcing Adrian to tap out in submission.

She let go of him, allowing him to lay on top of her for a bit until he felt better. After coughing for a minute straight, he rolled off Seraphina, allowing he to get up and offer him a hand.

"I told you," Seraphina stated, ruffling his hair. "You have way too many openings."

"...Yeah," Adrian sighed. "Fighting without abilities is clearly not my thing."

"And that’s why you need to train more. Your hit hurts, but there isn’t much you can do if it doesn’t land-"

While Seraphina explained things to Adrian, the main door opened, and a car drove in.

"Were you expecting guests?" she asked.

"Not at this hour..."

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