Before the content of the glass could touch Serena’s tongue—BOOM!The double doors to the Old Central Bar flung up inward with a terrifying force that shook the walls and rattled the bottles behind the bar.The glass slipped from Serena’s hand and crashed to the floor, shattering into a dozen pieces. Water and fragments of glass scattered across the floor.Every head in the bar turned toward the entrance.Standing in the doorway was a shirtless, sturdy figure of a man, muscles running across his broad chest and arms, his body marked with scars from knife wounds and burns that crisscrossed his torso like a violent map of his past. His face was twisted in rage, his eyes burning with a fury that made the temperature in the room drop.Following behind him was a group of hoodlums, at least a dozen of them. Each carrying different weapons: clubs, knives, metal pipes, chains. Tools of violence that glinted under the bar’s dim lighting.One didn’t need to look twice to know these were peop

Derek scoffed, a look of disdain on his face. “Raise him up. He’s not dead yet.”Two of his men immediately moved forward and grabbed Carl by his arms, dragging him up from the floor. His legs could barely support his weight, and his head dangled forward with blood dripping steadily from his mouth onto the floor below.His face was now a grotesque horror—swollen, bruised, and covered in blood. His lips were split open, and the gaps where his teeth had been were dark, gaping holes.“P-Please…” Carl’s voice came out weird and garbled, gagging on his own blood. Another tooth fell from his mouth and clinked against the floor. “I… I d-didn’t… please… I’m s-sorry…”“You dare to pretend to die?”Bam!Derek’s fist drove straight into Carl’s stomach with bone-crushing force.Carl’s eyes bulged wide, almost dropping out of their sockets. He coughed violently, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips, splattering across Derek’s scarred chest.Derek didn’t even flinch.He wiped the blood of

Wilson even shook his head vehemently and kept shouting. “I'm telling you—that’s complete nonsense! Don’t listen to him! He’s making things up!” His voice was firm, almost desperate.Derek’s frown deepened. He slowly turned back to Carl; his eyes were cold and murderous once again. “You dare play games with me today? Do you think you’ll escape by pointing fingers?”“No! No! I’m telling the truth!” Carl cried, voice breaking into sobs. “Wilson Rosenberg was behind all of this. He paid me. He paid me to say everything I said tonight. Who am I to offend someone like you and the Brotherhood Gang? I’m just a construction worker, Boss, don’t break my fingers!”Carl’s bloodied face twisted in anguish and rage as he added, “Let me tell you today, Boss—he wanted to impress and drug his boss, that woman called Ms. DiLaurentis. That’s why he planned all of it with me!”Tears mixed with blood streamed down Carl’s mangled face. His voice cracked with betrayal and pain.'Now that we’re in trouble b

Wilson had successfully escaped through the door and would have vanished into the night if he hadn't collided headfirst into the sturdy figure of a huge man standing just outside—a mountain of muscle nearly twice his size.The man's eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked down at Wilson. “Where do you think you're going?”Before Wilson could even think to run, a massive hand shot out and grabbed him tightly by the neck, lifting him slightly off the ground. Wilson's feet scrambled uselessly against the pavement.“You... Gah... let me—”Derek's voice boomed from inside the bar. “Brutus! Bring that dog back in here!”The huge man named Brutus dragged Wilson back into the bar like he weighed nothing at all.Wilson started struggling and kicking desperately, clawing at the iron grip around his neck. “Let me go! Let me go right now! I didn't do anything!”But he wasn't in the slightest a match for Brutus.With one smoo

Wilson’s bloodied mouth twisted into something desperate, almost manic. “I know who killed your brother.”Carl, still crumpled on the floor with his mangled legs, suddenly spoke up through his toothless mouth. “Don’t listen to him, Boss! He’s nothing but a dubious snake who’ll say anything to save his own skin!”Wilson’s head whipped toward Carl, his eyes blazing. “Shut your damn mouth! You know nothing!” He spat blood onto the floor before turning back to Derek; his voice rushed out in a frantic plea. “I work as a director at the Medical Center. I know the people who went to the Brotherhood turf that day. I know exactly who they are.”Serena’s fists clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her palms. Her chest rose and fell with barely controlled fury.Wilson Rosenberg was betraying the Medical Center, throwing everyone under the bus to save himself. He was the cause of all of this—he was the snake who had orchestrated everything from the