THE DEJECTED SON-IN-LAW

9

At that moment, Cal slapped him with a backhand.

The bones in Rex's face shattered instantly, and he vomited blood as he flew backward into the wall.

"You... what kind of martial arts is this?" Rex struggled to his feet, asking anxiously through broken teeth.

Cal shook his head. "You ask too many questions."

After those words fell, Cal picked up an iron rod from the ground and kicked it forward.

*Whoosh!*

The iron rod flew with terrifying speed, creating sonic booms as it cut through the air.

Rex tried desperately to dodge, but just as he turned, the iron rod pierced clean through his skull and nailed him to the wall.

Blood mixed with brain matter splattered across the surface.

The deputy head of the Dragon Tiger Gang, known as Tiger, died instantly.

Seeing the gruesome death displayed on the wall, Victor trembled with terror, his face ashen. He lost control of his bladder, urine and feces soiling his pants.

Finally, he collapsed at Cal's feet, begging desperately for his life.

At the same time, a large convoy of military and police vehicles gathered outside Red Rose Bar.

"General Steele, according to plan, all personnel are in position! Red Rose Bar is the center—all road traffic within a hundred-meter radius is blocked!"

Morgan stood proudly on the street, dressed in military uniform with a commanding presence.

"Excellent!"

"Squad One, follow me into Red Rose Bar."

"Even if I die in this operation, I must personally capture Rex Malone, the most wanted fugitive!"

Morgan gave the order and led the charge into the bar.

---

"So Marcus Thornton, the chairman of Thornton Enterprises, ordered you to target the Whitmore family?"

"Just for the city hospital supply contract?"

In the attic, dim light reflected off the blood pooling on the floor in dark crimson.

Cal sat on the sofa, listening as Victor explained the entire situation.

"Yes... yes, sir."

"Thornton Enterprises wants to monopolize the pharmaceutical market in the city, and Whitmore Industries is their primary target."

"I... I had no choice... Please... please forgive me, sir."

Victor knelt on the ground, speaking through fear-stricken tears.

While he spoke, sudden commotion erupted from downstairs.

Cal glanced out the window and spotted a large number of soldiers flooding in below.

He raised his eyebrows. From the looks of it, they must be Morgan's people.

When she'd driven him back this afternoon, Morgan mentioned there would be an operation against Red Rose Bar tonight.

Cal figured she must have come for the Dragon Tiger Gang.

"You're the head of the Dragon Tiger Gang, correct?"

"Well, I don't have to kill you, but tonight..." Cal paused, looking meaningfully at Victor.

Victor, being a shrewd man, immediately understood. "I killed them all. Tonight... I will surrender myself to the police."

Cal nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. Remember what you said tonight, and reform yourself from now on. Don't let me see you outside again."

Cal smiled and prepared to leave.

But at that moment, a startled gasp came from the bed behind him.

"You... who are you?"

Rain had woken up.

She'd only drunk a small amount of the drugged wine, so naturally the effects wore off much faster than for Serena and the others.

Looking down at her disheveled clothing, Rain's face filled with panic.

She clutched her chest desperately, tears streaming down her face.

She thought she'd been violated.

"Don't worry, I arrived in time. Your clothes are just torn." Cal looked at her and offered a reassuring smile.

Earlier, when Victor saw that Rain was pretty, she'd been his first target.

He'd just torn off her underwear when Cal arrived—didn't even have time to feast his eyes.

"It's you."

"You... you saved us?"

Rain recognized Cal.

She looked at him, then at the men scattered across the floor, and Victor kneeling on the ground. Disbelief crossed her face.

"These... all... you defeated them?" Rain covered her mouth in surprise.

Cal shook his head with a smile, removed his jacket, and tossed it to Rain. "If you don't cover up, I'll see everything."

"Ah?" Rain's face flushed crimson.

Only then did she realize she'd been too shocked to notice her exposed skin beneath the torn fabric.

She immediately covered herself with his coat, lowering her head shyly. "Thank you."

Cal smiled.

The sound of footsteps from downstairs grew closer.

Morgan and her team would arrive soon.

It was time for him to leave.

"Miss Rain Sterling, correct?" Cal looked over. He remembered Serena mentioning Rain's name.

"Shortly, someone will come to rescue you."

"However, I hope you can keep my presence here a secret."

"Don't tell Serena either."

"All right?"

Rain was taken aback. "Why?"

She was puzzled.

Wasn't he pursuing Serena? Telling her about tonight's rescue would surely change Serena's attitude toward him.

Cal smiled lightly. "I'm afraid of trouble."

Women were very troublesome.

He didn't want excessive entanglement with either Serena or Morgan.

Rather than have those two women interrogating him tomorrow, it was better to pretend he was never here.

"Okay, I'm leaving."

"One more thing—that mole on your chest is very sexy."

Cal turned and smiled at Rain.

Then he jumped from the window and vanished swiftly into the night.

Only the reeking Victor remained, along with Rain, whose pretty face had turned as red as a cherry.

---

Outside the attic, under Morgan's leadership, dozens of fully armed soldiers with rifles pressed against the wall in the stairwell.

"General, the sniper is in position!"

"Commando Team One is in place!"

"Commando Team Three is in place!"

Subordinates reported in hushed voices.

Morgan wore her military uniform with a grave expression, as if facing a formidable enemy.

She'd received definite intelligence that the fugitive military criminal was in this attic.

"Rex Malone is extremely dangerous. Even armed, you may not be his match."

"Follow my orders strictly!"

"Minimize casualties!"

Morgan spoke solemnly.

Then, checking the time, she immediately ordered: "Now—move!"

*Boom!*

The attic door was kicked open.

Led by Morgan, over a dozen elite special forces soldiers rushed in.

"Don't move!"

"Hands up!"

Fierce shouts echoed throughout the attic.

They'd expected a brutal battle, but everyone who saw the room's condition stood stunned.

The Dragon Tiger Gang members were either dead or injured, all lying on the ground.

Gang leader Victor sat paralyzed against the wall, a stench emanating from beneath him, muttering repeatedly, "I did it all, I surrender, I want to surrender."

"Damn it, what happened here?"

"Where's Rex Malone?"

"Did we let him escape again?" Morgan clenched her fists tightly.

She didn't care about the others—she only cared about capturing Rex.

"General... General, you... look at the wall..." At that moment, a subordinate's trembling voice came from beside her.

Morgan looked over.

In the next second, rare horror appeared on the face of the usually composed War Goddess.

"This... who did this?!"

Looking at Rex crucified on the wall in such gruesome fashion, Morgan's pupils contracted and her face paled in shock.

"I did it, I did it, I want to surrender..." In the corner, Victor's dull voice still echoed, as if he'd lost his soul.

---

After returning home, Cal happened to meet Shane and his wife anxiously rushing out the door.

"Cal, something happened to Serena. She's in the hospital now. The police called us."

"You stay home and wait for our call..."

Lily's face was pale, her voice thick with tears.

Without waiting for Cal's response, she urged Shane to drive to the hospital immediately.

"Poor parents everywhere..."

Cal shook his head with a wry smile.

He wasn't worried about Serena's condition.

She'd just consumed some drugged alcohol. After the effects wore off, she'd wake naturally and see her parents by her side.

No real danger, no bloodshed—maybe she'd even have sweet dreams.

It was Mrs. Whitmore and Mr. Whitmore who were pitiful—they probably wouldn't sleep tonight from worry.

But as he smiled, Cal's expression faded.

He felt a bit envious of Serena.

If the same thing happened to him, probably only that cantankerous old man on the mountain would show up at the hospital to kick him awake.

"Stinky boy, stop lying in bed pretending to be dead—get up and go to work!"

As for parents?

Did he even have parents?

That was highly questionable.

When Serena and the others returned, it was already late at night.

Since she'd been unconscious the entire time, the police couldn't question her, so Serena, Grace and the others were naturally sent home.

"Serena, what happened?"

"Why did you end up in the hospital?"

Seeing their daughter intact and realizing it was just a false alarm, Shane and his wife breathed sighs of relief.

However, they remained confused about last night's events. They'd asked the police, but received no answers.

Serena's head still ached slightly. She thought for a long time but couldn't remember much.

She only recalled going to the bar with her friends for drinks, then feeling overwhelmingly sleepy...

"Where's Cal?"

"Didn't I tell him to go to the bar and bring you home?"

"Could it be that boy didn't go?"

In the living room, Shane grew angry.

He'd sent Cal specifically to protect his daughter last night.

Yet something still went wrong.

This Cal was truly useless!

As expected, he shouldn't have trusted this poor mountain boy.

"Tomorrow I'm letting him go!" Shane declared angrily.

"Shane, why are you blaming Cal? It's because your daughter went out partying at night," Lily defended Cal.

Serena also spoke quietly, "Dad, I really can't blame Cal. He warned me. I didn't listen to him."

Though Serena disliked Cal, at least she could distinguish right from wrong.

Shane said nothing more.

"All right, you girl, be more careful in the future and don't go out at night. Go rest. I'll have someone investigate tomorrow—find out who drugged you."

Soon, the living room lights went out.

The Whitmore family all retired for the night.

Cal, who'd been awakened in the guest room, also closed his eyes.

But he was thinking that this woman, Serena, didn't seem quite as unreasonable as he'd thought.

---

One night passed quickly.

Serena didn't go to the company today, instead visiting Rain after getting up that morning.

The three sisters had been drugged last night. When Serena woke, she discovered she and Grace were unharmed, but only Rain's clothes had been messed up.

Fortunately, it hadn't led to disaster, which was a blessing in disguise.

However, as a good friend, she still needed to visit and comfort her. After all, it had been quite frightening.

Yet what surprised both Serena and Grace was that Rain, who'd always been timid, acted as if nothing had happened.

When they arrived, Rain was humming a song and happily hanging clothes on the balcony.

Serena and the others were shocked. "Rain, after what happened yesterday, you're... not afraid at all?"

Serena was quite frightened, at least.

If she'd been violated, she felt she definitely wouldn't want to live.

"I'm afraid," Rain replied with a smile.

Serena and Grace were speechless. "You're afraid but still smiling so happily? Anyone who didn't know would think you had a wedding night with your dream man."

Serena always felt Rain was acting strangely.

Until she noticed the jacket Rain was hanging was actually men's clothing.

At that moment, Serena was shocked. "Rain, are you in a relationship? Why are you drying men's clothes?"

Grace also noticed quickly and exclaimed, "All right, Rain, you must have found a man behind our backs! Tell us—who is it? Where did you hide him? Is he still in the bedroom?"

"I knew you weren't afraid at all. Turns out you were comforted by someone after returning home last night and had a romantic evening."

"Rain, you're not being a good friend—you won't even tell us you're in love!"

While talking, Grace rushed into the bedroom to find him.

She wanted to see what kind of exceptional man could conquer Rain, their high school's proud beauty.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Rain's face flushed as she quickly explained she wasn't dating anyone.

"Then how do you explain this jacket?" Serena and Grace demanded.

"Oh, don't ask. Anyway, it's not what you think..."

Rain remembered Cal's instructions and didn't reveal the coat's owner.

However, when she said these words, for some reason, she gave Serena a guilty glance.

"All right, little girl, now you're keeping secrets from both of us?"

"Let's see if we don't tickle you to death!"

Grace roared playfully, then kicked off her high heels and tackled Rain onto the sofa.

Serena also rushed forward.

"Hahaha..."

"No, don't tickle me..."

"I'm ticklish!"

The three sisters engaged in playful combat, their sweet laughter filling the room.

After the struggle, Rain's thin pajamas had been torn into disarray by Grace.

"Rain, I never noticed before—you actually have a beauty mark on your chest?"

Looking at the snow-white skin beneath the girl's disheveled pajamas, Grace spoke enviously.

Rain's beautiful eyes curved into crescents as she replied in a peculiar tone, "Hehe, is it sexy?"