Since it was summer break, there were no classes to attend. Trying hard to act like a dutiful wife and loving mother, Sophia left home for work at 8.30 AM sharp and parked her motorcycle in the garage at 6.30 PM every day after finishing work. Moreover, she would leave home with Michael for a walk every weekend.
Celine acted as if nothing had happened after Michael caught her in the act that day; she still acted without restraint as if wanting to retrieve the seven youthful years that she had lost.
Her life was colorful as she spent every day clubbing, flirting with ladies, and beating up high school students. As a result, scandalous titbits about Taylor were updated regularly in the entertainment news like a serial novel, with daily stories about him picking up girls, engaging in illegal racing, fighting, and getting into brawlsâ¦
These days, many underworld gangs recruited members who were still studying, especially middle school kids. Teenagers were hot-blooded and gullible; since they were relatively weak in distinguishing right from wrong, they would think that it was cool and respectable to be gangsters.
Many kids who were tricked into joining these gangs also became addicted to drugs, neglected their studies, and ended up spending the rest of their lives as gangsters.
Celine had been picking on these student gangs recently. Firstly, it was because such gangs were relatively weak and were convenient tools for her to train the tenderfoots with. After all, these gangs infiltrated schools to trick students into joining them because they were weak. Secondly, the members of such gangs were all teenagers, making them easy targets to beat upâshe could do whatever she pleased with them while she was at it.
Thirdly, underworld gangs should be nipped in the bud. Students should go back and study instead of joining the underworld!
Celine thought she had done a great deed by giving these teenage gangsters a beating and telling them to return to school and study!
Meanwhile, Sophia had been acting like a dutiful wife and loving mother for several days before Stanley asked her in secret, âAunt Celine is going to have another fight with some gangsters at 12.00 PM tomorrow, Aunt. Would you like to join us? Itâll be exciting!â
Sophia quickly waved her hand and conscientiously worked in her office with her glasses on. âNo, Iâm not joining! Iâm never going to join you guys ever again; your uncle had been really angry the last time.â
Stanley assured her, âDonât worry! This time, Iâve already asked aroundâUncle Michael and Mr. Harry will be having a meeting to discuss their scripts tomorrow. Theyâll begin filming soon, and theyâre bound to be busy. Weâll go secretly and end the fight within two hours. This time, weâre going to beat up a sc*mbag named Ben in Riverdale. He has quite the influence over there and has amassed a gang of high school students to act like tyrants everywhere. He provoked Aunt Celine the night before yesterday.â
Sophia pricked up her ears upon hearing the word âRiverdaleâ, and the name âBenâ resounded in her ears.
She exclaimed, âAre you talking about Ben Oak?â
Stanley answered, âThatâs right! Itâs him that Iâm talking about. You must know him since you grew up in Riverdale!â
Heâs more than someone I know! Sophia thought to herself.
Having quite some influence in Riverdale, Ben had more than 200 underlings. Most of them were undergraduates and high school students.
It could be said that Benâs name resounded in the studentsâ ears back when she was studying at Riverdale High School. Everyone spoke of him with either a look of admiration or a look of terror on their faces.
To Sophia, Benâs name used to be associated with several past events that she couldnât bear to recallâ¦
She had just been admitted to Riverdale High School back then, and the school principal specially approved the waiver of her tuition and accommodation fees. Besides the living allowance that was credited to her meal card every month, the school principal gave her some pocket money out of his own pocket every month. She also earned extra income by doing part-time jobs in school, such as delivering barreled water and sweeping the floors. She was also awarded a yearly scholarship, so she never had to worry about spending money on food and clothingâshe could even save some money occasionally.
Sophia had forced herself to become stronger to reward the school principal for recognizing and appreciating her talents. She finished in the top five of her class during every exam; she usually had the best grades in her class, but there were also several occasions where she had the second or third best grades.
She heard of Benâs name for the first time when several dozen female gangsters blocked her in the toilet one day before her sophomore yearâs second end-of-term exam.
Her head was pinned against the toilet seat cover as the female gangsters stripped off her school uniform shirt. Then, they stubbed out a few cigarette butts on her back. It produced a sizzling sound and the smell of burning flesh, which formed an extremely strange smell when mixed with the weird odor in the toilet. Sophia shed tears of pain but didnât dare say a word.
âYou b*tch, you should have asked around outside! Rosie is Benâs younger sister! Do you know who Ben is?â
âYou should feel honored that Rosie wants you to pass the exam questionsâ answers to her, so donât be ungrateful by turning her down!â
She glanced up at the girl named Rosie as her bruised face was pressed against the toilet seat cover.
Even though Rosie was dressed in school uniform, her hair was permed and dyed in multiple colors.
Wearing heavy makeup despite her young age, she held a cigarette between her fingersâher fingernails of which were multicoloredâand stared coldly at Sophiaâs face pressed against the toilet seat cover.
Then, she let out a chuckle, blew a ring of smoke, and stubbed out the cigarette butt on Sophiaâs back.
As she trembled with pain, Sophiaâs tears fell drop by drop. Even so, she didnât dare to utter a single soundâshe was afraid of Ben.
Who wasnât afraid of Ben at Riverdale High School? He was a local bully in Riverdale with several hundreds of underlings under him, and many boys in the school had joined his gang.
One would no longer be able to survive in Riverdale if he or she messed with Ben.
In the end, one of the female gangsters patted an old-fashioned Nokia cell phone on her face. âListen up, poor wretch! This is a gift to you from Rosie! Her phone number is saved on this cell phone. You must finish answering all the questions 30 minutes before handing in your exam papers. Youâll have to pass Rosie all the answers! Also, you mustnât give Rosie away if the proctor catches you. Otherwise, Iâll have a few gangsters gang-rape you! Are you afraid of being gang-raped?â
Sophia reached out her handâher fingernails of which had been brokenâand took the cell phone.
In that end-of-term exam, Rosieâwho had always finished at the bottom of her classâunexpectedly made herself into the top 100 of her class. As a result, Rosie and many students who had good grades were called over by the school teachers to investigate the matter.
Sophia was so scared at the time that she didnât even dare to sleep. She was afraid of being discovered that she had passed the answers to them, but she was even more afraid that the school principal would be disappointed with herâ¦
If she remembered correctly, Rosie was the one who did it when Kayla had a few gangsters break her legs.
She was staying in Duckburgs when a bunch of gangsters attempted to rape her, forcing her to jump into the river to save her own life. Those gangsters were Benâs men.
âSophia!â Seeing that she was in a daze, Stanley pushed her shoulder; only then did she snap out of her past memories.
âHuh?â
Stanley winked at her and asked again, âWill you be joining us? Come on, I guarantee that Uncle Michael wonât catch you!â
Sophia sneered as she took off her elegantly designed big-framed glasses. She replied, âWhy not? Iâll be joining you guys.â
Her eyes, which once looked innocent, flashed fire.
The companyâs office closed at 6.00 PM, but the staff usually stayed until 9.00 PM. That evening, however, Sophia drove home as soon as she finished work. Since the office was near her house, it only took 30 minutes at most for her to arrive even if there was a traffic jam.
She reached home that evening at 6.30 PM.
Lately, Sophia dressed like a high-flying career woman. Wearing a refined and decent-looking hip skirt and a pair of big-framed glasses without any prescription, she looked smart and resolute when she walked in her black stilettos. Her long hair was coiled up on the back of her head, making her look like a white-collar elite in every way.
After reaching home, she took a shower, changed into cartoon pajamas, and went to the dining room to have dinner with Michael.
Nathan was also here on this day, so the family of three had dinner together.
Sophia tried hard to pretend that everything was normal, acting like she was eating and sleeping well. To her surprise, as soon as she finished her meal and put down her utensils, Michael asked in a perfectly calm tone, âAre you going out to fight some gangsters tomorrow?â
Sophia trembled all over nervously while her muscles contracted. After a few seconds, she replied with a smile, âHow is that possible? I have work tomorrow.â
Sh*t, who leaked that out?!