Chapter 118

Carlisle ignored how the rest of the people felt about the situation. He didn’t take his eyes off Mike as

he asked, “What do you think?”

After a moment of hesitation, Mike said, “I want 8000 dollars to pay for my medical bill!”

“Fucking-“Sean and Owen almost exploded with rage. Mike’s men hadn’t been the only ones who got

injured.

Benjamin stepped forward. “I’ll be beyond disappointed in you if you agree to that, Carl.”

Heath always told him that one could be broke, but one couldn’t be undignified. Even when they’d been

at their worst, they’d chosen to sleep under bridges and starve than to beg for food or money.

Carlisle looked at Heath. “Do you have the money?”

Instead of saying anything, Heath looked at Cameron, who was hiding in the private room. He was

carrying the bag that carried the money.

Carlisle went inside and took 8000 dollars out of it. He handed the money to Mike and said, “Here’s the

money for your hospital bill.”

Mike smirked. “I suppose you’re not that dumb. Here’s a reminder–you’d better stay away from these

fuckers in the future. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let you off easily!*

He waved a hand. “Let’s continue drinking!”

He and his men returned to their private room, as did Heath and the others. Sean didn’t join them,

though. He roared at Carlisle, “This is the end of our friendship, Carlislel

With that, he limped off. Benjamin sighed as well. “I don’t want to do this

anymore,

either.”

Owen didn’t say anything, but he silently followed Benjamin away. Francis shook his head and smiled

bitterly. “These youngsters really can’t keep their tempers in check.”

Hank opened a bottle of whiskey and poured it onto his wound. The veins on his neck bulged from the -

pain, but he didn’t make a sound. Francis watched him, thinking that he was ruthless despite his

appearance. He was ruthless to himself more than he was to others.

Heath finished his cigarette and lit another one. Carlisle took the whiskey Hank had placed on the table

and took a swig. The liquor burned on its way down his throat, helping to suppress his anger.

“Let’s keep whatever happened today in mind for now. Within a month, I’ll drive lan and Mike Carlson

out of Riverland!” His tone was calm, but his eyes flickered with ruthlessness.

Carlisle didn’t feel great, seeing that his friends had been beaten up. But he’d just started his business,

so he had to hold himself back whenever necessary.

Heath stubbed out his cigarette. “This area used to be under Horace Lancaster’s care. I worked for him

for more than a decade. Later, lan suddenly showed up out of nowhere with more than ten million

dollars. He bought out some of the places here and went after Horace’s businesses.

“When things went bad for Horace, lan even bought out some of his most loyal supporters. Then, lan

got someone to get rid of Horace’s wife. He couldn’t handle it and jumped off a building.”

Francis stuffed a piece of salmon into his mouth. “You know, I would’ve thought the battle over territory

would’ve involved more physical brawls.”

“That might’ve been the case a decade ago. At the time, two or three hundred of us would get into

fights at one go. But in recent years, law enforcement has been getting stricter in these parts. It’s rare

to see a large–scale brawl nowadays,” Hank said as he leaned back casually.

“You guys are younger than me, yet you’ve seen so much more than I have.” Francis chuckled.

“You used to be in the army, right? It’s normal that you wouldn’t know about these things.” Hank smiled

faintly..

Just then, Carlisle’s phone rang. It was a call from a number he didn’t recognize. The person on the

other end asked politely, “Hi, am I speaking to Half_a_Cig?”

Half_a_Cig was Carlisle’s online username. He said, “Yeah, that’s me.”

The person sounded excited as he said, “I’m Sunny Little, a realtor from Premier Properties. I saw your.

post on the Riverland forum that you’re interested in purchasing some property at the Riverwatch

District. I happen to have some listings there.”