Chapter 194: Hidden Conflicts

"Get your hand off my mouth!" the boss screamed once he managed to yank Hayden’s hand away.

"Calm down…" Hayden said.

"You of all people don’t have the right to say that to me!" the boss continued yelling.

"Stop screaming…" Hayden muttered.

"I’m going to scream until you understand what the fuck you’ve done! Have you seen this? Have you seen this!?" the boss shouted as he shoved a piece of paper in Hayden’s face.

Hayden took the paper from his father’s hand and scanned the printed text with his eyes. He had a look of surprise on his face for a brief moment before his eyes narrowed and his face darkened evidently.

"Why would he do this…?" Hayden asked in wonder.

"Ethan is evil. He’s doing this all on purpose to screw with everyone’s head. He returned home beaten up so imagine how pissed of the Silvas are about it right now. Then this morning, he sent a fucking letter of apology straight to my office for getting into a fight with my son. Guess who the Silvas are pissed off at right now? I told you to stay away from him…" the boss complained.

"He approached me first…" Hayden stated.

"Don’t sound like a five-year-old. This isn’t about who started it first! This is gang politics!" the boss yelled back, unable to control his anger.

"Enough, I’m getting a headache…" Hayden replied with a frown.

"Fuck. I’m going to hit you on the head until you bleed to death!" the boss yelled as he drew his hand back.

"Just ignore Ethan…" Hayden muttered indifferently.

"Ignore him? how? All the gangs are watching this shit show. That bastard sent an official letter of apology," the boss said with an incredulous look on his face.

"That’s great, isn’t it? It shows that he knows what he did was wrong," Hayden said without a care.

"Let me put it differently so you young and stupid people will understand. How will Torex be perceived if we don’t respond in kind? I, the Head of Torex, have to send back a letter of apology as well just to make sure that our hands look clean in all this mess!" the boss explained in anger.

"Aha…" Hayden murmured.

"Are you even listening?!" his father screamed at him again.

"Yes, I’m listening and yes I understood everything that you’ve just said," Hayden replied while anticipating his father’s next question.

"Why did you do it? It isn’t like you to react to these provocations…" the boss asked sternly.

Hayden hesitated for a moment but then decided to tell his father the truth.

"Ethan came to see Malissa a few times. When he approached me, he said some things about her that didn’t sit well with me," Hayden said, his tone cold.

"What did he say?" the boss asked.

"…He said that Malissa belongs to Silva and that I have to hand her back. Either that or we have to form a partnership," Hayden replied followed by a frustrated sigh.

"That doesn’t make any sense! I paid 500 million dollars back then for her ransom. If anything, I bought her and she belongs to Torex," the boss exclaimed with clear dissatisfaction.

"Jack was a Silva…by the rule, Malissa is a Silva by birth," Hayden replied matter-of-factly.

"Jack cut his ties with Silva and this world a long time ago. It’s ridiculous for Ethan to be making his claims now," the boss said heatedly.

"Will all gangs think that way, I wonder…" Hayden muttered as if talking to himself.

"It depends. One thing for sure is that I can’t have any gang suspecting or thinking that Torex broke some rules. It would ruin our reputation and I can’t have that happening. What do you plan to do about Malissa?" the boss asked, his eyes staring deeply into his son’s eyes.

"I don’t know but I won’t let history repeat itself," Hayden replied determinedly.

"I won’t either. I don’t have another son to lose…" the boss said.

…

Hayden and Luka stood side by side in front of Hayden’s car. Hayden gazed at the car that he drove yesterday and sighed.

"Luka, can you get me a baseball bat or something…" Hayden instructed.

"Sure…but why do you need it?" Luka asked as he started to get a bad feeling about all this.

"Just get it for me. Now would be good…" Hayden replied impatiently.

"Yeah yeah…" Luka muttered as he walked off.

A few minutes later, he returned with a baseball bat. With a questioning look on his face, he handed it over to Hayden.

"You’re not going to…" Luka said before he had to end his sentence midway to jump out of the way.

Hayden raised the bat and slammed it down onto the front of his car. There was a loud smashing sound as the bat dented the metal of the car. Hayden repeated the action and Luka jumped out of the way as the front light of the car broke, shattering glass in all directions. Luka’s eyes widened as he watched Hayden continue to strike his luxury sportscar.

"Need a hand? It looks quite fun. Let me have a go at it too," Luka said.

Hayden paused and took in a few deep breaths. His body felt sore, and some parts of his injuries stung but he ignored it completely. Wordlessly, he turned to look at Luka before handing him the baseball bat.

"Sure," Hayden said and slipped the bat into Luka’s hand.

He couldn’t care less who did the work as long as the work got done. No one, especially Malissa, will see his car in perfect condition. It’ll probably be a good idea to show her the damaged car to keep the story firmly intact in her mind too. Hayden stood to the side as he watched Luka take out his pent-up stress on the car.

"Shit…no matter how rich you are, that’s just a waste…" Luka said followed by a chuckle.

He returned to stand at Hayden’s side and the two men looked at their masterpiece before nodding at each other in approval.

"The car looks so roughed up like it’s supposed to now, I guess…" Luka said thoughtfully with his eyes on the car.

"I had a car accident, ok? Make sure everyone tells the same story. The men are instructed not to talk to her unless necessary but make sure that Auntie and the maid are aligned," Hayden commanded coldly.

"Alright…" Luka solemnly agreed.

--To be continued…

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