Chapter 457: Putting Them in Their Place

“Well, well, if it isn’t Young Mr. Walton.”

Seeing Zeke Walton as he walked in, the older brother wasn’t scared in the least. Instead, he broke into a wide, happy smile.

“Amina, you’ve got nothing to say now, do you? Young Mr. Walton came all the way to our house for dinner, so you two must have made up. He’s so rich, so capable, and he likes you so much—giving you a million or so should be no problem for him, right?”

“We’re not asking for much. Either you go have a good talk with Tim Tate’s mom and get his cousin to give our house back, or you have Young Mr. Walton give us another million so we can go buy a new one. Your second brother and I have already found our future wives, and the wedding dates are set. You can’t just stand by and watch the two of us stay bachelors, can you?”

He was emotionally blackmailing Amina with this again.

If he didn’t constantly bring these things up, Zeke Walton, out of a sense of guilt on Amina’s behalf, might have considered letting her deal with them.

But it was clear they didn’t see their sister as a person, only thinking about how to exploit her at every turn. Zeke Walton decided there was no need to be polite with them anymore.

After the older brother finished his unreasonable tirade, Amina glanced at Zeke Walton, who was eating with his head down. Afraid he would get angry, she was about to step forward and argue, but Zeke Walton stopped her.

“Amina, this is between men. It has nothing to do with you. Come here and eat.”

With that, Zeke Walton shoveled the last mouthful of rice into his mouth, took a sip of tea, and slowly stood up.

“It’s just money, right? I have plenty. Let’s go. I’ll take you two to get it.”

Amina and her grandmother were both stunned.

‘Didn’t he just have a falling-out with his father? Could he really be planning to make up with his dad just for these two brothers?’

“Zeke…”

Amina ran to Zeke Walton with a worried look on her face. He just smiled at her and gently wiped a speck of grease from the corner of her mouth with his finger.

“Nothing’s going to happen. I know what I’m doing. Be good, finish your food, and wait for me at home. I’ll be back soon.”

The three men left together. The two brothers were ecstatic.

He’d agreed so readily! Had they known, they wouldn’t have bothered with Tim Tate’s family. What a waste of time!

As the three of them walked outside, Zeke Walton kept his head down, fiddling with his phone. Soon, they reached the roadside.

The two brothers looked around. “Where’s your sports car?”

“You two think you’re worthy of riding in my sports car?”

Zeke Walton stared ahead, his face cold.

“You’ll be lucky to get a taxi.”

Soon, a taxi drove by, and Zeke Walton hailed it.

The three of them got in. After a series of twists and turns, they surprisingly ended up at a stadium.

The brothers, their faces etched with confusion, followed him inside, deeper and deeper, into an increasingly remote area, until they entered a basement.

It grew darker and darker, the lighting more and more sinister.

A heavy door was opened, and they found themselves in an underground boxing club.

The two brothers had seen this kind of thing on TV before. To entertain the wealthy, some clubs would set up underground boxing rings where fighters would battle for their viewing pleasure—matches where life and death were left to fate, where they were literally risking their necks for money.

They never thought such places actually existed.

Instantly, their legs began to tremble with fear.

“You… you… didn’t you say you were giving us money? Why did you bring us here?”

Zeke Walton turned back, his handsome face looking grim under the dim, red light.

“You think my money is that easy to take? Do I owe you something? You think you don’t have to give anything in return?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door behind them SLAMMED shut.

The two brothers had just turned to run when a tall man, followed by a group of bodyguards dressed in black, emerged from within.

Beside the man was a boxer, his muscles bulging and gleaming with oil, looking incredibly fierce.

It was Brandon Jacobs.

Brandon Jacobs looked at the two men Zeke Walton had brought. Although they weren’t short and looked fairly sturdy, their rustic air and the cowardice in their eyes couldn’t hide the fact that they were a pair of country bumpkins. He frowned in confusion.

“What’s this? What are you planning to do?”

“These two are trying to extort me. I brought them here to let them know that they can have my money, but it won’t be that easy. So, I need to borrow your men and your place for a bit.”

With that, Zeke Walton jutted his chin toward the two brothers.

“For Amina’s sake, I’ll let you fight him two-on-one. If you can beat him within the time limit, you can take the million. But if you can’t win, whether you leave with a broken arm and a broken leg, or…”

The two brothers stumbled backward in terror. “You… you… you…”

Zeke Walton remained ice-cold. “What? Scared now? Aren’t you two supposed to be so tough? You even dared to provoke me, but now you’re afraid of a mere boxer?”

It was only at this moment that the two brothers seemed to truly realize just how capable Zeke Walton was.

They had originally thought that since their sister was with him, he had become their brother-in-law, someone they could push around as they pleased. Now they saw that was nothing but a dream.

“We don’t want it, we don’t want it anymore! Is that okay? Let us go! We don’t want the money!”

“You ask for it when you want it and say you don’t when you don’t. What do you take me for?”

At that, Zeke Walton’s brow furrowed. A group of bodyguards rushed forward, seized the two brothers, and forcibly shoved them into the boxing ring in the center of the room.

The boxer vaulted into the ring right after them.

Staring at his muscular physique and the massive boxing gloves on his hands, the two brothers were so terrified they collapsed to the mat, unable to stand.

“We won’t do it again! We really won’t! We’ll never ask you for money again! We’ll never bother Amina again! Spare us, spare us, Young Mr. Walton, please spare our lives!”

Zeke Walton watched their pathetic display with cold eyes. Only when they had kowtowed until their foreheads were nearly bleeding did he speak.

“Remember what you looked like today. If you ever dare to come to Veridia again, or even give Amina a single phone call, I’ll have these guys find you at your homes and cripple you, you clueless fools. Get out!”

The two brothers scrambled down from the boxing ring.

But they were so disoriented they couldn’t tell which way was which. “Out, out, we’ll get out! But… which way is out?”

The bodyguards rushed up, grabbed them by the arms, and dragged them out like a pair of chicks.

Zeke Walton watched the two of them leave in disgrace, then sighed and irritably held out his hand to Brandon Jacobs.

“Got a smoke? Give me one.”

Brandon Jacobs had started smoking a lot more since he’d been troubled by his own affairs, but Zeke Walton had never been a smoker. ‘Why is he starting now?’

“What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”

“Had a falling-out with my old man. He kicked me out. Tell me, why is getting married so damn hard? Is a good family match that important in their eyes? It’s not enough for me to choose someone I like—they have to like her too. Fuck!”

Brandon Jacobs deeply sympathized with his complaints.

An old saying put it well: those born into the imperial family have no freedom in marriage.

He never thought that even though they were born in the modern era, and not into royalty, they still had no freedom to marry whom they chose.

People are just too greedy. One generation enjoys wealth and status, and they want the next generation to continue enjoying it, and the generation after that.

And accumulating wealth through marriage is, more often than not, much faster than earning it through hard work.

“I can’t really say anything about that.”

Brandon Jacobs handed him a cigarette and lit one for himself as well.

“My own life is a mess right now. Just take it one step at a time.”