Chapter 151

Chapter 151

Looking back on the decision she'd made today, Rowan felt it was the biggest mistake of her life.

If only she'd known William had such a violent temper — that he'd beat Patrick within an inch of his life and take out so many of Patrick's men.

What good had kneeling done her?

At least if she'd killed herself after kneeling, she could have spared the Blair family from total destruction.

But now…

"Wipe out the Tilden family? William, you… you…" The words died in her throat.

William remained completely calm, a faint smile even playing at the corner of his mouth. "Ms. Blair, just close your eyes."

Rowan's head was buzzing.

She couldn't leave, but staying here — what could she possibly do to get them out of this? Her mind was a mess. She simply shut her eyes and kept telling herself over and over: this is a nightmare, it has to be a nightmare.

After Rowan closed her eyes, William reached out and channeled his inner energy into Patrick.

Under its effect, Patrick's eyes opened again.

His mind was clear, but the pain was still overwhelming.

"What are you doing? What the hell do you want?"

William's gaze was filled with killing intent, locked on Patrick. "Killing scum like you outright would be letting you off too easy. You didn't want to work with the Blair family, right? And you love making decisions for other people? Fine. Then I'll make one for you."

He gestured to one of the bodyguards standing nearby.

The man sensed something was wrong and turned to run.

But before he could take a step, William shot out a hand and grabbed him by the collar. "Stop right there."

The bodyguard's legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. "Please, I'm begging you, please spare me."

William said coldly, "Go keep Mr. Tilden company. I think you know what I mean."

The bodyguard burst into tears, shaking his head over and over. "I can't, I really can't, I…"

Before he could finish, William raised his foot.

His kick landed square in the bodyguard's chest. The man coughed up blood and dropped dead.

William turned and gestured to another man.

The second bodyguard went pale with dread. In a moment of desperation, he threw himself on the ground and played dead.

William let out a cold snort, walked over, and kicked him too.

When the man coughed up blood and died, William turned to the ten remaining bodyguards and said, word by word, "Listen carefully. Do what I say, and you might live a little longer. Otherwise, this day next year will be the anniversary of every single one of your deaths."

At those words, the remaining bodyguards fell into complete despair.

They knew that if they wanted to survive, they had no choice but to obey.

When William gestured again, the bodyguard he'd singled out slowly moved toward Patrick.

Patrick's whole body was shaking. He opened his mouth and screamed at the man closing in on him, "Stop right there, don't you take one more goddamn step, or I'll kill you where you stand!"

The bodyguard was crying, voice breaking. "Mr. Tilden, I'm sorry, but if I don't do this, he'll be the one killing me."

William stood watching, his eyes never leaving them.

As the bodyguard moved in and put his hands on Patrick, Patrick completely broke down.

He never, in his wildest nightmares, imagined he'd one day become someone else's plaything.

With one leg and one foot broken, Patrick thrashed desperately. "Get off me, you bastard, you want to die? Get your hands off me."

But the bodyguard had no choice — his own life depended on carrying out William's orders.

Three minutes later, Patrick was terrified.

Every trace of his earlier arrogance was gone, replaced by raw, unending fear.

"I agree, I agree to everything. Please, whatever you want from me today, I'll do it — just please don't let him stand behind me anymore."

William raised his hand slightly. The bodyguard stepped back with visible relief.

"So the Tilden family is willing to work with the Blair family now?"

Patrick nodded repeatedly, swearing up and down, "Yes, absolutely yes."

William smiled and said plainly, "Good. Then call someone right now and have them prepare the contract."

Patrick's mind was spinning.

Even if they were going to cooperate, it couldn't all be done in a single day, could it? Bringing up a deal and demanding a contract the same day — was he serious? That's not how business worked.

"Sir, could you give me two days? I promise, just two days and I'll…"

William wasn't stupid.

If the Tilden family already had the Garcia family under their thumb, then handing the Blair family even a small project would be enough to make them a solid profit.

"Tell me — what projects does the Tilden family have planned in Novaria?"

Patrick's face twisted. He kept drawing sharp breaths. "There are three major ones right now. The Novaria airport expansion, the Novaria ring road construction, and the Novaria new district…"

William didn't hesitate. "Then hand over the Novaria airport expansion project to the Blair family."

Rowan, who had been sitting on the sofa with her eyes closed, snapped them open and stared at William in disbelief.

The Novaria airport expansion — if the Blair family actually landed that, it would bring them hundreds of millions of dollars in pure profit in one shot.

That was something she hadn't even dared to dream about before.

Patrick, at this point, couldn't care less what project William was demanding.

All that mattered to him right now was getting William out the door.

Because once William was gone, did anyone really think he'd hand over that project to the Blair family? The moment William stepped outside, he'd call home, send in more muscle, and have both William and the Blair family wiped off the map.

"Yes, yes, of course. Sir, would you allow me to call my assistant? Have them prepare the contract right now and bring it here for Ms. Blair to sign?"

William sat down next to Rowan and gave a light nod. "Go ahead."

The back of Rowan's shirt was soaked through with sweat.

Coming back to her senses, she couldn't help herself — she grabbed William by the arm and pulled him up.

Seeing her hesitate, William asked, "What is it?"

Rowan licked her dry lips and said quietly, "Can you come over here for a second?"

William let Rowan pull him to an empty corner of the room.

She glanced back at Patrick, who was on the phone, and once she was sure he couldn't hear them, she spoke — her voice low and uneasy. "Mr. Brown, do you really think the Blair family can afford to take a project that was forced out of someone like this? As it is, I already feel like we're barely going to survive in Novaria. And now you've made them hand over a project this lucrative — aren't you just painting a target on our backs?"