Chapter 40 Give an Inch and Take a Mile

Chapter 40 Give an Inch and Take a Mile

"Hey beautiful, all alone?"

A flippant whistle suddenly sounded beside her. Flora turned her head toward the noise and realized several thugs had somehow gathered behind her.

Ryder dangled his motorcycle keys, wearing a sleazy grin. "Want a ride on my bike? I'll take you out for some fun."

As he spoke, he reached out to put his arm around Flora's shoulder.

Flora frowned, dodged to the side, and coldly refused, "Don't touch me."

The other thugs completely ignored Flora's rejection. After seeing her gorgeous looks and outstanding presence, they immediately laughed and said, "This woman is really beautiful. You've got good taste!"

"So that's why Ryder turned down that other girl's confession earlier—he found himself a new girlfriend!"

"With her looks, she's definitely fit to be Ryder's girlfriend!"

"They say Ryder is tougher than the boss from the next street over. Look, even his girlfriend is better looking than theirs."

They kept laughing and joking, talking over each other, treating Flora as if she already belonged to Ryder, making crude jokes with careless and offensive words.

Hearing these disrespectful comments, Flora pressed her lips together, forcing down her irritation.

She turned to leave and put some distance between herself and them, but as soon as she took a step, Ryder quickly circled around in front of her, extending an arm to block her path. "Don't rush off, beautiful. Meeting like this is fate. Let's exchange contact info."

"It's getting late, hard to get a cab around here, and expensive too. Why not hop on my bike? I'll take you for a ride." He pressed the remote in his hand, and the motorcycle parked in the dim alley suddenly lit up, its sharp unlocking sound piercing the air.

The sudden harsh noise startled Flora, making her body jerk and her neck instinctively shrink.

Flora's panicked reaction greatly pleased Ryder. He ran his hand through his hair with fake casualness and asked, "So, pretty cool modified bike, right?"

Flora clutched her bag strap tightly, not wanting any involvement with these people. She suppressed her impatience again and refused once more in a cold tone, "Not riding, not adding you as a friend. I have things to do, I need to go."

"Don't be so cold. Come have a late-night snack with us, I'll transfer you money afterward." Ignoring Flora's resistance, Ryder grabbed her wrist directly and started dragging her toward the alley entrance. "I'll take you for a ride. Those young girls will be so jealous when they see you on such a cool bike!"

The other thugs immediately closed in, saying with fake concern, "Yeah, yeah, don't be shy. We're really gentle."

Seeing these people pushing their luck, Flora's expression completely darkened.

She suddenly twisted her wrist, instantly breaking free from Ryder's tight grip. Before he could react, she swiftly folded both his arms behind his back, then grabbed his arm, turned, bent forward, and with one smooth motion, slammed him hard onto the ground.

"You bitch!"

The other thugs never expected that the seemingly delicate Flora would actually fight back, and so efficiently throw Ryder to the ground. Instantly furious and humiliated, they shouted and rushed at her all at once.

In moments, the dim alley filled with the dull thuds of fists hitting flesh.

"Stop! Everyone stop!"

The commotion grew too loud. A security guard who noticed the disturbance in the alley immediately went to report it. By the time everyone rushed over, the scene was already a mess.

Under the dim streetlight, unable to see clearly what was happening inside, an elderly lady instinctively assumed Flora was in trouble. Before she even got close, her anxious voice called out.

The only figure still standing at the scene slowly stopped moving when she heard the voice and slowly turned around.

When everyone saw who it was, they all froze.

The person standing there was actually Flora!

"This...!" Isabella was completely stunned by the scene before her, unable to speak for a long moment.

Flora looked so gentle and delicate—how could she fight so well?

If she really had such skills, she'd actually be even more suitable as her daughter-in-law. Max had an impulsive and hot-tempered personality and would inevitably get into fights. Having Flora by his side would be perfect to keep him in check.

"Flora!" Gavin had originally just come to see what was going on, but the moment he caught sight of Flora, he immediately dropped all his casual attitude. His expression tense with concern, he strode forward quickly, looking her over carefully with worry, urgently checking if she was hurt.

Seeing Flora's scraped arm, his furrowed brows showed deep concern. Without a word, he pulled her along, wanting to take her to get the wound bandaged. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"I'm fine." Perhaps to lighten the mood, Flora half-joked, "If you'd come any later, my wound would've already healed."

"Still joking around. Be careful of infection."

"I'm glad you're okay." After recovering from her shock, Isabella quickly walked over and said with concern, "But you should still go to the hospital for a proper checkup, just to be safe."

"Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of what happened today and give you both an explanation."

"Thank you."

After Flora thanked her, Gavin took her away, still insisting on taking her to the hospital for a checkup and to properly treat her wound.

Isabella ordered the security guards to take all the thugs still groaning on the ground to the police station. Then she had people suppress news of tonight's incident while secretly sending others to thoroughly investigate the background of these thugs.

For no good reason, this group of thugs had no business hanging around outside a five-star hotel, let alone daring to openly attack Flora. Their purpose was far too obvious—clearly someone had deliberately arranged this, targeting Flora specifically.

To dare attack her guest at her banquet was clearly disrespecting her. She wanted to see who was so bold!

The assistant quickly delivered the results of interrogating the thugs to Isabella, reporting respectfully, "We've found out. They've all admitted that Vivian hired them, just to teach Flora a lesson."

It was Vivian again, that troublemaker!

When she heard Vivian's name, Isabella's temple instantly throbbed with pain.

Seeing her assistant hesitating, she asked, "What else?"

The assistant lowered her voice and continued reporting, "Vivian seems to have anticipated that you would investigate. She specifically had the thugs pass along a message, ordering us not to investigate this matter further and not to leak a word about it, or else she'll use the Smith family's influence against you."

She really had some nerve!

Daring to use the Smith family to pressure her!