Chapter 9

Then they saw Bradley stroll right up to Leon.

Seeing the crowd, including Sergey, Bradley asked, puzzled, "Leon, what's going on here?"

Leon smirked and said, "I heard Sergey works for you. Maybe you should ask him. He'll fill you in."

"Sergey, spill it. What's happening?" Bradley frowned, eyeing Sergey.

Sweat dripped from Sergey's forehead, and he sucked in a breath in panic. He never imagined Leon's friend would turn out to be Bradley himself. Despite being a local thug, Sergey was nothing compared to Bradley.

"Bradley, is he your friend?" Sergey asked, his voice shaky.

"What do you think? Leon's my best friend. Anyone who messes with him messes with me!" Bradley declared firmly.

Sergey took a deep breath, cursed Steve silently, and then recounted everything that had happened, leaving nothing out.

After hearing the story, Bradley turned to Steve, who was pale and trembling with fear.

"Mr. Reed, please forgive me. I had no idea you and Leon are friends. If I had known, I would've never treated Leon like that," Steve stammered.

Bradley slapped Steve hard and loud enough to make Sergey jump. Steve felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and he collapsed to his knees.

"You brought this on yourself!" Bradley kicked Steve hard.

Sergey kept apologizing, saying respectfully, "Leon, please forgive me. I didn't know about your connection with Bradley. I'm really sorry."

Leon glanced at him, waved his hand, and said, "It's fine, I can let it go. But I can't stand Steve. You get what I mean, right?"

"Yes, I understand," Sergey nodded quickly, then signaled his men, who surrounded Steve and started beating him mercilessly.

Steve shielded his face with his hands, screaming in pain. Samara and Lucy watched with sympathetic expressions.

After a while, when Steve's screams grew weaker, Leon finally said, "Alright, Sergey, stop. Don't kill him."

Though he despised Steve, Leon had no intention of killing him. Sergey nodded and had his men stop.

Leon walked up to Steve and said coldly, "Steve, this is just a warning. If you bother Caitlin again, it'll be much worse next time, got it?"

Steve looked pitiful, covered in wounds and blood, but Leon ignored him and turned to talk to Bradley.

"Leon, need me to do anything else?" Bradley asked.

Leon smiled and said, "No, thanks for coming. Go home and rest."

"Don't mention it, it's my honor to help you," Bradley shook his head.

They chatted for a bit before Bradley left with Sergey and the others.

After Bradley left, the Herman family members exchanged shocked glances.

They never saw this coming. They thought Leon would get a beating, but instead, he called Bradley, who ended up thrashing Steve.

"Leon, how do you know someone like Bradley?" Caitlin asked, curious.

Leon didn't want to dive into the complicated backstory, so he made something up. "Before Bradley was Bradley, he was just a nobody. One day, I saw him getting beat up, helped him out, and that's how we met. But we don't really keep in touch much."

"I see," Caitlin said, and everyone seemed to buy it.

They all looked a bit disdainful, thinking Bradley only helped to repay an old favor. To them, Leon was still a nobody.

Patrick and Samara moved to help Steve up, but Leon stopped them. "Steve, that call you got was to tell you you're fired, right? And I'm guessing Corleone Investment Bank is gonna sue you too. You're done for."

Steve's face fell. "How... how do you know?" he stammered, basically confirming it.

Patrick and Samara froze. Patrick said coldly, "So you've been fired by Corleone Investment Bank? In that case, Steve, I think you can forget about marrying Caitlin for now. We need to reconsider. You get that, right?"

"Patrick, what do you mean?" Steve frowned.

"Don't get me wrong, Steve. You're a capable guy, and I believe you'll bounce back. But since you've been fired, your focus should be on getting your career back on track. Dating Caitlin will just distract you, and I don't want that for you," Patrick said calmly.

Though polite, Steve knew what Patrick really meant and was furious.

Patrick turned to the others. "Alright, this farce is over. Let's all go home. It's late."

Samara, Lucy, and the others nodded and set off to leave here, with Leon and Caitlin following.

Watching them leave, Steve gritted his teeth, seething with anger. He blamed Leon and Caitlin for his downfall.

"Leon, I won't let you get away with this. You'll pay!" Steve muttered, then dialed another number.

"This is Steve. Is this Officer Miller? Someone hit me at Riverside Park. Come quickly and arrest him!" Steve's voice was loud enough for Patrick, Leon, and the others to hear.

They all frowned, not expecting Steve to call the cops.

In about five minutes, two police cars rolled up, and four officers got out.

Joseph Miller found Steve and immediately went over to ask what happened. After Steve finished talking, Joseph said seriously, "Mr. Hamilton, take it easy. Who beat you?"

Steve pointed at Caitlin and said coldly, "It was her. This woman called a bunch of gang members to beat me up."

Steve had planned to point at Leon, but his resentment towards Caitlin took over, leading to his current actions. He figured if he couldn't have her, he'd rather see her destroyed.

"Understood. Ma'am, please stop. We need you to come with us to the station," Joseph said, walking towards Caitlin. The officers surrounded her, trying to take her to the police car.

Caitlin struggled, and Samara shouted, "Why are you arresting Caitlin? This has nothing to do with her. You should be arresting Leon. Damn it, Leon, do something! You can't let them take Caitlin away."

Leon, used to Samara's blame, didn't get angry. He walked up to Steve and frowned, asking, "Why are you doing this? This has nothing to do with Caitlin. Why are you framing her? Let Caitlin go, and I'll go to the station."

Caitlin was surprised by Leon's words. She never expected him to step up for her like this.

"Leon, you..." Caitlin started but couldn't finish.

Leon smiled and said, "Caitlin, I'm your husband. It's my job to protect you. It's okay. Officer Miller, I was the one who called those guys and beat Steve. It has nothing to do with Caitlin. I confess."

Caitlin was moved by Leon's actions.

The officers didn't waste any time, released Caitlin, and took Leon to the police car.

Samara asked with concern, "Caitlin, are you okay?"

Caitlin shook her head and said, "I'm fine, but Leon..."

She watched Leon being taken to the police car, very worried.

Samara, however, said indifferently, "Don't worry about him. He won't be in the station for more than a few days. He'll be fine."

"But I'm still worried."

"Alright, Caitlin, don't forget that Leon is a loser. We've taken him in for four years. He should be grateful to us. Now is the time for him to repay us," Samara continued.

Lucy added, "Yeah, Caitlin, don't worry. It's late, let's go home."

But Caitlin was determined and shook her head, saying, "No, I can't just watch Leon get taken away."

Samara and Lucy had no choice but to drag Caitlin away.

Patrick didn't care about Leon's safety and said politely, "Officer, since this has nothing to do with us, we'll be leaving."

"Alright, goodbye, sir. Stay safe tonight," Joseph said.

The Herman family members all left.

Steve looked at Leon across from him and mocked, "Leon, they really don't care about you at all. You must feel terrible, right? How pathetic."

Leon replied calmly, "How I feel doesn't concern you, does it? At least I'm still Caitlin's husband, and you're not. Steve, you tried so hard to marry Caitlin, but you still failed. You should be the one feeling terrible."

Steve's face darkened with embarrassment. He shouted angrily, "Leon, don't be so arrogant. Do you think Officer Miller won't help me get rid of you if I want to? There's no one else here. If you die, no one will know."

Leon scoffed, "Steve, cut the crap. You can't scare me."

Leon’s attitude angered Joseph, who was sitting in the front.

Joseph glanced at Leon and sneered, "You don't seem to understand the situation. Don't forget you're just a prisoner now. When we get to the station, I'll make sure to give you a warm welcome!"

Leon didn't care at all. He took out his phone.

Just two minutes ago, Victoria had finally sent her new number to Leon, and he dialed it directly.

Soon, Victoria's sweet voice came from the other end. "Chairman Corleone, the board has already fired Steve. We also collected evidence of his embezzlement and handed it over to the lawyers. We can sue him at any time."

Leon said, "Good job, Victoria. Now hear this, Officer Miller here wants to take me to the police station. Why don't you have a chat with him?"

Then he said loudly, "Hey, Officer Miller, it's Victoria, the secretary to the chairman of Corleone Investment Bank. She wants to talk to you."

Joseph took the phone in confusion. After hearing what Victoria said, he hung up and immediately apologized to Leon. "Sorry, Mr. Corleone, I didn't know you are the chairman of Corleone Investment Bank. Please forgive my previous rudeness."

After that, Joseph left with the other officers.

Steve was left standing there, unable to believe what had just happened. "You... you're really the chairman of Corleone Investment Bank? Impossible, you're just a pathetic guy living off a woman! I don't believe it, this can't be true!"

Steve shook his head frantically, unable to accept the truth. The Leon he always despised turned out to be his boss, a truth that hit him hard.

"Leon, who are you really?" Steve asked, his eyes red.

Leon said calmly, "I am the former heir of the Corleone family."

"What? You're the missing heir?" Steve knelt on the ground, filled with regret. "I apologize, Leon. Please forgive me. I didn't know it. It was all my fault. Please forgive me. I won't do it again!"