Stephen Dixon was respectful to the extreme. He had never dreamed that he would meet me in such a place.
I nodded at Stephen faintly and found it a little funny. After making a scene, Leonard Duncan had found such a man who had been defeated by me.
At this time, Stephen turned around and chided Leonard, "Leonard, I really don't know how I should scold you. With Brother Jayden being here, he surely can solve this. Isn't it redundant for you to call me here?"
Leonard stared at me with jaw-dropping eyes, looking incredulous.
Stephen actually was acting low in front of me, looking like a ferocious tiger lying in front of a sheep, which was waiting to be eaten.
What a shock!
Even those underlings of Leonard's were completely dumbfounded, finding this scene too abrupt and unbelievable!
Stephen probably sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere of the scene. Then he gradually darkened his face and said in a deep voice towards Leonard, "Could it be that you're going to beat up Brother Jayden?"
Leonard nodded his head subconsciously and numbly. The next moment, Stephen was furious, took a step forward, and slapped Leonard on his face as he said in an angry tone, "If you f*cking want to die, do not take me with you, okay? My life is more valuable than yours!"
Stephen gave me a trembling glance and swore, "Brother Jayden, please believe me. I swear! I really didn't know that the person Leonard was going to beat up was you. You know that I wouldn't dare to come here even if I had the guts!"
Stephen had ever seen me fight. Although each of his underlings was an elite, every one of them couldn't hang on for more than ten seconds in my hands. It seemed that in my eyes, his elites were useless.
Moreover, I was the one that Boss Finn personally named to befriend. Even Boss Finn said that I was horrible, let alone Stephen.
"Brother Stephen, on what grounds?" Leonard was unhappy, "What are you afraid of him for?"
"Pop!"
There came another slap. Stephen hit the other side of Leonard's face and said coldly, "Let me tell you, you should count yourself lucky. It's a good thing Brother Jayden didn't take you to his heart. Otherwise, you'd die without knowing how. Forget it. I'm not even going to bother to explain it to you. Go home, burn incense, and celebrate it!"
Leonard stared at me grumpily as he viciously clenched his teeth, feeling overwhelmingly aggrieved. But with Stephen in front of him, he dared not show his emotion.
Stephen knew the fact that Leonard was not satisfied in secret as well as the fact that there might be some kind of grudge between us. So he kicked down towards Leonard's legs. And suddenly, Leonard knelt on the ground. After that Stephen said icily, "Apologize to Brother Jayden!"
I looked at Stephen teasingly, knowing that he was doing this for Leonard's own good. That was because if Leonard really attacked me, it wouldn't be a matter of kneeling down.
But Leonard couldn't figure it out. He just couldn't understand how I, a man with no authority, was able to win over Stephen. So he gritted his teeth and said firmly, "No way!"
"No way?" Stephen retorted and kicked on Leonard's face directly.
Leonard only felt that his face was numb and hot and the pain made him grimace.
"If you can't, I'll beat you up until you say that it is possible! Apologize quickly!" Stephen snapped loudly.
"Impossible!"
"Poof!" There was another decisive kick. Stephen's ruthless tactics made the people behind Leonard pale.
They had heard of Stephen's story and knew that he could be bloody fierce.
Finally, after five or six more kicks, Leonard couldn't help it. He felt that his face was already swollen as if it were a pig's head. And he would be ugly-looking if Stephen kept kicking him like this.
So, when Stephen still wanted to kick him again, he raised his head and yelled at me, "I'm sorry!"
Only then did Stephen breathe a sigh of relief and sneaked a peek at me. But I didn't show much happiness. It seemed that the apology was of no use to me at all.
The truth was just like this. Even people like Leonard were convinced, I found it tasteless. That was because only after defeating someone stronger than me would I feel happy.
Stephen came to the front of me fawningly as he put on a smile, "Brother Jayden, this silly brother of mine is ignorant. Sorry for making you concerned for him."
I looked at the watch and saw that there was still a minute to go before school was over. So I instructed Stephen, "It's fine. Give him a warning that he shouldn't bother me again. Next time, it won't be as simple as kneeling down."
Stephen's body shook violently at the words. He probably found my words too scary.
After saying that, I rode away on my little electric bicycle.
When I reached the school entrance, I waited for about five minutes before I saw Emelia come out of the school gate.
Others all came out in groups. But Emelia was the only one who was lonely and miserable. And many people were whispering about her.
But Emelia was oblivious to everything around her. She probably had gotten used to it.
It was a heartbreaking scene for me. Without that gossip, or rather, without that scar, she should be living happily, right?
She must be longing for friends as well. And I didn't want her to pretend to be happy in front of me.
I'm sure one day I would get her out of the shadows and let her live cheerfully!
After Emelia left school, she looked around and saw me waiting for her. Then she ran over with a bright smile on her face.
When she reached me, she put her bag in my bag and called out kindly, "Brother."
"Go home!" I smiled, trying not to think about those worries. Anyway, when it came to some things, they couldn't be changed for a moment.
The cool autumn breeze was refreshing. Emelia hugged my waist in the backseat, whispering to me about the worries and troubles today. And I listened to her words quietly and gave her instructions from time to time as if I were a life guider.
We arrived at the vegetable market downstairs and bought some of Emelia's favorite food.
When we got home, Emelia volunteered to cook. However, as I thought of what she had cooked yesterday, I immediately shivered and hurriedly said, "You should just watch TV! Leave it to me!"
Emelia went back to the couch in anger. Then she turned on the TV, watched soap operas, and ate chips.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I was glad that I had stopped her. Otherwise, I would have to enjoy instant noodles again tonight.
A few simple dishes were ready in less than twenty minutes.
After serving them to the table, we ate and then used rock-paper-scissors to decide on who would do the washing up.
It turned out that I lost, unfortunately!
After doing the washing up without complaint, I sat on the couch. And Emelia cried in tears as she was watching the Korean drama.
This silly girl was probably tired by the end of the day. Then she fell asleep with her head bent over my shoulder.
I turned off the noisy TV discreetly, turned my head sideways, and surveyed her gorgeous and flawless face.
How I wished that time would stop forever at this warm moment when I could just quietly look at her without doing anything.
But, the scene in front of the school always came to my mind.
Emelia's lonely figure and others' discussion about her were also vivid in my mind.
I couldn't imagine how Emelia has been able to withstand so much opinion from the public by herself for the past few years.
She must have woken up in the middle of the night, crying aggrievedly, right?
And she must be looking at all the girls in groups and admiring them, right?
I clenched my fist and gently kissed her forehead as I softly said, "Before, you protected me. Now, it's my turn to protect you."
"Emelia, trust me!"
"I'll keep you safe for the rest of your life!"