Chapter 427 Twisted His Own Bone
One of the girls who secretly had a crush on Zander, immediately spoke up for him, "Isabella, what do you mean? Do you have to be so harsh? Are you trying to kick Zander out of the team and stop him from competing?"
"Am I the one being harsh?" Isabella glanced at her. "Who said they didn't want to compete with me? Since he doesn't want to, what's wrong with me telling him not to participate?"
Zander immediately sneered, "Isabella, every single one of us here is stronger than you. What gives you the right to tell me not to compete? Where do you get the nerve? Just because you're the Powell family's daughter? We're not afraid of your status!"
Isabella's eyelashes lowered slightly as her eyes darkened. "So what do you want?"
Zander said coldly, "Obviously, you should get out of the team, and we'll get a new team leader."
Isabella let out a light laugh, her voice carrying a hint of coldness.
"Team members can be replaced, but the team leader cannot."
She announced, "Zander, you don't need to train anymore. I'm not planning to let you compete. You can leave now."
Hearing this, Zander's expression changed drastically. He stared at Isabella intently, "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said." Isabella's face was stern. "Someone come and take Zander away from the training ground."
As soon as she finished speaking, the training ground guards arrived and grabbed Zander to take him away.
The others immediately panicked.
"Isabella, what are you doing? Zander is supposed to compete with us. What gives you the right to kick him out?"
"Because you're all the people I picked," Isabella said coldly.
She pulled out a list densely filled with names of everyone in the Powell family who met the competition age requirements. At the end of this list, the seven people present had checkmarks next to their names—they were chosen by Isabella after considering the opinions of various elders and Gwyneth.
"I have the final say on who competes. The reason you're standing here is that I picked you. I chose you because I recognized your abilities, but now, I'm starting to regret my earlier decision."
Isabella took out a pen and crossed out "Zander Powell's" name, then put a check mark next to "Tristan Powell's" name.
She looked at Zander and said, "I know you're pretty good, but you've lost to Tristan before, right? Without you, I still have Tristan. Without Tristan, I have other people to choose from. So why would I let someone who doesn't listen to me represent the Powell family in the competition?"
Looking at the list and the densely packed names of alternate members, Zander was shocked.
He had no idea that Isabella had personally selected him, and even less that Gwyneth had given Isabella such authority to directly replace competitors.
For his parents, his participation in the competition was an honor, a good opportunity to earn merit. He absolutely couldn't lose this chance.
A trace of panic appeared on Zander's face.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Powell. I was wrong. Please don't take what I said to heart."
"But I've already taken it to heart." Isabella sneered.
Zander panicked and blurted out, "I was put up to it! I wasn't trying to target you—it was all Walter! Walter made me do it."
Zander was truly scared, afraid of really losing his qualification to compete.
"Walter told me to gang up on you with the others! He also told me to follow his plan and pressure you into giving up the competition!"
"Really?" Isabella's lips curved into an interested smile. She looked at Walter and raised an eyebrow. "So you're the one behind this?"
No wonder everyone had such resentment toward her the moment she arrived.
She had wondered why everyone assumed she was useless when she'd never shown them her skills.
Turns out someone had been spreading rumors behind her back.
Walter clenched his palms, his expression darkening.
"Why so quiet now?" Isabella had the guards release Zander, then focused her gaze on Walter, her tone cold. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Meeting Isabella's eyes, Walter steadied himself slightly, then said coldly, word by word, "Make me the team leader."
"Why do you care so much about being a team leader?"
"Because I want to accumulate merit and run for elder before I turn thirty, to become the family's youngest elder."
Walter was ambitious and had plans for his future.
Elder elections in the Powell family were based on merit points. Once you had enough merit, you could run for elder.
Elders naturally had more power than regular members and could control certain resources.
In competitions like this, if you were the team leader, you'd get triple merit points after winning. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Isabella understood. "I see."
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a team leader, but your methods are too underhanded, and you're too selfish and narrow-minded. You have no sense of the greater good, only personal gain. So no matter how strong you are, I'll never let you be a team leader." Isabella's words were sharp.
Isabella's blunt criticism made Walter's expression even worse, and he felt utterly humiliated.
"Isabella, don't think you're so great just because you're Ms. Gwyneth Powell's daughter and can criticize me however you want. Do you know that even though you're Ms. Gwyneth Powell's daughter, you're worse than many people?" Walter frowned. "If you didn't have that status, you'd be nothing. So don't be so arrogant—you're just someone whose position exceeds their worth."
Walter considered himself a genius. He believed his future achievements would even surpass Gwyneth's. Even now, some elders from the seven great families were no match for him, so he had the capital to be proud.
Moreover, his existence was the Powell family's greatest asset. He knew well that this time, the Powell family had placed all their hopes for winning the ancient martial arts competition on him.
So why should he swallow his pride and be lectured by a mere Isabella? Even the Powell family's elders had to show him respect!
Isabella laughed, but her eyes were cold. "How have you managed to survive this long being so arrogant?"
"Ordinary people can't easily kill me," Walter said coldly. "I have that capital."
"Having capital doesn't change the fact that I won't let you be team leader." Isabella's voice was even colder than his.
The two stared at each other, the air thick with tension.
After a long moment, Walter spoke, his voice carrying contempt and disdain. "Since you don't recognize me, I'm not interested in earning your recognition either."
He grabbed his own arm with one hand.
The next second.
In front of everyone, Walter directly broke his own bone.
The pain of a broken bone would be unbearable for most people.
But Walter's expression didn't change at all. He stared at Isabella and said word by word, "My hand is injured. I can't compete. I'm withdrawing from the team."
"Are you satisfied now?"