His Devious Rule

'Pop… Pop…'

Sitting on the ground, Steve Hanks swallowed hard looking at Rob cracking his neck, barely restraining himself. Since Anya was an officer, he assumed Rob wouldn't hurt him after he surrendered. Hence he put on a strong front. Nonetheless, his fear had ragged his breathing as if he ran a few miles.

The soft approach would never work on anybody to get the truth out. The intimidation wasn't sufficient for Steve Hanks to open his mouth and spill the truth. Hence Rob was losing his patience and itching to snap Steve's head.

Taking a long deep breath, Rob tried to bury his frustration on the tom and jerry game. Due to Anya, Alvin had instructed them to avoid violence or illegal actions. But it was hard when they were short on time and had a lot of things on their plate to handle.

'Screw it.' Rob glanced at the villa's main door. He couldn't see Zane but the noise could grab one's attention. Taking a step closer, he deliberately unwrapped the knitted wrap from Steve Hanks's neck.

Steve Hanks widened his eyes and trembled as soon as Rob went closer to him. Without daring to push Rob or stop him, he stammered alternating his gaze between Rob and the neckwarmer, "Wh-what are you d-doing? You can-"

Rob's eyes narrowed at the man. Before Steve could complete his words, he shoved the neck wrap deep into Steve's mouth. In a split second, his strong balled fist landed powerfully on Steve Hanks's face.

The muffled groans instantly filled the lawn. Steve Hanks was dizzy and seeing stars when his men were sh*t scared to even breathe in Rob's presence. They cornered aside afraid of catching Rob's attention.

Rob punched Steve Hanks yet again on the other side which threw Steve to the ground. Stretching his hand and correcting his sleeves, Rob indifferently watched Steve Hanks's face turn red in pain, the bruises changing color on the face while Steve Hanks groaned painfully and choked up due to lack of air.

There was a time he was living like any other civilian. The world had taught him to survive. He would go to any extent for Alvin.

Drenched in a cold sweat, Steve Hanks managed to pull the wrap out of his mouth. He was gasping for air, feeling his lungs burn without air.

Rob lifted his leg, intending to kick Steve Hanks in the gut. But flustered Steve Hanks blurted out in hysteria, "C-Casper… Casper…It was Casper Matthews."

Steve Hanks didn't mean to hide about Casper. Since he was caught, he just wanted to get out of the trouble without complexity.

He confessed everything to keep his life safe, "Casper promised Dean and CEO position to me and my son." And he took that liberty and foolishly went to Casper, "I wanted to teach Anya Owen a lesson for burning my money." He still felt his blood boil recalling the pile of ash.

"Casper gave me this address." He should have known better than anybody that Casper never entertained people who exercise control over him.

Thinking about it, he discerned Casper was well aware of Anya's capability and Casper was destroying him through Alvin's hands without wasting any time on him.

Rob: "..."

He couldn't believe Anya had to bear the reaction to Alvin's actions. 'Tsk,' Clicking his tongue, Rob kneeled in front of Steve Hanks who was terrified to face him.

He cleared a misunderstanding, "Young Madam follows the rules but my boss." Anya was uptight, maybe because of the respect she gives to her job.

Rob genuinely admires her strong principles but sometimes, they become an obstacle while dealing with people like Casper or Steve, or Miles Johnson.

Steve Hanks needed time to grasp that Alvin was the one who burned his money down. And Casper played him into the tigress den.

Standing back on his feet, Rob got a plan in his mind to handle the situation. He rushed inside the villa and halted. Anya was kneeling on the couch and peeking at the open dining hall. Zane was standing on a chair and listening to devious Alvin rather attentively.

A part of him was amused that Alvin could ignore everything for his family, at the same time, his lips twitched looking at the father and son bumping their fists.

"Hey Chipmunks, why am I an outcast? That's unfair." Anya was eager to know what the two were cooking.

Anyway, Rob, who checked the time, interrupted the family time, "Boss…"

Alvin cut in as he instructed Rob, "You handle here," The shareholders' meeting was important to put Liam in power. More than that, Alvin gave importance to his team who were trapped in the tunnels, they may be alive or dead. "I will leave for Country A with my wife and Little Chipmunk."

Anya and Zane: "..."

Although Rob wanted to put an end to Casper Matthews's reign and ruin the glory of Matthews Industries, he also knew the adverse effects of those actions. Innocent people will have to suffer.

Upon all that, if Casper had a hand in a gas explosion at the excavation site, Rob didn't want Casper to have his way at the shareholders' meeting.

Thus, he didn't follow the instruction, "I have a plan."

–––––––

At Matthews Industries,

Casper was the last to enter the conference room that was filled with the major shareholders of the company. His secretaries followed him giving a grand entrance to the chairman of the company.

Everyone stood up instinctively as an indication of greetings and respect for the man. Every year they got massive bonuses and large dividends from the company. This year, most of them were dissatisfied with the recent events and each one had their doubts and questions for Casper.

On the contrary, Casper was edgy walking towards the head seat of the meeting. He couldn't be at ease without the confirmation of Alvin taking the flight to country A.

He ignored the shareholders and asked the same question Nth time, "Where is he?"

Secretary Harrison reluctantly rechecked his Ipad and reported the same, "In the villa." Harrison truly wanted to find Alvin and ask him – Why are you letting Chairman Matthews's men keep an eye on you?

Anyway, he looked for Liam, hoping that Liam could make use of the chance and save the misery of hundreds of people and the remaining reputation of the Matthews family.

His brows tugged when his eyes landed on Liam who didn't seem confident enough to take the stand.

The meeting started, the overview was completed, and the presentation on financial growth came to an end. The shareholders were questioning Casper who was smartly responding and handling the situation, yet Liam sat there silently staring at the screen.

Was Liam going to give up on the company and its employees?

Harrison clenched his fist when he got a new message. He reported to Casper in a low voice, "Second Young master's flight has taken off to country A."

Casper's body instantly relaxed lighter than a petal of a flower. He leaned back on his leather chair to his comfort as his lips curled up into a smug smile, filling him up with confidence. He was thrilled after getting rid of Alvin from the country.