Secret Scion

On the seventh floor of Pearl Tower, Rose approached a couch slowly before taking a seat there. She looked very thoughtful, her mind cluttered with all sorts of thoughts. A short while later, anger suddenly surfaced on her beautiful face as she gritted her teeth and echoed darkly, "Asher Crawford, do you have any idea how much time and effort I've devoted into establishing the Gentlemen? You bastard!"

Overcome with rage, she swiped a vase from the table to the floor. It was worth at least a thousand dollars, but all value was lost the moment it got reduced to smithereens. However, the vase's destruction did nothing to extinguish the flames of rage burning in Rose's eyes. "What's wrong, Ms. Schmidt?" When her assistant heard the commotion coming from the room, he immediately opened the door worriedly.

"Get lost!" Rose screamed back.

The assistant was so scared that he trembled uncontrollably before running away.

Meanwhile, Asher drove back to the Crawford residence. Layla decided to hitch a ride with him instead of driving her own car. She sat on the passenger seat and stared at Asher, a complicated look on her face. "Did you arrange for that guy to stab Tristan? Who is he? What if he snitches on you in front of the cops? Have you ever thought about the consequences?"

Today's incident allowed Layla to get to know Asher's different side. He might be brutal, but then again, there was no other solution that was better than his plan.

However, when Ned stabbed Tristan, Asher did not even bat an eyelid.

Asher focused on the road before him as he replied, "I don't know that guy."

"You liar! If you don't know him, then why would he stab Tristan? Asher, can't you just tell me the truth?" Layla demanded.

"As if hearing the truth would do you any good."

"I care about you, don't I? If someone else were to pull off this stunt, I wouldn't have cared

enough to ask!" Layla pouted immediately. After that, she turned her face to the car window and glared at the surroundings angrily.

When Asher noticed Layla's expression, he felt like laughing. In the end, he relented. "That guy's one of Hunter's underlings. Since Hunter chose him to be the executioner of the plan, that means he's a very reliable person. Don't worry, there's no way I'd be involved in this incident. Then again, it'll be slightly trickier than usual to get this guy out of the bars later on."

Layla's mood finally improved after hearing the truth spilling from Asher's lips. She replied, "Let's not think about whisking him out of jail first. We don't want Savannah holding this rescue plan as a leverage over you, so we can only start planning after some time has passed. Tell me the truth; have you been planning this incident for a very long time? Wow, Asher! You're pretty amazing, aren't you? I think Rose would have blown a fuse by now."

Asher said, "This incident isn't enough to destroy the Gentlemen completely. In the near future, a string of similar incidents will break out. I'd like to see if the members value their own lives more than their membership in the Gentlemen. Since Rose wants to play a game, then I don't mind escalating the round."

Having heard Asher's response, Layla could not help but stare at him for a very long time. Finally, she looked away and took a deep breath. "If Rose were to have the slightest inkling that you'd grow to become a formidable opponent in two years, would she have accepted your proposal back then? To think that the rich and useless guy that she once looked down on has risen to become her greatest rival... Fate sure likes its humor ironic."

Over at the Webb residence, Phoebe sat in the courtyard with a complicated expression on her face. She had stayed in that position for a very long time.

Even though she never went to Pearl Tower, she paid more attention to Asher's conflict with the Gentlemen more than anyone else. This conflict would definitely affect Asher's development in the Capital City from here on out. If he were to lose, he would be even more restricted in Alexandrius. On the other hand, should he win, it meant that his influence would grow stronger. Since Phoebe and Asher had already called off their engagement, it was natural for her to wish for his defeat at the hands of the Gentlemen.

However, the outcome was the total opposite.

Upon receiving the news, Phoebe felt extremely complicated on the inside. She never would have thought that even under Rose's lead, the Gentlemen, which consisted of more than seventy members, was no match for Asher at all.

How could that be possible?

Just how much of his true strength did Asher hide?

At that moment, a man walked toward her quickly. A smug smile was plastered across his face as

he said, "Phoebe, my power has grown. I think you're the only one who can defeat me in this generation."

This person was Jaxx Miller, the martial arts trainer of the Webb family. He was also the guy who had a conflict with Asher in the past.

Phoebe shot a cold look in Jaxx's direction before replying, "Congratulations on that, but aren't you being a little too arrogant when you claim that I'm the only one who can defeat you?" Jaxx's smile faded away instantly. "Arrogant? As far as I can recall, no other youngster can defeat me in a fight."

"Oh? Are you sure about that? What about Asher Crawford? Do you think he's weaker than you?" Phoebe still thought that Jaxx was not mature and grounded enough.

"Asher?" Jaxx frowned and thought for a bit. Then, he replied disdainfully, "How could he be my opponent? Phoebe, you've overestimated his capabilities. If he were truly more powerful than me, then he wouldn't have chosen to hold back his anger the last time he came over to the Webb residence."

Phoebe stood up and retorted, "Jaxx, it'll do you some good to keep a low profile these days. The reason why Asher didn't deal with you could probably be the fact that he looks down on you." Before Jaxx could respond, she turned on her heel and left.

On the other hand, Garrett had just received a phone call and found out about the latest incident. Undoubtedly, he was filled with joy at the moment. Oh, Rose. I thought you were a very capable woman. Don't they have a saying about Male: Sebastian, Female: Rose? I think this is the best you can do. All you're capable of is suffering from defeat after defeat at Asher's hands. How are you any stronger than me?

After that, Garrett headed to Xavier's room and told him everything without sparing the details. When he was done, he added, "Grandpa, I heard that a lot of members had quit the Gentlemen on the spot. My guess is that the organization will be reduced to an empty husk after some time."

Xavier's brows were knit together tightly, a grave expression on his face. Naturally, the first question that came to mind was completely different from Garrett's perspective. The latter wanted to use this opportunity to snatch back the glorious status he had in his family, whereas Xavier was thinking about the future development of the Schmidts.

The fact that Rose was able to establish the Gentlemen would grant countless benefits to the Schmidt family when it came to their future development. However, Xavier did not expect that Asher was able to deal with this crisis easily. In other words, the rate of his growth was beyond the elderly man's expectations.

In just two years, Asher became a formidable opponent of the Schmidts. If he were to be allowed to continue developing his abilities and influence, he would grow into a huge threat to the family.

What should Xavier do?

He folded his hands behind his back while pacing around his room. Should he order Rodrick to assassinate Asher one more time? The last time he did, Asher ended up getting saved by a mysterious person. Would he be saved again this time?

Xavier was deep in thought when he suddenly heard Rose's voice drifting from outside the door. "Grandpa."

The elderly man whipped around to see Rose standing at the doorway. "Come in, Rose." When Rose noticed Garrett's presence in Xavier's room, she knew right away that he was there to add fuel to the raging fire. As such, she took the initiative to say her piece. "Grandpa, it's my fault for underestimating Asher. If it wasn't for my impatience, things wouldn't have gone this way. However, I still have a way to deal with him. Please have faith in me, Grandpa." Garrett commented with a vague smile, "Rose, I still remember what you told me back when I lost to him in Rollinsford. You told me that Asher is no longer the same guy he was two years ago, so he mustn't be underestimated no matter what. How can someone as smart as you make the same mistake?"

Rose replied lightly, "We're different."

"Different? How so?" Garrett asked smilingly.

"I underestimated him because I had absolute faith in the Gentlemen's ability to get rid of him.

As for you, you had so much blind confidence in yourself," Rose explained bluntly.

Garrett's temper flared the moment he heard his sister's response. He retorted with a cold huff, "The outcome is the same, isn't it?"

"Both of you, knock it off," Xavier piped up all of a sudden. After that, he sat down and sipped from his teacup. "Rose, you mentioned that you still have a way to deal with Asher. Why don't you tell me what your plan is? I can help improve it for you."

Rose said, "I want to drive a wedge between Asher and all of his contacts in order to alienate him. If my plan were to succeed, he might even lose his identity as the heir to the Crawford family's legacy. When that time comes, dealing with him will be a piece of cake." Half an hour later, Rose and Garrett left Xavier's room together. The latter could not help but mock, "The current generation of our family is filled with talented people. In fact, everyone views you as the most outstanding Schmidt out of everyone in our generation. How is it that you're unable to deal with Asher? Seriously, I don't understand this logic. Hey Rose, when Asher courted you two years ago, have you ever thought of the possibility that he might rise to become a difficult opponent to deal with? If you were to know that things would turn out like this in the future, you could've accepted his proposal and become his woman, you know?" Rose felt that she was slapped by an invisible hand after hearing Garrett's words. Her cheeks started flaring up out of humiliation.

"No matter what you say, I'm still stronger than you." Rose finally blew her lid since Garrett kept provoking her.

The latter smiled and nodded in response. "So what if it's true? Back then, you hated Asher's guts and rejected him, but now you end up suffering from losses at his hands. Tell me, doesn't this bruise your ego? If you can't get rid of him, then you'll never be able to stand up straight with your head hung high!"