Secret Scion

There was a hospital located close to Pearl Tower. This was Tristan's third time in the recent period of time to be hospitalized. Also, his wounds were obviously more severe compared to the first two hospitalizations. The arteries and veins on his injured thigh were severed. If it was not for the fact that he was sent to the hospital on time and had his blood flow stemmed, there was a chance that he would have died.

Despite having survived, Tristan's life was still in danger. At the moment, he was detained in the ICU for monitoring purposes.

Countless people filled the corridor outside. They were all Tristan's family members and relatives. Mrs. Anderson broke down into sobs, her eyes already puffy and red. When she found out that Tristan was in a critical condition, she almost passed out. Right now, she was being supported by two Anderson youngsters. She kept muttering weakly, "Why must he hurt our son... This is attempted murder! Where's the murderer? I want him to pay the price with his life!"

Tristan's third uncle, Edward, was the chief of a police station. The incident happened in the area that was under his jurisdiction.

Upon hearing Mrs. Anderson's question, Edward quickly replied, "The murderer was

apprehended on the spot. We're still investigating this matter as we speak. I'll update you on the case once I receive the latest news."

Tristan's father, Ethan, piped up angrily from the side, "An eye for an eye is always the way to go. Edward, I'll leave the matter of avenging Tristan to you."

Edward nodded solemnly. He seemed to have thought of something before he turned to ask Savannah, "Savannah, I heard that you were present during the time of the incident. What exactly happened back then? Why did that Ned guy stab Tristan? Did they have beef with each other?" His questions successfully diverted everyone's attention to Savannah.

The latter stood on a spot near the wall, her mind still filled with memories of the ghastly incident. To think that she had witnessed a white blade being plunged into Tristan's thigh, only to come out drenched in crimson blood... Moreover, his blood even spurted as high as three feet in the air... That scene was very frightening, to say the least.

Upon hearing Edward's questions, Savannah was forcibly pulled out of her memories. She replied in a state of panic, "There were too many people at the scene, Uncle Edward. I didn't see what exactly happened, to be honest. All I saw was Ned wielding a switchblade. He rushed into the crowd and stabbed Tristan straight away."

Savannah did not speak the truth. She was afraid that Tristan's parents might pin the responsibility on her. Besides, Mrs. Anderson was on an emotional breakdown right now; she would definitely not listen to reason at a time like this.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely get to the bottom of this," Edward promised.

At that moment, a nice voice rang from the corridor. "Savannah, how's Tristan doing?" Savannah turned around to see Rose.

The latter may only be a descendant, but she had a pristine reputation in Alexandrius. Those who came from slightly better off backgrounds all knew her. Naturally, the Andersons were among the crowd. The sight of her coming all the way here to inquire about Tristan's injuries surprised and delighted them.

"Ms. Schmidt, thank you for your concern. Tristan has survived for now, but his condition is still critical. I truly hope God will bless him," Ethan replied while squeezing out a smile in Rose's direction.

The latter nodded. "Tristan's life will be out of danger soon. Don't worry too much about him, Mr. Anderson."

She paused for a moment before adding, "Savannah, I'd like to talk to you in private. Come with

me."

Savannah followed Rose out of the hospital. By then, the sky had already gone dark. It was October, which meant that Alexandrius would be plunged into a month of dark and gloomy rainstorms. At that time, it started drizzling in the city.

"Ms. Schmidt, this incident is my fault. I didn't expect Asher to have such a huge influence over the members of the Gentlemen. We had dozens of people there, but none of them dared to put a finger on him. Otherwise, things wouldn't have gone in this direction." Savannah sounded slightly guilty.

At first, she wanted everyone in the Gentlemen to take action against Asher. That way, he would not be able to do anything at all. However, Savannah did not expect the members to be so cowardly to the point where they did not dare to move a muscle. They had already lost the initial battle of resolve and courage.

Rose just waved her hand. "What's done is done. Now is not the time to point fingers. According to my investigation, the culprit is a gangster in Rollinsford. This time, Asher specifically transferred a bunch of gangsters from Rollinsford just to deal with the Gentlemen. I suspect that Tristan's incident is only the beginning. Soon, there will be more incidents like this happening everywhere here. They're in the shadows, whereas we're trapped out here in the open. We won't be able to prevent them from stabbing us from behind, so the only way for us to reverse this situation is if we take the initiative to attack them. We mustn't let Asher take control of this situation."

She added, "By the way, how far along are your preparations in the scheme that involves Griffin? Such a major incident has taken place today, so it's impossible for him to not know anything about this. However, the fact that he didn't arrive at the scene as soon as he could means that his loyalty toward Asher is starting to waver."

Savannah replied, "I'll go find Dove tomorrow and have her invite Asher out for a meal. When the time comes, I'll slip something into their drinks. As long as Dove and Asher are found lying on the same bed together, there's no way Griffin wouldn't believe that they're seeing each other."

Rose nodded, having no qualms about Savannah's scheme. The reason why Savannah was her favorite subordinate was because of her high intelligence. Savannah knew what Rose was thinking all the time. All the latter had to do was to drop a hint or two, and Savannah would be quick to come up with brilliant solutions to solve the problems.

This was the benefit of having an intelligent subordinate.

At night, Asher lay on his bed without the intention to sleep. If this were to happen in the past, Griffin would have called him a long time ago to find out what exactly happened. However, it had been hours since the incident broke out, and yet Griffin did not contact him. Could it be that he was really jealous of Asher?

The next noon, Asher drove to the Quinn residence. When he found Griffin, the latter was practicing his punches in the courtyard. At first glance, Asher could recognize that Griffin was training the Quinn Punch.

"Why are you here, Boss?" Griffin stopped practicing the moment he noticed Asher. He approached him while wiping sweat off his face.

"You didn't contact me for such a long time, so I dropped by to see what you've been up to. Your punches are pretty good. I see Grandpa Quinn's shadow in you," Asher replied with a smile. Griffin's smile looked more awkward in retrospect. "My skills are nothing compared to yours, Boss. Anyway, I heard that Tristan got hospitalized. Is his life in danger? If it wasn't for my business yesterday, I would've rushed over to help you out!"

Asher just patted Griffin's shoulder reassuringly. "We're brothers. There's no need to explain anything."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Be honest with me, Griffin. Are you mad at me?" Griffin was stunned for a moment before he shook his head. "Why would you say such things, Boss?"

"Everyone knows that you have a crush on Dove. Trust me when I say I seriously don't have anything going on with her. I don't know what she's thinking, but I don't see her that way at all. I hope you won't misunderstand me," Asher explained. "We've been brothers for so many years. I don't want our relationship to be affected because of a woman."

Griffin pulled out a cigarette stick and lit it before taking a drag from it. "Boss, I believe that you won't lie to me. We're best buds who are as close as real brothers, after all."

While Asher and Griffin were talking about Dove, Layla happened to bump into the woman in question when she got off work.

"Hello there, Ms. Knight." Dove was dressed in a formal outfit that had a pencil skirt, making her look seductive and charming in a different way.

"Have you gotten used to working here yet?"

Dove nodded with a smile. "Yeah."

After getting out of the elevator, Layla could not help but ask, "The Yaegers' status in Rollinsford is equivalent to the Macquoids here. As the precious daughter of the Yaegers, why do you insist on staying in this company? You may be capable in your job, but you'll still face grievances at work. Why must you make your life difficult for yourself?"

Dove continued to smile as she replied, "Isn't it a good thing that I'm working hard to sustain my life in this city? I treat it as a way to refine myself in life."

Layla persisted, "I'm afraid that isn't your only purpose, yes? I can see that you have a crush on Asher."

Dove did not deny that fact. In fact, she looked slightly embarrassed when Layla mentioned it. Layla continued, "However, Griffin seems to have feelings for you."

Upon hearing the final sentence, Dove finally realized that Layla was hinting at her to leave the Capital City and get out of Asher's line of sight permanently.

"It doesn't matter if Griffin likes me or not. That's his business. I just want to be myself here. I don't think I'm in the wrong for doing that, right?"

Layla found it impossible to deny Dove's statement. After all, she was not the one at fault. She paused for a moment before commenting smilingly, "Please don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean anything else when I said those things to you earlier. I just don't want to see Asher and Griffin's brotherhood crumbling into dust after all these years. All right, then. I have to leave now." After that, Layla headed toward the parking lot.

Dove left the company and was about to hail a cab to Castor's restaurant when a Maserati slowed down to a stop next to her. The car window was lowered, revealing a beautiful face. It was Savannah, but Dove did not recognize her.

"You must be Dove Yaeger, correct? Hello there, I'm Asher's friend. Do you mind having a conversation with me?" Savannah said with a smile.

Dove's first reaction was that she had bumped into a love rival that was pining for Asher's interest. Otherwise, why would she come all the way here to look for her in the first place? Dove did not want to lose to Savannah in terms of how she carried herself due to her instincts as a

woman, so she replied, "It'd be my honor."

"Then please get into the car, Ms. Yaeger."