CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 22: HEIR TO THE MANTLE (ALLIANCE HIERARCH IN PURPLE GARMENTS +)

Lawrence Winters spread his hands, putting on an innocent face, "What trouble could I possibly stir up?"

"After dinner, I took my little electric scooter to the auditorium to watch a movie, and then I bumped into you..."

"Oh, keep on making things up." Nick Zeller snorted, still keeping a stern face, "You left after dinner, before six. It’s seven now, and you haven’t gone into the cinema. Instead, you’re about to get in a car with the Osborne siblings to head home."

"And you’re telling me nothing happened?"

Lawrence mischievously stuck out his tongue, "Oops, I forgot you’re always so perceptive, Uncle!"

She clasped her hands together and bowed slightly towards Nick Zeller, "My mistake, my mistake, how could I try to show off my little smarts in front of the Great Heavenly Master?!"

"So you’re admitting something happened?" Nick Zeller kept an eye on the road while driving.

On winter nights, River City doesn’t have the bustling nightlife of a big city, but there are quite a few karaoke bars, pubs, cafes, and restaurants open for business.

So, near these places, there’s always someone suddenly darting out across the street.

Lawrence thought about it and figured the story was too long; she didn’t feel like explaining.

She simply took out her phone and sent the video from earlier to Nick Zeller as well.

"Here it is, I sent it to your phone. Watch it when we get home."

Nick Zeller let out a long sigh of relief, "You recorded a video? That’s good, that’s good..."

"You remembered to heed your uncle’s words, didn’t waste my teachings." Nick Zeller was relieved and soon drove Lawrence back to the top-floor duplex apartment at Temple Court Residential Area.

Lawrence’s mother, Gabrielle Winters, was surprised to see the uncle and niece entering together.

"Lawrence, weren’t you going to the movie? Why are you back so soon?"

She checked her phone; it was just past seven.

Lawrence let out a yelp, "Mom, Uncle’s been asking me all night, and now you too! Fine, I’ll send you the video, watch it yourselves!"

She unfalteringly sent the video to Gabrielle Winters as well.

Gabrielle Winters and Nick Zeller swiped open their phones simultaneously.

Their phones made almost identical sounds.

Nick Zeller turned off his own video, moving closer to Gabrielle Winters to watch together.

When they saw Lawrence smash a helmet onto Gregory Quinn, knocking him down, they were at a loss for words.

The two exchanged a glance, then turned back and sat on the couch.

Lawrence sat cross-legged on the couch opposite them.

On the coffee table in front of her was a fruit basket with tangerines, yellow bananas, bright red apples, and two fire dragon fruits.

She casually picked up a tangerine, peeling it as she said, "... Yeah, just like you saw, I really couldn’t stand it. Gregory Quinn, that jerk, went way beyond my tolerance level and caused devastating harm to my little heart."

While enjoying a tangerine, she squinted her eyes in pleasure and said, "Uncle always taught me not to keep things bottled up."

"When you’re feeling bad, you need to let it out, otherwise, if it festers, you could get depression."

"For the sake of my mental health and to save my young heart, I had to take action when necessary!"

Gabrielle Winters looked at her expressionlessly for a moment, then turned to Nick Zeller, her voice gradually rising, "... Brother, is this how you usually teach her?!"

"Does she have any concept of abiding by the law?!"

"Look at what she did to Gregory Quinn!"

"What if Gregory Quinn sues her for personal injury?!"

Gabrielle Winters was once a graduate of a prestigious university, but now she was just working as a regular secretary at a small law firm in River City, a third-tier city.

"Calm down, calm down, little sister." Nick Zeller hurriedly got up, dashed to the kitchen, poured a cup of hot honey grapefruit tea, and placed it in front of Gabrielle Winters with both hands.

It was Gabrielle Winter’s favorite hot drink in the winter.

Seeing Nick Zeller looking so nervous and awkward, Lawrence continued eating her tangerines nonchalantly, while Gabrielle Winters massaged her temples.

She accepted the warm honey grapefruit tea from Nick Zeller, blew on it gently, and her earlier anger subsided halfway.

Seeing Gabrielle Winters calm down, Nick Zeller cautiously moved to sit on the opposite couch next to Lawrence, trying to distance from Gabrielle Winters.

He smiled sheepishly, "To be honest, what Gregory Quinn said was disgusting. He wouldn’t dare sue Lawrence. He knows that if he drags Lawrence into this, the video she has would definitely be used as evidence in court."

"By then, his despicable actions will be known to everyone in River City. He can’t afford to lose face like that, and he won’t be able to let go of the benefits and advantages he has in River City."

Gabrielle Winters thought of the end of the video where Lawrence Winters warned Gregory Quinn, saying he had recorded the video. She couldn’t help but nod slightly and glance at Lawrence, "...Not too stupid after all, he knows to keep an ace up his sleeve."

"Of course! Lawrence has been following me around for feng shui consultations since he was twelve. He’s seen more of the world than those little girls of the same age have eaten rice!—Little Sis, don’t worry. Do you think I would ever harm Lawrence?"

Nick Zeller pounded his chest with a bang, almost like he was about to swear an oath with his left hand pointing to the sky and his right hand to the ground.

Gabrielle took a sip of her pomelo honey water, without looking up, she said to Lawrence, "Lawrence, even if you meet such scum again in the future, you mustn’t hit them."

Lawrence: "..."

With a piece of sour and sweet orange in her mouth, she mumbled a faint "uh-huh."

Her mom saying this meant she managed to get through this checkpoint.

Lawrence was thinking about making a resolution just like Nick, but to her surprise, Gabrielle added: "...Or first check if there are any cameras around. If not, then you can give them a kick or two."

"Luckily, there was no surveillance near the octagonal pavilion, or it would have been a problem."

Lawrence: "!!!"

Didn’t expect you to be like this, Mom!

She excitedly looked up, "Mom! You also think Gregory deserves a beating, don’t you?!"

"...He does, but not by you. It should be Brooke Osborne’s family. Doesn’t she have a brother? What’s the use of having brothers at a time like this?"

Gabrielle snorted, leisurely placing the pomelo honey water on the coffee table. She glanced at the awkward Nick and chuckled, "...Your big uncle understands this best."

Lawrence was puzzled and hurriedly asked, "Mom, did Uncle help you fight back in the day too?!"

"Not for me." Gabrielle stood up from the sofa, smiling, "Have you forgotten you have two aunts?"

"How could I forget?" Lawrence nodded, then made a bitter face, "Auntie and Little Aunt... Oh no, it’s almost the New Year, they’re going to bring their husbands and kids to our house for dinner again."

"Why the long face?" Gabrielle walked over and pinched her tender little face, "This year, we’ll eat out. We won’t entertain them at home."

"Yay! Long live Mom! That’s great!" Lawrence turned her head to dodge Gabrielle’s "devilish claws," covering her face and saying, "Why does everyone love pinching my face? I need to go wash up, wash my face well!"

Saying this, she ran towards the stairs, heading to her room on the second floor.

Not until the door to her room closed with a clatter did Gabrielle ask thoughtfully, "Big Brother, what does Lawrence mean with what she just said? Who else likes to pinch her face?"

Nick subconsciously raised his hand, like surrendering, said, "Not me, I stopped pinching her face after she turned twelve."

Gabrielle felt her headache worsen.

She sat next to Nick, whispering, "Big Brother, I know how much you care for Lawrence, more than the kids from our second and third sisters’ families."

"How can their kids compare to Lawrence?" Nick interrupted her without hesitation, "Lawrence was raised by me singlehandedly."

"Whatever the other kids have, Lawrence must have."

"Whatever the other kids don’t have, Lawrence must have too!"

"I won’t let anyone bully Lawrence!"

Gabrielle quietly looked at him, sighed after a while, "Big Brother, it’s a relief to have you all these years, otherwise Lawrence wouldn’t have grown up to be as lively and cheerful as she is now."

In a place like River City, which is neither big nor small, kids without fathers are often bullied.

But with an uncle like Nick, Lawrence was so well-protected that even kids with fathers didn’t receive as much attention as Nick gave to Lawrence.

"Little Sis, saying such things makes you sound like an outsider." Nick became serious, "I’m your big brother. When you brought Lawrence to me back then, I swore to take good care of you both."

"But, it’s taken so many years from you. Do you really not consider starting a family?" Gabrielle felt concerned for her big brother.

These years, if not for Nick, her life wouldn’t have been as leisurely as it is now.

"Oh, starting what family..." Nick waved his hand, back to his cheeky grin, "You see, I’ve become the Great Heavenly Master. How can I get married and have children?"

"Since the day I apprenticed, I changed my surname and promised never to marry or have children."

"That was the condition of my apprenticeship, you know me, don’t you?"

Of course, Gabrielle knew, and she knew even more why Nick was willing to change his surname and become a Great Heavenly Master.

"It’s all because of Lawrence and me... dragging you down..." Gabrielle felt very guilty towards Nick, "If mom and dad knew about this, they wouldn’t be happy."

"No problem, I’ve thought it all over." Nick said cheerfully, "My legacy, of course, will be passed on to Lawrence. When she grows up and gets married, we’ll have her first son take the Winters name, and that’ll be the perfect solution!"