CHAPTER 382: CHAPTER 382: EXTORTION

Ivy Linden noticed that "Hawk" was carrying a firewood chopper in his hand, and she felt something was odd. If he really came to borrow money from her mom, why would he bring a chopper to her house?

Her mother quickly stepped in front of Ivy, blocking "Hawk," and said to Ivy, "Ivy, don’t ask anything, just give me the twenty thousand first."

Her mother’s voice was hurried, as if she was hiding something.

Ivy grew increasingly uneasy and said, "The money is in the bag, I’ll get it for you."

Her mother nodded but didn’t follow Ivy into the house.

Turning around, her mother spoke to "Hawk."

Ivy took out the bag, which was filled with stacks of cash, each a stack of ten thousand. She only needed to take out two stacks.

As Ivy reached into the bag, she suddenly saw that "Hawk" was missing his right hand and blood was dripping. Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the money.

"Mom, come over here."

Trying to stay calm, Ivy spoke to her mother in a normal tone.

Upon hearing Ivy’s voice, her mother whispered "Please" to "Hawk" and walked over to Ivy. "Ivy, give me the money."

Ivy refused, "Mom, why are you in such a rush to have me bring the money over? Is it for him? Who exactly is he?"

Her mother’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Ivy had always been a strong-willed child. Seeing Luke Lowe holding the chopper must have made her suspicious. Her mother shook her head and said, "Ivy, don’t ask, just give me the money."

Ivy saw the distress in her mother’s eyes and hesitated for a few seconds, thinking: If this man is a vicious criminal, angering him would spell trouble for mom, dad, and me.

Criminals would do anything.

So, Ivy didn’t ask further, took out the twenty thousand, and handed it to her mother.

Receiving the money, her mother felt a huge relief and said, "Ivy, I won’t take your money for nothing. I’ll repay you as soon as my deposit matures."

Ivy frowned, "Mom, it’s not like I don’t have the money. You don’t need to repay me."

Her daughter was truly filial.

While her mother was comforted, this wasn’t money given out of filial respect but rather money she was being extorted out of by that scoundrel Luke Lowe. She resolved to repay Ivy.

Her mother was eager to send Luke off and said no more to Ivy.

She handed the money to Luke, "Now that you have the money, you can leave, right?"

Who could have predicted...

Luke took the money, stuffed it into his pants pocket, and transferred the chopper from his mouth to his hand, suddenly wrapping his arm around Ivy’s mother’s neck, the sharp blade pressing against her nape.

"Ah~" Ivy’s mother was terrified by Luke’s action.

"What are you doing?" Ivy yelled out.

Just then, Ivy’s father rushed out of the house.

Seeing his wife in Luke’s grip made his heart almost give out.

"Luke... Have you lost your mind? Our family hasn’t wronged you, have we?" Mr. Linden was furious. Luke Lowe was known as a local thug in the village.

Every time he came back to ask Grandma Lowe for money, he’d beat her up. The villagers would call the police, but when they arrived, Grandma Lowe would deny Luke’s abuse, loving her grandson too much. The police couldn’t do anything to him.

Mr. Linden despised such a scoundrel. He knew that his wife was kind-hearted and compassionate towards Grandma Lowe. Whenever they made braised pork or fish, she’d send some over to Look after Grandma Lowe.

She often stood up for Grandma Lowe, but Mr. Linden told her to stay out of it—it was their family matter. When Luke was back, she should avoid Grandma Lowe’s.

Better to offend a gentleman than to cross a rascal like Luke Lowe.

Luke ignored Mr. Linden, his greedy eyes fixed on Ivy’s bag. Damn, this woman was carrying an LV bag! He’d seen Hawk’s girlfriend carry such bags, and Hawk had told him they could cost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.

This woman’s bag was so expensive that he suddenly felt that asking for just twenty thousand was too little. He menaced Ivy, "Take out all the money from your bag, or I’ll kill your mom."

With about fifty thousand remaining in the bag, Ivy saw her mother in Luke’s grip and without hesitation took it out, nervously saying, "Don’t harm my mom. You wanted money, I’ll give it all to you."

Seeing Ivy take out several stacks—at least tens of thousands, her mother panicked. She thought that asking for twenty thousand would resolve it, but now realized she’d wronged her daughter.

Furious, her mother cursed Luke, "You said only two thousand. Now you’re blackmailing my daughter? You’re too greedy!"

Luke tightened his arm, making it hard for her mother to breathe and laughed sinisterly, "Greedy? Auntie, it’s you being stingy. Your daughter carries a bag worth tens, even hundreds of thousands. You only offered me twenty thousand? Do I look easy to fool?"

"Let go of my mom. The money is right here. If you want it, better not hurt my mom again. Otherwise, I assure you, you won’t get a cent," said Ivy with steely resolve.

The idea of using the money to beat Luke to death was all she felt.

"You wretched woman, threatening me?" Luke’s expression darkened.

"Dad, give me your lighter," Ivy suddenly said to her father.

Her father hesitated a moment, before handing over his lighter without a word.

"Wretched woman, what do you think you’re doing?"

Luke saw Ivy flick the lighter, blue-yellow flames emerged, and she held it under the numerous bills. Sweat started forming on Luke’s forehead.

Was this crazy woman really going to burn the money?

He was pained over that money—it was worth thousands! In his hands, life would be carefree!

"As I said, if you hurt my mom again, you won’t get a single cent," Ivy’s voice was firm.

Luke’s arm loosened a bit, and his fierce face quickly shifted to a placating look: "I won’t hurt Auntie. I won’t hurt her, don’t burn my money!"

"Let go of my mom," Ivy commanded.

"Heh... You hand me the money first. I just want the money, not her life," Luke countered.

Ivy didn’t trust the cunning Hawk.

She said, "I’ll walk over and give you the money. You return my mom to me."

Seeing how sharp Ivy was, Hawk hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay."

With money in hand, Ivy approached Hawk. As Hawk gradually released her mother, he grabbed the money and pushed her onto Ivy.

"Ah~"

Ivy and her mother fell simultaneously.

However, in that instant, Hawk reached out, snatched Ivy’s LV bag, and ran quickly out of the Linden family home.