CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 154: FOUND IT?

Adrian Desmond wore a bewildered expression, utterly failing to understand the depths of Jule’s hatred for him. After a moment’s thought, he asked, "Why? I don’t believe I’ve done anything to wrong you."

Jule stared at Adrian’s captivating face, the kind that mesmerized women. Was Melanie bewitched by this face? Is that why, even though she was carrying my child, she still followed Adrian, who didn’t love her?

"I hate you because Melanie loves you without you having to do a thing!" Jule spat out. "I hate you because no matter how much I do for her, she never even glances at me! And I hate you because Melanie loves you so much, yet you don’t treat her well!"

Adrian knew perfectly well that the child Melanie Carpenter was carrying belonged to Jule. As the saying goes, one should not covet a friend’s wife. If he actually loved Melanie, he would have torn Jule limb from limb for this; anything less, and he wouldn’t be a man. But he didn’t love her at all.

"Jule, is your family going bankrupt?" Adrian sneered. "Can’t you even support your own son? Do you expect me to raise him for you?"

It wasn’t difficult for any of them, with their resources, to find out who the father of Melanie’s unborn child was. They all tacitly understood the truth, yet Adrian had decided to voice it today.

"You think I don’t want to?" Jule’s voice was tight with emotion. "You have no idea how overjoyed I was when I found out Melanie was carrying my child. I want to marry her, but in her eyes, in her heart, there’s only you. She doesn’t want to leave you at all."

Jule glared resentfully at the devilishly handsome man before him, a vicious thought forming in his mind: if this man ceased to exist, would Melanie fall in love with me then?

"Then you’re just useless! Can’t even handle one woman!" Adrian said unsympathetically.

"And what do you have to be proud of?" Jule was miserable, and he wanted Adrian to be miserable too. He retorted, "Adrian, how are you any better than me? The woman I love—I can’t have her, but at least I can still see her, still hear news of her. And you? The woman you love abandoned you; she doesn’t even want you! My son has to call you ’Daddy,’ while your biological son has to call another man ’Daddy’! Adrian, we’re both the same! And another thing... the woman you love is probably lying beneath some other man right now, screaming with pleasure. HAHA... Adrian, you’re the real pathetic one!"

"I think you’re tired of living!"

Adrian was not a good-tempered man, especially since Jule had hit a nerve about what mattered most to him. Adrian’s punch was swift. Jule, caught off guard, took the blow. Jule was already nursing a grudge against Adrian anyway.

"Adrian, I’ve endured you for too long!" Jule roared, charging at him.

Adrian’s fighting skills were honed through countless life-and-death battles. His defense and offense had become second nature; Jule, a pampered, rich young master, was no match for him.

Jule barely managed a few moves before Adrian knocked him to the ground, his face already swelling and bruising. He could only whimper.

"Say it, why aren’t you talking now?" Adrian snarled, standing over him. "Go on, say it again! Believe it or not, I’ll beat you to death!"

Jule chuckled weakly. "Adrian, we’re both pitiful. The woman I love doesn’t love me, and the woman you love doesn’t love you!"

"You’re asking for it!"

Another heavy punch landed, and blood spurted from Jule’s nose.

"...Oh, Adrian, I guessed wrong," Jule gasped, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "That woman you love is so heartless, she probably got rid of your flesh and blood the moment she left. Your child never even had a chance to come into this world; he’s nothing more than a bloody, mangled mess of flesh!"

Veins bulged on Adrian’s forehead. "Jule, if my son became a mangled mess of flesh, I’d turn your son into meat soup!" If he was going to suffer, then everyone else could suffer with him. All his mercy had been spent on the woman who ran away.

"Adrian, I’m going to kill you!" Jule screamed.

"If you die, Melanie will marry me!" Jule howled his heart’s desire, the devil within him unleashed.

"You? Kill me?" Adrian scoffed, not taking a man like Jule seriously in the slightest. "You wish."

The two men were at each other’s throats again. Adrian wasn’t faring well either; a nerve inside him was stretched taut. His woman and son had been missing for a year, and he still hadn’t found them. The longer they were missing, the slimmer the chances of finding them became.

That heartless woman... she’ll definitely remarry... She’ll be bewitching some other man, blossoming beneath him...

Adrian’s powerful punch landed squarely on Jule’s chest.

No! He would never allow that to happen!

When Owen Hunter and Dan Taylor arrived, they saw Adrian pinning Jule down, pummelling him relentlessly. Jule’s face was so swollen his own parents wouldn’t have recognized him.

"Adrian, stop! You’ll kill him!" Dan Taylor and Owen Hunter hurriedly pulled the raging Adrian away.

Adrian was utterly furious. It took both men a great deal of effort to drag him off.

Dan Taylor tried to placate them. "Hey, what’s all this? We’re all good brothers, grew up together. How did it come to blows? If there’s something to say, let’s talk it out properly, huh? Heh heh..."

Adrian snapped, "Ask him."

Jule’s face was a ghastly sight. Dan Taylor winced looking at it, thinking, Adrian’s fists are truly ruthless. He subconsciously touched his own face and shivered. I swear, I can offend anyone, but not Adrian Desmond. I still need this face to pick up girls.

Owen Hunter, the calmest among them, asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to kill him!" Jule retorted, fearless.

Dan Taylor chuckled inappropriately. "You, kid? With your skills? Look at the miserable state you’re in. Your own parents probably wouldn’t recognize you right now."

Adrian kicked Jule hard in the abdomen. Jule grunted and spat out another mouthful of blood. "I don’t want to raise your damn son for you! If you’re man enough, make Melanie Carpenter marry you! Stop acting like a spineless coward who only knows how to yell at me!" He paused, then continued fiercely, "I’m nothing like you! If Mai dares to marry another man, I’ll torture that man to death! Whether she loves me or not, in this lifetime, she can only be mine!"

Was this a classic case of a femme fatale causing a rift between brothers? Dan Taylor and Owen Hunter exchanged a look; everything was understood without words.

Just then, Walter Klein rushed in, flustered and agitated, but also excited. "Sixth Master, we’ve found Madam!"

His words stunned everyone present.

"Really? You found her?" Dan Taylor asked in disbelief.

Adrian, however, was completely stunned. He could hardly believe his ears. What did I just hear?

Walter Klein confirmed, "Yes, we’ve found her. Sixth Master, the plane is ready. Shall we leave immediately?"

Adrian’s heart pounded violently in his chest, more intensely than he had ever felt in his life. It was as if his heart couldn’t withstand the overwhelming surge of emotion, and a sharp pain lanced through it.

Adrian managed to ask, his voice hoarse, "Where... is she?"

"Starisle!"