Secret Scion
Chapter 43 -

Noelle stayed at the Stewards last night. Originally, she wanted to make breakfast for Asher in the morning. However, she ended up seeing Asher get into a woman's car just outside of the neighborhood and disappearing for the entire day.

That woman was none other than Layla.

Noelle did not know Layla, and never thought that Layla was Asher's cousin. Naturally, she began having strange thoughts.

When he heard that, Asher realized that she was getting jealous again. He could not help but burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing about? I see, you think you're very popular when so many women are chasing after you," Noelle said angrily. Does he think that he's in the right when he cheats? "She's my cousin," Asher said with a smile.

"Cousin?" Noelle was stunned.

"Her name is Layla Knight, my paternal aunt's daughter."

Noelle's face instantly flared up as she awkwardly said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought that she was the same as Dove Yaeger... It's fine, let's not talk about that. Did you have dinner? I left some dinner for you."

Asher was actually feeling somewhat hungry. He ate some food earlier in the morning at Hunter's, but did not have anything else afterward.

Originally, Radley wanted to give Winston a call and ask how he was doing, but Winston had switched off his mobile. Radley only found out from one of Winston's underlings that something had happened to him.

Once he caught wind of what happened, Radley quickly entered Hallberg's room.

Hallberg was discussing something with a few elders in the family. When he saw Radley stumble into the room, he could not help but frown and ask, "What happened?"

Radley did not answer directly, but instead approached Hallberg's side and whispered into his ears, "Grandpa, something happened to Winston."

When Hallberg heard that, his frown turned into a scowl. He waved his hand and said, "Please leave for now."

Once everyone else had left, Hallberg then asked nervously, "What happened? Didn't he make all the necessary preparations for the election to become the boss?"

"Grandpa, Winston had already obtained majority support. However, nobody knows that he has been having an illicit relationship with Mateo's woman. The video of them making love was exposed for all to see. Mateo was enraged and immediately had him locked up. I don't even know if he's dead or alive at this point," Radley said bitterly.

"That fool! Why would he touch Mateo's woman?!" Even Hallberg was so enraged that he slammed his hand on the chair's armrest. "Who was the one that exposed this to Mateo? Hunter?"

Radley shook his head as he licked his cracked lips, and then said, "Grandpa, it's Asher." "Asher?" Hallberg was slightly taken aback. He narrowed his eyes and gave it a thought before he said, "What does choosing the next leader of the underworld have anything to do with him? Why is he targeting Winston?"

Radley then said, "That's right, Grandpa. I don't understand it either. Can it be that he's helping Hunter?"

When Hallberg heard what Radley had to say, a flash of insight appeared in his murky eyes. He snorted and said, "That has to be it. Otherwise, there's no reason for him to target Winston since they have nothing to do with each other, especially at this critical time. Asher must have known about Hunter's background."

"Now that the Hoffmans have sided with Garrett, the situation is disadvantageous for him. So, he wants to support Hunter to compete for the position of the head of the Hoffmans household. They would never expect that Asher would take this step. How malicious," Hallberg said with mixed feelings.

Only then did Radley realize what was happening, and so he probed his grandpa, "Should we warn the Hoffmans?"

After a few seconds of silence, Hallberg then said, "No need. The Hoffmans should already know about this."

It was just as Hallberg had expected, the Hoffmans had already heard about this. Hunter had become the leader and boss of Rollinsford's underworld. While the Hoffmans did not fear them, they had to be on alert against them.

The current leader of the Hoffmans was called Neptune Hoffman. He was also Julian's grandfather.

At this time, dozens of those from the Hoffmans stood in Neptune's room as he sat in his chair with a dark expression on his face.

"Dad, Hunter is our eldest brother's illegitimate son, he hates us because of how we treated him and his mother. Now that he has become the boss of the underworld in Rollinsford, this is extremely disadvantageous for us," Julian's uncle Denzel Hoffman said.

"That's right, Dad. We can't avoid a stab in the back. Hunter's a gangster. He can do anything. We have to be careful with him. What we should do now is to take him out of the picture before he can gain full control of things."

Julian's dad was called Kendrick Hoffman. He was also the eldest of the Hoffman brothers, and Hunter was his illegitimate son. When he heard that his second and third younger brothers wanted to kill Hunter, Kendrick was of course unwilling to do that. He was Hunter's father after all.

"Father, Ford is going to retire soon, and he needs to replace a successor. Among the youngsters, only Winston and Hunter have the capability to succeed him. Winston has lost Mateo's support, and so Hunter will inherit Ford's position as boss. It's a bit far-fetched to think that he wants to go against us," Kendrick said with a frown.

Denzel then said with a snort, "I know that he's your son, Kendrick. However, remember his background. Those from the underworld are brutal and care little for family. Now that he is the boss of Rollinsford's underworld, he has become quite powerful. Do you think you can handle him if he really begins to attack our household?"

Kendrick then said, "If he makes a move against us, I won't forgive him!"

"How will you not forgive him, Kendrick? Pray tell," Denzel said in a cold voice. "What do you mean by that, Denzel?!"

"Nothing unusual. I'm just thinking from the perspective of the household."

Kendrick still wanted to say something, but Neptune began to speak, "Enough, both of you. Your elder brother is right. Even though Hunter has become the leader of the underworld, that doesn't mean that he will make a move against us. However, that doesn't mean we can let our guard down. Kendrick, you started all of this mess. Find some time and meet up with Hunter and see what he wants to do."

"Of course, Dad," Kendrick said respectfully.

Neptune waved his hand and then said, "Alright, leave me. Keep all of this discreet. Julian, stay behind."

Very quickly, Kendrick and the others left Neptune's room, and only Julian was left behind with Neptune.

"Is there anything else, Grandpa?"

"Take a seat, Julian," Neptune pointed at a chair next to him. "Do you know why I asked you to stay behind?"

"Because of Hunter?" Julian probed.

"Yes, and no." Neptune took out a cigarette from his pocket and had Julian light it up for him. However, he started to cough nonstop only after the first huff. Julian quickly said, "Grandpa, the doctor said that you can't smoke. You should stop."

"Just one won't kill me," Neptune said with a sigh. "You and Hunter are brothers, but your fate is better than his. What we've done to him and his mother all these years is indeed quite unfair. However, there's nothing that we can do. Our household cannot accept a woman and her son that was born out of wedlock, otherwise, we would become the laughingstock of the community. However, now that Hunter has gained power and has the ability to have his vengeance, no one can guarantee that he won't take revenge against us. However, I'm more worried about Asher. From what I've gathered, Hunter seems to have already allied himself with Asher. Meanwhile, we and Asher are enemies. I'm concerned that Asher doesn't want to end things by helping Hunter to become the leader of the underworld."

Julian was also quite smart, so he very quickly knew what Neptune meant. "Grandpa, are you saying that Asher wants to help Hunter return to our household?"

Neptune nodded and said, "It's not impossible. Think about it, why would Asher suddenly help Hunter without any reason? Asher has no reason to take any action when it comes to such matters just from his background alone. Asher Crawford... He's someone harder to take down than I thought."

When Julian heard what Neptune had to say, he believed so as well. Suddenly, a sense of crisis began to creep up on him. He squinted as he asked, "Grandpa, did we take the wrong side?" "There's no point dwelling on that now. We have to first concentrate on buying time for Garrett to take Asher out as soon as possible by holding off Hunter. Only with Asher gone will Hunter stop being a threat, Neptune said after a thought, "Go and look for Garrett and tell him what we think. Tell him that we have to take quick action. Any more delays, and things might get out of hand."