Secret Scion
Chapter 81 -

It was at that moment when Asher realized that he had fallen into another one of Phoebe's

devious

traps.

"Noelle, wait up! I can explain everything!" Asher ran out and stopped Noelle in her tracks. Aggrievance flooded the latter's heart at that time. She had already recognized her own mistakes and planned to apologize to Asher, but she did not expect to witness that scene when she went to look for him.

"What are you going to explain to me? I've seen everything clearly. Is there even a need to explain?" Noelle's reddened eyes were brimming with tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks.

"What you see may not be the truth. If you believe me, then we won't be having misunderstandings in the first place," Asher reasoned.

However, his words ended up triggering Noelle even more. Tears sprung out of her eyes, and yet she found herself laughing coldly. "Aren't you a funny guy, Asher? Why should I trust you instead of my own eyes? If what happened yesterday was a misunderstanding, then today's events must be real!"

Asher quickly raised his hands. "Can we just calm down for a moment?"

"She's already kissed you, and yet you want me to calm down? Asher, this is way over the line!" If Noelle was anything like her old self, she would have slapped Asher on the spot. After she was done speaking, she pushed him away, got into her car, and sped away angrily.

Asher could only grit his teeth and lick his lips. He was instantly struck by grief at that moment. "I'm sorry. I didn't see Noelle at the doorway just now," Phoebe said apologetically while approaching him.

Asher could not help but chuckle coldly, his expression instantly becoming twisted and frightening. "Phoebe, are you happy now? You're quite skilled, huh? I'm amazed by the underhanded tricks you can pull off."

"You're overthinking it, Asher. I didn't see Noelle just now. How can I convince you to trust me?" Phoebe retorted with a frown while looking aggrieved. A pause later, she continued, "Noelle's lack of trust in you is the same as your lack of trust in me. You really have to believe me this once. I know that you're very irritated right now, so why don't I treat you to some drinks? Didn't you used to say that there's nothing alcohol can't solve?"

A crescent moon hung atop the dark night.

Two people could be seen sitting in an elegant and lavish private room that was located on the second floor of a restaurant.

After downing a few glasses of aged wine in one go, Asher was starting to get drunk despite having a good alcohol tolerance.

Phoebe's cheeks were flushed pink, making her look extra charming and seductive.

No matter how beautiful she was, Asher had no intention of admiring her beauty. At first, he intended to rely on alcohol to get rid of his worries, but the more he drank, the sadder he became. If he wanted to truly forget about his worries, then he would have to drink until he blacked out. However, he did not want to reach that stage in Phoebe's restaurant.

"My phone's already dead, so put this meal on my tab." Asher did not have cash on him, not to mention that his phone had already run out of battery a long time ago. He did not want to owe Phoebe any money, hence his idea to put the bill on his tab.

The moment his words fell, he rose from his seat and tried to exit the room.

Phoebe suddenly grabbed Asher's wrist. "You've drunk so much, so you should stay the night here. I have a spare room for you."

"I'm not drunk," Asher retorted before yanking his wrist out of her grip and walking out decisively.

"He can't stay still even when he's drunk!" Phoebe muttered a complaint, but she ended up following Asher down the stairs.

Originally, Phoebe wanted to arrange a driver to send Asher home, but the latter refused to accept her offer no matter what, which pissed her off. In the end, she decided to not care about that stubborn fool.

Just as Phoebe was about to head back to her restaurant, she suddenly picked up a dangerous aura lurking nearby. Her senses told her that the person was an expert that was rarely encountered. Their strength seemed to transcend even James' overall power. That person was Rodrick.

Soon, Phoebe was able to pinpoint the location where the aura was flaring from. Only Rodrick was capable of releasing such a terrifying aura. Before he even arrived at the location, his aura had reached first.

Phoebe did not have any bad blood with the Schmidts. Even if she did, they were only minor conflicts, so Rodrick's presence had nothing to do with her.

Since he was not targeting her, that meant that his target should be Asher.

"Miss, I think Rodrick is in the area." James hurried out of the restaurant while looking grim. Phoebe nodded and replied, "Now that the Schmidts have lost their control over Rollinsford, Rodrick must be here to deal with Asher."

James decided to gauge her out. "Should I help Mr. Crawford out?"

Phoebe was silent for a few seconds before making her decision. "James, don't do anything for now. I'll go help Asher out." Once she was done speaking, she rushed in the direction that Asher had disappeared in.

James pondered for a moment, soon correctly guessing what Phoebe was up to. It seemed that she wanted to show off in front of Asher. However, he was still worried about her safety, so he secretly followed her.

Truthfully speaking, Asher already knew about Rodrick's presence. He knew very well that the latter was here to kill him. Despite being an expert himself, Asher knew that compared to Rodrick's power, he was nothing in front of him.

Since the Schmidts had lost control over Rollinsford, that meant they would definitely want to take him out. Asher had no choice but to keep his guard up.

Asher moved quickly in hopes of being able to shake Rodrick off his trail. However, the latter's speed was too fast for him. The distance between them kept shortening as time went on. Just when Asher arrived at a park filled with clusters of trees, a dark silhouette suddenly flashed past him. It ended up standing less than thirty feet away from him.

This park was normally filled with people in the day, but it was a different story at night. The lights here were dim, making the woods look eerie and creepy, so people rarely took walks there at night.

Asher could not help but frown when he noticed the figure. It seemed that he could not avoid the upcoming disaster.

At that moment, the figure turned around slowly. He was clad in black clothes with a black mask covering his face. It was obvious that he did not want the surveillance cameras to capture his appearance.

Asher knew very well that the more Rodrick attempted to conceal his identity, the higher his desire to kill him. At the same time, he did not want to cause any trouble to the Schmidt family, hence his decision to use the mask to cover his face.

"Asher, you were lucky that I didn't kill you last time, but you must die tonight!" Rodrick's voice was cold and dark. His narrow, slender eyes were filled with murderous intent as well. Asher pretended to laugh as loudly and nonchalantly as he could. He hoped to attract the passersby's attention, but there was no one around him at all. "Old Mr. Schmidt can't even get it together after losing Rollinsford to me, eh? Looks like he's just plain and ordinary. He seems impartial on the outside, but he's secretly an underhanded bastard, eh?"

"I know that I can't win you in arguments, Asher. If you want to live, you'll have to rely on your skills." As soon as Rodrick's words fell, he moved like the wind all of a sudden. Not even Asher could predict his movements.

Bam!

Asher felt a strong punch landing on his chest, causing him to stagger a few steps backward.

He could feel a strong coppery taste filling his throat. That blow almost caused him to cough up blood.

It was clear that Rodrick did not plan to hold himself back compared to their last fight. The moves he was using were killing moves that were sure to rob Asher of his life.

"Rodrick, don't forget that you're listed on the Elite Ranking! Why did you choose to hide your face even when you're fighting Asher? Don't you feel ashamed doing this?" At that moment, Phoebe hurried to Asher's side and took her place next to him.

"This has nothing to do with you! Leave right now!" Asher growled out.

"You're my fiancé! How's this unrelated to me?" Phoebe stared at Rodrick before continuing, "Rodrick, if you want to kill my fiancé, you'll have to go through me first!"

Rodrick made no attempts in concealing his identity at all. "Miss Webb, Asher is right. This is solely between him and the Schmidts. It doesn't concern you. I advise you to not interfere with our matters."

"Are you afraid of me?" Phoebe taunted coldly.

Rodrick could not help but laugh arrogantly. "Even if James is here, I can safely say that I'm not afraid at all, let alone you. Phoebe, I'll only say this one last time. Asher must die tonight. If you still want to help him, then both of you can die together!"

Phoebe huffed lightly before retorting, "Let's see if you have the ability to take me out, then!" As soon as she was done speaking, she dashed toward her opponent immediately. Every generation of the Webb family learned martial arts their whole lives. Phoebe was naturally talented among her peers. When pitted against the masses of talented fighters in the Webb family, it was rare for the fighters in her generation to win her in a spar. Back then, Asher and Phoebe had sparred once, which led to a draw. The reason why was because of Asher's superior strength. Skill wise, he knew that Phoebe was much more superior to him. Phoebe's strength had increased a lot during the past two years. Her most notable improvement was her speed. As her opponent, Rodrick was forced to deploy his entire skill set in the fight against her.

When Asher noticed Phoebe rushing toward Rodrick, he did not hesitate to join her. Soon, the pair flanked their opponent on both sides as they attacked him.

"Your speed is quite decent, but your strength is lacking!" Rodrick found it easy to deal with both of his attackers at the same time. His counterattacks made Asher realize that the experts on the Elite Ranking possessed incredibly frightening strength. Furthermore, Rodrick was just a rank nine expert on the list.

Rodrick avoided Asher's punch and seized the chance to land a blow on Phoebe's left shoulder, causing her arm to be dislocated. She could not help but let out a low groan. Before she could regain her balance, Rodrick punched her once again.

Phoebe staggered a few steps away from Rodrick before collapsing to the ground. "Hurry up and leave, Phoebe! I'm not worth the sacrifice! Besides, I won't be grateful to you just because you helped me out!" Asher did not expect that Rodrick was this powerful. He and Phoebe were already working together to fight him just now, but they were still injured by their opponent. If she were to continue fighting Rodrick, there was no way she could escape from him later on.

"If we're destined to die, we might as well die together!" Phoebe gritted her teeth and got up from the ground, resolve shining in her eyes.

Rodrick tutted at Phoebe in response. "Since you're so eager to die, I might as well grant your wish!" The moment his words fell, he pounced onto Phoebe like a lightning bolt. James, who was lurking nearby, was shocked to see Rodrick aiming for Phoebe. Just as he was about to stop him, a cold glint suddenly appeared in the dark. It was like a shooting star aiming for Rodrick as it lodged itself into his ankle. The latter let out a pained yelp before collapsing to the ground immediately.