Chapter 924 Welcome to Hell
From his deadpan voice, it didn’t sound like he had just picked up some passengers. Feeling disappointed, Danny adjusted his position in his seat. Subconsciously, he tried to observe the cab driver in the rearview mirror. The instant he did so, he saw the latter lowering his head. Obviously, the cab driver had been spying on them just now.
A guilty conscience gives itself away. Seems like this guy isn’t some nice person. Danny yanked at Ariel’s dress before giving her a look.
Ariel took the hint at once. Simultaneously, the pair began to observe their outside surroundings, mentally estimating the likelihood of them succeeding in jumping off the vehicle. However, before they were done analyzing the risks, the cab driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, bringing the cab to a screeching halt without warning.
Danny and Ariel lurched forward thanks to inertia. Before they realized what was happening, the cab driver quickly flung the car door open and jumped out of the cab.
“Are you alright?” Danny checked on Ariel while shielding her with his body. Ariel shook her head and happened to see the cab driver smashing a hammer against the car window. “Watch out!” She swiftly pulled Danny to her side.
At the same time, the car window shattered into smithereens, and a smoke bomb releasing thick clouds of smoke was thrown inside. Being no strangers to such situations, Danny and Ariel simultaneously chose to hold their breaths and pretend to pass out on the spot.
After the smoke dissipated a while later, the cab driver finally returned to the scene and opened the car door to check whether Danny and Ariel were unconscious. However, as soon as he got his upper body inside, Danny suddenly opened his eyes and sat up on Ariel’s lap. Grabbing the driver by the throat, he pushed him out of the car and knocked him out with a few cuffs and kicks.
Seizing the opportunity, Danny then took Ariel by the hand, turned around, and ran. Unlike Cittadel, Wegas was fraught with intricate relationships between various powers. If they were to keep tarrying, nobody knew what kind of trouble they’d get into, so they decided to get out of there as soon as possible.
Unbeknownst to Danny, however, a tranquilizer gun nearby was already aiming at them. In the end, he and Ariel didn’t manage to run away; they’d barely run several meters when the tranquilizer dart went firmly into their necks.
A moment later, a woman dressed in a mink stole emerged from the woods nearby with the tranquilizer gun in her hand. Standing in front of Danny, she looked at him and Ariel, then looked at the driver in the distance and rolled her eyes sullenly. “What a moron!” she groaned. Suppressing her impatience, she walked up to the driver to wake him up, as there was no way she could handle two adults on her own. After getting near the man, she kicked him with her stilettos, urging, “Hurry and get up, you useless piece of sh*t!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, she was suddenly punched heavily in the back of her neck. “Aah!” She let out a grunt before falling unconscious on top of the driver.
Jessie smugly stretched his limbs while looking at the unconscious pair. “Haha! That’s what I call an ambush. Have a good rest here, you two!” After dragging the woman and the driver to the roadside and settling them down, he turned around and went to the other side of the road. Carrying Ariel on his shoulders and tucking Danny under his arm, he then breezed away.
…
An unknown amount of time later, Danny came around and opened his eyes in horror, only to be greeted with Jessie’s somewhat grotesque face. Standing at his bedside, the latter eyed him expressionlessly from above, saying in a voice as spooky as that of a ghost, “You’re up? Welcome to hell, my little dar—Ouch!”
Before he could utter the next syllable, Danny punched him in the left eye, causing him to crouch down in pain right away.
“You son of a b*tch! Where’s Ariel?!” Danny jumped out of bed, clenching his fists and readying his stance in preparation for another attack.
“She’s dead!” Jessie blurted out thoughtlessly in a fit of anger without even looking at him.
Taking his answer at face value, Danny instantly went berserk. “I’ll kill you!”
“No, no, no! Don’t do that!” Jessie hurriedly sprang to his feet and dodged into a corner. “I was just joking! Miss Ariel is still alive!”
“Trying to fool me, huh? It’s not that easy!” Danny clutched him by his T-shirt and raised his fist above his head. “It was my fault for failing to protect her. I’ll kill you first before taking my own life so that we can die with her!”
“Aah! Help—”
The instant Danny’s fist came down on Jessie, the room door opened, and Ariel stood by the door looking at them confusedly. “What’s wrong with you, Danny?”
Danny was stupefied by what he saw. Then, coming to his senses, he immediately let go of Jessie and trotted up to Ariel. After pinching her cheek and making sure that she was indeed Ariel, he finally heaved a sigh of relief, saying, “Phew, so you’re still alive! I was scared to death, you know?”
Clapping a hand over his bruised eye, Jessie complained in sobs, “You’ve gone too far! How could you be so cruel to your savior?! Sob…”
“You’ve got only yourself to blame for that!” Danny was sick of the man’s wimpy behavior. “Is life and death something that can be joked about?”
“I was just trying to liven things up! Who knew you’d be so violent as to hit me without warning…” Jessie countered. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt, and his eyes moistened as he spoke.
“What about the time when you used tranquilizers on us?!” Danny seized the opportunity to vent his spleen while seething with anger.
“I didn’t…” Jessie retorted, only to bite his tongue mid-sentence. He hung his head and mumbled, “I only did that for fear that you two would refuse to come. The tranquilizer won’t harm your body, anyway.”
“Bro, you acted sneaky last time because we didn’t know who you were, but this time, we already knew you’re one of Ariel’s dad’s men. If you wanted to look for us, you could’ve just done that in the open. Why go so far as to use tranquilizers on us?” Danny seriously couldn’t make sense of this guy’s behavior.
Jessie opened his mouth, wanting to explain himself. In the end, however, he bit his lip and bit back the words he’d wanted to say.
After that, they got to meet Camren Abbott, Ariel’s father.
The Abbott Manor was less a manor than an island—and a completely self-made island at that. Additionally, the island was equipped with patrols, consisting of army veterans hired by the Abbott Family. Jessie, Danny, and Ariel had to ride in a station wagon for nearly six minutes just to get from the room just now to Camren’s drawing room.
Though a short journey, it was enough for Danny to estimate Camren’s financial capability. There’s no way the Griffith Family can compare with the Abbotts. If Alexander gathers all his assets, he might barely get to be on an equal footing with them.
As expected, Camren did nothing to conceal his dislike for Danny the instant they met. “To be honest, you’re not my ideal son-in-law.”
Danny was about to launch a long, high-sounding speech to win his father-in-law over. However, before he could speak, he heard the latter justify himself by saying, “But never mind since Ariel likes you.” Then, he continued, “That being said, don’t ever think you can sit back and start neglecting her because she gives you her hand in marriage.
My daughter would never have to compromise or do anything she doesn’t want to. She can call off her engagement or divorce you whenever she wants. Even if you’re an emperor, she can dump you as long as you do wrong to her!”
