Chapter 143: Utter Humiliation
Luca Hale looked down at Dexter Luiz, finding the man’s so-called apology utterly laughable.
His voice remained calm, but there wasn’t the slightest warmth in it.
"Finished?"
"You can get the hell off my property now."
"What did you just say?"
Dexter’s face darkened instantly.
Since childhood, who had ever dared to speak to him like that?
No one.
People in his circle barely even raised their voices around him. He was Gordon Luiz’s only son and the sole heir to The Luiz Conglomerate. Everywhere he went, people treated him with exaggerated respect, terrified of offending him.
Yet now, a younger man was looking down on him without the slightest regard, even after he had lowered himself enough to offer what he considered an apology.
"I’m only giving you face because you’re a shareholder of The Luiz Conglomerate, Luca Hale!" Dexter snapped, his voice turning icy. "Are you seriously going to hold a grudge over a simple misunderstanding?"
"Heh."
Luca let out a cold laugh.
"I’m only wasting my time talking to a junior like you because of your father’s age."
He took a slow step forward.
"But don’t you even know how to apologize properly?"
The truth was, even if Dexter had arrived with complete sincerity, Luca had never intended to forgive him.
"Luca!"
Dexter’s patience finally snapped.
"Don’t push your luck!"
"So what if I wanted your woman?"
"What exactly can you do to me?"
His father’s warnings disappeared from his mind the moment those words left his mouth.
The arrogant, spoiled young master had returned.
Luca’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.
The warmth disappeared completely from his face.
His fingers slowly curled into fists, the joints cracking one after another.
"You really are begging to be hurt."
"When that happens..."
"Don’t blame me."
Seeing Luca move, the lean man standing beside Dexter grinned.
"So..."
"You want to fight?"
Chainsaw rolled his shoulders, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.
"Then let me play with you for a few rounds."
Before he even finished speaking, his fist exploded forward.
The straight punch cut through the air with astonishing speed, aimed directly at Luca’s sternum.
The force behind it was enough to crack ribs.
This wasn’t an ordinary bodyguard.
Unlike his fight against Brobbery McArthur at the club, where his saving grace was that Brobbery was drunk, Luca wasn’t stepping into this battle at a physical disadvantage
He had received professional combat training.
Before obtaining his God-Level Combat Mastery, Luca would’ve been at a serious disadvantage against someone like Chainsaw.
A surprise attack like this could have ended the fight instantly.
But now...
The punch looked painfully slow.
Luca casually leaned backward just enough for the fist to whistle past his chest.
Without giving Chainsaw the chance to recover, he pivoted sharply.
His right leg lashed out like a steel whip.
BANG!
The kick landed squarely against Chainsaw’s ribs.
The impact echoed through the driveway.
Chainsaw’s body flew nearly four meters before crashing onto the stone pavement like a discarded rag doll.
Instinctively, he threw both hands forward to stop himself from smashing headfirst into the steps.
Even so, the tremendous momentum dragged his palms violently across the rough gravel.
His skin tore open instantly.
Bright red blood streaked across the ground.
"T... that’s impossible..."
Dexter’s eyes widened so much the veins around them bulged.
He had never imagined Chainsaw would lose.
Not only lose...
But get completely overwhelmed without landing a single punch.
Chainsaw wasn’t just any bodyguard.
He was his father’s personal enforcer.
A former overseas mercenary personally recruited by Gordon Luiz.
Yet someone of that caliber had been defeated in less than two seconds.
It wasn’t because Chainsaw was weak.
It was because Luca was monstrously strong.
"Cough..."
Chainsaw curled into himself on the gravel, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
He ignored the shredded skin on his hands.
The pain radiating from his chest completely overwhelmed his senses.
Two ribs...
At least two ribs were broken.
If he wasn’t treated immediately...
His career was finished.
Without Chainsaw blocking the way, Luca crossed the remaining distance in two slow steps.
He stopped directly in front of Dexter.
His expression was completely emotionless.
Dexter suddenly felt as though he’d been dropped into a frozen wasteland.
An invisible pressure crushed down on him.
He couldn’t move.
He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t even raise his head.
After several agonizing seconds beneath Luca’s icy gaze, his teeth finally began chattering.
"Luca..."
"Luca..."
"I... I apologize..."
"Please..."
"For the sake of us both being major shareholders of The Luiz Conglomerate..."
"Don’t hit me."
The words tasted like poison.
Never in his entire life had Dexter Luiz begged another man for mercy.
Especially not someone younger than himself.
Luca’s lips curled into a faint smile.
"So..."
"Mr. Luiz."
"Should I take this as you begging me to spare your life?"
Dexter froze.
His nails dug so deeply into his palms that blood almost seeped out.
After several long seconds...
His shoulders slowly collapsed.
His face turned deathly pale.
"...Yes."
Luca remained completely unmoved.
"You do realize..."
"People kneel when they beg for mercy."
"What?!"
Dexter’s eyes snapped open.
Kneel?
Luca wasn’t just humiliating him.
He was crushing every last shred of dignity he had.
How could someone who had been worshipped since birth possibly endure something like this?
His head jerked upward.
His eyes burned with humiliation.
"Luca!"
"Are you really going to push this to the point of no return?"
Luca answered with actions instead of words.
His hand flashed.
SLAP!
The sharp crack echoed throughout the villa entrance.
Even Vivienne, standing inside, heard it clearly.
"AAAH!"
Dexter stumbled backward, clutching his face.
His cheek immediately swelled into an angry shade of purple.
Several teeth loosened from the force of the blow.
Luca stared down at him.
His voice was colder than winter itself.
"So..."
"Will you kneel?"
"Or not?"
Only then did Dexter finally understand.
Luca had never intended to give Gordon Luiz any face whatsoever.
No matter how politely he behaved today...
No matter what he said...
Luca was determined to crush him.
The arrogance in Dexter’s eyes disappeared completely.
Only fear remained.
His legs trembled violently.
"I..."
"I’ll kneel..."
"Please..."
"Don’t hit me again..."
THUMP.
His knees slammed heavily onto the stone ground.
Both hands pressed against the pavement to keep himself from collapsing.
He knelt pitifully at Luca’s feet.
All he could see were Luca’s polished leather shoes.
At that moment...
He wished the ground would split open and swallow him whole.
Just then, Luca casually pushed open the villa door, which had been left slightly ajar.
Vivienne peeked out from behind it, one hand resting against the polished wooden frame.
Her wine-red hair spilled over one shoulder as she smiled gently.
"Darling..."
"Are you still not done out here?"
The familiar voice struck Dexter like lightning.
His head snapped upward.
His pupils shrank violently.
"Vivienne?!"
She...
She was inside Luca Hale’s private villa?
Not only that...
She was looking at Luca with sparkling eyes, her voice gentle, affectionate, and filled with warmth.
For a brief moment, Dexter felt his entire world collapse.
Naomi Monroe had only been a passing obsession.
A beautiful woman he wanted.
But Vivienne Day...
She was different.
She had been the untouchable goddess of his dreams for years.
The woman he had long convinced himself would eventually belong to him.
How...
How could she belong to another man?
And of all people...
Luca Hale.
The very man he now hated more than anyone.
’No...’
’Vivienne is mine.’
’She has to be mine!’
The thought exploded inside his head like a maddened scream.
His expression twisted into something almost unrecognizable as obsession consumed what little reason he had left.