Chapter 558: Howard Thorne Suffers a Great Loss
"Even if you were the Jade Emperor himself, I’d still beat the shit out of you! Hiss... You dare play dirty with me? I’ll beat you to death!"
The moment Howard Thorne spoke, a fiery pain shot across his face. If these six hadn’t ganged up on him and used dirty tricks, there’s no way he would’ve gotten beaten this badly. His handsome face was all swollen.
’Damn it!’
Pained by the damage to his own face, Howard Thorne landed a few more kicks. The six men groaned in agony, finally begging for mercy. Patrick Thorne stopped Jim Thorne, who was about to keep hitting them, and pulled Howard aside to ask who these guys were.
"...The one Jim’s pinning down with his foot, that’s the gambler, the toad lusting after a swan. He tried to mess with Kelley Xavier this morning. I caught him and taught him a lesson, so the bastard called some guys to corner me. Sss..."
The more Howard spoke, the angrier he got. It was the first time he’d ever been on the losing end of a fight this bad. He really wanted to kill this son of a bitch. ’Damn it to hell.’
That morning, he had gone to see Kelley to share some good news. Kelley was home with her stepmother, and so was this toad. Backed by the stepmother, the toad was brazenly trying to take advantage of Kelley, even getting handsy. The stepmother saw it all but said nothing. Kelley didn’t dare make a scene, fearing it would ruin her reputation. The man, knowing this, did as he pleased.
When Howard arrived, the man was reaching out to touch Kelley’s face with a lewd expression. Tears welled up in Kelley’s eyes as she tried to dodge him. Howard saw red. He charged over and gave the guy a thorough beating. ’Motherfucker,’ he thought, ’how dare he mess with my girl? He must have a death wish!’
A degenerate who spent his time drinking, whoring, and gambling was no match for the young and strong Howard Thorne. He was on the ground in just a few moves. If Kelley hadn’t held him back, Howard would have broken the toad’s legs.
Naturally, the man didn’t dare stay at the Xavier family’s home any longer. He scurried off, snarling a threat over his shoulder like a cartoon villain—
"Just you wait!"
Howard paid him no mind. People who said things like that rarely followed through; they usually just disappeared. But he hadn’t expected this toad to actually be a man of his word. He really had gone back, and he’d returned with a few of his scumbag friends.
He had been talking with Kelley outside. Though he was a good fighter, one against six was a losing battle. It wasn’t long before they were all over him. Howard told Kelley to run. He figured they wouldn’t dare kill him, but if Kelley fell into these bastards’ hands, her innocence would be lost.
Kelley was obedient and actually ran, which put Howard’s mind at ease. Still, getting beaten up was no fun at all. It hurt like hell.
"Hiss... Ouch... You dare hit me? I’ll kick you to death!"
Every inch of Howard’s face and body ached. Furious, he landed a few more kicks, especially on the toad pinned under Jim’s foot. He was the bastard who started all this.
This toad’s name was Zane Coleman. He was an employee at the town’s distillery and was related to the factory director. So, even though he was a total slacker, the distillery couldn’t do anything about him. Zane was actually fairly handsome—at least much more so than the director’s brother-in-law. He could even be considered debonair, and with an "iron rice bowl" job, he was quite popular with the young women.
But Zane Coleman was a man of terrible character. It was rumored he had gotten many girls pregnant. These girls could only suffer in silence, forced to marry someone else while swallowing their grievances. Meanwhile, Zane grew more and more audacious. He also picked up a gambling addiction, and now, not even a mountain of gold would be enough to support his habit. His reputation was so widespread that no respectable family would ever marry their daughter to him.
As it happened, Kelley’s stepmother was asking around for a "rotten man," while Zane Coleman’s parents were looking for a capable and strikingly beautiful girl for their son. It was a match made in hell. The two sides hit it off and arranged the marriage. The Coleman family said they needed to pick an auspicious date for the engagement, which, at least, bought Howard some time.