Overprotected By My Tsundere CEO

Chapter 475 - 281: Barroom Brawl (Part 3) – Are You Fucking Looking for Death?

Walking off the stage, Nora Scott put on her jacket and took off her sunglasses. After the new singer got the crowd excited, she circled around, planning to re-enter as a customer.

Unexpectedly—

"Haven’t you had enough attention lately?"

With a voice full of resentment, Ethan Scott approached her with a gloomy face.

Scanning Ethan Scott, Nora’s gaze flickered to see six or seven young men looking pretentious coming closer—mostly Ethan Scott’s friends.

Glenn Flynn was not among them.

Nora had seen Ethan Scott and Glenn Flynn during her performance.

Because Glenn Flynn had connections with Matt Leung, Nora planned to refrain from taking action against Ethan Scott at the tavern out of respect for Glenn Flynn. Unexpectedly, she let Ethan Scott off the hook, but he recklessly delivered himself onto her doorstep.

Heh.

Surveying Ethan Scott’s intact limbs up and down, a faint, subtle smile played at Nora’s lips, "Recovering well, huh? Out of the hospital already?"

The masks were off long ago, and encountering him now, there was no need to feign politeness or exchange pleasantries.

Ethan Scott twisted his mouth into a sinister grin, "You scammed me out of three million, living quite luxuriously now, huh."

Nora chuckled lightly, "How polite. It’s probably difficult for Mr. Scott to come up with three million right now, isn’t it?"

"..."

Her words hit him where it hurt, causing Ethan Scott’s expression to turn extremely unpleasant.

Indeed.

Over the past month, the Scott family suffered substantial losses and struggled to keep their business afloat to avoid bankruptcy in the short term. However, the savings of future generations had been depleted and their financial flexibility was no longer what it used to be.

Ethan Scott seemed prosperous now, but he was barely a shell.

"Don’t get cocky!"

After a long pause, Ethan Scott spat out these words angrily.

"At the right time to be proud, you still act cowardly," Nora sneered, "Isn’t it pathetic?"

By then, the seven had gathered around, encircling the two.

Initially wanting to intimidate Nora first and wait for the right moment to strike, Ethan Scott was enraged by her incessant arrogance. Without caring for the occasion, he signaled with his eyes to his friends nearby.

Today, even if it meant ending up in the precinct, he desired vengeance for the disgrace at the Scott family’s birthday banquet!

The people he brought tonight were not idle rich kids; among them were some skilled enforcers—

Nora Scott, just one woman, with apparent physical limitations, wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed from this many attackers!

However—

Without mentioning action, Nora’s eyelids didn’t even twitch.

Under Nora’s calm and composed gaze, Ethan Scott suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his head. Amidst the dull sound of the impact, he heard the sound of a glass bottle shattering.

Then, his collar was yanked forcefully, and he was tossed against the wall with a powerful force, as weak as straw under control.

Feeling dizzy and disoriented, Ethan Scott’s vision went black, and he was entirely powerless.

The next moment, a forearm pressed against his throat, choking his breath. As panic of death surged, he met a pair of sinister, dangerous eyes and a face that seemed to embody a demon from hell.

"Move against her? You damn well want to die, don’t you?"

Word by word, imbued with a dangerous menace, hammering into his ears.

In an instant, a chill climbed up Ethan Scott’s spine, rushing to his scalp. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t say anything; he was trembling uncontrollably.

Only a few seconds.

Out of his peripheral vision, Ethan Scott saw several dark figures dart out, quickly taking down his friends one by one, leaving Nora standing unharmed in the center of the crowd.

Ethan Scott stared wide-eyed.

Yet, what met him was only the force around his throat tightening further.

A metallic taste rose in his throat.

Death loomed large once more, sweeping over him, Ethan Scott desperately opened his eyes, watching the man in front of him like a King Yan, struggling to beg for mercy.

"Humphrey! Humphrey! Don’t be impulsive, it’s not suitable to spill blood in the tavern."

Suddenly, a young man rushed forward, grabbed the man’s hand, and spoke soothingly.

Just when Ethan Scott felt his consciousness fading, abruptly, the grip on his throat loosened, fresh air flooded into his lungs. Escaping death, he cared for nothing else but to cough while clutching his throat, taking deep breaths to relieve the pain and weakness in his lungs.

As if reclaiming life steadily being stripped away.

The entire sequence of actions lasted no more than half a minute, but this chaotic scene clearly attracted the attention of quite a few patrons.

"Sorry, there was some trouble in the tavern, but everything is fine now." Saving Ethan Scott’s life, Benjamin Durant turned around again, greeting the patrons who had stood up, "Apologies for the interruption, all drinks are on the house tonight."

You take a handout to save face and your words hold less weight.

Such lavish generosity immediately prompted those who were prepared to take pictures or record videos to voluntarily stow their phones away.

—What’s there to film, is the drink worthless or is the folk music unremarkable?

"You, you—"

Recovering his breath, Ethan Scott was wracked with pain in his neck and the back of his head. Hesitantly, he raised his hand, glared, and accused the two people before him.

Unexpectedly, the friendly and open demeanor Benjamin Durant had with the customers instantly turned icy cold when his gaze fell on Ethan.

"Call the police." Benjamin Durant said icily, addressing a waiter who had arrived upon hearing the commotion, "Report there was trouble in the tavern."

"Yes."

The waiter hastily nodded, picked up his phone, and hurried away.

Ethan: "..." Turning the tables?!

"Humphrey." Glancing at the shocked face of Ethan, Benjamin’s eyebrows moved slightly. He signaled to the still angry Humphrey with a nod towards the camera’s blind spot, hinting, "Over there."

Humphrey understood.

Ethan also understood.

Humphrey raised his fist and slowly approached Ethan.

"You—" Ethan was overly panicked and instinctively backed against the wall, blurting out weak threats like a spoiled brat, "Do you know who I am?"

Humphrey gave him a chilly once-over, pulling a cold smirk.

Ethan felt a chill spread across his body.

Then—

He was grabbed by the collar and dragged away from the crowd, pulled into the camera’s blind spot.

"Do I give a damn who you are?!"

With eyes fierce as a bloodthirsty beast, accompanied by arrogant swagger, Ethan’s abdomen was struck hard.

Ethan was in so much pain he lost his voice, unable to even scream.

As waves of intense pain swept over, in a daze, Ethan seemed to catch a glimpse of Nora.

"Leave him breathing."

Nora’s voice was cool, retaining that lazy tune.

In that casual tone, as if Ethan’s life was as worthless as grass.

This indifference and disdain made Ethan shiver suddenly, feeling fear creeping from all sides, overwhelming every nerve and vein.

...

Ethan’s sudden provocation undoubtedly ended the gathering between Nora, Marcus, Humphrey, and Benjamin.

The police were called.

The surveillance didn’t catch Nora’s face clearly, so Nora could leave with Marcus first.

Ethan’s attempt to provoke was a solid fact, and afterwards, it could all be classified as "self-defense," while Humphrey’s experienced and calculated strikes would leave Ethan in severe pain, but the hospital check would show no "serious injuries."

Thus, Nora only gave some simple instructions to Humphrey and Benjamin, leaving everything to them.

——After all, handling this is second nature to them; it’s just a change of location.

Turning back, Nora wanted to find Marcus, but Marcus was already waiting for her.

Marcus looked slightly complex.

"Let’s go."

Raising an eyebrow at him, Nora turned and walked out.

Marcus hesitated for a moment, followed her, and asked suspiciously, "Is everything okay?"

Nora replied calmly, "They’ll handle it."

"..."

Marcus was silent for a moment.

Upon leaving the tavern, the evening breeze blew over Marcus, waking him up significantly before he asked quite speechlessly, "How are they so skilled?"

Too skilled indeed.

Facing situations, they remain unfazed, calming the customers first;

Avoiding cameras and crowds, "acting" in the blind spot;

Striking hard but avoiding fatal areas—except for the initial hit with the bottle;

...

These two, arrogant and composed, work seamlessly, clearly used to handling such matters.

If they had no experience at all, Marcus would never believe it.

"Because the people they encounter are generally asking for trouble." Nora paced to the parking spot, calmly saying, "If they don’t want to suffer losses, they need to take the upper hand with their fists and actions. Doing it often, naturally, they’ll become proficient."

Ethan was really unlucky this time.

If Nora met him somewhere else, she might personally deal with him, only causing him to stay a week or two in the hospital.

But unexpectedly, he ran into Benjamin and Humphrey on their turf—

With Humphrey’s methods, lying in bed for a month would be considered light.

Sirens wailed "woo–woo–" in the background.

Nora opened the car door, bent down, and sat in the driver’s seat.

Marcus paused, suddenly looked up, glanced back at the "Longplains Tavern" sign, hesitated, then turned his gaze back.

*

Sitting in the car.

Marcus’s phone suddenly vibrated.

[Cleveland]: @everyone, the monthly test scores are out.