Chapter 111: Race Track!
[11 Pm.]
Owen, Katherine, and her mother stood at the entrance, watching as the luxury black Cadillac Escalade drove right out of the estate, its headlights cutting through the dark street as it merged into the midnight traffic.
"Did I say something wrong? I simply asked him to hand over the first wife position to you."
"Come on, Mom?! Why do you have to be so dense at times?!" Katherine sighed, rubbing her temples before walking back inside:
"I am going to get Dad, we are leaving." She added, her heels clicking against the polished marble floor.
"Huh? Why is she angry?"
"I think we should leave the kids alone, they should follow their dreams," Owen said with a small, calculated smile, watching the tail lights fade into the distance.
"Their dreams? So instead of stopping your son, you gave him the freedom?" She asked, turning her sharp purple eyes to Owen.
"What can I say, I am not someone who holds others back. I always give them the stage to act." He said, turning on his heel to walk inside.
"You don’t give them the stage, you placed them on the stage... Always remember this: No matter how talented a Chess Master is, once the King is taken down, everything falls apart." She said, raising her head to gaze at the starry sky above.
Owen paused mid-step and looked at her over his shoulder, his cold eyes narrowing: "Then I will simply sacrifice my pawns to protect the King." He said, his voice dripping with ruthless patriarchal authority.
"Not when your Opponent has already upgraded pawns into Queens... With Three Queens, a King is close to invincible," she said, looking over her shoulder at him, a faint, cryptic smile playing on her lips.
Owen grimaced, the heavy weight of her metaphor settling in his chest: "Then I will take down the Queens, then deal with the King."
"Oh, so bold of you... Just be careful, don’t lead your King into the demon den, or you will regret that decision all your life."
She turned fully toward him and walked inside, stopping by his right shoulder:
"Always remember, Owen, there are always traps in every corner of life... I don’t know how you plan to escape three Queens and get to the King, but you should get this warning into your head; the King isn’t a cripple or weak, he won’t stay put to be killed... Although the Queens are strong, without the King holding the castle, they are useless..." She started walking inside, her footsteps silent, and added:
"Remember, the King is what you should be worried about, not the Queens... They strike to protect, while the King strikes to win. Always remember that."
Owen stood on his grand porch, completely speechless, with her chilling words echoing inside his head. Was he taking the right path? Will he regret all this in the future? Should he have stopped his son Aaron from pursuing his suicidal revenge?
Countless chaotic questions ran through his mind, leaving him at an absolute loss for a moment until—
"Follow them!! Today, I will teach that bastard a lesson!"
"....?!"
Owen turned around, seeing Grayson storming down the driveway and getting into his modified, armored vehicle, which roared to life and drove out of the estate with four other heavy convoy cars following close behind.
"I will sacrifice my pawns, but the Opponent has three Queens, while I only have one... One mistake, and I lose the game..." He murmured to himself, turning around and walking back inside:
’Let the pawns taste the waters first; whatever happens next will determine my next move.’
___
[In The Car.]
"I can’t believe that woman wanted to throw her daughter at you! What a bitch!" Juliana snapped, her cheeks flushed with lingering anger as she spun in her seat to glare directly at Asher:
"Get this straight: we three are enough for you!! We can fulfill any wish and desire you want!! Take note of this: I don’t want to see a fourth woman anywhere close by!" She said seriously, her posture radiating absolute jealousy. Meanwhile, Asher quickly nodded his head like a panicked lizard, his hands gripped tight on the steering wheel and his eyes glued to the road ahead.
"Hmph! I only share my things with my sisters, any other woman should get lost," she added, huffing as she leaned back in her leather seat with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Asher let out a quiet sigh and glanced over his shoulder at Sara, who was busy gently caressing the sleeping Kelly’s hair in the back seat. Sensing his gaze, Sara looked up into the mirror, her cool eyes meeting his, before she suddenly gave him a small, reassuring smile.
Asher couldn’t help but smile back. They had entered a literal den of political wolves tonight and come back completely unscratched. Even Eren and Gavin had quickly scurried out of the hall before he could even look for them—perhaps they realized they were on the wrong track.
Suddenly, Asher froze.
A dense, suffocating wave of pure killing intent targeted their vehicle from an extreme distance. In the split second before impact, he yanked the heavy steering wheel hard to the right, forcing the massive Escalade to drift sideways across the lane just as a high-caliber armor-piercing sniper bullet whistled through the air right where their windshield had been.
The bullet smashed directly into the sedan driving ahead of them, instantly bursting the head of the driver inside in a gruesome explosion of blood.
SCREECH!!
The civilian car lost control instantly, spinning out across the asphalt. Asher remained impeccably calm, as he effortlessly navigated past the wreck and drove straight onto the sweeping suspension bridge.
He glanced into his side mirror, spotting five heavily armored cars surging down the highway toward them. Leading the pack was a massive armored Jeep, and standing on its reinforced roof was an assassin holding a massive anti-material sniper rifle.
Asher narrowed his eyes, catching sight of Grayson sitting in the driver’s seat of the trailing convoy, his scarred face twisted in absolute, bloodthirsty rage.
"Oh, he actually came after us... What a stupid man." Asher’s tone instantly got dead serious as he glanced at his wives through the mirror:
"Seatbelts."
The two women quickly nodded their heads, fastening their seatbelts without a single second of hesitation. They watched as Asher took a deep, controlled breath and slowly exhaled.
{Utility Skill: Driving Mastery - Activated.}
"Let me take them on a spin."
He slammed his foot flat onto the accelerator. The heavy Cadillac roared like a caged, raging dragon and shot forward down the bridge with terrifying speed, leaving both their pursuers and the civilian drivers stunned in absolute shock.