Jayz's eyes burned red with rage as he roared at Veil, "Just wait till my dad gets here—you're dead!"
Veil shrugged with a lazy smile, "Since your end is near, I won't bother hitting you again. I'll let you enjoy a moment of peace before the storm."
He turned away, clearly done wasting time on Jayz.
This guy was just a cannon fodder character—meant to exist so that fate's chosen ones could act all high and mighty by stepping on him. There was no need to waste energy. The real focus was Jayz's father, Xander. Otherwise, did it really take this much effort to crush someone like Jayz?
"Brother Veil… are you really going to be okay?" Carlin asked worriedly, her brows tightly knit. "Jayz has powerful connections. He's not easy to deal with."
Veil reached out and gently stroked her long hair, which had perfect ponytail potential, a warm and doting look in his eyes. "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen."
Then he turned to Liam and his wife. "Uncle, Auntie, take a moment and estimate how much it'll cost to repair the shop. The real sucker's about to arrive, and he's footing the bill."
Not long after…
At the end of the snack street, a middle-aged man with the air of a street thug stormed onto the scene. He was flanked by over twenty men in black suits, all bodyguards.
The man leading them was none other than Xander.
His entire fortune had been built through violence and grit—he was infamous for being hot-tempered and brutal.
So the moment he heard his only son had been beaten up, he didn't even bother finishing his meeting. He rushed over to assert dominance.
"Dad! It's him! That bastard's the one who hit me!" Jayz pointed directly at Veil, eyes blazing with fury.
Xander, fuming with anger, turned to look at Veil—
And his expression froze.
The moment he recognized the young man standing beside Carlin, a twitch ran across his cheek.
SLAP!
Without a second thought, Xander spun around and smacked his son hard across the face.
"Shut your damn mouth! Are you trying to die?! You actually had the balls to mess with Young Master Lancaster?!" he roared. "Do you have a death wish?!"
Jayz clutched his already swollen face, his stomach sinking as a horrible premonition was confirmed.
He'd felt that something was off about Veil… That he wasn't someone to mess with. But after getting punched in the face, how could he just take it lying down?
So he called his dad.
And now?
Instead of coming to avenge him, Xander gave him a slap in front of everyone. Even an idiot could see that Veil's background was far more terrifying than he'd imagined.
"Young Master Lancaster! I'm so sorry, this is all a misunderstanding—a huge misunderstanding! The boy doesn't know any better! Please, don't take it to heart. Just pretend he's nothing more than a fart and let it go."
Xander had once caught a glimpse of Veil from afar at a private gathering—not someone he had exchanged words with, but enough to know who he was.
This was someone who even Visen Don Weiss treated with the utmost respect.
Who the hell was he to pick a fight with someone like that?
Gulp.
Carlin's mother swallowed nervously, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at Veil.
They already knew Veil had status—but they didn't expect this.
One look from him, and the man who stormed in with twenty-plus bodyguards didn't even dare lift a hand—he bowed and scraped, even after seeing his own son get beaten like a pig.
"How much for the shop? I'll pay!" Xander said quickly, turning to Carlin's parents, practically tripping over himself to be courteous.
A smashed storefront?
Please. He'd seen that trick a thousand times—who else but his own son, who'd learned all of his worst habits, could've done it?
Liam hesitated, mumbling, "About… three…"
Before he could finish, Xander cut in, "Three million? Fine! I'll wire it right away!"
Liam stood there stunned.
He wasn't asking for three million. He meant to say three hundred thousand! He'd just hesitated a bit, thinking maybe he could ask for a bit more—after all, their noodle shop had been running for years and had some reputation. It wouldn't be fair to only count the surface damages.
But before he could even finish his sentence, Xander had already thrown out a number ten times higher?
It wasn't just Liam—Carlin and her mother were both shell-shocked.
In the back, Jayz watched all of this unfold with a twisted expression. He was furious, but he knew—his father wasn't trying to be generous. This was fear.
Pure fear of Veil.
As for dealing with Veil himself?
Forget it. Jayz didn't have the guts. All that hatred he couldn't express now gathered in his heart, slowly turning to venom, and his eyes glinted darkly as he cast a cold glance toward Carlin's family.
"You think paying a little extra money is enough to sweep this under the rug?" Veil said with a playful smile on his face.
Xander chuckled awkwardly, completely deferential. "Young Master Lancaster, kids can be so foolish. He's my only son—please, I beg you to be generous. I'll pay ten times the amount if that's what it takes. Please don't lower yourself to his level."
"Come with me."
Veil turned and walked into the ruined noodle shop. Though wrecked, there were still places one could step.
Xander followed closely behind, eyes full of nervous anticipation.
Veil held up his phone and showed him something on the screen.
The moment Xander saw the image, his eyes went red.
Veil tapped the photo lightly and said with a cold smirk, "Your wife, huh? Gotta say, she's really been taking care of herself… Skin's still so pale and smooth."
Xander's face shifted between shades of green and purple.
No man would feel comfortable seeing photos of his own wife on another man's phone—especially not the kind that showed just enough skin to make it clear what was going on.
And certainly not a man like Xander.
He clenched his fists and tried to swallow the searing fury rising inside him. But no matter how much he suppressed it, his voice inevitably turned cold, trembling with restrained rage—even as he spoke to Veil.
"Master Lancaster... don't you think this is going a little too far?"
Veil smiled faintly. "Xander, I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not that kind of person."
He knew exactly the kind of man Xander was. A businessman who clawed his way up from nothing—he'd had his days of being broke. And men like that often lived by a certain logic: If I can afford a pretty little thing for two thousand bucks, why not go for an older one four times at a fraction of the price?
Frugal to a fault. And some of them, after a while, developed a taste for pickled vegetables.
But Veil wasn't one of them.
With a casual smirk, he continued, "No need to feel embarrassed. I've got tons of this kind of intel. You're not the only one—definitely not the worst, either. I didn't call you over just for some compensation. I figured I'd give you a heads-up. Wouldn't want you dying without ever realizing you've been raising someone else's son."
Xander's eyes narrowed, his expression darkening with suspicion and barely contained fury.
He already found Veil terrifying enough. Just the fact that this young man had photos of his wife in private was shocking. His intelligence network had to be monstrous.
But now Veil was digging into his son?
Wasn't that a step too far?
"Don't believe me?" Veil slid through his phone, photo after photo appearing on the screen. Same woman—Xander's wife. But the men she was with kept changing. Some were young studs. Others were balding middle-aged men with beer bellies.
Xander's expression grew gloomier by the second. All these years, he'd been pouring his energy into his business, barely paying attention to the old hag at home. But he never imagined she'd be playing dirtier than he ever had.
With multiple types, no less?!
He took a deep breath, mind racing with chaotic thoughts. He was definitely going to deal with that woman when he got home. But even then, he hadn't suspected anything about his son. He said quietly, "Thank you, Master Lancaster, for taking time out of your busy schedule to dig out this disgrace. I'll clean house when I get back."
Veil frowned slightly.
Looks like Xander still believed Jayz was his biological son.
Too bad.
That boy was a little snake. After everything that just happened, he definitely wouldn't let Carlin's family go.
Sure, Veil could just take him out now. But the blade was already in Xander's hand. Why not let him use it—and owe Veil a favor in the process?
The kind of favor that could come in handy very soon.
"Seems like you still don't believe me?" Veil said as he tinkered with his phone, voice light.
Xander gave a tight smile. "Come on, Master Lancaster, don't overthink it. Jayz looks just like me—same nose, same eyes. There's no way—"
"Have you ever done a paternity test?" Veil interrupted. "Plenty of people look like you. Doesn't mean they're your son."
He held out the phone again.
This time, the man tangled up with Xander's wife looked eerily similar to Xander. But it definitely wasn't him.
"Son of a bitch! I'll kill him!!!" Xander roared.
He recognized the man instantly—it was his own nephew.
That bastard.
He'd personally promoted him to a senior position in the company, given him everything—power, prestige, influence. And this was how he repaid him?!
If it had been anyone else, Xander might've brushed it off. But this was his nephew. And the resemblance between them was uncanny.
Back in his generation, families were huge. The eldest sibling and the youngest could be twenty years apart. This particular nephew was born to Xander's oldest sister and was only two years younger than him.
If his wife had been hooking up with the guy twenty-something years ago...
There was a real chance Jayz wasn't his.
Veil could see the doubt blooming in Xander's eyes and poured gasoline on the fire. "Xander, you've played around too, right? Got a few mistresses? Think back—how often did you use protection? Do you have any illegitimate children you know of?"
Boom.
Xander's mind went completely blank.
Panic and fear crawled over his spine, cold sweat soaking through his back.
"Don't worry—it's not a disease. It's fixable. But the real problem isn't fixing it—it's preventing it. Preventing the family fortune you worked so hard to build... from falling into the hands of a complete stranger."
Veil sighed and patted Xander's shoulder before walking out.
Xander stood frozen for a long time before finally following. He whipped out his phone and ordered his secretary to transfer five million into Liam's account.
Then he turned and walked toward his son.
Jayz had been waiting, eyes still simmering with resentment. As Xander approached, he muttered, "Dad, who the hell is that guy? You're the one who taught me not to take shit from anyone. We might not be able to deal with him head-on, but at least let me mess with Carlin a little. I need to vent—"
Without a word, Xander reached into one of the guards' arms, pulled out a steel baton, and walked up to Jayz.
Before the boy could say another word—
Crack!
He brought it down, hard.
"Mess with her?! Mess with her?! You little bastard! I'll beat you to death!!!"
Blood spurted on the first strike.
Xander had snapped.
Before, he had believed in Jayz—believed he was his own blood. But now? Now that the veil had been lifted, all he could see was that mouth—so damn similar to his nephew's.
Each strike was harder than the last.
"Stop! Stop! Dad! Please!" Jayz screamed, his head quickly turning into a bloody mess.
Carlin's mother flinched, her shoulders hunched as she murmured under her breath, "He's hitting him that hard... maybe he really isn't his son."