Chapter 799: Preparing for Revenge

“Keep these words firmly in your mind. Don’t forget them!”

Adrian Hawthorne let out a cold sneer. He still needed to keep that worthless Vernon Spann alive. He wanted to make his father hear exactly what kind of venomous snakes he had been raising by his side.

Three thugs were locked in the adjacent room. They confessed everything of their own accord before Adrian even had to ask. He quickly drafted a confession, pricked the thugs’ fingers, and forced them to leave their bloody fingerprints on the document.

“These are your crimes. If you dare disobey me, I’ll hand this straight to the police,” Adrian threatened. “Arson, murder, pillaging, and rape. These charges should be enough to earn you the death penalty, shouldn’t they?”

The thugs jumped in fright. When had they ever committed arson, murder, or pillaging? And they hadn’t even succeeded in raping anyone! That beauty hadn’t lost a single hair on her head. They were the ones who had suffered!

Adrian read the confession aloud. The laundry list of crimes made the three men tremble uncontrollably. They weren’t good people, but they certainly hadn’t committed such heinous, unconscionable acts. They simply didn’t have the guts. Any single one of those charges would be enough to earn them a bullet to the head, yet Adrian had pinned over a dozen major felonies on them. Even nine lives wouldn’t be enough to save them now.

“Boss… we’ll listen to you! We’ll do whatever you want. Please, boss, just let us go!”

The three thugs dropped to their knees in unison, completely submitting. This wasn’t just some bandit village; it was a bona fide outlaw stronghold! Not only did they have a female bandit chief like Phoebe Huxley, but they also had a treacherous strategist like Adrian. They couldn’t win in a fistfight, and they certainly couldn’t outsmart him. What else could they do but surrender?

Adrian tucked the confession away. “As long as you follow my orders, I’ll spare your miserable lives. But if you dare defy me, I’ll hand you over to the police immediately. I hear they’re cracking down hard right now and are short on a few arrest quotas!”

The thugs shivered, not daring to object. Even if Adrian ordered them to eat shit right now, they would obediently do so—and call it a delicacy afterward.

Adrian then sought out Preston Thorne and Jethro Golding.

“You’re going to let them go? Absolutely not. I’m reporting this to the police!” Preston disagreed vehemently. The situation had escalated too far; it had to be reported.

Jethro shared the exact same sentiment.

“Will turning them in get us any compensation?”

That single question silenced the two older men, and their faces darkened. They had searched the culprits earlier; between the three thugs and Vernon Spann, they only had a little over a hundred dollars. They were flat broke. Where would the compensation money come from?

“Leave these four to me,” Adrian said earnestly. “I guarantee I’ll get the compensation money, and I promise they won’t meet a good end.”

He still had use for Vernon and the three thugs. They couldn’t be thrown into a jail cell just yet. Although prison was a place to punish and restrain criminals, sometimes it also served as a protective umbrella for them. Adrian preferred to exact his revenge with his own hands; it would be far more satisfying.

“How much money can you get?” Preston asked.

“Two thousand shouldn’t be a problem.” Adrian smiled faintly. Since Vernon could fork out four thousand dollars to buy his and his mother’s lives, it meant that woman still had some cash on hand.

Preston and Jethro agreed immediately. Two thousand would be more than enough for compensation. Sherman Golding’s family could build a new house and bring in a new daughter-in-law, and Silas Golding’s medical bills would be fully covered.

With Vernon and the three thugs firmly in his grasp, Adrian tracked down Goldie Thorne. “Go tell my dear father to arrange a time for us to meet!”

It was time to settle the score.