Chapter 364 - Ruthless Deterrence
Pierre deliberately chose not to reveal Stanley"s name, but not because the Wallaces wanted to protect him.
Rather, they actually had the chance to shoot Stanley dead right on the spot last night, but due to their hesitation, they had let Stanley take advantage of the opportunity to escape.
If Wallaces gave the Kingstons an honest confession of what had actually happened last night, the Kingstons would definitely put the blame on them and hold them responsible. So after a discussion among all the core members of the family, they reached a consensus to hide what had happened yesterday from the Kingstons and just say that the murderer had already escaped by the time they arrived.
Marc glanced at Pierre and warned with a sinister expression, "I said, I want to hear the truth! Don"t make me repeat myself!"
Pierre suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and large sweat droplets trickled down his wrinkled face.
Could Marc Kingston already know something? Various thoughts flashed through Pierre"s mind as he quickly tried to think of what to say.
But Marc"s patience was wearing thin. He pulled out a Beretta 92FS pistol and started fiddling with it.
Seeing that the situation was turning awry, Pierre could no longer worry about anything else. He hurriedly said, "Mr. Kingston, actually, last night…"
Bang!
The loud and sudden gunshot startled everyone.
Before Pierre could finish his sentence, his expression stiffened and would remain that way forever. A b.l.o.o.d.y hole had appeared in his forehead, and blood was still gus.h.i.+ng out of it. Immediately afterward, his old and frail body weakened completely and collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud.
This scene made everyone in the guest hall fall silent, and only the sounds of their hearts pounding rapidly and the gulping of saliva could be heard.
None of them had expected that Marc would be so brutal as to shoot Pierre dead right on the spot!
Although they had heard a little about Marc"s temper and character, it was their first time witnessing his violence in person. And to make matters worse, the person he killed was the head of the Wallace family, who held the highest authority.
Since Marc didn"t even hesitate to kill the family head, the rest of them were obviously insignificant to him!
"This is what happens to those who try to lie to me."
Marc fiddled with the pistol in his hand and glanced coldly at the Wallaces without even looking at Pierre"s corpse on the ground. He said in a relaxed tone, "Now, I want to know the truth about what happened last night. The first person to speak up will be the next helmsman of the Wallace family."
Marc now held absolute power over their lives. Since Pierre was dead, the position of family head was vacated. Although Marc was an outsider, he did have enough power to decide who succeeded it.
Simply put, anyone who refused to comply would die!
After a brief silence, the direct descendants of the Wallaces vied to speak up. "I know. I"ll tell you!"
"I"ll speak up!"
"I"ll go first!"
...
They all began scrambling to be the first to speak.
With a contemptuous smile on his face, Marc pointed his finger at the first person who spoke. "Okay, you will be the one."
The person Marc pointed at was none other than Darren, Pierre"s son.
Darren shot a triumphant glance at his brother, Bryant, who turned as deathly pale, before quickly saying, "Henry"s apprentice went to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lucas Gray yesterday, but he ended up getting killed, and his corpse was dumped in front of our place. Henry was so furious that he sent more than ten people to hunt Lucas Gray down. Last night, we waited for the news together, but there was suddenly a loud, explosive sound outside the villa. We quickly rushed out and discovered that a man had come for Henry…"
Darren then gave a detailed recount of what had happened inside and outside Henry"s villa, including the conversation he had with Stanley, how things got physical, and how Stanley killed Henry with a single move. He also included the fact that they sent their gunmen to deal with Stanley.
Sitting comfortably on the chair, Marc listened quietly to Darren"s explanation.
While Darren was feeling extremely anxious, Marc said leisurely, "That is to say, if you didn"t hesitate at that moment, you wouldn"t have missed the great opportunity to kill the murderer named Stanley Ray, and there was no chance he could have gotten away unscathed. But you guys were afraid of getting punished by me for this, so you made up a random excuse to deceive me by saying that you didn"t see who the murderer was. Is that so?"
Darren broke out in a cold sweat immediately. He hurriedly lowered his head and apologized, "That… that was my father"s decision. We all felt that it would be inappropriate to do that, but we couldn"t convince my father. After all, he"s the head of the family! Please rest a.s.sured. None of the Wallaces had the intention of trying to deceive you!"
He put all the blame on Pierre because he was already dead anyway, and there was no way he could refute it.
Marc snorted coldly but surprisingly didn"t continue to probe further. "I"ll forget it this time. But if I ever find out that you have the audacity to deceive me again in the future, your fate will be the same as this person on the ground in front of you!"
Then he kicked Pierre"s corpse without the slightest respect.
All the Wallaces watched Marc disrespect Pierre"s corpse, but none of them, including Pierre"s sons, dared to say a word.
If they said something wrong and ended up provoking Marc, they might end up dying too. None of them wanted to be shot by Marc"s pistol.
Anyway, Pierre was already dead. They used his death as comfort for themselves.
Darren nodded profusely and exclaimed, "Yes! I promise that the Wallaces will never dare to deceive you again in the future!"
Only then did Marc nod in satisfaction, but he soon frowned again. "Stanley Ray? Why do I find this name somewhat familiar?"
The young man who had been standing quietly behind Marc and resembled a bodyguard said, "Mr. Kingston, Stanley is a top expert who used to work for the Brookes in LA. He"s very skilled in combat, and a.s.sa.s.sination is his forte. Back then, the Kingstons once tried to recruit him, but he turned us down."
Marc immediately narrowed his eyes. "How dare he turn down our offer… Hah!"
He sneered and ordered, "Immediately investigate all the information about him and report to me. Make sure to find out every single detail!"
"Yes, Mr. Kingston!" The young man immediately acknowledged.
Marc stood up, and all the Wallaces immediately bent forward a little to bow to him respectfully.
After taking a glance at them, Marc pointed at Darren and declared, "From today onward, you are the head of the Wallace family. You have my permission to kill anyone who disobeys you."
Darren was overjoyed, and he immediately thanked him, "Thank you so much, Mr. Kingston!"
With Marc"s declaration, he was now the rightful helmsman of the Wallace family, and no one would dare to question his eligibility for the position!
This included Bryant, whom Pierre had originally set to be the successor of the family. He could no longer make any comments!
Marc glanced at the Wallaces and instructed, "This matter will come to an end here. None of you are to deal with Lucas Gray again. Do you hear me?"