Chapter 397
The music in the ACE club was blasting at full volume, but the luxurious private room was so quiet that everyone could hear their own heartbeat.
Ryan was wearing a black suit and a dark-patterned silk shirt with a wide collar. A silver necklace dipped between his solid chest muscles. He held a glass of red wine, sipping on it leisurely with his long legs crossed.
A drop of bright red blood oozed from the corner of his lips, which he had wiped away with his thumb.
His expression was languid and frivolous, but his charming eyes held a hint of coldness that deterred people from approaching him.”
His gaze was so icy, like a cold abyss.
Ryan’s bodyguards stood in a row in the private room.
Ryan raised his head and drank the red wine in his glass before snapping his fingers.
Then his bodyguards dispersed. A tied-up man kneeled on the ground in front of Ryan. His face was bruised and swollen, and his facial features were distorted.
“Mr. Hoffman… I was wrong… Please have mercy…” Some of the man’s teeth were broken. He leaked saliva and blood when he spoke.
“Tsk, your blood is flowing to the floor.”
Ryan glanced at him with disgust and raised an eyebrow nonchalantly. “Do you know how expensive the carpet in my private room is? You won’t be able to afford it even if I sell your organs on the black market.”
“Mr. Hoffman…”
The man rolled onto his stomach in front of Ryan, but Ryan raised his long legs and kicked him away.
“Mr. Hoffman… I have been with you for many years and have always been loyal to you. This time, I was coerced by Mr. Liam Hoffman! He threatened to kill me. He didn’t ask me to do much, only to report your whereabouts…”
Liam Hoffman was Ryan’s second uncle and his father’s only younger brother.
When Ryan was seven years old, his father died in a plane accident, leaving Ryan and his sister orphaned and his mother widowed. Fortunately, Ryan’s father had transferred all his shares and assets to Ryan’s mother and Ryan early on. Thus, their family fortune was not left at the mercy of others.
Logan Hoffman, Ryan’s grandfather, was in charge of the Hoffman family. Although Ryan was Logan’s eldest grandson, the position of CEO that originally belonged to Ryan’s father fell into the hands of his second uncle.
Ryan had seen through Liam’s intentions. His second uncle, who cried the most at Ryan’s father’s grave, was, in fact, sinister and cunning. On the surface, Liam took care of Ryan’s family, but he was secretly plotting and guarding against Ryan.
All this was something that the weak Mrs. Hoffman and the inexperienced Zoe had no idea about.
As the backbone of the family, Ryan shouldered all the responsibility and pressure. Even his best friend, Justin, was unaware of the hardships Ryan went through.