Chapter 596: Dragged.
Zayn was talking with the guests of his at the gathering. Although his eyes were focused on the guests, he had been observing his other siblings and their guests from the corner of his eyes. It was so subtle that nobody noticed it.
Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking silenced the hall, but then gasps and murmurs followed after. Zayn thought it was Anastasha that made another scene, but when he checked, he was surprised to see a guest, his guest, unconscious on the carpet with the shattered glass of wine beside him. What surprised him wasn’t the guest, but the three women in front of him.
"Those are... Count Blackheart’s wives," a young man that was talking with Zayn immediately pointed out. "And that man in is..." He held himself back from saying the name since Zayn’s gaze had turned cold, already knowing the man’s identity.
The moment Zayn made his presence known and his step heard, all eyes turned from the scene to him. Everyone moved aside, showing how much power and authority he had in the room. Most of the guests believed that the position for the next patriarch would land to his hand, but they couldn’t address it because that would be disrespectful to the other candidates, and being disrespectful to the other candidates would also count as disrespecting the Asghar family itself.
"What happened here?" Zayn asked, but his gaze fixated on the old man on the floor with a bruise and swollen cheek.
Nobody dared to speak when they didn’t know the whole truth, not toward the Asghar family. However, the silence had gone far too long, a few seconds that felt like an eternity to them.
"Young Master, Lord Tarek was being disrespectful toward Mrs. Blackheart. He touched her inappropriately," an old woman answered with her head lowered and pointed her hand at Rullein.
"He was?" Zayn glanced at the old woman, realizing she was one of the figures that supported Zeke to become the successor.
Zayn thought it was a scheme that his other brothers had done to weaken his position. Seeing hundreds of guests around, it was a perfect time to embarrass him by showing the people who supported him were immoral. On the other hand, he could see the disgust in Rullein’s eyes, proving her innocence.
"Lady Orman, I believe your words since I know your reputation," Zayn said as he stared at Rullein.
"I wish I didn’t see it with my own two eyes, Young Master," Lady Orman said, still with her head lowered. "I believe a few guests also saw it happened."
Zayn stared down at Lord Tarek with a cold gaze, and it was enough for everyone to imagine what kind of hell that Tarek would face once he regained consciousness. However, Zayn knew something was off about all this even though he knew Tarek was known for his lust for women with voluptuous bodies. He knew Tarek wouldn’t be that reckless in this kind of situation, and he knew how professional Tarek was, which was why he wanted him to be one of his supporters.
"(Who was smart enough to make him fall for his lust?)" Zayn glanced at the guards, signaling them to take Tarek away from the hall. "(Zeke? He’s not someone who dare to do something like this. I couldn’t agree more with Ana about him being too passive. Was it Zoran? But He’s not someone who would dare to confront me like this. The other two? No, they wouldn’t even dare to even raise their heads in front of me)" He narrowed his eyes slightly, finding this situation odd to be an accident. He believed someone had fabricated this.
Zayn then glanced at Anastasha and Rasmus, wondering if it was truly Anastasha’s doing. When he saw the way Rasmus stared at him, his brain almost forced him to look away, something that only happened when his father stared at him. He took a deep breath and slowly turned around and lowered his head toward his father, knowing that he should apologize since he was the one who invited Tarek.
"Patriarch, I apologize for the commotion that my guest had caused. I have no excuse," Zayn’s expression was still impassive, but the way he lowered his head, it was obvious that he was anxious.
Zechariah didn’t say a word, react, or even move a muscle, he stared down at Zayn without any possibility to interpret behind the stare. Nobody knew what to do, they were too scared to open their mouths and pretend that nothing had happened.
"Dear brother, you need to remember where we are. Those who had made a scene in this place, they all ended up with the same fate, death. I believe it’s the only way for him to pay for what he did, it’s the unwritten law here," Anastasha broke the silence, and she purposely hid the lower face with the folding fan, but anyone could tell she was smiling beneath the fan.
Zayn kept his head lowered while facing Zechariah, but hearing Anastasha’s words, his suspicion toward her increased. However, he didn’t know how she pulled something like this, not when he had been keeping an eye on her and never saw her anywhere near Tarek.
"And you should know, that’s Count Blackheart’s wife, and since it was your guest who did something inappropriate, aren’t you supposed to apologize to him and his wife first?" Anastasha smiled with her eyes.
Zayn blinked his eyes longer than it should, and then he stood tall before he turned to look Rasmus in the eye. There was no slight reaction from his jaw, not tense in his fists, he was like a solid wall, just like his father. He knew that Anastasha was right, and it wasn’t a secret anymore, he had seen a few heads rolled on the ground since he was a child in this exact place.
"You haven’t shown any sign of respect toward the patriarch who allowed you to stand here in this hall. Without respect, you have no right to receive an apology," Zayn said in a calm voice. "But I will apologize to your wife," he said as he turned around and looked at Rullein.
Everyone looked at Rasmus to see his reaction, but they didn’t see any, but it was different from Zechariah. Rasmus’s expression was impassive, but there was no coldness, no resentment, nothing.
"Mrs. Blackheart, I apologize for what my guest had done to you. If there’s anything that you wish to say, please tell me and I’ll do what I can to make you feel better," Zayn said, but he didn’t lower his head which made his apology look insincere.
"I want that man to die, Young Master," Rullein answered without hesitation and stared into Zayn’s eyes. "You have two choices, Young Master. Kill him... or I’ll ask my husband to collect his head for me," she said with a cold gaze, a pure irritation and anger toward Zayn that had just disrespected Rasmus in front of the people.
Zayn slowly glanced at Rasmus from the corner of his eyes, and that was when he saw a faint smile painted on Rasmus’ face. His expression turned cold, realizing that he had just fallen into a trap, or to be exact, he was dragged into the trap by these people.
"I’ll bring his head," Zayn nodded with understanding and walked past Rullein, paying his price for his own words.
