Love's Change of Heart

After receiving 300 thousand from Aidan, Jethro indulged in all the luxuries of life. He got himself all spiffed up and strutted about proudly as his self-esteem soared thanks to all the flattery he received.

It was right around this time that he heard about a business opportunity.

300 thousand was a pittance compared to Jethro's greed, so once he heard about the possibility of making millions from it, he immediately handed all his money over. He still needed a few dozen grand, so he decided to get in touch with some loan sharks and offered to partner with them.

Clearly, this was a trap. Once the others managed to squeeze every last drop of cash out of him, the loan sharks came knocking on his door again.

Jethro caught wind of it and went into hiding once more. Somehow, the loan sharks found out about Louis working at a convenience store, so they came looking for him instead.

There was no way that Louis would give them any money, so they became physical.

After hearing everything, Leanna could feel the veins along her forehead throbbing violently. She did have a feeling that something bad would happen…

He frowned at her silence. "You don't need to bother with this. His matters have nothing to do with us."

"That's not true, boy. Isn't it a given to repay a debt? How can you say you're not going to bother with this?"

A man called out from behind them, and Leanna's grip tightened around Louis' arm as she turned around to look at him.

This man was the same one that stormed into their house three years ago and forced her to make a decision while clutching Louis' arm.

Louis recognized him too. The air around him seemed to freeze as he tried to rush at the man, but Leanna held him back.

Ron Sedley gave Leanna a sly grin. "What a coincidence. I never thought I'd see you again."

Her lips thinned into a straight line without responding.

Louis shoved Leanna behind him. There was a menacing expression on his handsome face as he said, "Go and look for Jethro if you want your money back."

"Oh? Look who it is that got his panties in a wad. So, you're Jethro's son, huh? You've grown so much taller after three years." Ron turned to the bunch of hooligans behind him and said, "Guys, take a look. That's a state-level top scorer over there! You should get some of his good luck."

The bunch of hooligans howled with laughter.

The noise caught the attention of the police officer, who walked over and commanded, "Stop your ruckus, all of you! Where do you think you are?!"

Ron waved his hand and asked his men to quieten down before saying, "Relax, officer. We're just congratulating the top scorer in the entire state over here."

After so many years of running a loansharking business, all the police stations in the area had a standing record of him. The police officer eyed him and warned, "Don't get coy with me. Get to the point."

"Sure thing, officer. It's a private matter, so we'll settle it ourselves. We won't be needing your help."

However, Leanna spoke up. "I want to press charges."

When everyone turned to look at her, she repeated, "I want to press charges against those men who laid a hand on my brother."

Ron's expression hardened. He was about to speak when she added, "You want money, right? I can give it to you, but I won't just let you get away with hitting him."

He broke out into a smile at once. "That's reasonable."

The bunch of hooligans spent all their time in and out of fights anyway, so spending a few nights at the detention center was nothing to them.

"When are you going to give me the money?" Ron asked.

"Three days. I need time to gather enough money."

"Sure. I like how cooperative you are. It's a deal."

Louis grabbed Leanna. "You can't give him the money!"

She muttered in reply, "Louis, stay out of this."

Ron glanced at Louis and snorted. "Little boy, your sister is a lot more decisive than you are. If I were you, I would've rather have my hand broken than to let her—"

Bang!

Louis' fist crashed right into Ron's face.

All of Ron's men stood up at once, but Ron waved them down. He massaged his face and said, "Fellows, no need to get so worked up. This little top scorer over here is just a coward who hides behind his sister's back. It's no biggie to let him vent a little."

Leanna grabbed Louis once more and said calmly, "Let's go, Louis."

Louis was starting school next week, so she did not want things to blow out of proportion.

After leaving the police station, he was sullen and did not speak.

She flagged a taxi down and asked the driver to head for the nearest hospital. After that, she said to Louis, "We need to get your injuries checked, and take an x-ray too, to see if you're hurt anywhere else."

He stared out the window for quite some time before asking, "Are you really going to give them the money?"

Leanna snorted. "Do you think I'm that dumb? I'm not a doormat. In any case, where would I get all that money?"

There was no way they were going to be able to get away tonight if she did not agree to give them the money.

Louis unclenched his fists. "What are we going to do now?"

He was not worried about himself, but since those men could find out where he worked, sooner or later, they would know where she was staying too.

"First, we need to find Jethro."

"He has obviously gone into hiding. How can we find him?"

After so many years of dodging debt collectors, Jethro had become quite the expert at staying in hiding. As long as he holed himself up somewhere, there was no way of finding him, not unless he showed up on his own accord.

"I'll find a way," Leanna said softly.

"But—"