I Am the Ruler of All

Chapter 97

"Heavens!"

"Noah, are you okay?"

The guests all rose to their feet to check on Noah when they saw the blood seeping through his fingers.

At once, Emory slammed a fist against the table as he snapped at Kingsley, "What the hell? Who gave you the right to beat one of us up? Don't you know we're all trained in close-quarters combat?!"

He rolled up his sleeves and made to lunge at Kingsley, but at that moment, Serena stood up angrily to shield the latter, then warned murderously, "You'll have to go through me, Emory." She eyed the others icily. "Come on, then, let's see which ones of you will walk out of here alive after I'm done!"

The Two Muses of the dōjō were not just known for their stunning beauty back in the day; they were also the two strongest martial artists among everyone. While Emory was by no means weak, it had been years since he last practiced martial arts, and on top of the fact that his joints were stiff, he had more body fat than muscle.

As things were, he wasn't sure if he could beat Serena in a fight.

Upon sensing his hesitation, Serena challenged in a sing-song voice, "Is somebody chicken?"

The others in their well-pressed suits and their so-called successful careers started to wince in embarrassment when they heard the taunting edge to her tone.

Just as the tension between both parties was escalating, the door to the private dining room was

pushed open, and in strolled a woman clad in a pink dress that perfectly accentuated her curves, her stiletto heels clacking against the floor to announce her arrival.

"The other Muse is here!"

"Well, if it isn't the princess herself! Let's give her a warm round of applause!"

Everyone behaved as though they were looking at their savior as they clapped their hands to welcome the woman.

It was only then that Emory let out a small breath of relief and slowly resumed his seat. He would be lying if he said he hadn't broken into cold sweat when he saw the mutinous gleam in Serena's eyes earlier.

"Rena!" The young woman who had just arrived immediately brightened up when she saw Serena. She hurried up to the table and exclaimed in delight, "I haven't seen you in ages! I've missed you!"

Following this, she was pleasantly surprised to see Kingsley present as well. "Hey, I know you! What are you doing here?"

Kingsley chuckled as he greeted, "Hey, there, Miss Tanner." The young woman in pink was none other than Paige herself. He patted the empty seat next to his and said, "You can sit here with us, Miss Tanner."

Confused, Paige sat down on the chair and asked curiously, "So, what are you doing here? Did you come as somebody's plus-one?" She paused as astonishment colored her face. "Wait, are you here

with Rena?"

Kingsley nodded. "Yeah, she's my sister." Then, he leaned close to her and whispered teasingly, "And for the record, you look much better in this pink dress than you do in leather."

Paige flushed as she gave him a playful nudge. "Don't be a rascal. I know I look good in both," she said with twinkling eyes.

She had seen Kingsley in a different light ever since she learned that her grandfather had passed the Order of the Northern Draken to him.

Everyone was stunned by the sight of this. They had always viewed Paige as a princess-like figure who sat on an untouchable throne, and the only other person she had ever been so friendly with was Serena.

Emory, in particular, was in such disbelief that he could combust. The only reason he had agreed to take on the spy mission and come all the way to Cleapolis from the Empire of the Setting Sun was because of Paige!

Back in the day, he could never hope to impress a girl like her, who came from the powerful Tanner Family. He could only secretly pine after her, and he had plans to woo her only after he had made something of himself.

However, right now, she was getting all chummy with Kingsley, and seeing this made Emory so angry that he could explode. The intimacy between them was only something he could dream of; he never even got to touch her hand!

Nancy was bewildered, too. "Paige, do you actually know him?"

In stark contrast to the way she behaved around Serena, Nancy knew it was futile to be jealous of Paige. After all, the girl came from the most prominent family of the Northern Circle of Qustia; the power and respect they had was far superior than those of the Jovovich Family.

Presently, Paige shrugged as she said, "I guess you could say I know him. I mean, he did sleep in my room for a night."

Nancy's words died in her throat as her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and everyone else froze in their seats. For a moment, the whole dining room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, and the silence was punctured when Emory sputtered incredulously as anger filled him, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

"W-What?" Nancy was astounded. "But isn't he Serena's boyfriend? Why would he have slept in your room?" Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

Noah clambered off the floor with blood staining his chin, then spat out ferociously, "What boyfriend? He's her brother from the orphanage!"

Everyone became even more confused after they heard this. No one could have expected an orphan to win over someone like the young lady of the Tanner Family. The idea of this even happening was unfathomable!

Next to Nancy, all the color drained from Tyler's face. The haughty expression that he had been wearing all this time now crumbled and gave way to unbridled shock. He wanted to slap himself in the face for offering the future son-in-law of the Tanner Family security work at Spearhead Group. I could

have died!

Meanwhile, Kingsley caught the embarrassed look onTyler's face and drawled in amusement, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Jovovich. There's nothing special going on between me and Miss Tanner over here; I was merely a guest in her home that night."

This set everyone at ease.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought the world went mad! I mean, an orphan and Miss Tanner getting together? Please!"

"My heart stopped beating for a second there. I actually believed he married into the Tanner Family!"

They patted their chests in relief, but only Tyler looked stormy. That was beyond humiliating! I was so scared of offending this nobody that I'm shaking! Granted, nobody was picking on him for that, but he still wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him.

Unable to live down the shame, he stood up and announced grimly, "I'm afraid I have to get going now. Excuse me."

Nancy was flustered as well as she clutched Tyler's arm and whispered, "Where are you going? What about me?"

"I'll have Ernie pick you up later." He forced out a smile as he said to the others, "The meal's on me today, so order anything you want and put it on my tab."

It was only then that Nancy perked up slightly. "Well, in that case, we won't hold you back. Be safe."

Tyler made no response to this as he went to open the door. He was just about to leave when he stopped and turned, then glared at Kingsley balefully, hissing, "I'll remember this day, you punk. Don't get on my nerves if you know what's good for you!"

With that, he left and slammed the door behind him.

The others in the room shifted uncomfortably at the tension that hung in the air until someone finally chuckled and said awkwardly, "Nancy, do thank Mr. Jovovich for being so generous today."

"Yeah, it's so gracious of him to buy us a meal."

There were over twenty of them gathered here at the Bayou today, and it would be a surprise if the bill was below twenty thousand.

As such, the guests began to praise Tyler for his generous gesture, which boosted Nancy's ego to no end as she beamed and said, "Well, of course, my Tyler wants only the best for me, including having a good time with my friends." Having said that, she shot Serena a pointed look. "It's only too bad that Serena's kid brother pissed him off, otherwise he would have brought us over to Chanteuse International for a karaoke blast."

Chanteuse International? What?! That's the most exclusive karaoke bar in the city!

Everyone turned to look at Kingsley and Serena resentfully.

"See what you did, Serena? You completely ruined our chance of living the high life!"

"Exactly! You need at least half a million in deposit just to get a room there. We won't be able to get in without Mr. Jovovich footing the bill!"

Everyone was ganging up on the siblings like they wanted to flog them alive.

Serena and Paige merely responded to their hostility with grim, deadly looks. Both women were about to speak up for Kingsley when they heard the thuds of someone knocking on the door.

The crowd lashed out angrily, "Who the hell is that? We haven't ordered anything, have we?!"

The next second, the door to the dining room opened slowly, and Frank from the boutique earlier stood there with three good-looking male assistants in tow. "Pardon the intrusion, ladies and gentlemen. We're here to make a delivery," he announced respectfully.