Chapter 4: Do You Even Have a Conscience?

Words : 1864 Updated : Oct 17th, 2025

"You're the ones making my dad sicker. The doctor told him to rest, but you crowd around every day, talking his ear off." Nala Jameson knew these aunts and uncles had come to complain about her, so she didn't bother being polite. She brushed past them and went straight to the bed, placing the letter and jade pendant that Otto Nicholson had brought into her father Reid Jameson's hands. As soon as Reid saw the pendant, his clouded eyes cleared. He gathered his strength, sat up straight, read the letter from start to finish, then looked over at Otto standing in the doorway and sized him up. "You look just like your father-uncannily so. You're the spitting image of him." "Uncle Reid, please lie down." Otto had prepared a greeting, but seeing Reid's condition, he hurried to remind him. "I won't lie down. If I do, I might not get back up." Reid let out a breath. "Ordinarily, I'd let you and Nala get to know each other, let your relationship grow. But my time is short. So, you two should go get married first." "Get married?" At that, Nala's second uncle Archer Jameson, her third uncle, her eldest aunt Adelyn Jameson, and her youngest aunt all erupted. "Brother, are you out of your mind?" "I know exactly what I'm doing. This was decided twenty years ago," Reid said. "Twenty years ago?" "Nala's engagement was to him?" "No way. Absolutely not." "Nala has such good prospects-how could she marry a pauper who can't even afford shoes?" "At the very least, it should be someone like Bryson Lawson, a promising young man. Only someone like Bryson is worthy of Nala." Archer, the third uncle, Adelyn, and the youngest aunt shook their heads over and over. "Are you talking about Bryson Lawson of the Lawson Group?" Otto couldn't help jumping in when he heard them chattering. "Didn't expect a nobody like you to have even heard of Bryson," Adelyn sniffed. "I did more than hear. Just half an hour ago, Bryson and I had a friendly exchange," Otto said with a shrug. "A friendly exchange? What kind of friendly exchange?" Adelyn asked suspiciously. "I beat him up," Otto said with a grin. "What? You hit Bryson?" Adelyn instinctively stepped back a few steps. "He's bluffing. As far as I know, Bryson's personal bodyguard is Maximus, one of the eight guardians of the Glory Gang. If someone like him actually laid a hand on Bryson, Maximus would've chopped him to pieces by now." Archer Jameson stepped forward, acting like he knew what he was talking about. "Nice try. Dropping Bryson's name to get attention-who do you think you are?" Adelyn sneered. "Poor is one thing, but you're also full of hot air. How could someone like you ever marry into the Jameson family? You'd better go back to wherever you came from." She was on a roll when her son Isaac rushed in, flustered. "Bad news-Bryson Lawson just got beaten up right outside the Jameson Group's front gate." "Doesn't Bryson have a bodyguard?" Adelyn asked, skeptical. "The bodyguard got beat up too-his face was covered in blood. And the worst part is, the guy who did it knows Nala. After he finished, he got into Nala's car and left. Someone filmed the whole thing. Now everyone's blaming the Jameson family." Isaac spilled everything out in a rapid-fire rush, and when he finally looked up, he found himself staring at Nala and the man beside her-Otto Nicholson. "That's him. He's the one who did it!" After a stunned pause, Isaac pointed at Otto, panic in his voice. He'd watched the video his friend sent a dozen times on the way over. There was no close-up of Otto's face, but his outfit was too distinctive-easy to recognize at a glance. "You really hit Bryson!" "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" "If you want to die, fine-but why drag the Jameson family down with you?" The Jameson siblings panicked all at once. The Lawson Group dwarfed the Jameson Group-like a whale to a minnow. If the Lawson Group went all out against them, bankruptcy was certain. And that wasn't the scariest part-the worst was the Glory Gang. If they got involved, blood would flow. "Cut ties. We have to distance ourselves from him." "Brother, if you won't think of yourself, at least think of us, your brothers and sisters." "If Nala actually goes and marries him, the Jameson family won't be able to escape." The four Jameson siblings surrounded Reid, pleading desperately. "Enough-quiet, all of you." Looking at his hopeless siblings, Reid grabbed the cane at his side and said weakly, "A man's word is his bond. What's agreed stays agreed, even if it kills me. I've picked this son-in-law, and not even Jesus could make me change my mind." "He's out of his mind-completely crazy." Seeing Reid couldn't be swayed, the four turned to Nala. "Nala, you're the one this is about-say something!" "I have nothing to add. He hit them for me. If there's fallout, I'll face it with him," Nala said, her face unreadable. "If you want something done right, do it yourself!" Adelyn declared, all fired up as she rolled up her sleeves to grab Otto. "Let's just tie this troublemaker up and haul him to the Lawson Group to beg forgiveness. Maybe there's still a chance to fix things." "You sure you want to put your hands on me?" Otto's eyebrows lifted; his whole demeanor turned menacing. "You… you dare hit me? I'm an elder," Adelyn jutted her chin and said stiffly. "An elder? You won't even agree to me marrying Nala-what kind of elder does that make you? If you weren't Uncle Reid's siblings, I'd have slapped every one of you already." Otto's eyes flashed. Adelyn tried to speak again, but Isaac pulled her back. "Mom, he's a hothead. He even dared to hit Bryson-don't mess with him." She sucked in a sharp breath, coming to her senses. "We can't deal with you, but someone can. Worst comes to worst, we'll give up our Jameson Group dividends." The siblings conferred for a beat, realized more arguing was pointless, tossed down their threat, and swept out. "Otto, I'm sorry you had to see that. My siblings are… a handful," Reid said helplessly. "It's fine. I've long since gotten used to it," Otto replied, unbothered. Compared to the truly vicious operators from the Valley of Villains, Nala's uncles and aunts were nothing. The only thing that irked him was that, with Reid present, he couldn't handle them the way he did villains in the Valley of Villains. "Dad, let me take you abroad for treatment," Nala said suddenly. "Abroad? Why go abroad?" Reid asked, puzzled. "First, the medical care is better. Second, you heard it too-the Lawson Group and the Glory Gang behind them will retaliate. I'm worried about your safety." Now that it was just family, Nala spoke plainly. Reid's brow furrowed. He knew his own condition; if he went abroad, there was a good chance he'd die in a foreign land. "I don't think that's necessary," Otto said, sensing what Reid was thinking and cutting in firmly. That was what finally made Nala snap. "Not necessary? You think my dad doesn't have long, so it's not worth the trouble? My dad saved your father's life back then. Do you even have a conscience?"

Chapter 4: Do You Even Have a Conscience?

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