Secret Scion

Huxley left the Crawford residence with a plethora of emotions rampaging in his heart. Not only did Asher and Griffin thrash Jeremiah's car, but they also gave him a good beating. How was it possible for Huxley's grandfather to not comment anything about that incident?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. When Huxley was about to visit Solomon's courtyard, Layla made a sudden appearance.

"Layla, why are you here?"

"I'm here to visit Asher." Layla shot Huxley a dazzling smile. "It's rare for you to come home." Huxley responded with a chuckle. "Work has been busy at the company lately, so I don't get to come home often." He hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "By the way, Layla, have you heard about what happened at the elite racing club yesterday?"

"Yeah. I was at the scene."

"Oh?" An idea popped into Huxley's mind at that moment. "It looks like the incident where Asher and Griffin ended up thrashing Jeremiah's car is real, after all. I heard that the Macquoids went over to the Quinn residence to demand for an explanation. Logically speaking, our family won't be able to escape their wrath too, right? I wonder what Grandpa thinks of the whole incident. I originally thought that Asher has matured, but judging from this incident, it seems that he's as brash as usual. He never thinks of the consequences whenever he acts..." he sighed. Huxley knew that Layla and Asher had always been at each other's throats since they were young. Frankly speaking, they were like mortal enemies. That was the reason why Huxley phrased his sentences that way; he wanted Layla to visit Solomon and have him punish Asher. Layla was a smart woman. Naturally, she knew what Huxley was thinking about. She just replied with a smile, "What happened yesterday isn't entirely Asher's fault. He and Griffin are like biological brothers; if Griffin is involved in any trouble, there's no way he'll sit by and watch." Huxley was stunned upon hearing Layla's answer. "Layla, I never expected you to defend Asher this way. I thought you weren't this nice to him back then."

"Don't think too much, Huxley. I'm just stating the facts. There's nothing else involved here. If that's all, then I'll see you later." After that, Layla turned on her heel and left.

There might be a smile plastered across Huxley's face, but deep down, he was seething in rage. Layla and Asher were supposed to be mortal enemies! Why did her attitude toward him change so much after only a few days?

At that moment, Huxley had a feeling that his position within the Crawfords was being threatened.

Meanwhile, Asher woke up extremely late today due to the fact that he slept very late. Right now, he was leaning against the bedpost while deep in thought.

His entire body was bare, save for a pair of boxers. His tan skin made him look extremely charming in a masculine way. The build-up of his abdominal muscles could be vaguely seen. Despite being on the skinny side, Asher's figure was still attractive to many.

Yesterday, Rose had told him that the person he feared the most would be back soon. Asher pondered over it for a very long time. It seemed that the only person who fit that criterion was Sebastian Macquoid.

The thought of the man who used to be his idol made Asher frown instinctively. A complicated expression soon appeared on his face.

"Asher?"

At that moment, Layla suddenly flung open the door.

She was stunned when she saw Asher in his mostly naked glory. Of course, she did not expect that he was the sort of person who did not sleep with his blanket on, much less the fact that he was still lounging in his room at noontime without any proper clothing.

Almost immediately, Layla's beautiful face was crimson from the blood rushing up to her face. Embarrassment mixed with anger filled her eyes. "Why didn't you lock the door if you were planning to sleep in, you pervert!"

Asher was also embarrassed by Layla's sudden appearance. He quickly dived under the blanket in order to protect what was left of his dignity. Then, he retorted with a frown, "No sane man would lock the door just to sleep! You are the one who saw me in this state of undress, and yet you are blaming me for it! You're despicable and shameful!"

"You...!" Layla wanted nothing more than to rush up to Asher and argue with him, but the thought of him being only in his undies made her give up. "I'll settle this score with you once you're fully dressed and out of your room!" After she was done speaking, she got out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Layla sank into the couch and touched her face absentmindedly. Upon feeling the unnatural heat radiating off her skin, she could not help but curse Asher under her breath.

About ten minutes later, Asher finally got out of his bed after sensing that nothing was going on outside. Then, he opened his door by a small crack, only to see a pair of rage-filled eyes behind the door. That sight made him tense up immediately; he did not know that Layla was still outside. Asher coughed awkwardly twice in a row before leaving his room while scratching his nose bridge. "What's the matter?"

Layla originally wanted to ask Asher how he resolved the incident the day before, but she did not expect to witness the unsightly scene earlier. It embarrassed and angered her at the same time, making her feel that she should not have come here in the first place.

"Apologize to me!"

"Huh?" Asher was surprised. "What did you say?"

Layla glared at Asher furiously before repeating herself. "I said, apologize to me!"

"Apologize? Why? You were the one who peeked at me, not the other way around! You were the one who took advantage of me!"

The more Asher spoke of that incident, the angrier and more embarrassed Layla became. Her face was as red as a ripe strawberry, which was more than enough to show how embarrassing it was for her. She grabbed the fruit knife from the coffee table and snarled through her teeth, "Let me say this one last time. I want you to give me a sincere apology right now!"

The sight of Layla brandishing the knife as a weapon made Asher realize that she was truly angry at him. He coughed before replying, "A gentleman like me would never fight a woman. If you want me to apologize, then so be it. Sorry, that was my fault. I shouldn't have let you peeked at me. Are you happy now?"

"I'll fucking kill you, Asher Crawford!" Layla was driven to the brink of insanity by Asher's words. Was that even an apology? He was clearly messing with her! With her emotions running high and uncontrollably, she dashed toward Asher with the knife in tow.

The latter quickly ducked into a bathroom and locked the door.

"Layla, let's talk this out. Why do you insist on using violence to solve the problem? Besides, you can't win this, and you know that."

"Get out! If you have the balls to face me, get out of the bathroom right now!"

"All right, I don't have the balls to do that. Is that okay now? Stop messing around and just tell me what you're here for." Asher felt helpless at the moment.

"You speak as if I'm the unreasonable one, you bastard!" Layla took a few deep breaths, finally able to suppress the flames of rage within her heart. After she sat back on the couch, Asher snuck out of the bathroom in a timid fashion. Then, he grinned at her and tried to appease her. "Layla, let's not strain our relationship because of one teeny tiny matter. It's not worth it. So, why are you here?"

Was that a 'teeny tiny matter'?

Layla shot Asher an exasperated look in response. "At first, I wanted to ask you if the Macquoids caused trouble for you guys, but it seems that I was just poking my nose into your business for no reason." After that, she grabbed her bag and was about to leave the mansion.

Asher quickly grabbed Layla and responded with a smile. "You weren't meddling in my business at all, Layla. You're my older cousin, so it's your responsibility to care about me. Hehe! Sit down, Layla. I'll go pour you a glass of water."

"It's fine. I'm not thirsty," Layla replied in a deadpan voice.

"Oh." Asher sat back down immediately. After that, he recounted everything that happened in

the Quinn residence in detail. Having heard the entire story, Layla asked, "So, you guys are in the clear now?"

Asher nodded. "Well, we're not entirely in the clear per se. Old Mr. Quinn has grounded Griffin for a month, which serves as his punishment."

"What about you?"

"Huh? What about me?"

Layla said, "You're also involved in the car-thrashing incident. Didn't Grandpa say anything to you?"

"W-Well, not really, I suppose," Asher replied.

"Wow! Grandpa is way too biased! Why didn't he inquire for more details after you caused such a huge problem outside? If anyone else were to pull off what you did, they would've been served with a dollop of family laws by Grandpa! Asher, I have no idea how you managed to bribe Grandpa. It's no wonder Huxley is dissatisfied with how things are handled," Layla retorted angrily.

"Huxley?" A light frown was nestled between Asher's brows before he asked, "Did you meet him? What did he say to you?"

Layla rolled her eyes at Asher before explaining, "You and Huxley have been fighting for Grandpa's affection for a very long time, Asher. Ever since Grandpa decided to make you the heir to the Crawfords' legacy, Huxley has been unable to let that fact go. That's why he decided to found his own company in the first place. It's true that his company has been doing quite well these past few years, but Grandpa still refuses to acknowledge his achievements. Now, Grandpa's biases toward you have been revealed through this incident. Do you think Huxley would feel good on the inside? Asher, when it comes to this incident, I'm definitely taking Huxley's side because I'm sympathetic toward him."

Asher nodded thoughtfully. He knew that Huxley had been having a grudge against him all these years. That was why Grandpa kept advising him to learn how to work together with Huxley and tolerate him no matter what.

"Huxley and I both have the Crawford lineage flowing through our veins. No matter what, we're still brothers. If an opportunity arises, I'll definitely talk to him in private. I hope that I can help lift the grudge from his heart," he said in agreement.

Meanwhile, in the study of the Macquoid residence.

"Father, that's what happened. That Asher brat sure knows how to talk his way out of the situation. Griffin is supposed to be the instigator in this incident, but Asher's able to make it sound like Jeremiah is the one at fault. I noticed that things weren't going in our way, so I had no choice but to leave the incident like that. This is a loss that I have to take," Hal reported everything to Alistair respectfully while standing in front of him. Alistair put down his book slowly, his brows already furrowed together. "According to what you said, Asher's transformation over the past two years must be massive, right?" "Yes, Father. I didn't expect that the useless brat from back then would become a capable man today. His logic was flawless as he placed bait for us to step into his verbal traps at the same time. One distracted moment caused me to fall into his trap. Father, why don't we just leave this incident as it is? It's true that Jeremiah has an arrogant personality. It might be a good thing for him to stumble in his path of life so that he can get up as a stronger and better person." Alistair stole a glance at Hal. Among his sons, Hal was the gentlest of them all. He also tended to keep his cool when such things happened. Because of that, Alistair trusted him to become one of the company executives. However, Hal's personality gave him a major flaw at the same time. If one were to tolerate again and again, it meant that they were nothing but cowards. The Macquoids would never endure acts of provocation coming from other factions of power. "Since you've already made your stance clear to the Quinns, then we'll do as you say. However, if something like this were to happen in the future again, our family won't let them go this easily." Alistair looked quite thoughtful as if he was pondering about something. After that, he asked, "By the way, is Sebastian coming home soon? We might as well leave the younger generation of Alexandrius to him to deal with in order to hone his skills."