Riches in Disguise

"He must be scared of you now. Don't let him pin this on you," Matthew said.

"Please stop, William," Liam added.

The anger in my eyes slowly faded when I saw the concern on my friends' faces. As I regained some clarity, I tossed the stool aside.

When I looked down at Frankie again, I saw that he was still alive, or rather, not seriously hurt. He could still move his arms and legs, but just couldn't get up.

"Mark, get over here! Do you hear me? Have you forgotten that I saved your whole family? Is this how you repay me?" Frankie shouted.

Mark finally reacted to his words, but instead of responding verbally, he slowly raised his hand and gave Frankie the middle finger.

I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't expect such a calm and honest man to make such a gesture.

The people around us were equally stunned.

Frankie was dumbfounded. He spat out a mouthful of blood and stammered, "W- what do you mean? Are you really going to betray me? How dare you?"

Before he could finish, I slapped him across the face. "Listen, Frankie. From now on, Mark is mine. If you ever speak disrespectfully to him again, it's as if you're disrespecting me. I won't let you off."

I smirked and added, "You've been quietly investigating Mark's family, pretending to assist with their medical expenses. But in reality, you've given them almost nothing. You only provide 2,000 dollars a month and make him pay you back. You've been manipulating and taking advantage of him. How dare you claim to have 'saved his family'? You're worse than a landlord exploiting the poor!"noveldrama

The people around us were shocked. They had been curious about why Mark had been so loyal to Frankie for so long, especially in this day and age when blind loyalty didn't make sense. It turned out it was all a scam.

After hearing my words, Liana frowned and shot Frankie a contemptuous look. While Dragonshade Society had many wrongdoings, they despised petty theft and fraud.

I turned to Mark and said, "Come here."

Mark immediately stepped closer.

I looked at him. "He's been lying to you for so long. Don't you want to teach him a lesson? Slap him, and let him know he can't boss you around anymore. If he disrespects you again, slap him again!"

Mark froze when he heard me. He stared at me in shock, unsure of what to do.

I knew he would react like this. Even though he knew Frankie was a bad person who treated him poorly, Mark had been with him for so long. The fear and respect for Frankie were deeply ingrained in him.

I knew it must be difficult for him to suddenly be asked to hit Frankie. It was like how, even after graduating high school and knowing our teacher was biased and unfair, it would still be hard to slap them.

The gap in status and the fear instilled in us since childhood were hard to

overcome.

However, I needed Mark to overcome it.

First, Frankie had just humiliated Mark in front of everyone by calling him his dog. I needed to help Mark regain his dignity and make it clear to everyone that Mark would now stand above Frankie.

Second, this was something Mark needed to confront sooner or later. It was better

to face the pain now rather than later, and this was the perfect opportunity. It was unlikely he'd have a better one.

I firmly said, "Mark, hit him!"

At my command, Mark shook

slightly, then clenched his fists. It was as if he had made a

life-changing decision. He walked up to Frankie, raised his hand, gritted his teeth and slapped him hard across the face.

Frankie, who was already on the ground, was sent tumbling from the force of the slap. His face was so swollen from the impact that he couldn't even scream in pain.