His 181St Second (Laverne and Marina) novel Chapter 49

**Winds Carry Lost Promises**
*by Asa Holt Vale*

Garret flung his slippers onto the floor, the soft thud echoing in the dimly lit room as he slipped his feet into them.

“Daron…” he called out, his voice barely above a whisper.

For a fleeting moment, an eerie silence enveloped the space, thick with tension. Then, without warning, a blood-curdling scream shattered the stillness, reverberating off the walls like a haunting echo.

With an expression devoid of any warmth, Daron stepped forward, placing his foot squarely on the man’s hand, which was braced against the cold floor. He pressed down slowly, deliberately, as if savoring the moment.

“Speak up,” Daron’s voice was as frigid as the winter air. “Who put you up to this?”

The man, his face twisted in agony, gritted his teeth, fighting back the pain long enough to utter, “Of course it was Mr. Zamora…”

But before he could finish his thought, another surge of pain shot through him, causing him to let out a muffled groan that echoed his despair.

Daron lifted his foot, his gaze lingering with chilling indifference on the man’s hand, where the knuckles were now grotesquely misaligned. He arched an eyebrow, a smirk creeping onto his lips, as he leaned closer. “Hm? I didn’t quite catch that.”

The man sprawled on the floor appeared ghostly pale, the sheer agony coursing through his fingers rendering him powerless to fight back any longer.

“Mr. Zamora… I won’t let you get away with this…” he spat defiantly through clenched teeth, trying to maintain a façade of toughness.

Daron’s lips twisted into a cruel smirk as he delivered a swift kick to the man’s gut. The impact left the guy gasping, the wind knocked out of him, struggling to regain his breath. Just then, Garret approached, delivering another vicious kick, ensuring the man stayed down.

The pain was overwhelming, and the man felt darkness creeping in at the edges of his vision. “You…” he managed to wheeze out, desperation lacing his voice.

As soon as he inhaled a shaky breath, Garret unleashed a flurry of brutal kicks, each one landing with increasing ferocity.

“I’ll talk, I…” The man finally broke, the weight of the pain forcing him to plead for mercy.

But Garret was relentless; he sent a brutal kick straight to the man’s mouth, silencing him.

“You wanted to run your mouth when I gave you a chance? Now I’m curious; let’s see how much fight you’ve got left in that mouth,” Garret taunted, his voice dripping with cold malice.

Daron stood back, an observer to the unfolding scene, his presence a silent threat. The others in the room huddled on the floor, trembling with fear, desperate to remain unnoticed, their hearts racing in unison.

As the clock ticked on, Daron walked over to one of the men, who, in his panic, snatched up his hard track like it was a lifeline. Before Daron could even utter a word, the man blurted out the truth, fear spilling from his lips.

“It was Mr. Hess? He paid us off, told us to rough her up, and even planned our getaway…” he stammered, his voice quaking with terror.

Daron cast a quick glance in Marina’s direction, his expression unreadable.

Marina inhaled deeply, her face tightening with the weight of the revelation. “Which Hess?” she asked, her voice taut with tension.

She already had a sinking feeling about the answer, yet she needed to hear it confirmed.

“Yeah, Hyman Hess! It was him! He had us do this kind of thing three years ago, and nothing happened back then, so when he came to us again, of course we agreed,” the man exclaimed, his voice trembling under the pressure of Marina’s icy gaze.

Marina’s eyes turned into two shards of ice, devoid of any flicker of satisfaction. She had guessed correctly, but there was nothing to celebrate about this revelation. Who would have imagined that Lavern would actually heed Hyman’s twisted advice and resort to such despicable actions against her?

Three years prior, Hyman’s wife had suffered a catastrophic accident mere moments before their wedding. That fateful night, Hyman had been out drinking with Lavern and their friends, while his wife had desperately called him, pleading for assistance. Yet, Hyman had turned a blind eye to her cries for help.

It was precisely this betrayal that had compelled Marina to warn Lavern to steer clear of Hyman.

After the accident, Hyman’s wife had all but vanished from public view. With the recent crackdowns affecting their family business, her parents had entrusted everything to Hyman, focusing solely on caring for their daughter, who had been through so much turmoil.

Once Hyman gained control of the family fortune, he indulged in a life of excess, drowning himself in parties, alcohol, and a new woman on his arm every week. The world around him turned a blind eye, pretending not to notice his descent into depravity.

But could Ben Cooper, the formidable figure who commanded respect in Sicester’s underworld, truly stand idly by while his own daughter endured the anguish of a shattered marriage, tolerating Hyman’s abhorrent behavior?

That day, while Hyman had been dispensing advice to Lavern, he had inadvertently revealed something that caught Marina’s attention, a detail she quietly filed away for future reference.

Hyman had shared his own underhanded tactics with Lavern, thinking he could use those same strategies to manipulate Marina.

There was nothing left between me and Lavern, not even a flicker of warmth or decency, Marina mused bitterly.

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