While My Husband Cheated I Married His Powerful Brother novel Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Chapter 60 Veyra’s First Standoff

The bell above the door clanged violently.

Veyra looked up.

A man strode in. He was tall. Broad-shouldered. His hair was slicked back with too much gel. His suit was cheap and tight. His face was hard, with a scar running from his eyebrow to his cheekbone.

Behind him, four thugs spilled into the shop. They were dressed in black. Their faces were mean. Their hands were stuffed in their pockets.

The man scanned the shop. His eyes landed on the kitchen door.

"Mother-in-law!" he shouted. "Come out here!"

Veyra’s blood went cold.

Mother-in-law?

She recognized the man. Xander Hale She had seen his face in the news. He was a small-time gangster. A loan shark. The sort of man who broke kneecaps for a living.

And he was calling Aunt Clark "mother-in-law."

Veyra grabbed the menu from the table. She held it up, covering her face. She looked at the window. Li Wei was still standing across the street. His hand was moving toward his earpiece.

She shook her head. Just slightly. A signal. Wait.

Li Wei’s hand stopped.

The kitchen door swung open. Aunt Clark stepped out. Her face was pale. Her hands were shaking.

"Xander Hale," she said. Her voice was steady, but Veyra could hear the fear underneath. "I told you to stay away."

Xander Hale smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I can’t stay away from my future mother-in-law. Where’s your daughter? I came to take her on a date."

"My daughter is not interested in you."

"Your daughter doesn’t get a choice." Xander Hale stepped closer. The thugs fanned out behind him. "I’ve been patient. I’ve been polite. But my patience is running out."

Aunt Clark’s chin lifted. "You’re a criminal. A thug. My daughter will never marry you."

Xander Hale’s smile vanished and his hand moved. The slap echoed through the shop.

Aunt Clark’s head snapped to the side. Her hand flew to her cheek. Her glasses fell off her face and clattered to the floor.

"Old woman," Xander Halesaid. His voice was low. Dangerous. "Either you hand over your daughter, or I destroy this shop. And everyone in it."

He turned to his men.

"Smash it," he said. "Everything. Every table. Every chair. Every plate. I want nothing left."

The thugs moved.

One of them grabbed a chair. He swung it against the wall. Wood splintered.

Another overturned a table. Plates shattered. A glass broke.

Customers screamed. They pushed back from their tables. They grabbed their bags. Their children. They ran for the door.

Veyra stood up. She tucked her face down. She let the crowd carry her toward the exit.

She was one of them. Just another frightened customer. No one would notice her.

She passed Xander Hale.

Something stopped her.

She did not know what it was. The memory of Lily’s face in the cage. The memory of her mother dying alone in a hospital bed. The memory of every time she had run away. Every time she had looked the other way. Every time she had been too scared to act.

She stopped.

Her hand went into her bag. Her fingers found the Nightblade.

She had not loaded it. She had not had time. There was no magazine in the grip. No round in the chamber.

But Xander Hale did not know that.

She pulled the gun out. She pressed the barrel against the back of Xander Hale’s head.

"Don’t move," she said.

Her voice was quiet. But in the chaos of the shop, it cut through like a blade.

Xander Hale froze.

His men froze.

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