Chapter 248 - Touché

Zoey and Matthew Xi's flight took more than five hours before the plane touched down Country S. It was pretty long yet a short trip for the two of them as Zoey couldn't sleep with Matthew Xi's unforeseen teasing. 

Good thing, humoring her was the only thing he had done. He behaved and didn't execute any dirty thoughts that crossed his mind. 

After their arrival, Zoey and Matthew Xi headed to get their luggages. While waiting for their stuff to come closer to them, Zoey suddenly looked back. 

For some reason, she felt that she was being watched; not just by one person but by many eyes. "What?" Seeing her scanning the area, Matthew Xi tilted his head to the side, curious by her sudden change of mood. 

"Hmm?" Snapping from her trance, Zoey looked up and smiled. "Nothing." She answered, shaking her head as she clipped her fingers on his sleeve. 

Nodding in understanding, Matthew Xi's attention was diverted to their luggage as it came close to his standpoint. Meanwhile, Zoey traveled her eyes discreetly. 

However, nothing seemed amiss. She could not find anyone suspicious. 'Am I just overthinking?' She asked internally, wondering if Nikolai Silvestri's presence currently was just making her overthink for nothing. 

Considering facts, Zoey brushed her worries off. After all, Nikolai Silvestri would be unlikely to harm her or Matthew Xi. He might be a creep and does things in a very unlikable way. Still, Nikolai Silvestri was a decent person... at least, slightly. Aside from being her simp for the longest time, Nikolai Silvestri didn't really force himself on her. 

Moreover, if Nikolai Silvestri would want to force her, he would have done it years ago. Zoey would probably be locked down in Europe and tending to Nikolai Silvestri's needs if the man wanted to in the past. 

With those thoughts in mind, Zoey completely shrugged the thoughts off as she turned to Matthew Xi who got their luggages. "Let's go?" She asked, beaming a sweet smile at him. 

"Mhmm." Nodding his head in agreement, Matthew Xi hummed a tune.

With that being said, the two lovebirds headed out of the establishment to have dinner with Vivian Xi. There were already people waiting for them at the entrance, thus, Matthew Xi and Zoey relaxed as they didn't need the trouble of traveling to the hotel. 

Meanwhile, as they boarded the lavish black car, a man leaning on the hood of the car parked not far away from them cocked his head to the side. Under the shade of darkness, the side of his lips crooked as his gaze locked on Zoey's side profile. 

"Boss, what are your orders?" Suddenly, a bulky man approached the languid man who was watching Zoey and Matthew Xi's vehicle speed away. 

"Orders, huh?" Menacing and twisted, the man chuckled as he wondered. "Zia looks happy with that man, Mr. Xi." Alas, instead of giving orders, he spoke his mind as if it was a surprise to him that Zoey was happy. 

"Actually, they look happy together..." Sighing, the man's hazel orbs glinted that gave off a dangerous vibe around him. "Which makes me want to tear it apart so badly." Chuckling at the thought, the man grinned as he shook his head. 

"Let them be for now. I want her to be at her happiest moment before robbing that away from her." Glancing at the bulk man standing near him, the man waved his hands. 

"I want her to feel fear creep to her slowly... the fear of losing everyone she loves one by one until she could no longer take it and kill herself... but I won't let her take the easy route." The man envisioned Zoey's desperate eyes, giving him a great sense of achievement. 

His hatred ran deep in his roots, her agony would bring him happiness. That's right, he despised her more and that deep grudge was his only drive to move forward. 

Just then, the bulky man turned his attention to the tall figure approaching. Meanwhile, the man leaning on the hood didn't even leave his gaze from the direction where Zoey's vehicle left despite that the car was nowhere in his vicinity. 

"Ivan of the Silva Family, do you have a death wish?" The bulk man stood upright, his muscled arms flexed as he pivoted his heel to face Ivan's direction. 

"You dared step in our territory and even showed yourself." He scoffed, cracking his neck from side to side as if he was game for a fight. 

Ivan's indifferent eyes only glanced at the bulky man, "Fists are slower than bullets." Lacking in interest for a fist fight, Ivan muttered which caused the man to scoff. 

"I didn't come here for a fight." Shifting his gaze from the bulky man, Ivan turned to the guy leaning on the hood who had a twisted smirk on the side of his lips. 

"Niko wants to propose a truce." Without beating around the bush, Ivan relayed his message that made him show himself to this man who wouldn't make the world a better place with his existence. 

"A truce? From Nikolai?" Finding the remarks funny, the man chuckled that gave off his ridicule about it. "And why would I agree to this truce?" Slowly, the man averted his gaze from the direction Zoey's vehicle took and his menacing gaze landed on Ivan as he stressed the word 'truce' as if it was a joke. 

"Don't waste your time on a mere foot soldier." Without explaining, Ivan uttered. His tone laced with warning despite stating how low Zoey's rank on the Silva family was in the past. 

"And that mere foot soldier stepped her foot on something she shouldn't..." Chuckling at the fact how a mere foot soldier brought him misery, the man shook his head. "Ivan, how is the Silva Family's current standing? You shouldn't leave Niko's side so easily, you might regret splitting your guards because of a mere foot soldier." Speaking his mind, the man cocked his head languidly before he slowly retracted his bottom from the hood of the car. 

Walking towards the driver's seat, the man bearing hazel orbs cast his eyes on Ivan's dangerous figure. "Don't waste your time on a mere foot soldier, Ivan." Repeating what Ivan told him earlier, the man smirked before boarding the driver's seat and sped away, leaving the bulky man and Ivan stood rooted on the ground. 

"Touché." The bulky man whistled, shrugging his shoulders as he walked back. "Ivan, leave the country before my desire to gut you out takes over. The scar you left is itching with you around." Giving him a heads up, the bulky man laughed heartily before resuming to walk away. 

Meanwhile, Ivan's eyes glinted as he watched the bulky man leave. "Don't look down on the Silva Familia." He muttered slowly but the bulky man heard him still. 

"Your Silva Family's reign is over. Accept that already." In between his laughter, the bulky man didn't even glance back as he ridiculed Ivan's silly threats. 

If this was before, they would've retreated. However, the world changed, and people that were hungry for power for a long time successfully climbed up from her.. Therefore, this could be considered as a new era as the reigning family was being rattled by the new forces that came from hell.