Joshua Briggs was in so much pain he almost collapsed. His fingers seemed to have been gripped between steel, crushing them one after another. If one were to describe the amount of sheer agony he felt, there would be no words for it.
When Andrew released his hand, Briggs was already on his knees, coiling in pain. He continued to make incoherent noises in pain.
All the other men in the room were on their feet by now. Not even once did they anticipate Andrew Sterling would do something like that to Briggs. They exchanged glances silently, wondering if they could leave the room now and get away, but everyone was too scared of drawing Andrew's attention by attempting to leave, so they stayed put.
Watching the man howl in pain, Andrew still wasn't satisfied.
Something that felt like burning coal was scorching down his throat with simmering rage. He detested the feeling. And that feeling had begun when Briggs laid his hands on this girl.
He met her surprised gaze with an indifferent one that hid the tumultuous rage boiling deep within.
"Are you waiting for a special invitation?" he suddenly said to her with a perfectly thick brow arched.
"What?" she asked back absentmindedly.
Andrew Sterling didn't mince words as he tilted his chin towards Briggs, who was still on his knees, and uttered, "Slap him."
"Why... should I do that?" she asked, still unable to fully process what was going on.
"Are you unaware, Miss Thompson? If a man disrespects you, you slap him. It's a pretty common thing." He crossed his arms as he spoke.
Anne looked at Briggs, who was still clutching his painful hand. She had to admit that she felt tempted. Men who disrespected women needed to be punished.
So many women suffered from abuse and harassment from men and never got a chance to fight back.
Though she didn't know why Andrew interfered when she completely didn't expect him to, she wouldn't pass up this chance.
She could still feel the touch of his hand around her wrist. Though he hadn't touched her body, deep in the corners of her mind there seemed to be a hidden memory of a man's hands, touching her body in places she didn't want him to.
She flinched from that non-existent memory that she couldn't remember happening, suddenly feeling a rage that came from somewhere inside her, and she raised her hand to land a slap on Briggs' face.
The man hadn't even recovered from the pain of broken bones when he felt a slap land on his cheek.
"Andrew Sterling, you're becoming too arrogant. How dare you think you can treat me like this?" Briggs bellowed in fury. He wouldn't just sit and let someone hurt a man like him. He was someone others begged to see. Being in the same space as him was a blessing for a lot of people. Many respected him because he had wealth and power. In this city, he was also an important person. Why should he endure such treatment from one of the Sterling sons?
Though people feared Andrew Sterling, the reasons for that weren't very clear. Besides, he was just a director at the company and not the CEO. If he should fear anyone, it should be the old Sterling patriarch.
Andrew didn't even spare Briggs a glance. Instead, his gaze was still burning on Anne, who had just hit the man.
"Terrible. You didn't hit him hard enough." Anne heard the disapproving tone in the man's cold voice and shook her hand to release the tension from the harsh contact with the man's face just now. She had used a lot of strength in her wrist to hit the man, and he said she did terribly.
"I hit him hard enough."
"If you did, he wouldn't be able to talk." This time, Andrew finally shifted his gaze to the man, and Briggs felt the uncontrollable urge to want to be buried beneath the ground.
There were some people in the world who, even without doing or saying anything, their gaze or simply their voice would cause one to want to disappear. Their aura was that strong and frightening. Briggs had never met someone like that before—Andrew Sterling was the first.
"I'll show you how to hit him hard enough." Saying this, Andrew pointed at one of the men standing obediently behind.
Caleb Scott felt a cold shiver course through his body. When he raised his head, Andrew's finger was pointing at him.
"Would you be kind enough to join us here, Scott?"
The man's legs almost faltered as he slowly walked forward. Others might not have a reason to fear this man, thinking he was just a director at his family company, but he knew.
A man shrouded in darkness—being a Sterling was far from his only identity.
Thinking about Andrew Sterling's other identity, Caleb couldn't delay the man's instructions anymore. He hurried his steps and reached where Andrew stood.
"Show her how to slap enough to silence a man. If he still says another word, you'll have to be the one to bleed."
Andrew's instructions were clear—hit his friend, or he becomes the one being punished instead.
Caleb Scott hesitated for a moment, thinking about how close he and Briggs had been during the past few years.
"I won't take anymore of this shit!" After hearing Andrew instruct Caleb to hit him, Briggs couldn't stay and receive the punishment silently anymore. He was about to get up and leave when a force pushed him back to his knees.
The slap rang so loud in the room, Briggs could feel his teeth shaking inside of his mouth. The left part of his face felt heavy, like a giant weight had been added onto him to carry.
He raised his head with red eyes to glare at the man he'd considered a friend for a long time.
"Caleb, how dare you?!"
"Tsk, pathetic." Andrew remarked nonchalantly, fixing his gaze on Caleb Scott. "You know what to do."
Caleb was a middle-aged man old enough to father Andrew, but the position Andrew held was far higher than his imagination.
He gritted his teeth and struck himself hard on the face.
Anne was astounded. What was this messy game?