Rising from the Ashes (Andrew) novel Chapter 1990

Andrew shook his head with a grin. "You're giving me too much credit. Do you know how much sweat and money it took to build this body of mine through external training?

"To be honest, when I was a kid, they threw me into a pit with wild beasts, and I had to fight my way out. Either I toughened up, or I died. You call that easy? I can't exactly put Fran through that, can I?"

Eric chuckled but said nothing. External arts were hard enough, but Andrew's were downright monstrous. He thought maybe they really were forged through battling animals.

If that was true, Eric figured this skill was not worth learning. After all, he had been raised by Jerome and pampered despite being an adopted son. He had never endured such hardship.

Natasha spoke up, her tone worried. "Darling, Lauren and the others have held out long enough. The Driscoll family's Shadow Division isn't a bunch of amateurs. If this goes on much longer, something could go wrong."

Andrew's voice was calm. "Give them three more minutes, then you can step in. An opportunity like this for real combat training doesn't come often."

Dylan cracked his knuckles. "Fine. Three minutes later, I'll go get some training myself."

Just then, Andrew's phone rang.

It was Logan, his voice full of fury. "Andy, Supreme Capital Group just got torched by the Driscoll family. Everything inside was stripped clean!"

Andrew's expression did not change. "Got it."

Then, he hung up.

"The Driscoll family's doing, right?" Andrew asked quietly.

Aaron gritted his teeth. "Yeah. I finally got hit with Maurice's wrath. I thought the money you brought in might be a small bite for them, but hell, it was like choking on a bone, jammed me up good. My men are all dead or gone. Overnight, I'm stripped bare. I've got to keep running. The Driscoll family's two old monsters are right on my ass."

Andrew could hear that Aaron was clearly devastated but trying to act cool, as if losing everything did not matter to him at all. It almost made him laugh.

He said, "Aaron, since you're now a lone dog, why don't you just come over here? There are plenty of people around, so you won't feel lonely. We can eat and drink together, maybe even get some rest."

Aaron immediately declined. "I'm not interested. I've got hundreds of billions in cash now, so I can live it up anywhere I want. I'm not about to come work for you."