Since my favorite basketball player is hosting a meet-and-greet, I've ordered a VIP seat that comes with the benefit of interacting with the player in advance.

When the time comes, I follow a staff member to my designated seat. I'm about to sit down when a man walks over and takes my seat instead.

"This is where I can watch the meet-and-greet the best. I shall have this seat, then."

I just stare at the man, completely speechless. "Sir, this is my seat. Please get off the chair."

What I don't expect is for him to dig out a stack of cash before hurling it at me.

"A peasant like you has no right to meet basketball stars! I'm buying this seat from you right now! Take the money and scram!"

Seeing that I refuse to leave, the man continues haughtily, "I'm Wilbur Collins, the assistant of Jade Pearson, CEO of Pearson Group! Everyone in this city knows who the Pearsons are! Are you trying to push your luck here?"

Jade Pearson? Isn't that the fiancee who my dad has betrothed to me?

I pull out my phone and call her right away. "Hey, your assistant has snatched my seat from me in a basketball star's meet-and-greet session like the hooligan he is. You'd better give me a good explanation for this!"

The title "personal assistant" itself sounded ambiguous, like it could mean something more than that. Moreover, Wilbur Collins had blatantly used Jade Pearson's identity to validate his own, which was even more suspicious.

Jade had better give me a reasonable explanation, or I would definitely call off our engagement!

But then, Jade's cold voice came through the phone. "Who the hell do you think you are? You have no right to interfere in my affairs!"

With that, she abruptly hung up on me.

Wilbur laughed arrogantly.

"Serves you right for being so pretentious! Did you really think that I'd believe you if you called a random number and claimed it was Ms. Pearson?"

I showed him my phone screen and demanded, "Take a look at the number yourself. Isn't this Jade's personal number?"

When Wilbur saw that it was indeed her personal number, he shuddered slightly before giving me another once-over.

"Your outfit doesn't even amount to more than 200 bucks! How dare you even think that you're on the same level as Mr. Pearson!"

Everything I wore was custom-made to my size. Although it wasn't from some luxurious brand, anyone could still tell that it was expensive from the type of fabric used and the craftsmanship.

"Stop embarrassing yourself if you don't even know your place!"

I couldn't be bothered to continue arguing with him anymore and just yanked him out of my seat.

"I don't care whose personal assistant you are. This seat still belongs to me, even if you manage to drag Jade all the way here. Now get out of the way!"

Wilbur was caught off guard when I yanked him up, and he nearly tumbled to the ground.

He glared at me angrily and yelled, "You fucking bastard! How dare you do this to me!"

I glared back at him. "Watch your mouth, or I'm not going to play nice anymore."

My sharp gaze clearly rattled him. He staggered backward and yelled at the staff nearby.

"Come and throw this fucker out of here! If not, I'm going to tell Ms. Pearson to withdraw your rights to use this venue!"

The staff immediately came forward to persuade me to leave.

"Sir, we'll give you a full refund and even change your seat for free. Alright?"

I rejected their offers firmly. "No way. This isn't about money at all!"

I had been looking forward to this basketball star's meet-and-greet for an entire month, even setting an alarm in the middle of the night to snag the tickets to this perfect seat. How could they just tell me to give it up with just a few words?

Over my dead body!

When the staff realized that their persuasion methods weren't working, they became much more stern and strict with me.

"Mr. Collins here is Ms. Pearson's personal assistant. If you keep offending him like this, you're not going to get very far in Brandington.

"You should know what's better for you. If you continue being stubborn like this, you're only going to pay for it later!"

Wilbur tilted his chin arrogantly toward me and said, "Heard that? If you obediently give up your seat to me now and get on your knees to apologize, maybe I'll spare you next time."

What a joke. No one in Brandington had ever dared to make me apologize to them before.

I remained seated and looked up at Wilbur.

"Who do you think you are, that you're someone worthy of my apology?"

My words instantly set him off. He yelled at the staff, "Throw this arrogant fucker out! I'll take responsibility for whatever happens later!"

Two staff members then rushed forward, grabbing me by my arms and trying to forcefully drag me out.

I'd learned a thing or two about boxing to protect myself, and these two staff members couldn't possibly hold me down for long.

I broke free in a few moves and went straight to Wilbur, grabbing him by his neck. "Watch your mouth, or I won't mind pouring industrial soap right down your throat myself."

Wilbur's face turned bright red as he gripped my wrists and croaked, "Let… go…"

The staff immediately looked at me in horror.

"My god! Who gave him the guts to do that to Mr. Collins?"

"Ms. Pearson is going to kill him when she hears about this!"

"Nobody can save him, not even the king himself!"

I paid no attention to their words. I didn't care about the Pearson family at all. Instead, I tightened my grip and glared at Wilbur, growling fiercely, "Who did you call a fucker just now?"

He could barely breathe and stammered, "M-Me… I was talking…about myself…"

I then loosened my grip and looked at him contemptuously. "Alright, fucker. You may leave now."

Wilbur collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as he glared at me with hatred and resentment.

I clapped my hands and asked, "What? Want another round?"

He flinched instinctively and left with the staff's help.

I returned to my seat and texted Dad about what had just happened. However, barely a few text messages later, Wilbur came back, and this time, he was with Jade.

Jade was dressed in a black suit, and there were four bodyguards behind her.

She stopped right in front of me. Wilbur then leaned in and whispered, "That's him, Ms. Pearson! He's the bastard who hit me! See what he did to my neck when he tried to strangle me?"

I looked at Jade, and my eyes lit up.

Dad had shown me photos of her before, and she looked absolutely gorgeous in them to the point that I thought she must have edited them. But to my surprise, she was just as pretty, if not more, in real life. She was exactly my type.

I got up and looked at her, offering her a smile. "Hello, fiancee. I'm Austin Bradford."

The staff next to us exclaimed in shock at once.

"Wait! He really is Ms. Pearson's fiance?"

"No wonder he was acting so ruthless!" He had Ms. Pearson backing him up all along!"

"I don't think that's the case, though. Something feels off. We still have to see whose side Ms. Pearson is on!"

Jade looked at me indifferently, like she was merely sizing up goods. Eventually, she said coldly, "We are only engaged to each other because of contractual obligations. Don't think that it gives you the right to bully others. Apologize to Wilbur at once! Or else, don't say that I never warned you."

Wilbur grinned at me cockily. "Hear that? Ms. Pearson is telling you to apologize to me!"

I almost laughed from sheer disbelief at both of them.

"It was clearly your personal assistant who was abusing his power and bullying others. And yet, you're accusing me of doing it instead? You should see an optometrist when you have the time, Jade Pearson. You're as blind as a bat."

Wilbur stepped forward at once, raising his fist to punch me. "Who the fuck are you accusing of abusing powers?"

I grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face without hesitation. "Isn't it obvious? Who's the one barking the loudest here anyway?"

Just because I hadn't shown my fangs didn't mean I was a pushover!

Wilbur was stunned by the sudden punch. After a couple of seconds of hesitation, he immediately turned to Jade with an aggrieved expression.

"See that, Ms. Pearson? He just punched me with you watching! How dare he!"

Jade pulled him close to her as she glared daggers at me. "You're really a stubborn one, aren't you? I'm going to have to teach you a lesson today!"

Jade immediately ordered her four bodyguards to attack me.

Even though I was good at boxing, I still couldn't possibly defeat four well-trained bodyguards at the same time on my own. I was quickly subdued and brought before her.

Jade nudged Wilbur toward me and said gently, "He's all yours now. You can do whatever you want to get your revenge on him."

Wilbur instantly straightened up, his arrogance returning in full force. He came over to me and punched me hard in the face, whispering in my ear, "So what if you're Ms. Pearson's fiance, you little fucker? The person she cares about is me."

Dad had always spoiled and pampered me from a young age. No one had ever dared to lay a hand on me.

I endured the sharp pain in my jaw and looked up at Jade, glaring at her.

"How dare you let him treat me like this, Jade Pearson! The engagement is off!"

The Person family only got to their current position in society because of the contractual engagement between us, with Dad supporting them all the way.

However, Jade said indifferently, "Go ahead and call it off, then. My dad forced me into it when I never wanted it anyway."

Wilbur pointed at my face and cursed at me. "You worthless piece of shit! Which part of you do you even think is worthy of Ms. Pearson at all? You deserve to get your engagement broken off!"

I glared hatefully at them both. "I was the one who broke off the engagement! And I swear I will never forget this humiliation for the rest of my life. Just you wait!"

Wilbur laughed loudly and said, "Oh yeah? And what do you even have to go against the Pearson family?"

He then pulled a pocketknife from his pocket and began tracing the blade against my jawline.

I felt a strike of horror in my chest. "What are you trying to do?"

"I want you to get on your knees and kiss my shoes, apologizing and admitting loudly that you're nothing but a fucking loser."

"Over my dead bod—ah!"

He carved a line into my cheekbones, and I instantly felt a sharp pain shooting across my face as blood seeped out from the wound.

At that moment, I realized that Wilbur was nothing short of a madman, and nothing was more important than survival right now.

I immediately fell to my knees, holding a hand to my face as I said, "I'm a loser. I'm sorry…"

More and more people were filtering into the venue by then, and all eyes were instantly on us. Some of them looked at me in pity, while some others just sighed for me.

"He should have known better than to offend Mr. Collins, but he just wouldn't listen."

"He deserves to have this happen to him. He was asking for it."

"Ms. Pearson really is something too. How could she let her personal assistant humiliate her own fiance in public like this?"

Wilbur stomped on my shoulder and said smugly, "This is what you get for offending me. Now hurry up and kiss my shoes! Go on!"

I felt a wave of endless humiliation surge inside me, but I had to endure it because I didn't know what this madman was going to do next.

Just then, my phone on my seat rang with the special custom ringtone that I'd set especially for Dad. I struggled hard to try and get my phone, but Wilbur beat me to it and answered the call.

"Austin? Why aren't you replying anymore? Was it fun meeting your basketball stars?"

I immediately yelled, "Dad, save me! They're beating me up!"

"What? Who dares to beat you up?"

"Jade Pearson and her assistant! Dad, you have to save me!"

Dad immediately roared in anger when he heard that. "That Pearson brat! Who gave you the audacity to hit my son! Let go of Austin at once, or I will bankrupt Pearson Group immediately—"

However, Wilbur hung up before Dad could finish.

"You're exactly like your dad. Don't you both know that the Pearsons are the kings of Brandington? Who do you think you are to bankrupt them!"

Dad called again, but this time, Wilbur just smashed the phone on the ground. Then, he glared at me and roared, "Hurry up and kiss my fucking shoes, you loser! Be done with it and quit holding me up from meeting my favorite basketball star!"

I glanced at my smashed phone and gradually lowered my head while bending over.

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion in the venue, and a swarm of bodyguards rushed in.

The head of the bodyguards quickly sprinted toward me, kicked Jade's bodyguard who was holding me captive, and helped me up to my feet.

"Who dares lay a hand on Mr. Austin Bradford!"