Capítulo 1435: Chapter 685: If You Won’t Do It, There Are Plenty Who Will!
In a small banquet hall on the side of the National Palace, the heavy oak doors were pushed open by two expressionless soldiers of the Presidential Guard.
Lawrence Constantine Stuart, Vice President of the Texas Temporary Governnt, walked in with slightly unsteady steps.
His face was pale, not out of hunger, but because of anger and the humiliating search he had just endured, which was almost an insult to his dignity.
His buttocks were pried apart, and they even stuck fingers inside!
F***!
To hell, this feeling made him feel humiliated.
The banquet hall was decorated in an exquisite yet understated manner, the long mahogany dining table covered with a white linen tablecloth set with shiny silver cutlery and crystal glasses.
Paintings depicting scenes from the xican War of Independence hung on the walls.
There was also a portrait of Victor in military uniform.
A gift from a xican painter.
Oh, now the other side is the director of the xican Museum.
Victor sat alone at one end of the long table, leisurely cutting a perfectly grilled steak with a knife and fork. He wore a dark, well-tailored suit without a tie, appearing casual. Hearing the footsteps, he looked up, showing a perfectly tid, almost friendly smile.
This was called a gentleman.
“Vice President Lawrence,”
Victor’s voice was gentle, “Please sit. I hope they didn’t give you too much trouble? These are necessary procedures during extraordinary tis, hope you can understand.”
Lawrence didn’t move, standing at the table, his chest heaving slightly with suppressed anger.
He glanced at the sumptuous food on the table, the roasted steak, fresh salad, steaming bread, and thought of the tragedy happening along the Red River and southern Texas at that very mont, of the soldiers groaning amidst the artillery and the helpless civilians, a wave of nausea rising in his throat.
“Understand?”
Lawrence’s voice was sowhat hoarse due to excitent; he tried to make himself sound like the unyielding heroes facing tyrants in Hollywood movies,
“Victor! I am the Vice President of the Texas Republic, not your prisoner! You let your n search like… like a piece of luggage! This is a great insult to and the country I represent!”
Victor squinted, his expression slightly contracting.
“Insult?” he softly repeated, smiling as he spoke, “Mr. Vice President, when your mighty families drove and traded xican workers like livestock, did you consider dignity?”
“When you began trafficking drugs and humans, did you consider their dignity? Don’t talk nonsense with .”
“I am now stronger than you, and I have the right to stand before you and say this.”
His tone remained calm, “Sit down, Lawrence. Standing doesn’t add weight to your protest; instead, it seems sowhat childish. We are all adults, politicians, not gunslingers from a Western movie.”
Lawrence’s face turned red.
He took a deep breath, trying to regain so montum.
“I’m not here to have dinner with you, Mr. Victor!”
He imitated a tough guy tone, “I am here to lodge the strongest protest! Your xican Army’s unprovoked, despicable sneak attack on southern Texas is a blatant act of aggression! It is a blatant trampling of international law and the bottom line of human morality! You must stop military actions imdiately and unconditionally withdraw all troops!”
He gestured outside the window, even though nothing could be seen there: “Otherwise, the people of Texas will make you pay an unbearable price! We will fight to the end! You can deceive all people at so tis, and so people at all tis, but you can never deceive all people at all tis!”
He quoted Lincoln, trying to add weight to his words.
Victor listened quietly, even nodding lightly when he quoted the famous saying, as if in appreciation.
When Lawrence finished speaking, he pointed to the chair opposite him.
“Finished? A well-delivered speech, very powerful. Now, can we sit down and talk? Or would you prefer to stand through this al? The steak won’t taste good if it gets cold; it’s directly shipped from the best ranch in Coahuila.”
His tone was like calming down a child having a tantrum.
Lawrence felt a wave of helplessness.
It was as if he wasn’t facing a person, but a soft yet impenetrable wall. His anger, his protest, seed to have no effect on the other person at all, and this profound sense of defeat almost suffocated him.
He finally stiffly pulled out a chair and sat down, but his back remained straight, showing no intention to touch the utensils in front of him.
“That’s better.”
Victor nodded, picking up a wine glass and gently swirling the dark red liquid inside, “You call it invasion? No, we call it a special military operation, aid at disarming Paul Stuart’s criminal syndicate, liberating the oppressed people of Texas, preventing a humanitarian disaster, especially the one you voluntarily initiated against the East Bank of Red River. As for international law? We will have plenty of ti to discuss it after we clean up those Texas vermin colluding with drug lords and trafficking humans.”
He took a sip of wine, continuing in that sa calm yet deadly tone:
“You say fight to the end? With what? With your National Guard stuck in the mud of the Red River? With those trust-fund soldiers who flee at the first sign of battle? Or with Paul Stuart’s Gulfstream private jet hidden at Austin Airport, fully fueled and ready to take flight at any mont?”
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