Capítulo 1436: Chapter 685: If You Won’t Do It, Plenty of Others Will! (Part 2)
Lawrence’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Victor observed his reaction and sneered, “It seems you’re not entirely in the know, or perhaps you’re just a pawn left behind to stall for ti?”
“Your brother is nothing more than a cowardly bug!”
He set down his glass, leaned slightly forward, and stared sharply at Lawrence, “Let make things clearer, Mr. Vice President; Southern Texas is mine now, Red River frontline, Paul won’t hold on for much longer. As for Austin, its fall is only a matter of ti. Paul’s speeches might incite so passionate youth to throw their lives away, but it won’t change the outco of the war.”
“Now, sitting here, you don’t represent the soon-to-be-defunct Texas Republic, you can only represent yourself.”
Victor’s voice lowered, yet carried an even stronger sense of oppression, “You can choose to continue pledging loyalty to the President who abandoned you, preparing to escape alone, and be nailed alongside him to the pillar of historical sha, or…”
He paused, leaving Lawrence ti to think.
“Or, you can make a wiser choice. A choice that might reduce further needless bloodshed and restore order to Texas quickly. After all, once the war is over, soone has to manage this land.”
Lawrence Constantine Stuart sat there, the previous anger and courage vanished, replaced by despair and confusion.
Victor’s words peeled away all the glamorous facade layer by layer like an onion, exposing the cruel and real core underneath.
The steak in front of him still emitted its fragrance, but he felt only a storm in his stomach. Outside, a distant rumble seed to echo once again, whether it was thunder or artillery, he did not know.
He knew a difficult choice had been rcilessly placed before him, and this ti, no Hollywood script could tell him how to act.
Lawrence Constantine Stuart’s fingers trembled slightly on the tablecloth, Victor’s words precisely dissecting the precarious reality of Texas, piercing the shell of dignity he had fought to maintain.
His throat felt dry, images of his brother Paul passionately speaking in front of the cara flashed in his mind, scenes of the family ranch under the sunset, and the faces of the young n who may have already died on the Red River shores.
He took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound firm, carrying a hint of familial legacy, that Texan stubbornness and sorrow:
“Mr. Victor, you may conquer our land, crush our cities with steel and fire, but so things you cannot conquer.”
He raised his head, attempting to et Victor’s inscrutable eyes, “That is loyalty and bloodline. Paul is my brother, he’s Texas’s lawfully elected leader, while I might not agree with his every decision, I will never betray him while my people and army still fight bravely! I will not betray my own brother, nor will I betray my state! The Stuart family has no traitors!”
He used nearly all his strength to say these words.
This fit the script in his mind, the unyielding tough guy, generously sacrificing himself for his principles.
Victor’s mild facade vanished instantly without a trace.
He seed to be hearing an exceptionally clumsy joke, first pulling a twisted smile then bursting into loud laughter, the sound echoing in the elegantly decorated banquet hall, particularly jarring.
“Hahaha! Loyalty? Bloodline? The Stuart family has no traitors?”
Victor’s laughter abruptly ceased, his gaze fixed on Lawrence’s face.
“Are you fucking playing cowboy with ? You think you’re John Wayne?!”
Before he had finished speaking, Victor suddenly grabbed the nearly untouched, juicy steak in front of him, and hurled at and plate fiercely at Lawrence’s face!
“Bang!”
The porcelain plate shattered instantly upon Lawrence’s forehead, scalding juices and black pepper sauce splashed over his face, blood imdiately oozed from the skin cut by shards, mixing with the sauce and flowing down. Lawrence was stunned by the sudden attack, shouted in pain, and almost toppled over with his chair.
Before he could react, Victor had already rounded the dining table like an enraged lion, his movent astonishingly quick.
He grabbed Lawrence by the hair and slamd his head fiercely onto the solid mahogany table!
“Thud!” A muffled sound.
“Ugh!” Lawrence’s vision went dark with pain, and nosebleed spurted out.
“Loyalty?! You’re loyal my ass!”
Victor’s face twisted with fury, he roared into Lawrence’s ear, spittle splattering onto the other’s face,
“Your bastard brother Paul is now thinking about how to flee with money, leaving you here like an idiot to await death! And you’re talking to about fucking bloodline?!”
While speaking, Victor’s left hand pressed down firmly on Lawrence’s struggling arm, and his right hand suddenly grabbed the gleaming carving knife on the table!
“No! Don’t!!”
Lawrence saw the glint of the blade, scread in terror, struggling desperately, but Victor’s strength was terrifying, impossible to break free.
“I’ve given you face! Offered you a way out and you won’t take it?!”
Victor’s voice hoarse and frantic, with a sense of pleasure in tearing away all pretenses, “Enjoy playing the tough guy? I’ll let you play to your heart’s content!”
Before his words were finished, he raised the carving knife high, unhesitatingly stabbing it fiercely into Lawrence’s right hand pressed on the table!
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