Substitute Marriage With the Illegitimate Son novel Chapter 479

It was dawn of the following morning when Patrick came back home.

His face was ghastly pale, as though he had aged ten years over the span of one night. His shirt was also creased all over.

He dragged his tired body to the living room and sank into the sofa.

Elissa and Ritchie had been waiting for him to come home.

They exchanged glances. Ritchie went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water for his father. "How'd it go, Dad?" he asked anxiously.

Patrick ignored the water. He rubbed his temples and sighed heavily. "Ethan has found out about our secret force. We'll have to sacrifice it for the sake of the bigger picture."

Hearing this, Ritchie and Elissa looked at each other and all the color drained from their faces.

The Lester family's "secret force" was cultivated by Patrick when they first came to Seacisco. It took care of the nasty, under-the-table deals in the dark. It had been there for the Lester family for at least two decades.

With a cold, stony expression, Patrick stood up and declared, "From now on, you two have little to no power in the Lester family. You'd better behave yourselves from now on!"

After saying that, Patrick stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

Elissa and Ritchie were speechless.

Elissa sat on the sofa wordlessly, looking dispirited.

She was in deep trouble this time.

In the hospital in Barnes, Ethan had just gotten off the phone.

His eyes landed on the TV, which was broadcasting news about a gang being sieged by the police.

"It's been really dangerous lately. This sort of thing has been happening every day. I heard that the cinema collapsed because it was blown up by gangsters as well." Holding a basin of warm water, Janet strode in and fixed her eyes on the TV.

Ethan pointed the remote at the TV and turned it off. "There'll always be bad guys," he said lazily.

What he didn't tell Janet was that he was the one behind the destruction of the Lester family's secret force, which was a major blow to Patrick. The Lester family patriarch had failed to salvage what he had built over the last two decades. He was weak now.

A trace of imperceptible contempt flashed in Ethan's eyes.

But it was a pity that he was cooped up in the hospital and couldn't deal with the Lester family himself. His subordinates were doing most of the work. If it were up to him, he'd have liked to see the desperate look on Patrick's face.

Janet shrugged and proceeded to put the basin on the bedside table. She dipped a towel in it, wrung out the excess water, and then strode over to Ethan to wipe his arms.