Zacheus ground his teeth and asked, "Then, what does he want before he will be willing to let Tom go?"
Carmen hesitated for a moment before she said awkwardly, "Charlie said that he would let Tom work a s a seaman on his ship for three years. Tom will not be allowed to leave the ship at all during these three years, let alone set foot on ground. He will only be able to regain his freedom after three years."
"F*ck!" Zacheus immediately burned with rage as he roared angrily, "Is this a f*cking joke? He wants my son to work as a seaman for him for three years?! Who does he think he is?! If he does not return my son to m e today, I'll make sure that he pays for it!"
Carmen persuaded, "Zacheus, listen to my advice. Charlie is not someone you can afford to mess with. Even I cannot afford to offend him. If you offend him, h e will deal with you arbitrarily. Even my father would not side with me at all. Now that Tom has already fallen into his hands, no one will be able to save him, including you and me." 3
"What?!" Zacheus gritted his teeth as he questioned, " You mean that, I, Zacheus Zielinski, who has already lived for more than fifty years, would not be a match for a bratty offspring of the Wade family?!"
Carmen truly wanted to tell Zacheus that even the two male heirs from the Schulz family who were around Zacheus's age could not escape Charlie's clutches at all, let alone him. However, she did not dare to say this to Zacheus, because she knew very well in her heart that if she betrayed Charlie, Charlie would never let her off.
So, she could only try her best to convince and persuade him, "Zacheus, I advise you to accept this matter calmly. As for Tom, although he would have to suffer some hardships over the next three years, this i s the best solution at the moment."
Zacheus said coldly, "Carmen Wade, the Wade family i s really too much! Aren't you just trying to protect your nephew? Even if that is the case, there is no need for you to use my son’s future as a price, right?! Besides, d o you honestly think that I, Zacheus Zielinski, am a three-year-old child? Do you actually think that I’d willingly allow my son to go off wandering in the sea for three years just because you've persuaded me a few times?! Let me tell you, this is all your wishful thinking!"
Carmen was anxious, and she blurted out, "Zacheus Zielinski! Don't you understand sincere advice?! That nephew of mine cannot wait to trample all over me. I'd rather defend or protect a dog instead of him! The reason why I'm persuading you right now is because I'm thinking of what's best for both you and Tom. I'm standing on the same side as you, and I'm trying my best to protect both of you. If you can listen to my
advice and bear with it, this matter will end with Tom. However, if you refuse to listen to my advice and if you are going to find fault with Charlie, I can bet that there is an eighty percent probability that you'll end u p going on board the ship with Tom!” 3
Zacheus was still not entirely convinced, and he took Carmen's advice with a grain of salt as he said, “I’ll call Lord Wade now and ask him to administer justice! I don’t believe that he'd allow his grandson to bully people like this!"
Carmen was completely helpless as she said, "Fine. As long as you do not overestimate yourself and try to find fault with Charlie, you can go ahead and give my father a call and see what he is going to say about this."
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