Hearing the report of the person who came, Carlos instantly shuddered, his heart panicked.

The Bransons actually came so soon. What should they do?

“Mr. Carlos, we’d better hurry out to receive the Bransons. Don’t let them get angry,” one of the Stones immediately said to Carlos.

“Yes, that’s right!” The panic-stricken Carlos seemed to have found his backbone and nodded again and again. “Quickly, come out with me to greet the Bransons!”

Carlos took the lead and ran toward the gates of the Stone residence with a large group of the Stones behind him.

Seeing the crowd rushing toward the entrance, Maddy stood still with a look of disappointment and a sarcastic smile on her face.

Grandpa is right. Dad isn’t someone who can take on an important role like the family’s helmsman.

In the face of an emergency, all he did was panic and lose control of himself. He couldn’t even come up with his own idea and just listened to the opinions of others.

Besides, what if the Bransons came?

The Bransons were indeed one of the eight top families in DC and extremely powerful, but the Stones weren’t weak either. In DC, they were second only to the eight top families.

The Stones were naturally no match for the Bransons, but if the Bransons wanted to destroy the Stones, it wouldn’t be easy either. They would definitely have to pay a huge price.

The eight families of DC were evenly matched, and there was also some rivalry between them. If any family was struck hard, they would definitely face the coveting and attacks of the other families. They might even be annihilated as a result.

Thus, as long as the Stones realized this point and used it to their advantage, the Bransons wouldn’t really dare to wipe out the Stones because the price of doing so would be too high. The Bransons wouldn’t dare to take the risk at all.

But Carlos couldn’t realize this at all. All he knew was that he was in a weaker position and spinelessly viewed the Bransons as menacing beasts.

Now that he had led so many members of the Stones to the entrance to receive the Bransons in such a subservient manner, this would only make the Bransons look down on them and despise them even more and allow the Bransons to manipulate them.

Even if the Stones managed to save themselves by being subservient to the Bransons this time, the latter would only continue treating them as pushovers and possibly even make them their servants. The Stones would never be able to hold their heads high again!

With Carlos’s approaching, let alone staying as a second-rate family, the Stones would likely soon become a third-rate family.

But at this moment, Carlos didn’t know what Maddy was thinking. He was standing at the entrance with all the direct members of the Stones to welcome the Bransons respectfully with their waists bowed and heads lowered.

“I’m Carlos Stone, the head of the Stone family. My family and I are here to welcome you!”

They were behaving as if they were the Bransons’ servants.

The Bransons were getting out of their cars with a powerful aura at this moment.

The middle-aged man at the front had a chubby face, and he obviously wasn’t to be trifled with. He was Eric Branson, Mark’s father!

Eric was now in his fifties, and he had been announced as the next helmsman of the Bransons several years ago. Now, he had control over more than half of the Bransons’ businesses. Thus, he was now the second most powerful person in the family, and before long, he would become the actual helmsman.

Behind him were two tall bodyguards dragging a woman out of the car by her hair.

The hair of the woman being dragged out was in a terrible mess, and her body was covered in dirt and footprints. In particular, her face was bruised, swollen, and covered in slap marks. She had obviously received a hard beating.

Even Maddy wouldn’t be able to recognize her now.

Indeed, the woman who had been beaten horribly was Becky, Mark’s girlfriend who had provoked Maddy.

This was a demonstration of authority!

Carlos, who was already scared, became even more frightened after seeing the disheveled and terribly beaten woman. Even his calves began trembling.

“Carlos Stone, you’re quite courageous. I’ve already given you an hour to bring your daughter and her boyfriend to the Bransons to confess. How dare you ignore my instructions? Now, I’ve had to come and demand an explanation from you!” Eric stared into Carlos’s eyes coldly.

Carlos’s legs went limp, and he almost fell to his knees. He said with fear on his face, “Mr. Branson… I absolutely don’t dare to ignore you, but my unfilial daughter is rebellious now that she’s grown up. She doesn’t listen to me at all!”

“She has already cut off all ties with the Stones. There’s nothing I can do!”

Eric sneered and mocked relentlessly, “Nothing you can do? Hah, Carlos, do you take me for a fool? You should have brought them to me even if you had to tie them up!

“How dare you tell me now that there’s nothing you can do? How ridiculous! I can’t believe you’re the head of the Stones. Are you that incompetent? You’re indeed a good-for-nothing!”

Carlos’s face turned pale, but he didn’t dare to argue. He just kept saying, “Mr. Branson, please calm down. Calm down!”

He was already terrified. He originally thought that someone else would come from the Bransons, but it turned out that it was Eric Branson himself. Now, the Stones were in an even worse predicament.

“Calm down, my ass! Hand over the two murderers who killed my son. Otherwise, none of you will be able to escape!” Eric roared angrily.

Of course, he wouldn’t really fight the Stones to the death. He only wanted the Stones to hand over Maddy and Jordan and compensate with a massive amount of money and assets. After all, the dead couldn’t come back to life. Killing all the Stones wouldn’t be able to bring his son back to life.

But seeing how cowardly and subservient Carlos was, Eric began developing more ideas. If he seized all the Stones’ assets, he would definitely gain great credit.

Carlos was now scared out of his wits. When he heard Eric telling him to hand over Maddy and Jordan, he had no other choice. He yelled at Maddy, who was more than ten meters away, “Unfilial wench, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and come here to beg Mr. Branson for forgiveness.

“And Jordan, didn’t you say you were going to take full responsibility for this? Now that Mr. Mark’s father is here, you should immediately get your ass over here and use your death to apologize!”