Chapter 388: Chapter 388: The Sound of Breaking Bones

With a sharp "SNAP," Joyce Lawson’s grandmother shuddered, her entire body freezing stiff.

Her eyes flew wide, filled with disbelief and shock. It seemed she never imagined that her granddaughter—always so filial, obedient, and compliant—would dare to defy her today!

She had just snapped her thumb!

As the old saying goes, the ten fingers are linked to the heart.

As a piercing agony shot through her, Joyce Lawson’s grandmother trembled from head to toe.

Beads of sweat instantly broke out on her forehead. She fought the urge to scream, but with her mouth sealed by duct tape, all her wails were choked back down her throat.

Feeling the tremors from the woman behind her, Joyce Lawson’s eyes were cold and devoid of any pity.

She clutched the broken thumb tightly, tilted her head slightly, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "’Does it hurt? ...Grandma, do you remember when I was twelve? I ate a piece of meat that fell on the table, and you smashed four of my fingers for it.’"

Joyce’s tone was light, as if she were discussing something trivial.

Ever since Gregory Lawson was born, Joyce Lawson’s grandmother had increasingly favored the boy. She decreed that all the best food and drink in the house belonged to Gregory, even forbidding Joyce from eating meat.

One time, Joyce saw a scrap of ground meat fall on the table. Unable to resist, she secretly picked it up and ate it.

Unexpectedly, Joyce Lawson’s grandmother flew into a rage on the spot. She cursed Joyce, calling her a gluttonous fiend, and then smashed four of Joyce’s fingers with a brick.

Although the broken fingers eventually healed, Joyce would never forget that piercing pain for the rest of her life.

Joyce Lawson’s grandmother didn’t seem to hear what Joyce said. Even if she had, she was in no condition to respond now.

The excruciating pain radiating from her hand made it impossible to think. At her age, how could she possibly endure such agony!

But even so, Joyce had no intention of letting her go.

She released the grandmother’s thumb, grabbed her index finger, and with another vicious twist—SNAP!—she broke that one, too.

The world went black for Joyce Lawson’s grandmother. She broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, and her heart began to seize.

When the third finger was snapped, Joyce Lawson’s grandmother couldn’t take it anymore and passed out from the sheer pain.

Noticing her grandmother go limp behind her, Joyce expressionlessly dropped the old woman’s hand.

She sneered inwardly. ’I didn’t even pass out when she broke four of my fingers back then...’

The commotion from Joyce’s side didn’t disturb the others. At that moment, Yvonne York and Mason Lawson’s entire focus was on their precious son, Gregory Lawson.

Seeing that Yvonne York still refused to agree, Drake Lowell sneered, a savage look on his face. He lifted his foot again and kicked Gregory Lawson’s chest with all his might!

With a sharp

"CRACK,"

several of Gregory Lawson’s ribs snapped! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

His body trembled violently, his face as pale as a sheet.

Drake Lowell ripped the rag from Gregory Lawson’s mouth. A large mouthful of fresh blood immediately spewed out, staining the front of his shirt red.

The sight made both Yvonne York and Mason Lawson break down completely.

Only Joyce Lawson remained unmoved. Her heart was utterly calm. Instead, she found herself thinking, ’It’s nice to be young. Even the sound of bones breaking is so crisp. Much crisper than Grandma’s.’

Then, Drake Lowell lifted his foot again, this time aiming for Gregory Lawson’s crotch.

Seeing this, Yvonne York and Mason Lawson’s pupils shrank. The couple blurted out in unison—

"Don’t!"

"Stop!"

If that kick landed, Gregory Lawson’s family line would end then and there!

Mason Lawson curled into a ball, slamming his head against the floor with a THUD, THUD. He kowtowed frantically to the two men, screaming, "Please, let my son go! I’m begging you! He’s the only heir to the Lawson family!"

Then he turned and glared at Yvonne York, roaring, "You damn woman! What are you standing there for?! Agree to their terms! Are you just going to stand by and watch them beat our son to death?!"

Hearing Mason Lawson’s words and seeing the blood on her son’s chest, Yvonne York could no longer hold back. She sobbed and cried out to Drake Lowell, "I-I’ll agree! I agree to your terms! ...Please, I’m begging you, let my son go!"

Hearing Yvonne York say this, a triumphant smirk spread across Drake Lowell’s face.

He didn’t kick Gregory Lawson again. Instead, he walked back to Yvonne York, patted her cheek, and said with a mocking laugh, "See? If you’d just agreed earlier, your son wouldn’t have had to take this beating!"

Then he turned to Mason Lawson and asked, "And you? You don’t have a problem with your wife coming with us, do you?"

Seeing the blatant humiliation in Drake Lowell’s eyes, Mason Lawson’s expression turned ugly.

After a long moment, Mason Lawson lowered his head and replied weakly, "...As long as you don’t hurt us, do whatever you want..."

Mason Lawson didn’t dare to resist. He could only hope that the two robbers would keep their promise, spare their lives, and not go back on their word.

Drake Lowell laughed at this. He and Titus Lowell exchanged a glance, then retied all five members of the Lawson family and sealed their mouths one by one with duct tape.

Once they confirmed that all five Lawsons could neither speak nor move, Titus Lowell and Drake Lowell got up, left the bedroom, and walked into the living room.

Looking at the supplies piled in the living room, Titus Lowell lowered his voice and said to Drake Lowell, "Third Brother, go ahead and start moving all this stuff from their living room to 1603."

Drake Lowell looked at the supplies, enough for five people, and scratched his head in frustration. "This is so much stuff... Big Brother, why don’t we just stay here? Our lease is up in a few days anyway. If we stay here, no one will be asking us for rent!"

’We have this perfectly good apartment, 1601, so why bother moving everything? What a hassle!’ Drake Lowell thought.

They had already found out that the Lawsons owned apartment 1601; they weren’t renting. If they just took it over, the place would be theirs!

But Titus Lowell shook his head. He lowered his voice and said, "No, we can’t stay in this apartment..."

"First, we don’t know if they have any relatives in this building. If someone drops by for a visit, one wrong move could create a lot of unnecessary trouble."

"Second, even though the snow has blocked the roads, it will eventually stop. Once it does, if social order hasn’t completely collapsed, the police will definitely come around to investigate."

"If the three of us brothers leave traces of having lived here, we won’t be able to explain it."

Titus Lowell had survived for more than two years in the apocalypse without being blacklisted precisely because of his cautious mindset, always seeking stability even in the midst of danger.

He mulled it over and decided they should move everything to 1603. Then, they would throw the Lawsons out the bedroom window, creating the illusion that the family had committed suicide after running out of supplies and giving up.

Plenty of people were killing themselves these days anyway. Titus Lowell had been quietly observing; just last night, he saw two people jump from the building across the way. They had taken a silent leap, burying themselves in the thick snow.

Hunger and cold were far more terrifying than extreme heat. Prolonged cold drains a person’s will to live. In a few more months, the number of jumpers would surely increase. It would seem perfectly normal for the Lawson family to choose suicide by jumping. When the time came, the police wouldn’t suspect them at all!