Getting Drunk

Seeing Thea's blank expression as she stared at him, Malcolm, with years of experience, didn't know what to say to ease the awkward atmosphere. Despite his usually eloquent nature, not a single word could come out of his mouth. He silently cursed his lack of vocabulary!

He wanted to ask if there was something wrong with Thea, if she had overheard something. But looking at her dazed expression, even a fool would know that she had heard everything she shouldn't have. He regretted enthusiastically coming to the Queen house today to propose! Why didn't he investigate beforehand? With his intelligence gathering skills, he could have definitely uncovered this truth! He couldn't even bring himself to speak about it now.

Thea felt that her life was now completely safe, and she could almost call it a day. She maintained her blank expression, her face feeling stiff. She wanted to squeeze out some tears, but lacking in acting skills, she couldn't produce any tears. All she could manage was a heavy sigh before turning and running away quickly.

"Thea—" Moira shouted hoarsely from behind. Thea could only apologize to Moira in her heart for using her love for her own benefit. Hopefully, she could make it up to her in the future.

Running out of the house, Thea found a luxurious bar and proceeded to act out the second act of the runaway maiden – getting drunk!

Thea wasn't worried about being taken advantage of. In such a luxurious place, the bar owner must have intricate connections with Malcolm behind the scenes. On the contrary, smaller bars were more dangerous. Her suspicions were proven correct as this bar was owned by Malcolm's men. They were the staunch type, and the boss had instructed them to take care of the girl. Malcolm had repeated this several times, scaring the bar owner almost into treating Thea like his own mother. He arranged several burly men with thick muscles to stand around her as human shields, making sure they faced outward to avoid intimidating her.

He also instructed the DJ to change to a softer song. The DJ looked puzzled, but the boss's orders had to be followed. What if the customer wasn't satisfied? Tough luck! The bar owner was too preoccupied to attend to the customers himself. What if the place wasn't busy enough? The boss quickly contacted all his relatives to come over. As they danced to the soft song, twisting their waists and shaking their heads wildly, creating a wild atmosphere.

"Boss, what drink should we serve to that girl?" asked the bartender's apprentice, rushing over.

The bar owner said grimly, "Show some respect and call her a lady! Do you understand? Say it again."

The apprentice highly suspected that his boss's late-stage bipolar disorder had flared up today, but seeing his boss's expression, he obediently lowered his head and said, "Yes, boss. What drink should we serve to that lady?"

This question stumped the bar owner. Should they serve strong liquor? It would be convenient if the girl passed out after two drinks, but it would be harmful to her body. Would the big boss appreciate how he treated his target? This method seemed convenient and efficient, but it would lead to a disastrous end for his whole family!

Should they serve low-proof alcohol? The bar owner felt that it wouldn't be satisfying for the girl to drink. Plus, he had to accompany her to prevent her from being harassed by thugs. Thea wasn't stunningly beautiful, but she was a rare beauty, just a bit young and not fully developed yet. Considering factors such as age, hair color, and facial features, the bar owner felt that the girl resembled his big boss!

After much deliberation, he decided to show loyalty and let her drink slowly. He could only keep an eye on her today! The friendly match he had arranged with his third mistress would have to be postponed! He also ordered his men to prepare weapons, just in case any brainless thugs showed up. They had to handle it outside the door and not disturb this young lady!

Seeing his boss's anxious expression, the apprentice asked softly, "Boss, who is she?"

Thea had never appeared in nightclubs before due to her strict upbringing, so how could he know who she was! He had some guesses based on Malcolm's tone – if anything happened to her, even Superman couldn't save him. Although he had some guesses, there was no need to explain to the apprentice. He grumbled, "She's my mother!"

Damn it! The apprentice's mind was in turmoil. Not only did his boss have bipolar disorder, but his intelligence had also degraded! Should he go to the job market tomorrow and submit a few resumes?

Unaware of the bar owner's dilemma, Thea continued to drink one glass after another, lost in her thoughts. Her plan for the day had been successful, and her life was now completely safe. Should she consider strengthening herself now?

They say that the poor rely on mutation while the rich rely on technology. As the sole heir of the Queen Group, the only other inheritor besides Merlyn Group, she couldn't be considered poor. But the current technology couldn't make her into Iron Man. Malcolm's immense hidden wealth was achieved through martial arts training, just like Batman's many high-tech gadgets were used for hand-to-hand combat! It seemed that in this world, only Atom went the route of enhancing his suit. However, even his suit was quite rudimentary, more similar to Ant-Man's suit than Iron Man's Mark series.

And Iron Man also trained hard when no one was around. Didn't she see him in Captain America: Civil War? Even without his armor, he could hold his own against the Winter Soldier for a couple of moves. The Winter Soldier's combat prowess should be similar to her dear brother Green Arrow. Circling back to her original thought, she still needed martial arts training, right?

But she didn't want to end up like Oliver, with 20% of her body covered in scars, second-degree burns on her back and arms, and 18 broken bones. That didn't fit Thea's current aesthetic standards. She definitely couldn't go down that path!

Maybe she could hang around during an explosion in some cutting-edge research lab and awaken some kind of superpower? But from what she remembers, that usually requires frequent deaths as a condition, and the lab was still under construction. By the time it was finished, it would be six years later, and her storyline had already begun for a year.

Perhaps she just needed to focus on archery and reduce the hand-to-hand combat aspects? She should ask Malcolm if there were any training methods for smaller physique, assuming he was willing to teach.

Thinking about archery reminded her of Oliver. Her dear brother was probably on Lian Yu Island playing bird-catching with Yao Fei. She chided herself for her wandering thoughts. Yao Fei was also a peculiar person; despite being proficient in English, Yao Fei insisted on speaking Chinese to Oliver every day, leaving him utterly bewildered. His mantra was "Survive, survive."

Thinking of this, she wanted to laugh, but then she suddenly realized that someone was watching her. Her smile faded halfway, turning into an ugly grimace.

This scene happened to be captured by the bar owner, who was a young artist in his youth. To onlookers unaware of the situation, it looked like a runaway girl drinking her sorrows away, lost in thought, occasionally smiling bitterly.