“Nora, call him Uncle,” L said as they stood outside the gates of the kindergarten at 4:30 in the afternoon.


    L held Nora’s tiny hand and pointed to Mason.


    Nora timidly replied, “Hello, Uncle.”


    L then gestured towards Mason’s two henchmen. “And say hi to your uncles too!”


    Dennis and Jeremy Raymond chuckled awkwardly at having to put on a fake smile for a little girl. It was quite out of character for them, considering their rough demeanor as thugs.


    Mason knelt down and scooped up Nora into his arms. “Ha ha! My lovely niece! Come here and give me a kiss!”


    Later that afternoon, Mason joined L in leaving the Lowe Family Mansion together with Dennis and Jeremy in tow. He even invited L over for some gambling at his Gold Coast Club.


    If he won, it would be considered L’s victory; if he lost, it would be on him.


    Knowing that L wasing to pick up Norater that day, Mason decided to tag along with his henchmen who were now responsible for escorting her safely back home from school every day.


    L didn’t need Mason’s protection, so he set his sights on getting closer to the child. He tried every trick in the book to get closer to L.


    Nora seemed a bit ufortable being held by Mason, and when she called out “Daddy!” she turned her head and looked at L for help.


    Miranda scolded her brother for being too familiar with Nora, saying “Why kissing? She doesn’t even know you.”


    Mason chuckled awkwardly and muttered under his breath, “But I’m her uncle…”


    That night, Mason treated everyone to dinner. By the end of the meal, Nora had warmed up to him enough that she gave him a kiss on the cheek.


    Mason was known as an intimidating figure but now he wasughing like a flower in bloom.


    Miranda couldn’t believe how close her little brother had gotten with her husband.


    As they left the private room after dinner, Mason still held onto Nora like a doting uncle. “Nora, am I handsome?”


    “You’re handsome! But not as handsome as my Daddy!” Nora replied without hesitation – never forgetting who really mattered most in this family dynamic.Material ? N?velDrama.Org.


    At that moment, a few people walked towards them with the guidance of a waiter.


    “Hey, isn’t that Mr. Lowe?” One of them saw Mason and teased him.


    The group consisted of three men and two women, all dressed in military uniforms. The man who spoke was of average build with a crew cut and square face. His eyes carried a hint of yfulness as he looked at Mason.


    The other two men in uniform had simr expressions on their faces.


    One of the women was none other than Zak’s daughter, Scarlet. The other was her best friend, also quite pretty.


    “Oh, it’s you, Mr. Brooks! And Scarlet too? I’m done eating; take your time and let the manager know if you need anything.” Mason smiled faintly as he greeted them.


    This Golden Family Hotel belonged to the Lowe family after all; so naturally Mason spoke like its owner would.


    “Don’t leave yet! Let’s have some drinks together!” Stephen Brooks tugged at Mason’s cor eagerly.


    “Yeah! Let’s have some drinks!”


    “Mr. Lowe, you’re not giving face?” The other two young menughed and said.


    Mason furrowed his brow and discreetly removed Stephen’s hand from his arm. After ncing at Scarlet, Mason turned to his own people and said, “Sis, bro-inw, you guys go ahead. I’ll have a few drinks then head down.”


    “Don’t drink too much!” Miranda cautioned.


    L also nced at Scarlet and sighed inwardly. Last time Zak had even made his daughter call him elder brother while this time it seemed like she didn’t even recognize him.


    It looked like asking for Zak’s help in promoting the new medicine in the military had caused some resentment on their end. After the vi was delivered as a gift, it seemed that their rtionship might be over.


    However, after L andpany left the hotel they waited in the car for half an hour but still no sign of Masoning down.


    “What’s going on? Is this kid gonna get drunk again?” Miranda furrowed her brow.


    “I’ll go check.” L paused, gesturing for Miranda to look at Nora, before heading back into the hotel. As he approached the private dining area, he could hear mockingughtering from inside.


    “I mean seriously Mason, you can’t hold your liquor? You’re already puking after just a few drinks?”


    “Look at you. Do you really think you have a chance with Scarlet?”


    As he entered the room, he saw Mason hunched over and vomiting into a trash can while Stephen pushed a full ss of white wine in front of him.


    “Drink up! You have to finish it! I’ve already downed an entire bottle and you can’t even handle half? Are you trying to act like some kind of gentleman here?” Stephen said in his usual domineering tone.


    “That’s right! Today we’ll see who has better drinking skills between Mason and Stephen. Whoever loses has to stay away from Scarlet!” Orion Moore chimed in alongside ke Kelly.


    Both ke and Orion were just as much yboys as Stephen was. They all came from influential families with strong backgrounds, but now served under Zak’smand within Ednd’s Garrison Command.


    Stephen was also pursuing Scarlet so he had no qualms about tormenting Mason like this. After finally finishing his bout of vomiting, Mason looked pale as if he had drunk himself silly.


    “Don’t drink if you can’t handle it!” Scarlet nced at Mason and said expressionlessly.


    “Drink! Who says I can’t drink?” Mason gritted his teeth in front of Scarlet.


    “Good! Haha… Come on, let’s finish this ss!” Stephen grinned and ced the ss of white wine in front of Mason with a bang.


    “You won’t die from drinking…” ke sneered under his breath.


    Just then, they saw L walk in.


    “Who’s this guy?” Orion asked.


    “My brother-inw.”


    Mason’s eyes flickered when he saw L, “L, why are you here? You can go with my sister first, no need to wait for me! I… I want to drink more with my friends.”


    He was slurring his words from drinking too much and felt embarrassed that L had seen him like this.


    “It’s okay. It’s good to hang out with friends and have a few drinks. I will stay with you for a while!”


    “Come on, let’s finish it!” L patted Mason’s back as he spoke.


    Mason looked at L with a strange expression, thinking to himself, “Is this guy trying to kill me like Stephen and the others?”


    But the next second, Mason felt a rush of heat flow into his body from his back, making him feel invigorated.


    “Let’s do this!” Mason picked up the white wine in front of him and chugged it down!


    His face had turned pale from drinking earlier but suddenly became flushed with color.


    As the warm currents flowed into his body, arge amount of alcohol fumes escaped through his head while still warming up his internal organs.


    Mason’s stomach had been burning earlier but now feltfortably warm.


    “What? Is heing back to life?” Stephen was surprised when he saw Mason gulp down the drink in one go.


    The next second, Stephen’s gaze towards Mason became dark and filled with coldughter. Was he trying topete with him?


    Competing in drinking was simply foolish! Stephen’s uncle owned a liquorpany instead of pursuing military career so he grew up surrounded by barrels of alcohol.


    His record showed that he had downed 2kg of liquor and three bottles of red wine, all mixed together, without getting drunk. Scarlet was surprised when she saw Mason like this, her beautiful eyes sparkling.


    “Wow, Mr. Lowe is willing to risk his life for his beloved? Don’t drink until you vomit blood!” Scarlet’s friend covered her mouth andughed teasingly.