Dominance of the ex-con Son-in-law

Chapter 4

“Lila, you'd have to go inside first with your bodyguards, I still have no idea why you need to have that many bodyguards,” Kadmiel said as he pulled up their vehicle at the entrance of the hotel they would be staying.

He expected her to argue, but surprisingly, she pecked him on the cheek. “What was that for?”

“My compensation, for you being such a dickhead. See you inside.” She opened the car door and stepped out.

Kadmiel could not do anything else but smile, then pulled into the parking lot, waited a few minutes then stepped out.

***

“Look who it is,” a sharp voice cut through the bustling crowd at the hotel lobby. “The fallen son-in-law.”

Kadmiel stopped while walking, he took off his sunglasses to look.

Slowly, he turned, already recognising the tone before his eyes even found the speaker.

Agnes stood there, tall and immaculately dressed in a flowing gown that announced wealth more than it displayed it.

Her expression carried the kind of disdain only years of practised superiority could perfect.

Beside her, was Daniel, Bella’s younger brother. He wore an expensive jacket tossed open like a costume, his smile was wide, mocking, already preparing for sport.

“What a coincidence,” Daniel said loudly, “Meeting you here of all places. Did you come to steal the silverware from the restaurant too?”

Several people chuckled before hurrying along, but Agnes did not laugh. She merely looked Kadmiel up and down, as if appraising a stain on fine fabric.

“You still show your face in public? How are you out so early?” she asked, her voice laced with venom. “After everything?”

Kadmiel smiled. “Well, I was let out early for good behaviour and also everything I did for Bella was love. If she chose to end it, that was between us."

“Love?” Daniel barked out a laugh, coming closer to Kadmiel. “Is that what you call draining her account? Taking advantage of her kindness while pretending to be some tragic hero? Come on, Kadmiel, at least own it. You were a parasite, and everyone knows it.”

“That’s a lie,” Kadmiel said calmly, though his voice carried enough steel to make several people nearby pause.

“I never touched Bella’s money. Not a single coin. Our marriage ended because she wanted it to end, not because I stole from her.”

“How is the divorce procedure going?” Agnes asked.

“Smooth actually, signed the papers earlier today. I admit, there were some faults on my side, she should not be blamed.”

Agnes scoffed loudly. “You think? Quite intelligent of you, but let me tell you something, you would never have been able to squeeze a dime out of Bella even if you were a free man. I would have made sure of that.”

"You say you never took her money? Do you expect anyone to believe that? My daughter had to clean up your failures time and time again. A man who could not provide, who couldn’t protect her and constantly hid behind excuses.”

“Careful, mom,” Daniel added with a smirk. “He’s sensitive. Say too much and he might cry.”

Kadmiel’s eyes flicked to him, sharp and assessing, but he didn’t rise to the bait. He had stood in war zones where men shouted worse. Daniel, however, wanted a spectacle.

“I bet you still have some of the money she gave to you, or should I say you took from her,” Agnes said.

“Like I said, I have never taken a penny from her.” Kadmiel responded and turned to walk away.

“Wait, if you are telling the truth, why don't you let Daniel here search you, obviously I know you can't have any money on you right now, because of where you are coming from. So why don't we search? Daniel search him.” Agnes fired.

“Here let me see your pockets,” Daniel started and Kadmiel was not having that, he grabbed Daniel's arm, but not enough for him to feel any pain.

As if on cue, the younger man suddenly stumbled forward, clutching his arm with a loud groan. “Ah! He hit me!” he cried, staggering back and bumping into a passerby. “Didn’t you see it? He just struck me!”

Heads turned instantly. Gasps rippled through the entrance as several bystanders stopped, watching the scene unfold.

Daniel held his arm dramatically, his expression twisted in false pain, his voice pitched just right to catch attention.

“Security!” Agnes snapped, her voice cutting the air. “Are you just standing there? This criminal put his hands on my son!”

Two hotel guards hesitated, disbelief in their faces, they did not know whether to carry out their duty. Kadmiel had not moved an inch from where he stood. His face was calm, as if he were the only one not swept into the farce.

“You’re embarrassing yourself, Daniel,” Kadmiel said, his tone cold but steady. “If I had touched you, you wouldn’t be standing.”

The words hung in the air, not shouted, not loud, but sharp enough to silence the whispers for a moment.

Daniel faltered, his act slipping for a fraction before he caught himself again, clutching his arm tighter.

“Did you hear that? He’s threatening me now. Typical. Always hiding his violence behind that frozen face.”

Agnes’s glare deepened, her voice rising with practised outrage. “This is the man my daughter wasted years on. Worthless, violent, shameless. Do you see now? He doesn’t just fail as a husband, he fails as a man.”

Murmurs swept through the small crowd. A few people nodded along, others looked uncertain.

Kadmiel stood like stone, absorbing every word without flinching. It wasn’t the first time he’d been publicly humiliated, and it would not be the last.

Then his gaze shifted.

For the first time since their encounter began, his attention locked onto something unexpected.

Around Agnes’s neck, dangling delicately on a thin chain of gold, was a pendant. Not just any ornament, it was his.

The heirloom he told Bella to bring to him.

Generations of his family had carried it, a token that had passed from father to son.

He remembered the night he put it on Bella's neck, her fingers played with it absentmindedly as she laughed about how old-fashioned it looked.

She had said she would bring it to him, and apparently, he had not gotten any news from her about it. So here it was, shining against her mother’s throat as if it belonged to her.

Kadmiel’s calm broke, replaced by a force beneath his voice. “That pendant.”

Agnes blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in his tone. “What?”

“That pendant,” he repeated, his voice low but unyielding. He stepped closer, enough that the guards instinctively tensed again. “It does not belong to you. It belongs to me. Return it.”

Agnes instinctively touched the necklace, fingers curling protectively over the jewel. “This?” she asked with feigned innocence.

“Bella gave it to me. A gift from her unworthy marriage. Why should I return it?”

“Because it was never hers to give,” Kadmiel said, each word deliberate. “It is a family heirloom. You have no right to wear it, let alone claim it.”

Daniel, sensing his mother falter, jumped in quickly. “Oh, now you want jewellery back? Is that it? First, you milk Bella dry, then you come clawing after her family’s kindness. Pathetic.”

But Kadmiel didn’t even glance at him. His focus remained locked on Agnes. His voice, though quiet, pressed like a weight against the air.

“That pendant carries my bloodline. My mother wore it. It was entrusted to me long before Bella entered my life. You may mock me, insult me, slander me in front of strangers, but that…” His eyes cut to the necklace. “…that is mine. And I will have it returned.”

Agnes’s lips parted, but no sound came out at first.

For a fleeting second, the bravado slipped, revealing uncertainty beneath. Then Daniel’s voice surged again, louder, desperate to reclaim control of the scene.

“Don’t listen to him, Mom. He is just trying to trap you. He wants money, not that piece of junk. Let him bark all he wants.”

The bystanders who had mocked earlier now looked closer, sensing truth in Kadmiel’s words. Agnes’s hand trembled faintly as she gripped the pendant, though her chin remained lifted high.

Kadmiel did not move closer, nor did he shout or threaten. He only stood there, unbending, his eyes piercing through the pretence.

“Return it,” he said again, softer this time, but sounding like a command.

Agnes drew in a sharp breath. Her lips tightened, her pride battling with the gravity in his voice.