REVENGE OF THE MOURNER

It's Not Your Fault

Leon checked Mary's pulse again. After that, he slightly lifted Mary's right hand, pressing his thumb into Mary's palm, at the point between the thumb and forefinger.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Rose asked, panicked.

Leon ignored her. He focused on pressing his thumb down hard. And after a few dozen seconds, Mary's eyes slowly began to open, as did her lips.

"Mom, are you okay?" Rose bent low, moving her face close to Mary's while stroking her mother's hair.

"What... happened?" Mary asked after her eyes were fully open.

"Oh, God! Thank goodness you're awake again, Mom," Rose said, her tears dripping onto the floor.

Leon sighed in relief. He released Mary's hand, placing it carefully on his mother's stomach.

"You're safe now, Mom. Good thing the sedatives those gangsters used weren't a very strong dose," Leon said.

Hearing a voice she hadn't heard in a long time, Mary immediately sat up and turned toward Leon.

"Who's there? Is that you, Leon?" she asked.

Seeing his mother's vacant stare, Leon felt a tightness in his chest. Leon then held Mary's right hand again, lifted it, and directed it toward his face.

"Yes, Mom. It's me," he said.

Mary felt around Leon's face like a blind person trying to recognize something. And moments later, she too began to cry, just like Rose.

"Leon, this is really you, right?"

"Of course, Mom. It's me, Leon. Your son."

Mary's crying became heavy. Her wrinkled face looked contorted.

Unable to watch any longer, Leon hugged Mary and held her tight.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you all these five years," he said, emotional.

"It's okay. It's okay," Mary replied amidst her tears. "The important thing is you're back now. You don't know how happy I am right now."

The mother and son held each other. Rose wiped the tears from her cheeks. Where she stood, Evelyn covered her mouth with both hands. Her eyes were teary.

"How are you, son? Are you healthy?" Mary asked after they finished hugging.

"I'm good, Mom. You don't need to worry about me. Now let's go inside," Leon replied.

Together with Rose, Leon helped Mary stand up. The brother and sister stared at each other for a moment. Leon could still see the strong anger in his sister's eyes.

Ring! Ring!

The sound of a cell phone startled them. Rose quickly reached into her coat pocket, checking who was calling.

"Hello?" She answered the call, her face worried.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming right now," she then said.

The phone conversation ended there. She turned to Mary, then glared at Leon.

"Can I trust Mom to you? I have to go to work right now," she said coldly.

Leon nodded. "Go. I'll take care of everything here," he said.

There was still strong doubt in Rose. Leon could see it in her eyes.

"Make sure you keep her safe. We're gonna talk later," she said, stepping off the porch.

Leon watched Rose walk toward the fence. His sister briefly made eye contact with Evelyn, but Evelyn immediately turned her face away, looking down.

'Something must be going on between those two. I need to find out about this later,' Leon thought.

...

At the same time, at Greystone Gregory Hospital...

A gray-haired man in a stylish suit walked quickly down a corridor on the fifth floor. Four tall, heavily built men with short, sharp haircuts followed him.

Arriving at VVIP inpatient room number 517, the middle-aged man opened the door and walked in. His eyes immediately widened. He saw Jonathan, his only son, lying on the patient bed. His right arm was wrapped in bandages and fitted with a brace.

"Mr. Victor," greeted Roger, who was also in the room, bowing respectfully.

Gregory was also in the room, bowing respectfully to Victor.

"What the hell happened? How did my son end up like this?" Victor asked, stepping forward, his eyes focused on Jonathan.

Roger and Gregory looked at each other, appearing tense and scared. If they said one wrong word, there was a high chance Victor Kerstel would destroy The Harrington family's business.

"Earlier, before the proposal started, someone suddenly came and caused trouble, sir," Roger said.

Victor turned and glanced at Roger. "Who?"

Roger swallowed. "Leonidas Vale. My son-in-law who was thrown in jail five years ago, sir."

Victor frowned. "He's free?"

Roger shook his head. "He shouldn't be, sir, but somehow he managed to come to The Vellington earlier. He... he's the one who broke Jonathan's right arm."

Victor's eyes widened again. His face turned red.

"That criminal broke my son's arm?"

"Yes, sir."

Roger had been answering Victor's questions while looking down. Gregory also looked down. They were well aware they were dealing with someone whose wealth and power were far above theirs.

"Tell me everything that happened at the hotel earlier, as clearly and in as much detail as possible," Victor demanded, coldly.

Roger then began to narrate everything that happened, from his perspective, of course. He focused on the parts that cornered Leon and positioned him as the troublemaker. He didn't mention how The Harrington family insulted Leon, nor did he mention Jonathan who, at one point, choked Evelyn—taking her hostage.

"So that's it," Victor said after listening to everything Roger recounted. "So, where is this bastard Leon now?"

"At his mother's house, it seems, sir," Roger replied. "Gregory already deployed gangsters to raid the house. They're probably roughing him up right now. The plan is, after beating that bastard to a pulp, they'll bring him to us. Then, we'll hand him over to you. You're free to do whatever you want to him."

Victor looked at Roger coldly, shifted to Gregory briefly, then looked back at his son.

"Make sure you do it. And if you need any help from me, just say so. As long as that bastard hasn't faced the consequences for what he did to my son, I won't rest easy," Victor said.

"Understood, sir. We will inform you after the gangsters contact us," Roger replied.

With a hand gesture, Victor indicated their conversation was over. Roger and Gregory then exited the inpatient room.

"Dad, what now? Victor seems genuinely angry. Are we in trouble?" Gregory asked as they walked down the corridor.

Roger snorted in annoyance. If they failed to bring the severely beaten Leon before Victor, they were definitely in trouble.

"Those gangsters you sent, have you heard anything from them?" Gregory asked.

"Not yet, Dad. I'm still waiting for an update from the gangster boss. I hope I'll get good news from him soon."

"Okay. Let's just hope the news from him is good news."

...

Back at Leon's mother's house...

An hour had passed since Rose left for work. The front yard was now clean of the gangsters' corpses. Leon had asked Dimitri to dispatch some of his soldiers to clear them away.

Now Leon entered his mother's room. Inside, his mother was lying on the bed, accompanied by Evelyn—who was sitting on the dressing table chair positioned next to the right side of the bed.

"How are you doing, Mom? Feeling better?" Leon asked.

"I think so. I feel good now," Mary answered. "You should worry about your wife though. She's been crying this whole time."

Leon looked at Evelyn more closely. Mary was right. Evelyn's smooth cheeks were wet with tears.

"What's wrong, Eve? Does your hand hurt again?" Leon walked up to his wife.

Evelyn shook her head, wiping her wet cheeks.

"I had no idea Mom's condition was this bad. I never knew. If I had known, I might have done something," she said, sobbing.

Leon looked at Evelyn sadly. His wife truly had a gentle heart; that was one of the things that made him fall in love with her. It was such a shame that a woman as good as her was born into The Harrington family.

"It's not your fault, Eve. It's never your fault," Leon said, gently stroking Evelyn's hair.

Evelyn looked up, meeting his gaze. "Your family suffered while you were gone. And I was busy grieving, shutting myself off from the outside world. I'm truly a bad wife, a bad daughter-in-law."

"No, you're not. Don't ever think like that. Okay?" Leon said, smiling gently.

Evelyn took a deep breath, trying to stop her sobbing.

"I'm so happy you two are together again," Mary said. "If every day is like this, I'm willing to spend the rest of my life without being able to see anything again."

From her tone, Mary meant that sincerely. But Leon was truly bothered. He turned to his mother and approached her, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding her hand.

"You will get better, Mom. You will be able to see again. I will do anything to make it happen. Trust me," Leon said.

Mary turned to look at Leon. Her gaze was, of course, empty. "I trust you, my son."

Mary's sincere smile made Leon's heart melt. It had been a long time since he'd felt something like this. The last five years, his days had been so dark. There was no time to be sentimental.

"By the way, I'm worried about your sister. She's been working too hard lately. If this keeps up, she might get sick. Will you talk some sense into her, Leon?"

Leon frowned. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll talk to her later."

Dimitri must know which strip club Rose works at. Later, if necessary, he would go to that nightclub and settle what needed to be settled.

Ring! Ring!

Evelyn picked up her handbag and pulled out her loudly ringing phone. And after seeing the screen, her expression turned grim.

"Who is it?" Leon asked.

"My mother," Evelyn answered, standing up and exiting the room.

Leon watched his wife until the door closed. He was curious, what did Verona want to say to Evelyn?

...