REVENGE OF THE MOURNER

Roger's Shocking Decision

"You have to look after your wife, Leon. Her family might come to forcefully take her away. When you face them, you must know what you should do," Mary advised.

Leon nodded. He had already envisioned that scenario. And he also knew exactly what he would do to them.

"You don't need to worry about anything, Mom. I'll handle everything. Just get some quiet rest, okay? Try not to think about a thing," Leon said, rubbing the back of Mary's hand and then kissing her forehead.

He then stood up, exited the room, and searched for Evelyn.

He faintly heard Evelyn's voice coming from the kitchen. He hurried there because Evelyn's tone was somewhat raised.

The closer he got to the kitchen, the clearer he could hear what Evelyn was saying.

"No, Mom. I won't do it. Leon is back, and he's still my husband. I will not marry Jonathan or anyone else."

Leon stopped walking, deciding not to enter the kitchen. With a frown, he leaned his back against the wall, trying to eavesdrop from there. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear what his mother-in-law was saying because Evelyn hadn't activated the loudspeaker.

"Please, Mom, please respect my decision. This is my marriage. I get to decide, not you."

Leon clicked his tongue softly. The Harrington family was trying to separate him from Evelyn again. During the one year he lived at the Harrington residence, he couldn't count how many times they had pressured and insisted on a divorce.

But Leon wasn't worried. From his interaction with Evelyn just now, he was absolutely sure Evelyn would flat-out reject her family's offers, requests, and demands for her to divorce him. He trusted Evelyn completely.

"What? You'll erase my name from the family lineage if I don't divorce Leon?!"

Leon's pupils widened and dilated. His gaze turned icy cold.

"You're crazy! Do you want me to marry Jonathan that badly? Are you that materialistic that you don't care about what I want?!"

Unable to take it anymore, Leon finally entered the kitchen, walking quickly, surprising Evelyn as she turned her body toward him.

Before Evelyn could say anything, he took his wife's phone, holding it up to his ear.

"Stop dreaming. You will never be able to separate us. Evelyn and I will live together until we die!"

Leon ended the call immediately after saying that. He handed the phone back to Evelyn.

"Don't worry. I won't let them separate us," he said.

"But, they threatened to remove my name from the family lineage..."

"Does that bother you, Eve?"

"I don't know. I know they've been so cruel to you, to your mother and sister, but they are my family, after all. I... I'm confused..."

Leon frowned, trying to understand his wife's difficulty.

Honestly, he would be glad if they no longer had to deal with The Harrington family. After all, the wealth and power he currently possessed—the result of his hard work in The Nocturn over the past few years—far exceeded what his wife's family owned. But if Evelyn didn't want her connection with her family severed, he couldn't force her.

"Don't think too much about it, okay? I promise, they won't remove your name from The Harrington family lineage," Leon said, lifting his wife's chin and smiling.

It took a few seconds for Evelyn to return his smile. In her eyes, Leon saw a mix of sadness, confusion, and disappointment.

"Are you hungry? Want me to make something? Since we're already in the kitchen," Leon tried to change the subject, walking over to the fridge and opening it, looking over the contents.

"Hmm, a little. I haven't eaten anything since this morning," Evelyn replied.

"Then go back to Mom's room for a bit while I cook here. My first meal for my beloved wife after five long years. I'll make sure it suits your taste," Leon said, smiling broadly as he took cooking ingredients out of the fridge.

Evelyn offered a faint smile. "Are you sure you don't want my help? I can still chop things up, you know."

"No need. Just keep Mom company, okay? It'd be a shame if she needed something."

"Hmm, alright. Then I'll head to the room."

"Okay, my darling."

Being called that by her husband after so long, Evelyn got slightly flustered. She turned her body, walking toward Leon's mother's room.

After Evelyn was no longer in the kitchen, Leon pulled out his phone, typing a chat message to send to Dimitri:

[Do you have a list of the wealthiest people in Greystone Hollow? If so, send me their profiles. I want to know if there's anyone among them I can make an ally.]

...

At The Harrington family's residence...

With quick steps, Gregory entered his father's study.

Roger was there, at his desk, reviewing business transaction documents sent by his assistant that morning.

"Dad, I still haven't been able to contact those gangsters. What do we do?"

Roger turned to look at Gregory, taking off his thick glasses.

"Still no news from them? Does that mean we can't confirm whether that bastard Leon has been dealt with or not?"

"We can't, Dad."

Roger clicked his tongue in frustration. If there was no clarity from those gangsters, he couldn't report the situation with Leon to Victor Kerstel. And unfortunately, Gregory didn't have a backup plan.

"I'm sorry, Dad. He's not usually like this. I don't know what's wrong with him this time. I've tried calling him several times, but none of my calls went through. Could it be... that Leon defeated him and his men, Dad?"

Roger closed his eyes while massaging his own temples. He really didn't want to hear something like that right now. And if it were true that Leon had defeated the gangsters Gregory deployed, he was now in trouble. He and his family were in trouble.

Roger opened his eyes, looking back at Gregory. "You go there, to that bastard's mother's house," he said.

"Me, Dad?"

"Yes. You have to take responsibility for the incompetence of those gangsters you paid. Go there and see with your own eyes. Report back to me what you see there. Do you understand?!"

Gregory looked reluctant. But he knew Roger was extremely irritated right now. He didn't want to anger his father because he might punish him severely.

"You don't need to tell Greg to go there, Roger," Verona said, having just entered the room. Roger's and Gregory's gazes immediately turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Roger asked.

"That damn poor man is at his mother's house, and he's fine. Those gangsters failed to carry out the job!" Verona replied.

Gregory's eyes widened. "Is that true, Mom? How do you know?"

Verona stopped walking. She was now standing next to Gregory and near Roger.

"I just called Evelyn to tell her about our plan, and guess who then rejected our offer in a loud tone?" Verona looked at Gregory, then shifted to Roger.

Roger stared at his wife in confusion. "That bastard?"

"That's right," Verona replied. "He suddenly took Evelyn's phone and rudely said that we would never be able to separate him and Evelyn. He's completely underestimating us, Roger!"

Roger could feel his wife's anger. He himself was angry too. Now he wanted even more to destroy Leon, as well as his mother and sister.

"So that bastard is there now?" he asked.

"Yes," Verona answered.

"Evelyn is there too?"

"Yes."

Roger drummed his fingers on the table. Two vertical lines appeared between his eyebrows.

"We have to do something, Roger. We can't let that bastard underestimate us like this," Verona urged.

"I know," Roger replied. He continued drumming his fingers on the table while thinking. Then, he picked up his phone and made a call.

"Who are you calling?" Verona asked.

Roger didn't answer. With a serious face, he waited for his call to be answered. And when it finally was...

"Lucas, can you come to my house tomorrow afternoon? There's something important I want to discuss with you, about my daughter Evelyn."

Lucas was Roger's older brother, the current leader of The Harrington family. He had been the trusted CEO of Harrington Enterprises since three years prior.

"Yes, this is very important. I want to propose that the monthly allowance for Evelyn be temporarily stopped. This is to restore our family's relationship with The Kerstel family, which is threatening to break apart."

Verona and Gregory were quite surprised to hear that. They briefly looked at each other, then looked back at Roger.

"Okay. Then I'll wait for you tomorrow afternoon. I'll treat you to lunch too," Roger said, then ended the call a second later.

"Are you serious about proposing that?" Verona asked.

"Yes," Roger replied.

"But our daughter doesn't work. If she no longer receives a monthly allowance from the extended family, how can she meet her daily needs?"

"That's the whole point. We have to make Evelyn realize that without financial support from us, she won't even be able to survive. From there, she should understand that the only option available to her is to stop talking back!"

Verona didn't look happy. She knew Evelyn was stubborn, and she was worried this step Roger was taking might actually endanger Evelyn.

But Roger had made a decision. She had no choice but to support her husband's move.

...