Soul Avatar

******

7 p.m., Chase City, at the Johnson family’s estate.

There are currently a lot of people gathered together inside a huge hall that is well-lit, grandiosely decorated, and filled with warmth and a joyful atmosphere.

They were busy discussing amongst themselves, establishing connections, and eating and drinking when suddenly, a cultivated voice sounded, interrupting the buzz.

Everybody abruptly stopped and dropped what they were doing mid-action before turning their attention toward the speaker, the old matriarch Johnson of the Johnson family, who just turned eighty today.

"To everybody that came and brought wonderful presents for my birthday celebration today, I love you all and I appreciate your gifts." "Thank you fo-."

Just as everybody was feeling flattered by her speech, an unexpected voice abruptly interrupted, startling them all.

"Hum... grandmother, we seemed to be forgetting someone here right now."

Instantly, everybody turned their heads toward the source of the sound, and then they saw a young, elegant, and handsome man in his late twenties currently smiling brightly.

Quickly, everybody realized who he was.

"Isn’t this the popularly known first grandson of the Johnson family, Ethan Johnson?"

"Yes, I think he is."

"I couldn't help but deeply wonder who could have been so important to make him interrupt his grandmother publicly."

Everybody began to mumble behind their breath, discussing how Ethan had interrupted his grandmother's speech. But this person doesn’t seem to care at all; he continued smiling gracefully.

Looking at her precious grandson, the old matriarch could only smile at him helplessly.

Had it been someone else who had interrupted her, she definitely would have taught them a lesson they would never forget, but being her precious grandson, the old Matriarch couldn't bare to do anything.

"Grandson, who is the person we are forgetting here?" She asked with a motherly smile plastered on her face.

Everybody's attention abruptly returned to Ethan after hearing the question whose answer they were currently dying to know.

Ethan's smile also increased slightly before he abruptly raised his head and glanced in a particular direction.

Seeing this, everybody’s head subconsciously followed Ethan's gaze, and they became stupified by what they saw.

stunned, everybody began to mumble under their breath.

"Isn't that the popularly known useless live-in son-in-law of the Johnson family?"

"Why is he consuming food so voraciously like someone who has been famished for an extended period?"

"Aish! " "What a huge disgrace to the Johnson family for having such an embarrassing son-in-law like this."

"Look at him, he couldn’t even dress properly on a special day like this; what a tremendous disgrace."

"As powerful and influential as the family is, how did they end up having such a disgraceful son-in-law like this?"

Hearing the crowd's murmuring and seeing the person they were gazing at, the bright, wide smile that had long been plastered on the old matriarch's face slowly dissipated, and replacing it was a deep shade of fury and shame.

She began to tremble as she watched her greatest embarrassment and regret, but her mouth couldn’t form any word at all.

filled to the brim with wrath, she began to wonder who brought Rex Magnus here tonight.

Suddenly, the old matriarch turned her gaze in another direction.

There stood a tall and elegant lady with fair skin, whose beauty alone could destroy a nation. But right now, the look on her face is currently filled with anger and remorse as she watches the person at the very back still busily washing food down his throat like a hungry lion.

While filled with embarrassment, Fiona abruptly felt deeply cold and shivered all over as if she were placed inside a deep freezer.

Instinctively, she turned her head in a particular direction, and her heart instantly shook and thunders in her chest unexpectedly.

'I'm so dead again!' She suddenly mourned pitifully in her mind and before abruptly feeling like tearing up the moment she saw the deep outrage painted heavily on the face glaring at her.

Scared to death by this and not knowing how to react, Fiona swallowed hard before subconsciously gazing down at her feet nervously.

.....

While everybody was still busy mumbling, Ethan's voice finally sounded again, but this time a little more playfully and jokingly.

"Rex Magnus, are you a hungry tiger?"

"hun?"

Rex Magnus, who hadn't realized he had become the focal point of attention, suddenly became startled and raised his head to glance at the speaker, then his eyes widen.

'Why is everybody gazing at me like this?' His voice was filled with surprise as he questioned no one in particular.

Some people couldn't help but shake their heads mockingly, while others shook their heads angrily before smacking their lips against each other at this.

"How could a handsome man like this be such a big fool?" One of the ladies in the crowd could be seen mumbling to herself.

"The family's eldest granddaughter's husband, for heaven's sake." "Why had she married a fool like this in the first place when there are a lot of great and godly men out there in the world?"

"Ah, even my family, which isn't ten percent as good as this family, would never have such a fool and laughingstock as our in-law."

The more the matriarch heard, the darker her face became. It soon got to the point where she couldn’t control herself anymore.

"YOU FOOL! ENOUGH OF THAT! AREN'T YOU TIRED OF EMBARRASSING US, The JOHNSON FAMILY?"

Everybody instantly became startled by this unexpected roar filled with rage, then they became quiet with embarrassment.

As for Rex Magnus, the handsome young man who was shouted upon, he slowly turned around to the Old Matriarch before scratching his head obliviously and speaking out emotionally.

"Grandma, I haven't embarrassed the family, though." He said. "I've been working tirelessly since I woke up today, and I hadn’t had any meals so far, so...

He spread out his hand as if to tell everybody that "this is the result." But unfortunately, instead of the crowd understanding him, their gazes became increasingly filled with contempt and disdain.

As for the Old Matriarch, her mouth abruptly twitched furiously and her breathing became laborious, but she did everything she could to calm herself, which doesn’t work at all.

The more she looked at Rex Magnus, the angrier and more dissatisfied she became.

Unlike everybody else that was dressed in expensive suits and gowns made by various famous brands, Rex Magnus was only wearing black shorts, a white sweatshirt, and a pair of white sneakers.

He currently looked so out of place that if not for his handsome face, people would have assumed that he was just an ordinary servant here amongst the wealthy and influential people.

Just as the old matriarch was about to have a heart attack, the voice of her favorite grandson sounded again, saving the day.

"Rex Magnus. Well... It’s okay to eat since you haven’t had anything since you woke up; you have no problem."

Everybody couldn't help but hesitate a bit when they heard this before eventually nodding their heads, finding what Ethan said to be reasonable.

And this included the Old Matriarch who finally calmed down and give her precious grandson a gratitude-filled gaze.

'What could I do without this precious grandson of mine?' She thought with a sigh.

As for Rex Magnus, although understood well that Ethan has another motive for calling and helping him out, he was currently too hungry to care, so he only nodded his head casually in response before resuming his meal.

He continued having his meal merrily without caring at all at the eyes boring intently at him with all sorts of expressions.

Would an extremely hungry have the time to care about his face? Of course not.

Rex Magnus had woken up very early this morning and completed his usual household chores. However, his mother-in-law had instructed him to come to assist the servants in preparing the Old Matriarchs' banquet, and since then, he has not had the opportunity to eat or rest. He has been working tirelessly till now, and apart from being tired to the core right now, he is so famished.

Initially, Rex Magnus had made up his mind to secretly sneak out to go search for something to eat when Ethan forcefully invited him to attend the banquet from the kitchen he was in, and when he realized that there were a lot of free foods present, he directly accepted and became relieved before choosing somewhere less noticeable to have his meal.

Who would have thought that he would still end up getting noticed in the end?

…

Seeing Rex Magnus like this, Ethan suddenly smirked before controlling the expression on his face.

"Rex Magnus, although you are very hungry, that shouldn’t stop you from giving Grandmother a birthday present, right?"

"_"

"Hun?" Rex Magnus immediately became startled once again when he heard this.

He raised his head and looked around as if he couldn't understand Ethan's question.

Seeing this, everybody directly rolled their eyes in ridicule but they said nothing.

"Rex Magnus, please don’t tell me you brought no present for Grandmother." Ethan looked taken aback by Rex Magnus' unexpected behavior and exclaimed in disbelief as though he had been stunned by the revelation.

When the Old Matriarch heard this, her eyes immediately emitted killing intent which was directly felt by Rex Magnus.

Although it doesn't affect him at all, he knew he has to think of his wife's well-being, so Rex Magnus scratched his head and deliberated for a while before suddenly, a wide grin appeared on his face.

"Oh, I was just wondering how useless he would be if he didn't even have a gift for someone who had taken him in, clothed him, and fed him, so he does bring a gift."

'But what sort of present could this useless live-in son-in-law have brought with him?'

Everybody became filled with questions and started imagining within themselves, but what happened next was completely outside of their thoughts, expectations, and imaginations.