THE SOVEREIGN GOD'S MORTAL VENGEANCE!

9.

"Ungrateful brat!" Vyan snapped, his anger erupting once more to cover up the fear and violent shock gripping his chest. His deeply flushed face was filled with utter disbelief.

"Who do you think you are, Lucas?! How dare you announce you're leaving the Wine Family as if you have any dignity! You're nothing more than a loser living off the charity of this place!"

Vyan immediately stepped forward a pace, pointing at Lucas's face with a finger that trembled intensely.

"You want to leave?! Good! I don't care if you want to rot and die in the streets for all I care! But remember, from this very second on, all your rights are revoked! My monthly allowance, the living quarters I prepared for you when you marry, even a single cent of the wealth I've ever given you—I am taking it all back! You walk out of here without a single thing except that trash name of yours!"

Vyan's roaring voice bounced harshly off the mahogany walls, accompanied by a heavy sigh of relief and a sly smile that once again carved itself onto Edward's pale face. To Edward, if this bastard child left without wealth or the protection of the family name, killing him out there would be as easy as flipping the palm of his hand.

However, Lucas's response was completely unexpected by the two of them.

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"

A light chuckle, extremely thin and cold, escaped the youth's mouth. Lucas glanced at the shabby, cheap clothes clinging to his body, then shifted his sharp gaze back to Vyan with a look of pure contempt.

"Wealth?" Lucas murmured, his tone so flat yet capable of shredding the pride of anyone who heard it.

"Monthly allowance? Marriage house?"

Lucas reached into his dull pocket, walking casually toward Vyan's mahogany desk. With a slow movement, he tossed down a silver coin that was extremely worn and rusted, making it clank loudly against the smooth wooden surface.

"Since when have you ever given me those things, Vyan?" Lucas asked, his voice soft yet capable of freezing the atmosphere in the room.

He stared straight into the eyes of the Family Head, who instantly widened his eyes.

"The monthly allowance you're talking about... is this shabby silver coin? A marriage house? When have I ever even heard of one?"

Lucas stepped back, straightening his rough collar with a terrifying calmness. Every word spilling from his lips was like a razor blade dissecting Vyan's lies and falsehoods in front of the bodyguards and servants watching from the threshold.

"The right to a decent life? You never even considered that I was breathing in this house," Lucas continued with a crooked smile laden with absolute contempt.

"Don't pretend to be a benefactor revoking his child's rights when from the very beginning you never gave me anything other than suffering. This magnificent Wine Family wealth of yours..."

Edward, standing not far away, widened his eyes in panic, thinking to himself inwardly, "D-Damn it, if Father finds out the truth, things... things are going to flip around immediately!"

Unwilling to let all his long efforts to get rid of Lucas go to waste, Edward immediately shouted.

"B-Bastard! How dare you insult the Wine Family in front of Father?!"

Lucas didn't even look at Edward. His gaze remained locked on Vyan, who now stood frozen, his face clearly showing confusion over the statements unleashed by Lucas's words.

"Keep your cheap silver coin when you handed it to me while my late mother was still alive, Richard," Lucas whispered coldly, spinning his body around and stepping steadily toward the exit.

But suddenly...

"Wait!"

Vyan's roar echoed, halting Lucas's steps right at the threshold of the double doors. The Head of the Wine Family was no longer filled merely with anger, but with a storm of confusion and doubt burning his chest. His gaze moved restlessly between the worn silver coin on the desk and the back of his youngest son, who remained so calm.

"Family Head!"

At the same moment, a grey-suited man with gold-rimmed glasses hurried into the room. The man was Devan, Vyan's personal assistant who held all financial records and internal logistics of the Wine Estate. He looked out of breath, carrying a thick bundle of documents in his hands.

However, before Devan could even greet him, Vyan took a wide stride toward him. Vyan's gaze suddenly turned sharp and piercing, as if he wanted to skin his personal assistant alive.

"Devan," Vyan hissed in a heavy, highly pressurized voice.

"Explain this to me right now. Gather the information on the monthly fund allocation for Lucas over the past dozen years."

Devan, who had just arrived, jolted, his face instantly turning pale as his eyes caught the rusted silver coin on the mahogany desk, then shifted to Edward, who was shaking his head subtly with a panicked expression.

"W-What does the Family Head mean?" Devan stammered, cold sweat beginning to wet his forehead.

"Don't you dare play crazy with me!" Vyan snapped, grabbing Devan by the collar and sending the documents in the assistant's hands scattering across the floor.

"Every month I signed off on a ten-thousand-dollar allocation for Lucas's needs and living expenses for his future! Where did all that fund go?! Ma-Maybe Young Master Lucas likes to squander money and gamble!"

Hearing that reason...

Edward let out an immensely long sigh of relief, secretly wiping away the cold sweat dripping down his temple. Devan's cunning tongue truly saved both their necks at the most critical second.

"DEVAN! I really wasn't wrong to trust you?!" Edward thought to himself.

Hearing the preplanned accusation from the personal assistant, Edward immediately seized the hot potato without wasting time. With a fake, sorrowful, and pitiful expression, he stepped forward toward his father while clutching his arm, which was still wrapped in bandages.

"That's right, Father!" Edward interjected with a tone full of extremely convincing falsehood.

"I actually didn't want to muddy the waters or expose my own brother's disgrace in front of Father... But what Harold says is bitter truth! All this time I kept quiet because I wanted to protect Lucas's good name as a member of our family."

Edward glanced at Lucas for a split second with the corner of his eye, radiating a cunning malice hidden beneath his concerned facial expression.

"Lucas always squandered that ten-thousand-dollar money in the suburban underground casinos! He lost gambling over and over until he was entangled in debt, then sold the items in his room and the residence Father provided to pay off the debt collectors!" Edward continued, his voice rising an octave in full dramatization.

"That shabby silver coin he threw earlier... that was the leftover of his last betting money tonight! He deliberately turned the facts around and blamed Father..."

Devan, catching the signal from Edward, immediately nodded quickly, adjusting his act as he knelt in terror before Vyan.

"T-That's right, Family Head! These scattered documents contain the proof of routine monthly expenditure transactions withdrawn under Young Master Lucas's name! I wouldn't dare lie!" Devan blurted out, picking up several fake sheets of paper he had prepared long ago to cover up his corruption tracks with Edward.

Hearing the interlocking confirmation from his eldest son and trusted assistant, the remaining doubt in Vyan's eyes instantly evaporated. His face, which had momentarily wavered, froze once again with deep disgust and disappointment.

"You absolute loser, lazy bum, and troublemaker..." Vyan hissed coldly, staring at Lucas's back with a gaze filled with even deeper hatred.

"You're not just a useless piece of trash, Lucas... You are a toxic parasite rotting the good name of the Wine Family!"

"Lucas! Now tell me, what is your reason for daring to injure two estate guards and your own brother?!"