Touch My Daughter, and You Die

Chapter 007

"Wyatt, isn't there some kind of misunderstanding between us?"

"When you suddenly disappeared, I had no idea where your father and brother had gone. Someone had to manage the family's assets, so I stepped in to look after them for you."

Gideon showed no sign of being rattled.

Every asset the Hale family once owned had already been carved up and divided. Even if Wyatt had returned, what difference could that possibly make now?

This was no longer an age where brute strength settled everything. No matter how good Wyatt was with his fists, Gideon had ways of dealing with him.

For now, a wise man didn't pick a fight he could avoid.

"Hmph." Caleb couldn't hold back any longer.

"You make it sound so reasonable. You teamed up with the Wentworth family and the Lockridge family to swallow every last asset our family owned, and now you want to pretend none of it happened?" he snapped, his voice rising with fury.

"Caleb, it seems you've misunderstood me too." Gideon spread his hands, his tone smooth. "You know as well as I do how exposed the Hale family was back then. Too many people wanted a piece of it."

"The only reason I aligned myself with them, even if only on the surface, was to salvage some portion of your family's holdings. It was the lesser evil," Gideon said, each word gliding out with practiced ease.

"Fine, then hand back everything that belongs to the Hale family. Right now." Caleb glared at him, unwilling to back down.

"Well... that might be a bit complicated." He gave an apologetic shrug. "The Ashford family isn't mine to command alone. There's the old man, and several of my uncles to answer to. I'll need time to bring them around."

"But I promise you, it won't take long. Every asset will be returned in due course." The delay tactic rolled off his tongue so naturally it barely sounded like one.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Caleb's patience snapped entirely. "I already told you. You have seven days."

"Return everything that belongs to the Hale family, and then take your own life as atonement."

"Or I will wipe out every last member of the Ashford family."

Wyatt had already sized the man up: glib, slippery, full of tricks that meant nothing in the end. He saw no reason to waste more words on him.

And with the strength he now carried, there was no need. A family as small as the Ashford family of Harborcrest could be erased with a flick of his fingers.

"Wyatt." Gideon's pleasant expression faltered, a flash of resentment breaking through. "We used to be closer than family. And now you're threatening to wipe out everyone I've ever cared about? Don't you think that's going too far?"

"Family?" Wyatt gave a cold, humorless laugh. "You really think we were that close?"

"The biggest mistake I ever made was treating you like a brother."

Old memories surged up, each one sharper than the last. But he pushed the feeling down. He wasn't in a hurry to deal with Gideon; that would come later, once the Hale family's fortune was back in his hands.

He meant to restore the Hale family to the glory it once commanded across Harborcrest, and nothing would stop him.

"Fine, since that's how you want it, we're done from this moment on. No ties, no history, nothing." Gideon's expression hardened as he turned on his heel.

"Let's go."

He waved at the bodyguards trailing behind him and walked out of the Whitlock family home without a backward glance. The members of the Calloway family, lingering by the door, hurried out after him in a tight, nervous cluster.

Only once the last of them had cleared the gate did the Whitlock family let out a collective breath. Relief lasted a second before their eyes found Wyatt again.

Earlier, he'd only offended the Calloway family. Now he'd gone and provoked the Ashford family, several tiers more powerful and dangerous than the Calloways could ever hope to be.

They could not stay connected to this disaster of a man one second longer.

"You three jinxes, get out of my house this instant!" Doris shrieked, jabbing a finger at them. "If any of you dares set foot in my home again, I'll..."

She never got to finish. Walter clamped a hand over her mouth before the rest of the threat could leave her lips.

Did this foolish woman not see what Wyatt had just done? If they pushed him further and he decided to act, there would be nothing left of this house to argue over.

"The three of you... things have gone further than I expected," Walter said, his voice shaking as he looked at Wyatt. "A small family like ours has no business in whatever this is between you people. Let's go our separate ways."

Wyatt barely registered a word of it. His attention had already drifted elsewhere, settling on Elena and the little girl, Nora, standing close beside her.

Elena felt his gaze and quickly looked away, a flush of embarrassment rising in her cheeks before she could stop it.

Not long ago she had hated this man down to her bones. But everything today had shifted how she saw him. Whatever else he was, he took responsibility. He had been willing to make an enemy of the entire Calloway family for her sake and their daughter's.

These past years, raising a child alone and unmarried, she had endured more cold looks and cruel whispers than she could count. There hadn't been a day she hadn't wished for someone to stand beside her.

Watching him today, she had the unsettling feeling that the man she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

"Elena." Wyatt's eyes were steady and sincere as he looked at her, nothing hidden in them. "If you're willing, I will take full responsibility for you, for the rest of our lives. I'll make sure you and our daughter live the happiest life this world has to offer."

"And if you want to hold me accountable for what I did back then, I'll accept whatever punishment you decide. When you've made up your mind, call me. Anytime."

Hearing those words from a man whose strength seemed almost beyond human comprehension, Elena felt something stir deep within her chest. Her throat tightened with emotion, and tears began streaming down her cheeks before she could even attempt to hold them back.

"Father, Caleb, let's get out of here," Wyatt said as he turned away, unwilling to let the emotional moment linger any longer.

Taking Edmund by one hand and Caleb by the other, Wyatt led them out of the Whitlock family home, the three of them walking side by side as a father and his two sons reunited at last.

Once they were outside, Caleb could no longer contain his curiosity.

"Where have you been all these years?" he asked, practically bursting with questions he'd been holding in since the moment Wyatt reappeared.

"I enlisted a few years back. Went in as special forces." Wyatt let out a short breath. "It's a long story. Let's get settled first."

The truth of those years could never fit into a sentence or two. For now, the simple explanation of military service would do; it accounted for the skills he carried.

"Special forces!" Caleb's eyes lit up, his face flushing with excitement. "No wonder you're so incredible now!"

He had worshipped his older brother since he was a boy, and after watching Wyatt's display today, that admiration came roaring back.

"Father, where have you two been living?" Wyatt turned to his father.

"Ah, it's all because of my own incompetence." Edmund's weathered face sagged with shame. "The Hale family ruled over Harborcrest for decades, and in the end, it all fell apart in my hands. Now look at us. Not even a roof to call our own."

"Father, what happened to our family was because I trusted the wrong person. None of it was your fault." Wyatt's hand curled into a fist. "Now that I'm back, I swear I will restore the Hale name to everything it once was."

"And everyone who wronged our family will pay for it. Every single one of them."

"You're right!" Caleb's jaw tightened, his teeth grinding together. "We can't let a single one of them off easy!"

He had once been a pampered young heir, doted on by his father and his brother. But ever since disaster struck, every day had been a fresh ordeal. He was still young, and he could not swallow this humiliation quietly. He had been waiting for the day their fortunes would turn.

Now that his brother had come back, he finally had something to hope for.

"Marshal!" a voice called out. "Your lodging is ready."

Scarlet pulled up in a car just then, having returned from arranging their accommodations.

"Marshal?" Edmund and Caleb both froze at the title Scarlet used for Wyatt.

"Wyatt." Caleb turned to stare at him, his face suddenly burning with eager disbelief. "Don't tell me... you actually became a marshal?"