Vengeance of the Reborn Villain: This Time, I Defy Destiny

Ch 7: Gone Mad

"President, did something happen?" Isabella couldn't help but suddenly ask in a whisper when she saw Ethan outside the car.

"Why?"

Although Ethan knew exactly what she was referring to, he pretended to be confused.

"Umm... I don't know how to explain it." Isabella put a finger on her chin, pondering for a second before answering. "You suddenly look quite handsome today."

"You mean I wasn't handsome before?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow and playfully flicked her forehead. "Don't think about useless things. Just follow me in and don't do anything when inside unless I ask you to."

With that, he moved forward, while Isabella, rubbing her forehead with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, silently followed him.

Since it was noon and time for lunch, he went straight to the dining hall, where the seating hierarchy was immediately apparent.

Different dishes were meticulously laid out at various spots along the table.

Already aware of this arrangement, Ethan purposefully sat in the head chair, the place reserved for the head of the family.

He picked up a knife and fork, cut a small piece of steak, and chewed it slowly. He ate alone without waiting for anyone.

Isabella stood behind him silently like an obedient secretary, but seeing his actions, the strange glint in her eyes only deepened.

She had served Ethan for years, but today, this man had given her one surprise after another, making her feel as if she were meeting him for the first time.

Soon, footsteps approached the dining room. The one who arrived first was Lucas, Ethan's half-brother.

In terms of appearance, he and Ethan could be said to have no resemblance at all.

Seeing Ethan sitting in their father's seat, Lucas's face contorted with rage.

"Ethan, are you blind? Can't you tell where you're supposed to sit to eat!?"

Focused on his food, Ethan said nothing. He didn't even look at Lucas, only continuing to cut his steak.

Before long, the two other members of the Ashford family currently present in the mansion arrived at the dining room. The remaining stepsister hadn't been home in almost a year, but she would soon return in a few days.

"You're sitting here, so where is Dad supposed to sit?"

Lucas ran to his father, William Ashford's side like a dog, and pointed a finger at Ethan. "Dad, look at this guy, he's getting cocky."

"Today he dares to steal your seat, tomorrow he'll dare to steal your position as head of the Ashford family. This guy is getting more and more outrageous. Dad, you absolutely cannot continue to let him run wild."

Seeing this, William's brows furrowed, and he shouted at Ethan.

"Get up!"

However, Ethan simply ignored him and sneered internally.

In the past, he was always targeted by Lucas everywhere at home, bullied, and treated with contempt.

His father didn't love him, his brother didn't respect him, and his stepmother made things difficult for him, eyeing him like a predator, constantly whispering poison in his father's ear.

Nonetheless, Ethan didn't say a word because he thought of them as his only family.

And he put up with it all…

He thought that his father allowed him to manage the whole Ashford Corporation and that the man trusted him. Perhaps he was only cold on the outside because of his stepmother and stepbrother Lucas.

'Oh, how wrong I was.'

It was only when these people betrayed him, spiked his food, locked him up in the dungeon, and tortured him with the protagonist that he found out.

These people never loved him.

His father, William, only allowed him to manage the whole Ashford Corporation because the man was afraid of the Valerius family after Ethan's mother's death.

In the past, this William was a playboy, and he had seduced Ethan's young mother into his trap, leading to her running away to marry him.

And a major reason for her death was this William.

Even though William himself didn't know the true depth and strength of the Valerius family, he knew they were something he couldn't contend with and was afraid of retaliation.

But as time passed and no one came forward from the Valerius family, this guy started treating Ethan like a slave and, under his second wife's instigation, humiliated him at every turn.

Yet he still let Ethan keep managing the company because the Valerius family supported Ethan from behind, and most of the company's shares belonged to Ethan's mother and, as such, were passed down to Ethan after her death and according to her will.

What William had in mind was to kill Ethan in the future under some accident and then transfer all those shares to his son, Lucas.

This guy William never treated Ethan as his son at all.

Just thinking about it made Ethan's blood boil, and he wanted nothing more than to peel all these people's skin and rub salt on them and make their lives a living hell, so miserable that they would beg to be killed but wouldn't be granted this mercy.

Speaking of the Valerius family, although Ethan came back from the future and most secrets were already open to him, there were still many things he was confused about.

Like why his maternal grandfather, the head of the Valerius family, who undoubtedly hated William and even wanted to kill the bastard and eradicate the whole Ashford family, which he easily could, but never did until the end.

Ethan had a nagging doubt that it was all because of himself, but why exactly, he didn't know.

'No rush. Once I deal with this garbage here, I can slowly investigate these things.'

Deciding this, he pushed the topic to the back of his mind and once more focused on this bunch of trash before him.

"Ethan, I could let it slide if you didn't respect me. But now, you won't even listen to what Dad says?"

Lucas, who had learned boxing and had always used it to act superior, was getting fired up.

He needed to maintain his image as a filial and well-mannered son in front of his father. That was why he had always avoided being rude to Ethan in front of his father.

But today was different; Ethan wouldn't even listen to his father. He was simply asking for it.

"Get out!"

Unable to hold back anymore, Lucas stepped forward, his hand reaching out to grab Ethan's suit to haul him up from the chair.

But before he could even touch the fabric, Ethan moved with a speed that looked like a blur of motion.

He first grabbed Lucas's hand midair, just as it was about to touch him, and then slammed it onto the dining table.

Bang!

At the same time, he gripped the fork and pierced it through the center of Lucas's palm, driving it directly into the wood of the dining table.

Puchi—!

After pinning Lucas's palm in place, Ethan held the dinner knife and, using his Inner Force Realm strength, easily sliced along Lucas's wrist like butter, completely severing Lucas's arm.

In an instant, Lucas lost the support of his hand and collapsed onto the floor in disbelief.

Looking at his severed arm, where blood was gushing out in spurts, it took a full few seconds for Lucas to even register the agonizing pain.

"My hand! My hand! It's severed! Aaaaaah!!!"

Lucas howled and wailed so loudly it could vibrate one's eardrums.

Ethan, meanwhile, was leisurely wiping his hands with a napkin, even though no blood had stained them at all.

It was as if he were wiping away Lucas's stench.

Once done, he lifted his eyes and flashed a gentle smile at the remaining two.

"Come have some lunch."

The elegant woman, his stepmother, rushed forward to support her son with the severed arm and shouted toward the outside with panic, "Ambulance! Call an ambulance quickly!"

Even William, who had experienced the cutthroat battles of the business world and thought he had seen it all, felt his pupils dilate in shock at this scene. He growled angrily, "Ethan, have you lost your mind?!"

"Lost my mind? Hehe, then let me fulfill your wish."

As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed and grabbed Lucas's ankle and then slammed it directly onto the dining table.

Crack!

Along with the shattering of the dining table, a whole section of Lucas's calf bone also snapped.

"Since my so-called father said I have lost my mind, I had no choice but to break your leg to show him I have lost my mind."

Ethan tossed Lucas aside like a broken doll and said with a chilling smile.

"Don't blame me. Blame yourself for having such a father."

Seeing her son turned into a cripple in the blink of an eye, the elegant woman, his stepmother, who had always maintained an image of treating everyone equally, could no longer hold back her true nature. Her eyes were splitting with rage as she shouted angrily at Ethan.

"Ethan! You're crazy! You dirty—"

Before she could say more, Ethan gave her a cold look, and she was so terrified by his gaze that she felt a lump form in her throat and shut her mouth.

But Ethan didn't intend to let her go.

"Since when has it been the turn of an outsider like you to interrupt our Ashford family?"