Warrior and Nurturer: The Dual Life of a War God

Chapter 5: The Reckless Ignorant

"Sophie, I heard from Auntie that you're not feeling well. I rushed over as soon as I got off the plane. These are gifts I brought especially for you and Auntie."

The young man held a bouquet in one hand and a large assortment of expensive supplements in the other, smiling warmly as he greeted Lucy and her husband, "Hello, Uncle and Auntie."

"Oh Kyle, it's so nice of you to come, you didn't have to bring gifts!"

Lucy smiled broadly and quickly accepted the gifts.

Then, noticing Sophie's frighteningly gloomy expression, she quickly called out, "Sophie, what are you doing standing there? Hurry up and take the flowers, invite Kyle in to sit."

As for Xavier, she completely ignored him.

"Auntie, it's fine; we're all family here. No need for formalities."

The young man smiled and, without waiting for Sophie to speak, walked directly into the courtyard, greeted Sophie's father familiarly, and sat down to chat.

Seeing this, Xavier's expression remained unchanged, but Sophie's face turned extremely unpleasant.

"Oh dear, what are you still doing here? Hurry up, come in and entertain Kyle."

Lucy quickly rushed out, pushing Sophie back into the courtyard, with Xavier following them this time.

"What are you doing coming in? Get out," Lucy said coldly.

"I'm coming home."

Seeing Lucy so eager to drive him away, Xavier instead laughed, "This is my home, it was five years ago, and it still is five years later. After all, we're still legally married."

With that, he took out a faded red marriage certificate with a smile.

Sophie's eyes focused on the marriage certificate, which was originally a festive red but had clearly faded, with visible marks from being handled repeatedly.

How many times must it have been taken out to fade like this?

"Marriage certificate?"

Lucy laughed triumphantly, "You ingrate, you never expected this, did you? You've been missing for five years, your marriage certificate is long useless."

"What?"

Xavier's expression changed, and he said in a low voice, "What do you mean by that?"

"The law states that after four years of disappearance, one can apply for a declaration of death. Sorry, but half a year ago, I applied for and received your death certificate. Your marriage is nullified."

Lucy looked at Xavier with smug satisfaction, "My daughter is now an eligible single woman, and has nothing to do with you."

"Mom, when did this happen?" Sophie's expression also changed, "Why didn't I know?"

"Such a small matter, your mother took care of it for you. You work so hard, there's no need to tell you and worry you." Lucy said proudly, placing her hands on her hips.

"That time, when you said you wanted to collect all the household documents and had me hand over the marriage certificate and other documents, it was to apply for Xavier's death certificate?"

Sophie was in disbelief, "You actually deceived me?"

"Oh, so what if I did? I did it for your own good." Lucy said, turning her gaze to the young man, "Isn't that right, Kyle? My Sophie and you are a match made in heaven, how could she be with this ingrate?"

"Auntie, I promise, I'll do everything I can to take care of Sophie and Sienna, like they're my own family."

The young man stood up quickly, speaking with excitement."Kyle, shut your mouth."

Sophie suddenly shouted, her eyes sweeping over Xavier, Lucy, and Kyle, her face full of disappointment. She stumbled towards the house, tears streaming down her face.

"Sophie..."

Xavier wanted to follow her, but Lucy blocked him. "What do you think you're doing? This is my house. Who let you in? You're lucky I haven't kicked you out already."

"Move aside."

Xavier's expression was icy. After being targeted by Lucy repeatedly, he was done tolerating it.

"Oh, you dare to hit me? Go on, hit me. I'll call Sophie out to see how you treat your former mother-in-law. We fed and clothed you, and you still dare to be so arrogant, you ungrateful wretch..."

Lucy immediately began to make a scene.

"This is ridiculous. Do you really think I'll put up with this like I did five years ago?" Xavier's face was cold.

"Help! Someone help! This ungrateful man is going to kill me! Come and see..." Lucy continued to shout without any regard.

"You've gone too far!"

Xavier took a step forward, but was blocked by the young man.

Kyle, the young man, smiled at Xavier. "Hey there, I've heard about you from Sophie. Five years ago, you and Sophie were indeed married and had a certificate, but you ran away at the wedding. Five years later, you have no relation anymore."

"This is the Lewis household, not your home. If you cause trouble again, that's disturbing the peace. Even if I were to kill you, it wouldn't take much to cover it up."

"In Cloud City, dealing with someone like you, who vanished for five years and just came back, is no challenge for me."

"If you don't believe me, feel free to try."

He squinted at Xavier, his eyes filled with a threatening look.

"My matters have nothing to do with you, move aside." Xavier looked at Kyle calmly.

The young man Kyle laughed, "Tell me, how much will it take for you to leave Cloud City and never return?"

As he spoke, he pulled out a check and pen from his suit pocket, wrote down the amount of two million, and handed it to Xavier. "Two million—more than you'll ever make in your life. Is that enough?"

"Kyle, you don't need to give him money. This bastard has nothing to do with my daughter anymore, just kick him out." Lucy looked at the check with red eyes, wishing she could snatch it.

"Auntie, money is just a number to me. Anything solvable with money isn't a big deal," Kyle said with a smile.

To this, Lucy had nothing to say, only looking at Xavier with full resentment, "You're really getting off easy."

Xavier reached out and took the check in his hand. Kyle's eyes showed disdain, but he smiled and said, "That's right, one should know their limits and when to advance or retreat..."

Rip!

However, before he could finish speaking, Xavier tore the check into pieces and threw it at Kyle.

"Two million isn't enough? How much do you want?" Kyle's eyes showed anger, but he still tried to maintain his composure.

"Maybe during those five years he was missing, he became filthy rich," Lucy said with a face full of sarcasm. "All talk and no action, lacking skills yet still not satisfied, just as useless as he was five years ago."

"Him?"

Kyle no longer hid his disdain and laughed, "Auntie, I'm not mocking him, but just look at his down-and-out look, he can barely afford to eat. Even five years ago, he was your son-in-law, yet he comes to visit without bringing any gifts."

"Who said I didn't bring a gift?" Xavier said with a calm demeanor.

"Oh, where is your gift? Why don't I see it?"

Kyle looked around, pretending to search, and laughed, "Among the gifts I brought for Auntie, there's a diamond necklace I bought at an auction in France for 990,000. It's nothing extravagant, but if your gift is worth even a tenth of that, I'll give you that."

After speaking, he felt it wasn't enough and continued, "Let's make a bet. If your gift is worth a tenth of mine, I lose. Otherwise, I win."

"If you lose, I don't ask for much—just kneel down, apologize to me, and get out of Cloud City, never to appear before Sophie again."

"If I lose, I'll kneel down and apologize too, and also give you a check for five million. How about that?"

He looked at Xavier with a sidelong glance, waiting for Xavier to kneel and humiliate himself, especially seeing Lucy's face full of satisfaction on the side, he felt extremely smug.

"Well then, get on your knees," Xavier, with his hands behind his back, said with composure.

"What did you say?" Kyle doubted his ears.

"My gift has arrived," Xavier said.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden flurry of footsteps, and a group of people in formal attire, with utmost respect, quickly walked in with various luxurious gifts.