Apparently, a bunch of outsiders had brought their luggage to the manor's compound and plopped their asses there. They claimed that the manor was theirs, so they wanted the tenants to move out immediately.

By the time I reached the manor, the group was already sitting in the main lobby. Edward pointed at the menu while ordering a bunch of dishes.

"I don't want these dishes. Other than that, I want the rest of the menu to be served. Also, I want a bottle of Château Lafite from the 1982 vintage.

"What are you standing around for? We're your landlords, you know! Are you worried that we can't afford this meal?

"If you don't hurry up, I might as well stop renting this place to you! I'll make sure that the money your boss has used on the refurbishment of this manor goes down the drain!"

The server left the table while looking conflicted. After closing the menu, Edward turned to face Paul and Judith smugly.

"Who would've thought that Felix's manor is actually Grand Euphoria? Mom, Dad, this is the fanciest restaurant in Lexton City!

"It seems that Felix and Gwendolyn have a lot more assets than we thought. Once we're done with lunch, we should plan our next step properly.

"If you were to ask me, Gwendolyn died at the right time. Had she not died, we wouldn't be able to enjoy these luxuries in her stead."

I approached the table frostily before tossing the documents to the Wolfes. "I heard that you told the tenants to move out."

When Edward noticed me, his complexion went pale for a second. But soon, he retorted stubbornly, "That's right! Since you refuse to extend our rooms, we have nowhere to stay. That's why we decided to stay in our own manor! What's wrong with that?"

I spread the documents open for the Wolfes to look at.

"Take a proper look at this. The rent for this manor is three million dollars per year. The total renovation cost is ten million dollars. If the landlord breaks the contract by demanding the tenants move out before the contract expires, he'll have to pay both the renovation cost and one year's rent.

"It'll be 13 million dollars in total. Who will be the one paying the compensation?"

All color drained from everyone's faces when they heard the figure.

At that moment, the restaurant's manager came over to the table. He placed a bill in front of Paul and Judith.

"Thanks to the ruckus you and your group caused in this restaurant, you've caused us to sustain about 50 thousand dollars in terms of losses. Would you like to handle this case in private, or shall we escalate this case to the police?"

Judith's complexion was pallid as she struggled to her feet, her legs trembling beneath her.

"T-This is just a misunderstanding, sir. Yeah… It's all a misunderstanding! We're leaving now!"

After that, she shot Paul and Edward a look. The group attempted to leave the restaurant as quickly as possible.

The moment they reached the door, they were stopped by the security guards.

"The kitchen is already processing your order. According to the food items you've ordered, your bill comes to a total of 258 thousand dollars. You can pay using a credit card, or you can just wire the payment to the restaurant's bank account."

Both Paul and Judith had cold sweat rolling down their faces. They soon slumped to the floor, having lost all strength in their legs.

Edward pointed at me while hollering at the restaurant's manager, "He's my brother-in-law! If you want money, you should ask him to pay up!"

I merely spread my hands. "Every corner of this restaurant is fitted with a security camera each. As adults, you have to take responsibility for your actions. This has nothing to do with me."

Judith burst into tears at that moment. She crawled over to me before grabbing my pant leg.

"Felix, I'm Gwendolyn's mother! Even if she's dead, you still can't do this to us! Gwendolyn is already dead, so why do you need this much money? Hurry up and pay the bill so that we can leave!

"You mustn't call the police… No matter what, you can't do that… Ed has plans to become a public servant… If you call the police, his future will be ruined!"

I backed away from Judith.

"If you agree to the condition I've proposed this morning, I might consider clearing the debt for you."

"No way!"

Paul managed to stand up by propping onto the chair next to him.

"We did our job raising Gwendolyn since she was a baby! Her money belongs to us! Aha! I knew it! You and the manager staged this incident just to get us to agree to your condition!"

"Don't think you can fool us this time! We want 51 million dollars, and not a single cent less!"

I shook my head at the manager. Then, I walked over to a random table and sat down to enjoy the show.

The crowd argued with the restaurant for a long time after that. In the end, the restaurant manager lost his patience and called the police.

Only then did the crowd panic. Judith looked at the relatives whom she had brought here before demanding them to cough up the money.

In the end, everyone had to pay the restaurant 30 thousand dollars each before leaving the compound. At the doorway, the relatives quickly captured Paul, Judith, and Edward. Once they beat them up, they ditched the Wolfes angrily.

Upon leaving the restaurant, I looked at the time. It was almost time to go to the kindergarten and pick up my son, Maxwell Larson.

On the way there, I kept thinking about how I should explain to my son why his parents had not picked him up from school for so many days.

How should I explain to him that he wouldn't be able to see his mommy ever again?

There was a small jam when I was on my way to Max's kindergarten. By the time I reached it, half an hour had already passed.

After recomposing myself in the car, I got out. The teacher standing at the kindergarten's gateway happened to be Max's homeroom teacher.

When she saw me, she asked in shock, "Mr. Larson, why are you here?"

A premonition began creeping into my mind at that moment.

My body was all stiff as I replied, "I'm here to pick Max up."

The teacher's face went pale. "Max's uncle came to pick him up."

I remained rooted to the spot. My hands and feet had gone cold. It felt as though the blood in my veins had gone cold.

The teacher continued to explain with a stammer, "I… I did confirm with Max. That time, Max did call him his uncle…"

I managed to ask with the last trace of my sanity, "Did the person who pick Maxwell up suffer from bruises on his face?"

The teacher nodded instantly. "Yes!"

I turned on my heel and left. At the same time, I called Dylan. After that, I called all of my friends.

In a trembling voice, I begged them to help me look for my son.

I exclaimed to them, "I'm begging you, please help me look for Max! Please!"

My hands trembled violently when I sat in my car. I couldn't even hit the "start engine" button. Never had I felt such intense fear and rage hitting the peak at the same time in my entire life

My left hand tightly clutched the watch that was strapped around my right wrist. It was a gift from Gwen. I remained like that until the icy strap hurt my wrist, causing pain to flare from that spot.

Finally, I was able to calm down.

Then, I opened the app that showed the GPS location of Max's smartwatch. The last location was shown to be the next junction.

After that, I called my friend at the police station and updated him on the general direction that Max had moved in after getting picked up at the kindergarten.

Then, I sat in my car while taking deep breaths.

All of my friends had watched Max grow up. Now, what I needed to do was to wait.

Numerous possibilities flashed through my mind. In the end, a singular thought was formed.

If anything happened to Max, I might as well die. Both of us would travel to the afterlife and look for Gwen.

But before that, I swore I'd drag those bastards down with me.

20 minutes later, my friend called me. It turned out that he found Max. I ran a few red lights just to get to the location he had given me, which was a rundown inn.

The police and I reached the inn at the same time.

When the door was kicked open, I saw Max sleeping on the bed. Meanwhile, Edward was in the middle of taking photos of Max.

As he snapped away, he mumbled, "I refuse to believe that Felix won't agree to our requests once he realizes that his son is in our hands.

"Don't talk about taking us to court. It takes far too long. We can't afford to waste that much time."

After that, the police filed into the inn room with their guns aimed at the culprits. Edward's phone fell to the floor instantly.

I approached Max and picked him up with a dark expression on my face. Once I felt my son's breathing, relief finally flooded my thundering heart.

Then, I shot a look at my friend before rushing Max toward the hospital without looking back.

The check-up results were soon released. Max had inhaled some drugged fumes that knocked him out. Once the drugs wore off, he'd wake up.

Only then did my knees buckle together as I collapsed onto the hospital bed.

Soon, my friend called me. He told me tactfully that the trio was adamant that they merely intended to take Max out on a walk. They didn't force Max to follow them against his will.

Since the three Wolfes were Max's actual family, it was hard to pin the actual crime on them despite knowing that they had ulterior motives.

As I stared at Max lying on the bed, guilt and rage surged through me in relentless waves, threatening to drown my rationality.

For the first time ever, I felt like killing people.

Max was the final gift of remembrance Gwen had left for me in this world. If anyone dared to lay a finger on him, I'd make that person pay an extremely heavy price.