“That’s right. You’re absolutely right! To be honest, I don’t really like this little girl anyway!”

Fiona nodded repeatedly. “After all, she shouldn’t have existed!”

Hearing those words, Fane felt the urge to kill them all in just one strike.

However, deep down, he reminded himself to stay calm. After all, Fiona was Selena’s mother, his mother-in-law.

This place was no longer the battlefield where he killed as he wished. At the very least, Fiona and Andrew were not his enemies.

Andrew’s leg was in its current condition because of his rash actions with Serena on their wedding night.

Their hatred for him was reasonable.

However, there was an outsider present.

Fane smiled coldly, then looked toward Young Master Clark. “Kylie is my daughter. She’s not baggage, nor is she a b*stard child. You have to kneel down and apologize for your words!”

At that point, Fane paused for a moment, then continued, “If not because of my unwillingness to stain this place on my first day home, you’d be dead by now!”

“Haha, brat, did I hear you correctly? Do you know who you’re talking to?”

Young Master Clark laughed, then pointed at the Bentley outside. “I heard that you used to be a delivery boy. A few years of war as a soldier has made you a tough guy, eh? You’re nothing in my eyes. Do you know how much that car costs? A person like you can’t afford to buy one in your entire life.”

“That’s right. Fane, stop your meddling. Take your daughter and leave!”

Fiona took a step forward, then added, “Stop messing with my daughter’s search for happiness!”

“Mother, unless Selena personally asks me to go away, I will never leave her side!”

Fane looked at Fiona with a resolved expression on his face.

“What do you have to compare with me? How do you qualify to be with her? A person needs to understand his own shortcomings, no?”

Young Master Clark took a step forward, then jabbed at Fane’s chest. “You’re just a useless soldier…”

Smack!

To their surprise, Fane sent Young Master Clark a few steps back with a slap. He spat a mouthful of blood along with three teeth.

“Ouch!”

Young Master Clark screamed while his cheeks burned.

“Y-Y-You dare to hit me? You’re courting death! Do you know who I am?”

Young Master Clark was furious. He wanted to fight back, yet dared not to.

The person in front of him had returned from the battlefield. He, a pampered young master, was surely no match for Fane.

“Fane, do you know who he is? He’s the Clark family’s young master. The Clark family is a lot wealthier and has more influence than our Taylor family!”

“I don’t care who he is. He dared to badmouth my daughter and have unclean thoughts about Selena. It’s already generous of me to not kill him!” Fane coldly declared.

“Alright, you’re ballsy and quite capable. Do you dare to let me make a phone call?” Ken said menacingly.

“I wouldn;’t be scared even if you made 10 calls!”

Fane could not be bothered with him. Such trash meant nothing in his eyes.

“F-F-Fane Woods?”

Right then, a melodious voice could be heard coming from behind them.

Fane’s heart trembled. He turned around to see Selena, still beautiful as ever, but dressed in simple garments. His eyes immediately turned watery. “Selena, I’m back.”

“This is wonderful. I knew it. I knew you'd survive!”

Selena’s body trembled, dropping the bags filled with trash to the ground. “It’s good that you’re back. Our child must not be without a father!”

Selena’s voice quickly regained its calm.

Must not be without a father!

Those six simple words made Fane realize Selena’s feeling for him at that moment.

That was right. They hardly had any feelings for each other as the marriage was just for show.

What happened that night was due to Selena’s rashness…

As for the child, she could not bear to abort her as she was her own flesh and blood.

Just six simple words fully expressed the helplessness in her heart.

“Selena, rest assured. Nobody will dare to bully you from now on!”

Fane raised his hand, declaring matter-of-factly, “I swear!”

“My dear, have him get out of here and take Kylie along. He will only bring trouble!”

Seeing her own daughter come home, Fiona grabbed onto Selena’s hand and said in tears, “Divorce him quick. Young Master Clark just promised us that he will take good care of you and us. I don’t want to see you collecting trash again. I also don’t wish to live in such a difficult situation anymore. Staying in a place like this is making us the laughing stock of others.”

“Ma, I’m sorry. I can’t abandon Kylie! Although Fane might be useless, he’s still my man and Kylie’s father. I believe that if we work hard together, our life will definitely get better!”

Selena managed a bitter smile, her eyes filled with helplessness.

“H-H-He hit Young Master Clark right after he returned home. Look, even his teeth fell off!”

Andrew was squatting on the floor in anger, feeling disappointed.

“What?!”

Selena looked at the teeth and bloodstains on the floor, then shot an astonished look at Fane. “W-W-Why did you hit him? You’re too rash! This will be troublesome!”

“It’s fine, honey. You don’t have to worry!”

Fane smiled calmly, silently appreciating the woman standing before him. She was just as pretty as before.

“What do you mean there’s nothing to worry? Quickly come apologize to Young Master Clark. He’s the most promising child of the Clark family’s younger generation and also the Eldest Young Master. He’s the heir apparent, the Clark family’s future master!”

“This time, you’re really in big trouble!”

Selena was extremely worried, urgently pushing Fane toward Young Master Clark.

“Apologize? Ptooi!”

Once again, Young Master Clark spat out the blood in his mouth, then looked up and puffed his chest. “It’s too late to apologize now. My dad has ordered Dan Jameson to come and settle this matter!”

“Dan Jameson?”

Fane was baffled. Was that not the person he had just defeated in an arm-wrestling match? What a coincidence.

Seeing how Fane was in a daze, Young Master Clark burst out laughing. “What’s this? Scared? Do you know who Dan is? He’s our Clark family’s number one fighter that will kill without remorse. He took down two to three hundred people all on his own. Do you think you’re so great just because you’ve been a soldier? Hehe, what an ignorant fool!”

“Young Master Clark, please show your generosity and let this person go. He’s just a boor. Why bother?”

Selena went forward to put in a kind word for Fane, feeling helpless.

“I’ve lost a few teeth and you’re telling me to let him go? Are you kidding me?”

Young Master Clark massaged his swollen cheek, filled with anger. “I can let this slide as long as you divorce him right now...and marry me!”

“Young Master Clark, is that necessary? With your status, you can easily find a beautiful young lady. Why would you insist on a married woman like myself?”

Selena smiled awkwardly. “Young Master Clark, please stop your jokes!”

“I’m sorry, but you’re the type I like!”

Young Master Clark laughed coldly. “Since you’re unwilling to divorce him, then I’m not to be blamed. This brat will die today!”

“I’ll die today? I don’t think so!”

Fane was unfazed. He took a look outside and saw that Shauna had already brought Kylie to play under the banyan tree.

“Hmph, I’ll see how you plan to act tough later!”

Young Master Clark could not be bothered to talk with Fane. He believed that Fane would be regretting soon enough.

Very quickly, a few cars pulled over just outside. Dan Jameson, the Clark family’s number one fighter, walked in along with a few muscular guys.

Just as he entered the courtyard, Dan shouted, “Who’s the person that dared to bully our young master? Do you wish to die?”

At that moment, Dan was furious as he had just ran into someone he could not afford to offend, causing him to lose a finger.

He had just only finished treating his wound at the hospital when his master gave him another phone call, telling him that Young Master Clark was beaten up, sending him over to settle the issue.

“It’s that trash named Fane Woods. He’s just a stinking, retired soldier, yet he dares to behave arrogantly before me!”

Young Master Clark immediately started smugly mouthing off once he saw Dan approach with his men.

“Motherf*cker, this is really—” Dan bellowed, rushing as he was about to take action to vent his frustrations.

However, seeing the person standing in front of Ken, he was almost petrified by fear.

“How unexpected. We meet again!”

Fane smiled calmly, then looked at the bandaged hand of the other party. “It seems you have a great personality. You’re a real man that keeps your word!”

At first, Ken could not understand what Fane was talking about. He frowned and looked at Dan, asking, “You’ve met?”

Dan smiled bitterly, then nodded. “Young Master Clark, uhm… It’s about time for lunch. Why don’t we head back?”

While he spoke, Dan had even winked a few times at Ken.

“Lunch? What lunch? Go beat him up. Damn it! If I don’t vent my frustrations today, I’m not a man!” Ken huffed, failing to understand Dan’s implications.

Smack!

Fane took a step forward and gave Young Master Clark a slap to his face.

“You…”

“Dan, get him!”

Smack!

“Dan…”

Smack!

After a few consecutive slaps, Young Master Clark almost passed out.

“Dan, why aren’t you and your men taking action?”

Young Master Clark was on the verge of tears. He felt so wronged. He had never been treated this way before.

Dan did not dare to take action. The men around him had also witnessed first hand how Black Dragon was killed. They lowered their heads in fear, not daring to take a single step forward.

“Sorry for disturbing!”

The unexpected had just happened. Dan walked up to Fane and bowed respectfully, then with a wave of his hand, he ordered his underlings, “Take Young Master Clark home!”

In an instant, the thugs carried Ken and went out the door.

“Put me down. Dan, what’s wrong with you? I’m asking you to cripple that brat. Dan, why are you such a wuss today?”

Young Master Clark was cursing all the way out, but it had no effect. He was carried away just like that.

“This…”

Fiona and Andrew were both flabbergasted. At first, they thought that Fane was done for. Who would have thought such a dramatic scene would ensue?

“Could it be that Dan is afraid of you? You know each other?” Selena asked with a frown on her face.

“That’s a long story!”

Fane smiled bitterly, then looked at the bag of trash on the floor, asking, “Selena, why are you collecting trash? What happened in the past five years?”

All was good until that topic was brought up. Fiona immediately boiled with rage again.

Enraged, she walked forward and was just about to push Fane out of the door. “It’s all because of you, trash! If not for you forcing yourself on my daughter and impregnating her with Kylie, would she be kicked out of the family? Do you think we’d be collecting trash for a living?”

“Ma, stop that. He’s not to be blamed for that matter. It was my own decision. He did not force himself on me!”

Selena retorted strongly, “The incident that night was nothing to be regretful about. I’ll never regret my decision. I’ll be responsible for my own actions. Didn’t Grandpa have me marry him? He’s the man I’ll be with!”

“Impossible. It must be this scoundrel forcing himself on you. You must’ve been drunk, and he took advantage of that. That must be it!”

“You’re the Taylor family’s Eldest Miss and he’s only a delivery boy. How can he be a worthy partner for you?”

Fiona refused to believe Selena’s statement. She glared at Fane through gritted teeth. “Brat, I don’t care. You must compensate my daughter for her loss of youth and divorce her. Let her marry Young Master Clark.”

“Mother, I’ve already told you. Unless Selena says so, I won’t be divorcing her!”

Fane was determined. He looked at Selena, finally showing a gentle expression as he asked, “Selena, can you tell me what happened? Even if you’re kicked out of the Taylor family, you shouldn’t have to resort to collecting trash, right? With your networking and capabilities, how could you not find a good job?”

Selena made a bitter smile. That smile was filled with untold suffering. “Do you think I wished for this? After getting pregnant, I was told to abort it. I disagreed and was kicked out. What kind of job could I take while being pregnant? Moreover, my Grandpa gave out an order to ban all affiliated companies from hiring me!”

By that point, Selena took a seat by the table. Her gaze had a pitiful look. “Some companies were willing to hire me, for example, those from the Clark family. Although they were willing, the condition was to abort the child. Moreover, Young Master Clark had always been eyeing me! What else could I do? The Taylor family was even worse. They would only leave me alone when I collected trash. Otherwise, they’d be sending people to destroy my business even if I just set up a simple stall!”

“Damn it!”

By that point, Fane could not bear listening on. The wife of the Supreme Warrior was actually forced to collect trash and left without help?

“You see, it’s all because of you. If not for trash like you, would our family be in such a rut?”

Fiona was still as disgusted as before. “Furthermore, Selena’s dad’s leg was broken when he worked as a porter. Look at him now! Sob, sob, sob, why is my life so difficult!”

“Father, mother, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to turn out this way!”

Seeing Fiona in tears and how the whole family could not even have a decent meal, Fane’s heart was wracked with guilt. “Don’t you worry. Now that I’m back, nobody will dare to bully you in the future!”

“You’re just talking nonsense!”

Fiona’s voice trembled, clearly agitated as she pointed at Fane. “You’re just a soldier. What can you do? At most, you can only run your mouth. The way I see it, it’s 10 to 100 times better for our Selena to marry Young Master Clark or that Young Master Wilson when compared to trash like you!”

“Ma, no matter what you say, he’s still Kylie’s father and your son-in-law. Don’t ridicule him like that anymore!”

“Those matters from the past are far behind us now. You should stop talking about it too!”

Selena was just as kind and understanding as before.

“Bullsh*t! We’ve never recognized him as our son-in-law. This doesn’t count!” Fiona retorted.

“That’s right. If not for him, my leg wouldn’t be in this state!” Andrew was similarly holding his grudge.

“But what mistake did he commit? Back then, I slept with him out of spite. I didn’t expect myself to be pregnant from that!”

Selena felt helpless. It was indeed her own brazen action that caused this. However, she really could not bear aborting the child.

The situations they face up to that point were considered compensations for the mistake she made back then.

“But you didn’t have to carry the child. You...you’re really trying to give me a heart attack!”

Fiona stomped her foot in frustration.

“Nevermind. It is what it is. He’s back from the war. Let’s just see if he can find something to do in the future. Our lives will improve eventually!”

Andrew took out a cigarette and lit it. He was indeed angry when he saw Fane, but at that point, there was nothing he could do. After all, Kylie was his granddaughter, the flesh and blood of his own daughter.

“How much better can it get? Can it compare to back when we were staying in the townhouse?”

Fiona was still huffing angrily.

“Selena, where’s my mother? How come I haven’t seen her?”

Fane frowned. He had been back for quite a while, but he had yet to see his mother. Shauna told him earlier that his mother was staying with them.

“She’s still working. We can’t help that. Your mother is uncultured and old. She can only work as a cleaner outside. Her monthly salary is quite low, and she has split some over for us. As a family, we can only make do!” Selena finally said after a bitter smile.

“Come, bring me to her! You should know which street she’s in charge of, right?”

Hearing that his own mother was working as a cleaner and the entire family’s income was dependent on her and Selena’s trash collecting, Fane felt very uncomfortable.

“Brat, I’m telling you that you need to divorce our Selena. Moreover, I won’t let you off without at least ten million bucks of compensation for her lost youth!”

Just as they were leaving, Fiona’s furious outburst could be heard from behind.

…

At that moment, the scorching sun was high in the sky. The blazing summer day caused the temperature on the ground to rise continuously.

On the side of a street, a middle-aged woman was holding onto a hat as she cleaned the road.

Thud!

An empty mineral water bottle was thrown right in front of that middle-aged woman.

The middle-aged woman raised her head and saw two youngsters along with some girls in sexy short dresses. She shook her head in resignation. “Sigh, youngsters these days...they don’t even know how to throw it into the trash can right there.”

Unexpectedly, the cleaner’s lamentation was heard by the other party.

“F*ck, you’re just a cleaner. Why are you spouting so much nonsense?”

“I’m throwing it in front of you. What about it? If I don’t throw my trash here, you cleaners would be getting paid for nothing, isn’t it?” The youngster that threw the bottle immediately started running his mouth.

Having said that, he followed with spitting on the floor. “People from the lower rung of society can only get so far!”

“That’s right. If not for us creating trash, they’ll be unemployed!”

One of the young girls with curly hair was wearing a black skirt and pantyhose. She started chewing on sunflower seed and threw the shells all over the place. “Clean it up. If you don’t clean properly, you might get a pay cut!”

The two youngsters joined in and grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, munching away. “That’s right. Auntie, clean it properly. Hahaha!”

“Y-y-you guys are still so young, yet so uncultured. The trash can is right there. Don’t you know that littering is a very uncultured thing to do?”

The cleaning lady was aggravated. Under the hot blazing summer sun, she was on the verge of passing out from the heat, yet the street that she spent so much effort cleaning up was…

“Haha, you’re teaching me about culture? You’re just a cleaner, yet you’re talking about culture. What a joke!”

The first youngster burst into laughter once more.

Witnessing the scene, Fane and Selena almost had an aneurysm. These youngsters were too uncivilized.

“What’s the point of you guys bullying an elderly here?”

Before Fane could take a step forward, Selena was already rushing up to them, shouting angrily, “What’s with that behavior? People are working so hard to clean the street. Can’t you guys just do your part to maintain a nice environment?”

“Aiyo, pretty lady, are you trying to stand up for her? You look pretty and have a shapely body. However, you’re a little too poor. Look at those patchy clothes!”

That youngster shot a look at Selena and was surprised by what he saw. This woman was wearing such old and simple clothes, yet they could not cover up her beauty.

“Don’t you know to mind your own business?”

The two girls, instead, gave Selena disgusted looks.

“Selena, why are you here?”

Fane’s mother, Joan Xavier quickly pulled Selena back. “Nevermind, it’s fine. They’ll go away after a while. I’ll just clean it up after that!”

“Mother, they’re too much. They’ve crossed the line!”

Selena felt uncomfortable. Her fists were tightly gripped, but she could not do anything.

“Hey pretty, you look quite cute when you’re angry!”

The youngster took a look, growing more excited. He could not resist teasing, “Come here. If you give me a kiss, we’ll stop littering. Deal?”

“You dare pick on my woman!?”

Fane could not hold back any longer. He stepped forward and stared them in the eye.

“You’re…”

Joan was caught off guard. She quickly recognized Fane and started tearing up. “Fane, y-y-you’re back?”

Fane turned around. His eyes were similarly tearing up, grabbing Joan’s hands tightly, “Ma, I’m sorry. Your son made you suffer. I was unable to be by your side for the past five years!”

“No, I’m fine. I’m doing just fine!”

“All that matters is that you’re home safe and sound. They all said that you’ve died on the battlefield. I knew you’d definitely come back alive!”

Joan’s passionate tears flowed as her voice trembled. Her pair of old callused hands holding onto Fane’s hands quietly, fearing that it would be all a dream if she let go of them.

“I’m back, I’m really back. We’ll never be separated again and live comfortably in the future!” Fane nodded repeatedly. “Your son has been unfilial for making you worried!”

“No, no, you’re a good boy. I know you married into the family just to get money for my treatment. You went to war for our country!”

Joan’s tears blurred her eyesight. “I’m very satisfied to have such a son!”

“F*ck, are you guys from the entertainment department? What’s with all these dramatic flairs? Sickening!”

That youngster was frustrated. However, his words caused Fane’s eyes to flicker with murderous intent.