Chapter 12

"You can't be serious? Henry is treating you to a meal?" Timothy and Quinn were completely dumbfounded. "That's absolutely impossible. Do you think he's just any old man? Do you know who he is?" Timothy then explained, "He is at the helm of the Longhorns', and the Longhorns are only one of three first-tier upper-class families here in Brookbourn. One small move from them will send waves through Brookbourn, and decision they make will change Brookbourn's future! Why would someone like that treat you to dinner?" Severin thought over what Timothy said and asked him, "What about the Loughs? Are they on the same level as the Longhorns?" Timothy immediately said, "Of course not! The Loughs aren't even a third-tier upper-class family, and at best, they're just wealthy businesspeople. Their business has been growing very steadily in the past few years, and they might just become a third-tier upper-class family soon. The Loughs' have a net worth in excess of fifteen million, but they're far behind that of the Longhorns! The latter has assets of more than a hundred and fifteen million, maybe even more!" "Oh!" Severin remarked indifferently. "I guess the Longhorns are quite powerful! But I'm just going to have a meal with them though. I have no intention of currying favor with them!" Timothy just could not believe what he heard. "Gimme a break and quit trying to be pretentious! Are you that oblivious to what kind of person he is? How could someone like you come in contact with him? And you're saying that he's treating you to a meal? As if anyone would believe that! You're not even worthy of holding his shoes! Let's be honest, even Easton won't be able to curry favor to Henry, let alone someone like you!" As they all chatted away in the car, it did not take long before they arrived at the Richemont Hotel's entrance. The three of them got off the vehicle after Timothy passed the car to the hotel valet. Severin did not think that he would meet Lucy's parents as soon as he entered the hotel. "It's in the hall on the second floor! Just go upstairs and turn right!" Lucy's parents gave directions to two relatives. Once the relatives went up, Lucy's mother—Helga Orwell—saw Severin. She immediately pulled a long face, "Why are you here, Severin? Today's the day of Lucy's wedding. Did you stalk her all the way to the hotel? Please don't tell me that you haven't given up on her? It's about time you did, because Lucy will never be with a toad like you! Toads will always be toads, and Lucy is the kind of princess who will never kiss a toad!" A few of Lucy's relatives were there as well, and they began to whisper among themselves when they heard that the man was Severin. "Isn't that the ex-convict? Why is he here?" "Goodness me. Did he follow her all the way to the hotel? Where did he get the cheek to come to such a high-end hotel wearing that sort of clothes?" To them, Severin was like a clown. "You must've misunderstood him, Aunt Helga. He was Lucy's classmate once, and he probably just wanted to come here and say his last goodbye to her. I'm sure he came to give his blessing for Lucy to marry into a rich family. The Loughs are really influential people, so I don't think he has the guts to come and stir up trouble her." Severin had come in with Timothy and her, so it was only natural for her to smile and smoothen things over. A cold smile appeared on Severin's face as he suppressed the anger in his heart. "I'm here because someone invited me for lunch. Since today is Lucy's wedding day, so I'll treat her with some dignity in memory of our past as classmates, as well as the three years we spent together as a couple. I won't be causing any trouble today!" Severin said, but his words immediately took a sudden turn as a sharp glimmer appeared in his eyes. "But just because I'm not causing any trouble today, doesn't mean that I won't cause any trouble tomorrow. I'll take my time to get even with your family for everything that you've done to my family!" "What have we done to your family? Do you honestly think you're capable of getting even with us?" Helga did not cede dominance to him and said with a look of disgust on her face. "Don't be such an eyesore! You should leave if you know what's good for you. Having an ex-convict is just plain bad luck!" "Oh, you really did decide to come?" At that moment, Easton and Lucy had just come in from the entrance. Easton said with a cold smile, "You've got some balls for coming to my wedding after slapping me yesterday, Severin." "What?! He slapped you? You're looking to get yourself killed, aren't you, Severin? How dare you slap Easton!" Helga flew into a rage when she heard that. She then said to Easton, "You should have your men beat him up, Easton. He deserves a beating!" Lucy, who was beside Easton, frowned and said to him, "Today's our wedding day, babe. It'll look really bad if a fight happens here." Easton gave Lucy's words some thought and felt that she had a point. He nodded and turned to Severin, "Fine. I'll let it slide this time. It's actually a good thing that you're here. I'll get the chance to let you see me take her hand in marriage and kiss her up on stage later!" Severin had been meaning to give Lucy one last show of respect, but Easton's arrogant demeanor had ticked him off. He smiled coldly at Easton and said, "Are you sure you're not afraid to let me attend your wedding?" "There's nothing to be afraid of." Easton shrugged. "I thought I already told you yesterday that you were welcome here? After all, you've never been to such a luxurious place before. I even told you that you can have some good food, and you have to pay a cent for it! Remember to enjoy all those delicacies later, okay? Because once the wedding is over, I'll make sure to deal with you and show you what will happen to those who offended me!" Helga stepped forward and whispered to Easton, "Are you really planning to let him attend the wedding? He's an ex-convict, and he'll only bring us bad luck. Besides, I'm worried that he'll go berserk and cause trouble!" "He wouldn't dare." Easton smiled coldly and snapped his fingers. Moments later, a young man ran off and brought back a dozen people with him. Among the group were the scar-faced man and several others who went to demand money from Judith the previous night. The scar-faced man was still rattled by what happened the night before, so his expression turned gloomy when he saw that Severin was there. Then again, he could not shirk away like a coward after being paid good money, and they had also been given steel pipes to prevent anyone from causing trouble that day. He took a step forward, tightened his grip on the steel pipe in his hand, and felt a little more confident than before. He then took a step forward and whispered to Easton, "D-d-did he cause trouble, Mister Easton?" Easton smiled faintly and glanced at Severin before saying, "Hehe, he's just here to get some free food. All you have to do is keep an eye on him, but if he so much as does anything suspicious, you are to teach him a lesson right away!" "Hehe!" Severin smiled in contempt, placed his hands behind his back, and carried himself with an air of grandeur as he walked to the second floor. It was not long before he arrived at the venue, where plenty of guests had already arrived. "Oh, Easton, since you're brazen enough to force me into watching you get married, I'm beginning to think that your wedding might not proceed as smoothly today," Severin said nonchalantly as he approached the entrance to the hall. The scar-faced man behind him was startled to hear that remark, but he still warned Severin, "You'd better behave yourself, kid. There are a lot of people here today, so there are a lot of our men here too. If you don't you want to leave this place without an arm or a leg, I suggest that you sit down and enjoy your meal without doing anything funny!"