The Wood family was currently gathered together in their living room after the engagement ceremony between Shirley Wood, the youngest of the Wood family and Peter Green, the son of the gold mine owner at Carlo Hill.
Cassandra Wood who was the older sister of Shirley, was sitting on the edge and didn't seem to like being there. Several times she saw her husband being a servant to her family. She was upset. Very upset. How could she not? Her husband had no authority whatsoever and was often the target of her family. She really wanted to see her husband fight back, at least once. But, in fact, until they had been married for almost three years, Bill was still the same. Still becoming a useless son-in-law to her family. "Hurry up and fill this glass, Bill!" Shirley ordered her brother-in-law. Bill calmly picked up the bottle of red wine and opened it quickly and refilled Shirley's glass. He then stood next to the old man who was Cassandra's grandfather, Christopher Wood who had a pointed face like a crow. Shirley smiled happily and sipped her wine slowly. "You see, don't you, dear? My brother-in-law is so kind to serve us all so well," she told Peter. Peter Green, the man who would soon marry Shirley, smiled with satisfaction, "That's right. You're very lucky, dear." "Of course. Our Bill has a true heart, he'll do whatever we tell him to do," George Wood said, Shirley's older brother who was also Bill's brother-in-law. Bill didn't respond at all and turned to his wife, "Cassie, do you want me to fill your glass again?" "No, I don't," Cassandra replied curtly. "How about the dessert?" Bill asked. "No need," Cassandra replied and got up from her chair. "Grandpa, I'm sorry, I have to go to my room, I'm so tired," the beautiful woman with blonde hair argued. Not waiting for an answer, she left the living room. Bill quickly took off his apron and followed his wife. The woman did not go to their room, but she went to the rooftop. Cassandra knew her husband was following her, and pushed Bill away and hit him with her body. "Why, Bill? Why do you have to be such a coward? Don't you have any self-respect? Why don't you fight them?" She didn't stop hitting and Bill didn't seem to want to interfere with her venting her anger. Bill just waited until she got tired of hitting him. "What did I do wrong to marry a trash like you?" Cassandra shouted. Bill was silent. He thought answering his wife's words would only make her angrier. "Why do you want to be their servant, Bill? Tell me why!" Cassandra urged, unable to stand it. Bill couldn't possibly tell her the truth. It was still his big secret. "Tell me! Why don't you ever defend yourself? I'm sick of it, Bill. So sick of seeing weak men like you." The woman then began to cry in frustration. When Bill tried to touch her, Cassandra pulled away. "You can't even defend yourself, how can I possibly put up with you? Let's just get a divorce, Bill!" Bill froze in place as soon as he heard that. "Divorce?" "Yes. Let's get divorced! I hate you." "Why we must get divorce?" Bill asked. "Why, you said? After all, we only got married because grandma asked us to, not because we liked each other." Cassandra turned around and looked the other way. Bill approached his wife and touched her arm but she still refused. "I know, but-" "But what? Never mind, it's better if we go our separate ways. There's no point in being together," Cassandra said, still unwilling to look at her husband's face. "I can't." Cassandra laughed sarcastically, "Come on! Look at you! You're just a worker at a fruit stall in the market. What can I expect from you?" The woman sat down on a chair, staring ahead. Bill followed her and sat beside her even though he knew she didn't like it. "What's wrong with that, Cassie?" Cassandra really wanted to strangle her husband. "You know I work in an office, I'm a secretary in a big company. Don't you ever think about how embarrassed I am to have a husband who has such a lowly job?" Cassandra paused for a moment, before continuing, "You have no idea how they mock me. Loser husband, no self-respect, living hand to mouth. I'm the one who-" "Cassie-" "Don't interrupt me yet! Let me talk!" Cassandra pleaded and she was now back on her feet. The woman seemed ready to explode again, and Bill could see that very clearly. "Because of you, I'm underestimated, Bill. So, never mind, let's end it all. I can't take it anymore." Bill shook his head and gingerly touched his wife's hand. "No, I won't. I will never let you go." Cassandra clicked her tongue in exasperation, "If you won't do that, then I'll be the one to sue you in court." "Don't do that. Please, Cassie. Give me a chance to change!" Cassandra sighed tiredly. If only her husband had said that long ago, she would have immediately supported him. However, right now she was really very tired. Waiting for Bill to change for three years was not a short time. She had gone through so many trials and insults in her marriage with Bill, she didn't want to go through it again. For her, it was enough. "Your chance is gone," Cassandra said. Bill began to despair, "Give me a chance to change!" Cassandra was still silent, not even intending to reply. "Just one time," Bill said seriously. Thinking for a long time, Cassandra, who initially looked hesitant, finally replied, "Okay. One chance, if you don't change, I'll file for divorce." A smile appeared on Bill's lips. "Okay." He had been unable to apply for a good job because it meant he had to use his real identity. He couldn't do that because it would mean revealing his identity to the public. He couldn't do it yet, there was still one thing that made him have to hide his true identity. "That's it, dear. I'm coming down." Cassandra groaned in annoyance again but was too lazy to say anything so she just kept quiet as she watched her husband leave the rooftop. When Bill returned to the living room, his grandfather-in-law was already glaring at him. "Where have you been? The guest glass is empty." "Talking to Cassie for a while, Gramps." "Hurry up and fill Peter's glass!" Bill sighed, trying to restrain himself and quickly picked up the wine bottle and poured the drink into Peter's empty glass. Peter smiled mockingly. "Come here for a moment, future brother-in-law!" Peter said, asking Bill to come closer. The man was actually reluctant to respond but he also wanted to know what Peter wanted so he bowed slightly. "Your wife is very beautiful, can I approach her?" Peter whispered in a low voice. Bill instantly stiffened. "How dare you!" Bill shouted.It was clearly seen that Bill was very angry. A shocked Christopher immediately asked, "Why are you yelling at Peter, Bill?" Bill pointed at Peter with his index finger with uncontrollable anger. "He's-" "What are you doing? Why are you pointing at Peter like that?" Shirley said, already approaching her future husband, visibly annoyed by her brother-in-law's behavior. "He said he wanted to get close to Cassandra," Bill said with an angry growl. Shirley was wide-eyed and immediately raised her hand, intending to slap Bill. But swiftly, Bill managed to brush it off. "How dare you make such a dirty accusation. He's not as low as you are, Bill!" Shirley said with great annoyance. "He said it himself. He-" "Enough, Bill!" Christopher shouted, looking furious. Bill let out a long breath. His chest was heaving, indicating he was furious. Peter said, "What do you mean by that? I'm just saying your wife is beautiful. Is that wrong?" He turned to Chistopher, "Mr. Wood, I
Bill sat in front of Emma's fruit stall until morning. The stall owner was quite surprised to see Bill there in the same clothes. However, she didn't ask any questions because she saw Bill's somewhat rumpled expression. As Bill was cleaning up the fruit scattered on the floor, a fruit buyer who had been there since before Bill arrived approached him. Bill turned to him with an astonished look. "Yes, Sir. How can I help you?" "Yes, General." Bill's pupils suddenly dilated at the call. Why was this man calling him 'General'? Did he recognize him? But how could he? Bill quickly put down the fruit basket and looked at the neatly dressed young man with a probing look. "Who are you? Why are you calling me 'General'?" The young man, who Bill guessed was much younger than him, said, "It's me, General. Your subordinate. Andrew." Bill squinted, trying to remember. Only a few people knew his real face.Was it perhaps someone he knew? But, it doesn't feel like his face is w
Then, after knowing about the news he should think how to stop his grandfather-in-law. In the evening, when he had just locked Emma's fruit stall, he was suddenly approached by a number of large men who Bill guessed were common thugs. "I'm tired, don't bother me now!" Bill said with a face that looked so tired. A thug who appeared to be their leader came forward carrying a barbell. Bill scowled, "What are you going to do with that?" "You're the one who broke Baron's arm yesterday, right?" The thug asked with the fierce look. Bill frowned and suddenly remembered a thug who had come to Emma's stall and intended to disrupt it. "Uh, I didn't know that I broke it." "Hit him!" the leader ordered with anger. Bill casually engaged the men without expending much energy. He managed to land several punches on target. However, Bill was caught off guard by his cell phone which suddenly vibrated. The leader took advantage of Bill's unpreparedness and hit him rather hard in the stom
Bill walked into the Woods' house in confusion. He wanted to help his wife but he still didn't know what to do. In the midst of his confusion, Andrew Reece, who was his trusted man, came back. "No, General!" Andrew said. "My wife is inside. I have to help her." "General, how about we make a deal?" Andrew asked. Bill frowned, "What deal?" "If you are willing to come back, we will help you, General." Bill exhaled harshly, realizing that nothing in this world is free. Very reluctantly, Bill said, "Alright, I'll be back." Andrew smiled happily. Andrew then took an action to help Bill. "Good morning, General!" Andrew greeted on the day of Bill's return. "How are you today, General?" the young man asked with a bright smile. "No need for pleasantries. Get on with it, Reece." Andrew even smiled nervously from too much excitement, "Yes, General." "But before that, I'll have a word with King Keannu first." "Yes, General. He will be happy to see you." "I'll take my
"Your Majesty," Bill said suddenly.He bowed before his king, paying his respects. "It is my pleasure to have the honor of meeting the leader of this country."King Keannu frowned, somewhat confused. But when he saw Bill's expression as if he was throwing a code at him, the king understood."Your Majesty, he is-""General Gardner, there's no need to prolong this," Keannu said in firmly."But, Your Majesty. This man-""He's my guest, General. He is under my supervision. Do you understand now?" Keannu asked.Jody was about to say something else but suddenly the king said, "I would like to speak with my guest for a moment, General."Obviously an order telling Jody to stay away from there, the man understood quickly. Although, curiosity got the better of him, Jody chose to retreat."Yes, Your Majesty," Jody excused himself.The man bowed and left the building followed by his loyal men.As soon as the doors of the Silver building were closed, Keannu immediately turned to Bill and smiled bro
"Shut up, Harry!" Andrew snapped, already filled with the anger that was rapidly coursing through his veins after hearing the derogatory remarks that his two colleagues had hurled at the great general he respected so much. He simply could not accept it.Harry looked up in surprise, "Why are you angry? Isn't the one you brought a beggar? Look at the clothes he's wearing! The taxi driver's clothes outside are better than his.""Stop it! Don't ever dare to say like that!" Andrew said, pointing at Harry with his index finger."Have you forgotten who I am?" Harry retorted, now glaring fiercely at Andrew."Let's fight!" Andrew said irritably."This isn't necessary," Bill said and he strangely didn't feel offended by the two men's remarks. This was probably because he was so used to being insulted and abused by people, that he just took it as an afterthought."They have the nerve to insult you, Gen-""Andrew Reece!" Bill cut it.Andrew realized he was about to make a big mistake. He complie
"General Gardner, did you just question my decision?" Keannu asked, looking offended.Jody Gardner clearly didn't like it but he tried to restrain himself, "No, Your Majesty. Mercy, Your Majesty. I just want an explanation. I thought I was doing my best. But, you turned out to be-""Calm down, General. It's not that I don't appreciate your efforts and struggles. Quite the contrary, in order to make your task easier, I am providing you with a War Advisor."Keannu turned to Bill who nodded.Jody was even more annoyed, obviously Keannu's words were a lie. The viceroy must have doubted his abilities to appoint an unknown person as his advisor. How annoying."But I've never heard the name 'Bill Stewart', Your Majesty," Jody Gardner said.Keannu immediately said, "Of course you've never heard of him. He is not from this part of Europe. He's from far away."Bill frowned. Andrew said quietly, "King Keannu looks unbelievable.""He never lies," Bill said.Indeed, when it came to selfishness, Kea
Jody Gardner who was wearing his fur coat turned around, looking at Anthony with a puzzled look on his face."Why are you asking about the defeat penalty?" Jody asked.Anthony moistened his lower lip, looking even more nervous. "Are you saying now that you don't think I'll win? Does your war strategy suck?" Jody asked with a sharp gaze that made Anthony move backwards in fear."N-no, General. It's not like that, I'm just curious." Jody gave him a probing look before finally answering, "Oh, I see. Death penalty, of course."Anthony was dumbfounded, more like he was too shocked. "Death penalty?""Yes. Why? Are you scared?" Jody asked.Anthony didn't answer but the expression on his face should have told Jody that he was scared to death. Anthony even thought that maybe his skin colour had turned completely white. "Uh, you shouldn't be afraid."Anthony was still silent, still too shocked.Jody added, "If we win, you will get a huge reward, apart from living in the palace and becoming th
"Why did you call them?" one of the class one soldiers asked with furrowed brows.James sighed softly and could only reply, "Because I have a new war strategy. Why? Do you mind?"James looked at him with a cold gaze and of course it made the soldier who was still recovering from his heavy injuries unable to reply.James Gardner was still a deputy general of war after all. He didn't want to make trouble with the man so he chose not to question the decision James had made.After knowing that the soldier no longer argued with him, James immediately ordered, "Prepare everything. I will explain our new war strategy to you all as soon as the war commanders get here.""Yes, Deputy General of War," said the first class soldier.James quickly entered the silver building and immediately rolled out a large paper. Beside him he saw some notes that had been prepared by the soldiers.In addition, there were several large screens that showed almost the entire location of the war. James wasted no tim
“Deputy General of War,” Rowena called softly.James instantly shifted his gaze from the small child he estimated to be about two years old to the king's daughter.“Yes, Your Royal Highness, did you wish to speak with me?” James asked quietly.Rowena nodded and immediately handed her son to the nanny, “Take care of Prince Kharel for a moment. I won't be long.”The nanny immediately nodded and took the little prince in her arms. On the other hand, Diego and Shin, who knew that Rowena needed a chance to talk to James, quickly stepped aside.Before leaving, the two did not forget to pay their respects to the princess.After leaving, James immediately asked back, “What did you want to talk to me about, Your Highness?”Rowena gulped, “Have you ... agreed to look for Riley, the Deputy War General?”James nodded, “Of course, that is already one of my duties, Your Highness.”Rowena's lips trembled and she suddenly looked like she was about to cry.Uh, James was confused because of that. He h
Xylan wanted to help his father, but in the end, the young man who looked so worried about his father was asked to wait outside the king's palace by Keannu.After Keannu was left alone with James, he looked back at James seriously.“Deputy General of War, please save ... this kingdom. Don't let our kingdom be taken by them. Can you ... do it?” Keannu asked with an expectant look that was so obvious.James frowned. He honestly predicted that the king would mention Riley first, but apparently he prioritized the whole country over his son-in-law's safety.As if guessing what James was thinking, Keannu added, “I'm not indifferent to Riley. I ... also don't know that my daughter is suffering because her husband's fate is still unclear.”He swallowed hard and continued, “However, if I ask you to focus on saving Riley first, then ....”He was speechless again. Imagining his daughter being so sad because of his son-in-law who was still a hostage in the enemy kingdom made the old man sad as we
Having managed to pull himself together, Shin looked at Diego with a curious gaze. Diego knew immediately that Shin must want to ask more about James' life.But all the soldier who worked with James could say was, "You know he's good at making bombs, right? However, that was not all. His skills were more impressive than just bomb-making. He can also make amazing weapons.""On top of that, he manages the cafe business he runs with Aunt Dorothy. But really ... his main job has always been, of course, making weapons for our kingdom," Diego explained.Shin nodded, understanding easily.He was so eager to know more that he asked again, "Then, what about his ... love life? Is he married?"Diego shook his head, "How has he ever thought about that? You ... know what he's like, don't you?"Shin stopped asking about James' love life and went back to asking about other things.Meanwhile, inside the king's palace, James was still talking seriously with Keannu and also Xylan."I know ... you left
Being hit, cursed by his own best friend did not make James Gardner apoplectic. Instead, he chuckled and returned Shin's hug. He said in a very low tone, “I'm sorry.”Shin was actually surprised when he heard James' apology. He felt that James was basically innocent. His best friend was just disappointed and his reaction was not excessive. Even if he did choose to leave, James still couldn't be considered as acting out of bounds. He still had the right to choose to stay in the palace or leave the palace life.So Shin quickly said, “Never mind, forget it. You ... are completely innocent.”James sighed softly and then released his embrace on Shin. Shin suddenly turned to Diego who suddenly did not dare to look at him. The forty-year-old man narrowed his eyes in suspicion.“Does this mean you ... knew all along-”Diego immediately cleared his throat softly and said quickly, “Senior Shin, Prince Xylan is waiting for James.”Shin instantly came to his senses and immediately apologized
Xylan smiled back casually in response to James' unchanged demeanor.The future king calmly replied, “Since I'm already here, of course ... your consequences will be much worse, Deputy General of War.”Damn it, James only dared to swear inwardly.Of course even though he was very annoyed at the man who was several years younger than him, he couldn't swear directly. He wasn't stupid. Xylan could cut off his head easily.“So, how was it? Are you ... still refusing, Deputy War General?” Xylan asked in an urgent tone.James gritted his teeth and with a hint of annoyance he replied, “How can I refuse if you've threatened me like that, Your Highness?”Xylan chuckled softly.That made James become wary. After he saw the change in Xylan Wellington, from being a teenager a dozen years ago while standing not far from him to a grown man, James felt that the crown prince of Ans De Lou Kingdom was very different.The teenage Xylan was a prince who looked less competent and more nervous when talk
James instantly stopped what he was doing but still didn't look at Diego.Diego, who saw James' sudden stop, slapped his own mouth as if realizing that he had misspoken.“Uh, what did I say? You ... of course still think of him as your best friend. Otherwise, how could you always make him special weapons?” Diego said guiltily.James sighed softly, “He would have gotten away without my interference.”“I'm not sure, James. If I was sure, I wouldn't have come here and asked you to come back. In fact, Princess Rowena and Prince Xylan ....”James frowned and finally turned to Diego, “What's wrong with them?”“Princess Rowena specifically came to me when I had just arrived at the palace. She asked me to find out where you were, James. Prince Xylan also came to me, like Princess Rowena,” Diego explained.James wondered even more, “Why would they ask you that?”Die
"General, we're surrounded."A soldier with a bullet wound in his leg dragged himself to walk towards the place where the war general of Ans De Lou Kingdom was preparing his weapons.The soldier who was staggering as he walked was no longer wearing his head armour or any other body armour. That made the war general glare angrily at him, "What have you done? Where is your armour?"The soldier of the first class could only grimace in pain and replied, "It's unusable, too many bullet wounds."Riley Mackenzie widened his eyes and instantly removed the goggles protecting his eyes.The young man crouched down and looked at Benedict Arkitson's injuries, which were extremely severe. Not only had his leg been shot, but his left abdomen was also severely injured. In addition, Riley saw countless other wounds. "Stay here! The medical staff will help you soon," Riley ordered firmly.Ben shook his head, "How can I leave you alone against the main army? There are too many of them.""Reiner will
Dear, Readers This is Zila Aicha who wants to thank all the loyal readers of this novel. I know, season 2 of this book may disappoint some fans of this book. However, believe me I have tried to make this book with all my heart.May I ask your opinion about this book? I will be happy to read your comments. Suggestions and criticisms will also be happily accepted.Next, I will make season 3 of this book, but season 3 will be a book with the main character “James Gardner”. Hope you all will like it.Best wishes, Zila Aicha