Chapter 7

Dean and Wendy had no idea how frightening Ted would be when he snapped, but now they did.

Those bloodshot eyes seemed to be the accumulation of plenty of grief and wrath, and it really scared them.

He was a raging beast that would tear everything to pieces if provoked again.

Wendy gulped, feeling humiliated that she would be afraid of Ted.

However, her instincts screamed at her that she must not provoke Ted anymore—at least not now.

"W-What do you want?!" she shrieked. "Are you going to kill us?! I'm warning you—if you hurt us again, Luna will come for you!"

Luna.

She still had the gall to mention Luna.

However, her name did calm Ted down considerably.

No matter how callous Luna had been, he really did love her.

Even if they were just divorced, and even if things had turned so bitter, he would not have attacked Wendy and Dean.

That was, if they had not pushed him too far.

They had agreed to go their separate ways, but in the end, it still came to such harassment—all over money.

And it was over that wealth that the Lamberts became the pathetic people they were now.

It was also why Luna considered Ted beneath her, coming to believe that he did not deserve her and hence divorced him, all because they suddenly got rich!

But Ted really did not care about that.

Looking between Dean and Wendy, he took a deep breath to calm down before speaking coolly, "For the last time, I'm not keeping anything Luna bought. Whether it's the car, the house, the restaurant, or the cash she's trying to give me, you can take it if you want—what you do with it is your own business.

"That's all I have to say—whether you believe it is up to you, but never come looking for me or contact me ever again. Do you understand?"

At this point, Wendy had to believe him.

Moreover, she knew Ted a little and could tell that he was telling the truth. "Are you serious? You don't want anything?"

Ted nodded and said coolly, "Everything so precious to you is worth nothing to me—but you're not taking what's mine either. I've left some of my old works at Lake Garden Villas, so return those to me, and we can go our separate ways."

However, that left Wendy frowning. "Are you just trying to mess with us? What, do you think you're some master artist, and that I'd preserve your stuff like they're precious? If you want them back, just go look for them yourself—they'll be gathering dust in some abandoned corner.

"Once you find them, you can take them with you—we don't need your worthless crap even if you're giving it to us for free."

Worthless crap? Even if he was giving it to them for free?

Ted shook his head, chuckling coolly—how ignorant!

His work—quality notwithstanding—was worth a king's ransom if it ever reached the public's eye and was spotted by someone with keen eyes!

And it was for no other reason than because he was Ted York, and he was just that good.

"Fine, I'll look for it myself." He snorted. "Let's get moving right now."

However, Wendy frowned and snapped, "No chance. I'm taking my son to the hospital first—and if you lie to us, I'll come after you. Even if I can't win in a fight, don't you forget that those lives aren't worth money. And my family isn't short on money to order a hit on you. Consider it a threat, so just try lying to me."

Threat? Order a hit on him?

Ted snorted in disdain. "You live right next to a hospital. Once I get my stuff, you can go anywhere you like—I don't care anymore.

"And another thing… I left my car at Lunacorp's headquarters and left the keys with the security guard, so you're not getting it."

As Ted proved further that he did not want anything, Wendy was naturally even more convinced.

Compared to all the other wealth, a car naturally seemed unimportant.

Still, Wendy made a mental note to get that car when she had time, since they were taking Ted's alimony behind Luna's back.

"Fine, then we can go," she huffed. "Did you think we'd care about your crappy work? It's just junk that no one would ever take. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would've forgotten that it's taking up space."

Deciding that there really was nothing to discuss with some ignoramus, Ted simply smirked and kept quiet.

-

Meanwhile, John Graham was urging his chauffeur to hurry, and he was so anxious that he could catch fire just then.

Seated beside him was Lucas, who was tied up with nylon rope and his face left swollen by his father's slaps.

There was endless grief in his eyes, along with terrible spite and rage.

But why?

What did he do?

He, Lucas Graham, had gone to Ted York to request a house call, out of the goodness of his heart and to share the burden that was weighing on his family.

And Ted had agreed to it—so why did he get beaten up for it?

Sure, he had threatened Ted, but the man was at best a doctor whose skills had yet to be seen.

So what if Lucas did threaten someone like Ted? Lucas had threatened plenty of others across Melville—what was Ted compared to the rest of them?

To be fair, he could more or less understand if it was because of Luna. But even then, what did Lunacorp amount to?

Sure, they were rocketing to success and became a billion-dollar company, but they were still an ant compared to the giant that was the Graham family. Why would John beat up Lucas for the like the rest of them?

That was why Lucas was not just seething—he was so furious he could kill someone right now!

However, John was feeling aggrieved too.

And the more he watched Lucas, the more furious he was, what with the way he kept snorting and scoffing.

His glare was clearly defiant, and so John promptly slapped him across the face with the back of his hand.

Lucas' tears flowed down his cheeks—not from pain, but from genuine grief.

"What's wrong with you, Dad?! Why are you hitting me?! What did I do wrong?! Everything I've done is for the family! And it worked! What's gotten you so angry?! It's just Ted York! He's nothing more than a loser—we don't even know if he's a miracle healer as they say he is! And I've never insulted him anyway!"

He was still arguing and saying that he did not insult Ted, even saying that Ted was nothing more than a loser?!

John's teeth were gritting doubly even as his face contorted viciously, and he kept slapping his son repeatedly in the backseat like the common thug.

It was as if Lucas was not his son, but the son of a bitter enemy.