Chapter 02

*****

"Wife, please, do you have any cash on you there?"

Everybody became dumbfounded after hearing what came out of Rex Magnus' mouth, and their mouths widened.

Some people couldn't help but unconsciously dip their fingers into their ears, wondering if they'd heard wrongly, but who would have thought that Rex Magnus would repeat the question?

While everybody was still feeling dumbfounded, both the old matriarch and Rex Magnus' wife trembled all over to the extent that one would think they were experiencing extreme coldness if they didn't know better.

Even Ethan, the guy who put James in the spotlight, wasn't expecting this from James.

He had done what he did mainly because he had wanted Rex Magnus to embarrass himself by saying he didn't bring any gifts or bring out a cheap or useless thing.

He had never expected that Rex Magnus would go this far at all, which shocked him.

'Why had I even overestimated this fool in the first place?' Ethan couldn't help but suddenly sigh within his mind while his mouth formed a playful smirk.

Slowly, he turned to glance at the beautiful woman a few steps away from him.

"Cousin, do you not hear the question asked by your husband?" "Do you have any cash on you?"

Everybody instantly returned to their senses and turned their attention to where Ethan was facing again.

The moment they saw the pitiful, beautiful lady there, they began to sigh, empathize, and sympathize with her.

This is especially so for most of the young men present; they couldn't help but start wishing amongst themselves that they had been the lucky ones who had married the beautiful goddess.

"I would have showered her with all my love and affection!"

"It's only a fool who would make a beauty like this suffer."

Just as everybody was sighing over and over again, a beautiful and elegant woman in her early fifties who was dressed in a green evening gown entered the hall and suddenly became startled when she felt the atmosphere inside.

She couldn't help but directly squint her eyes and turn toward the direction everybody was gazing at, and then her heart skipped a bit when she realized that it was her daughter.

This woman is Rex's mother-in-law.

She is the one who has been frustrating Rex Magnus' life the most since he married into the Johnson family, and hardly a moment goes by that she doesn't find reasons to bully and frustrate Rex Magnus' life to death.

Carefully, the woman trotted forward, trying to understand what was going on and save her daughter if possible.

Just as she neared Fiona, Ethan noticed her.

"Ha, aunty, you are here."

Sally's heart instantly shivered when she heard the enthusiasm laced in this voice.

Of cause, she knew well how much Ethan and all her in-laws hate and abhor their family, which was thanks to someone, she always thought.

Upon thinking of the person whom she thought had turned the love and affection that was once shown to their family into hatred, Sally's heart began to bleed.

Then suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw him.

With a start, Sally turned her gaze in the direction, and her heart abruptly thwarted for a second.

'What's this stupid fool doing here?'

'Hadn't I warned him to never show his stupid face at this banquet?'

Wasn't that why I told him to never leave the kitchen unless it was time to return home?

Sally became filled with questions, and her breath became heavy.

Deep anger began to brew within her, and she felt that she would have given Rex Magnus two hot slaps right now if not for all the powerful and influential people present.

Just as her mind was busy being filled with questions, Ethan's voice sounded again.

"Aunty, it's great that you are here at the right time."

This instantly got Sally's attention, and a bad feeling directly weighed upon her when she heard the tone with which Ethan had spoken.

"What... what is going on?"

Her voice trembled.

Ethan's mouth and the mouths of the people around him instantly twitched when they heard this.

"Aunty, I asked your wonderful and amazing son-in-law here, Rex Magnus, what he brought for grandmother, and in turn, he asked for money from my cousin, your daughter, but your daughter hadn't responded."

Even before hearing Ethan's complete words, Sally's ears had begun to ring and reverberate, while her mouth instantly became dry.

Strong adrenaline rushed over her skin, and she lost it instantly.

Subconsciously, she forgot everybody present and her environment while turning toward Rex Magnus, who is presently eyeing the feasts on the table before him.

"YOU BASTARD!!!!"

A roar came out of her mouth, startling everybody, including Rex Magnus.

.....

Rex Magnus instantly became bitter when he realized that this woman, his biggest foe since he got to this little city, had arrived. He smiled wryly.

Pointing her forefinger at Rex Magnus, Sally began to stutter, a testament to how chaotic she is feeling right now.

"How... how could you do this to me and my daughter?" "How could you embarrass us to this extent?" "Is it not enough that we are feeding, clothing, and giving you money?"

Slowly, everybody's mood began to be affected by the pain laced in Sally's voice, and then instantly, the hatred they had felt for Rex Magnus began to increase at a speed visible to the eyes.

"You stupid fool, you bastard, you useless and shameless boy with no life or job, how could you even think of presenting money to your mother on her birthday?" "Is your foolishness this much?"

Rex Magnus couldn't help but become confused at Sally's sudden outrage and curses.

Well, it honestly wasn't Rex Magnus' fault that he doesn't understand the rules of society.

Three years ago, Rex Magnus was the most powerful Divine general in the whole history of Divine country.

Not only this, he was the eldest grandson of the Magnus family, the most powerful family in the entire country, and everybody in the world, including newborn babies, knows his name. But because of his obsessive nature with martial arts since he was little, very few people know him, and even fewer people who could be counted on one hand dare ask for and expect gifts from him.

Before three years ago, Rex Magnus was so powerful and well respected by the whole country, and his name always gave his friends a deep sense of relief, love, and safety, while at the same time striking deep fear, anxiety, and hatred in the minds and hearts of his enemies.

Just under him alone were hundreds of millions of soldiers and generals.

He was so powerful that even leaders of the country and nation feared the power he held.

The president, governors, family leaders, schools, organizations, and all the influential and powerful people dared not give him respect and regard.

He was the joy of his family and that of the country. But that was until three years ago, when everything changed and took a massive turn.

He had received intel on a group of terrorists who had been wreaking havoc in the country for the past few years.

Although it wasn't something he, the divine general, should bother about, he loved his job more than anything in the world, and he adored his country even more—several times more than his own life—so Rex Magnus had gathered a few soldiers and just one person from his private army to secretly go bust and destroy the organization without alerting anybody.

It wasn't until he got there and saw the hundred of millions of powerful enemies and all the word-destroying weapons lying waiting for him that he realized he had been scheming against and had entered an inescapable trap.

Even to this day, Rex Magnus still has nightmares about that particular night.

If it weren't for those who sacrificed their lives for his escape, he would have died there and then, even after slaughtering tens of millions of enemies and destroying thousands of their world-destroying weapons.

Of all the people that went, only he survived that day.

Unfortunately for him, the one person from his private army he took with him was his brother-in-arm, the person he had fought side-by-side with since they were young.

Till now, Rex Magnus still blames himself, believing that he was the reason why his brother died.

Although he knew well that everybody would still have died had his brother not allowed him to escape, he still blamed himself for every single moment he remembers.

Then, Ronald, Rex Magnus' brother-in-arm, had chosen to sacrifice his life at the last moment after all the soldiers they took with them had died, and he realized that there wasn't any more chance of escaping.

He had roughly pushed a letter into Rex Magnus, telling him that the letter must be delivered to his family's patriarch no matter what, and then he had forced Rex Magnus to escape.

It was not until Rex Magnus knew the content of the letter that he realized that the letter was a plea and wish for him to marry his brother-in-arms's only sister and help take care of her forever.

Till today, apart from knowing that Rex Magnus was handpicked by Ronald to marry Fiona, the most intelligent first granddaughter of the Johnson family, nobody apart from the Patriarch, who is now late, knew more.

…..

Back to the present, Rex Magnus, the once most powerful person in the country, is currently being lectured to no end by his mother-in-law with all sorts of insulting words and curses, and he couldn't do anything apart from scratching his head awkwardly.

If the people who knew him then were to see him right now, they would have been scared to death, thinking that Rex Magnus' brain must have been tampered with, but fortunately or unfortunately for him, everybody, both those that knew him personally and those that don't, have pretty much thought he had died three years ago.

After allowing his mother-in-law to finish her outburst of curses, Rex Magnus finally decided to come to his defense.

"Mother, I wasn't intending on collecting the money from my wife; I only wanted to borrow it." "I would return it to her after returning home."

Hearing this, everybody's mouth began to twitch greatly.

Even Ethan, Sally, Rex Magnus' wife, and the matriarch became dumbfounded.

The matriarch finally couldn't contain the anger within her any longer.

"YOU FOOL OF A PERSON, HOW DARE YOU STILL REPEAT COLLECTING MONEY FOR ME, DO I RESEMBLE A BEGGAR TO YOU?!"