Henry’s POV
After crossing the front yard, I saw two dark, large green SUVs at the front.
Mrs. Howard stood at the back of the first car, supporting herself with her stick, and seeing her expression, I could already imagine how this drive would be going.
I nearly stopped instinctively in front of the door because I was so accustod to Kenny opening it for .
I am really being pampered into uselessness, hehe~~
Ethan sat inside the car already but stepped out to open the door for Mrs. Howard.
I opened the door myself while grinning dumbly and found that this big SUV had enough space so that people could sit across from each other.
Mrs. Howard was already seated on the seat directly behind the driver’s and passenger’s seats; a transparent wall was pulled up there to separate us from Ethan.
I took my seat across from the old lady while the attorney started the car, unable to hear us.
Mrs. Howard placed her walking stick horizontally on her lap and stared ahead stoically until we put quite so distance with the car behind us.
She suddenly pulled sothing out of her pocket.
This looked like...
I pressed the corners of my lips together to avoid bursting into laughter; I’ll have to tell Kenny about this later—he will surely lose it as well.
After scribbling sothing on the little block, she ripped the thin paper out and handed it to .
I took my mask off when I was sure not to laugh hysterically before taking the paper.
Mhm... a check with a number so high that one would go dizzy.
Well, what would money be worth in the apocalypse? Not much, but there were chances sobody would still go for money and exchange properties or better food and water for it.
Rich people are really...although I was at so point part of them, such a sum would have even hurt , and I threw money out for every shit imaginable.
I know that she knows that I won’t take the money to leave her grandson; she was just trying to insult .
I smiled at her.
"The dowry?"
She looked ready to rip my head off and tightened her hold onto her walking stick.
"Take your sister and leave."
I looked at the check.
"How about I leave my sister with you, take Kenny, and leave?"
"Hmph. You defad my grandson for her sake, and now you don’t care anymore?" Her face turned cold before she gave an evil smile back.
"How flippant. Who is to say that you won’t change your mind about him as well?"
I suppressed the anger welling up in at this nonsensical provocation and kept my fake smile steady.
"Well, I never had a sexual relationship with my sister."
Mrs. Howard was the one in the end who was unable to keep her face from falling, and she swung her stick.
I could see her movent, and I could have evaded it or just deflected her weapon, but I let her get rid of a portion of her anger as she hit with her stick across the face—just as if delivering a slap.
She halted for a second, as if she had thought I would stop her attack, but in the end, her anger overwheld her as she seethed.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY GRANDSON?"
I grabbed my jaw to estimate whether there would be any bruising until we went back, unsure whether to hope for it or not, to either garner Kenny’s pity and care or so as not to worry him.
... Either way, I win.
"Why don’t you ask instead what your grandson has done to ? He is much stronger than I could ever be." I eventually answered and saw her breathing out slightly, which could be interpreted as a sigh of relief.
I chuckled; did she think I had it in to assault her grandson?
Or was it just better to hear that it was not Kenny who took on the ’woman’s’ role in the relationship? If it was about this, then so be it.
Nobody can see what we are doing behind closed doors anyway.
"Do you know how people of your nature are still looked upon?"
"By whom? By you?" I answered what I imagined Kenny would say and had to laugh picturing it.
"Is this amusing to you?? Do you think his future is sothing to laugh about? HE WAS NORMAL BEFORE HE T YOU!"
That stung a little, not because she insinuated that we had sothing abnormal—I couldn’t care less—but because she reminded that Kenny touched soone else besides , and I didn’t like that at all.
"He had foresight since his childhood, then was treated like soone carrying a curse—he was never normal. But if you insist on calling it that, I was ’normal’ too before eting him."
I could see that she was hurt by ntioning his childhood and internally smiled at having landed a jab.
"LEAVE TODAY AND DON’T EVER CO BACK!" She brought down her walking stick beside , damaging the car seat.
"Mrs. Howard." I chuckled before conjuring up shadowy smoke on the tip of my finger.
"Do you see this?"
"ARE YOU THREATENING ?" She unleashed the hidden blade in her walking stick.
"I wouldn’t dare. But just tell sothing. Do you think I am powerful?"
Her blade moved to my neck; it was clear she was the one threatening —not the other way around.
"You want a girl on his side; I understand." I clenched my jaw for a mont, letting the shadowy energy disappear, hating that I had to say that out loud.
"But with tis being like this, is that really sothing good? A weak girl who constantly distracts him, who constantly needs him saving her—is that really what you want for your grandson?"
I felt a bit bad saying that, given that I was saved countless tis by Kenny myself. By all the pain and misery I had brought upon him.
However, it is true that I am much more powerful than any other human, gods not included.
Her expression faltered slightly, but so did not the blade against my throat, so I continued.
"Isn’t it better to have soone powerful on his side, so obedient that he would die for him? You already know that this won’t be the last challenge, and there will be more monsters. What can a girl do that I can’t?"
Her blade was lowered for a second, as if she was internally agreeing with my argunts, but then it scraped against my skin, and I heard her chuckle.
"She can bear a great-grandchild."
That felt like a punch in the stomach, and my psyche slipped, confronting with the dark thoughts I didn’t want to face, before I forced myself out again.
"Don’t you have two more grandchildren?" I asked her, noting that my voice had taken on quite a bit of aggression.
She waved off.
"They are useless."
I chuckled darkly and lowered my head, ignoring the blade, before I t her eyes again.
"A newborn in the apocalypse? Do you need cannon fodder, or WHY would you want this??" I had raised my voice before I could stop myself and saw her eyes widen, her leaning forward and puncturing the backrest behind , and felt the slight pain on my neck accompanying her movent.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" She roared.
I took a few breaths, pushing my own fury down.
"A newborn in a world where portals are opening? A toddler that needs care while monsters are running around? You want to burden him with that when you yourself didn’t want to take care of him when he was a child, and that during peaceful tis?"
I could see Mrs. Howard’s lips trembling; I don’t think I ever saw her this furious.
But I don’t care.
"Who even says the girl Kenny fal... the girl he chooses can bear him children? That she wants it, that he wants it?"
"Who do you think you are to decide what he wants?" She questioned furiously.
"He told , he showed . You noticed too, and because of that we are sitting here; who are you to decide what he wants?"
Seeing her not answering, I delivered my best argunt regarding the children topic.
"You want a child that has Kenny’s blood? Don’t you have that already? Maybe the past had to happen the way it did, just for you to get your great-grandson, with Kenny’s blood." I spouted bullshit I didn’t believe, making myself rage on the inside, as nothing, NOTHING, could excuse his childhood and the fact that his blood had been stolen.
"Ren lived as a girl his first few years. So if you want a girl, he surely wouldn’t mind dressing up again." Just that Mrs. Howard wouldn’t do so, and Kenny wouldn’t allow it to happen if the kid didn’t want to.
She froze after being bombarded with valid and invalid argunts before she chuckled, pulling the blade back out, while I tilted my head so that I wouldn’t get sliced up more.
Then the old lady put the blade back in its sheath, having her old, perfectly fine walking stick back, before she looked out of the window.
"I want my grandson to be healthy, to marry, to have a normal family, and to be happy," she mumbled.
I looked out of the opposite window she was looking out of, watching the landscape rushing by.
"I want nothing else," I humd and heard a scoff.
About all our well-wishes were the sa, just with one exception.
Kenny’s life and happiness have to be with .
I know it is selfish of , but I could never sit back and watch him be happy with soone else.
Not after my god reached out to himself, not when he allowed to defile him.
I can never leave after feeling his grace—feeling his love.
And if it ant dying for him, then I would gladly do so.
Just that I would then have to crawl back from hell, because he would get angry if I left him alone, and I would miss him out of my mind while on fire.
We couldn’t be separated either way, because I shackled myself to him, and he chained himself to .
Who could ever rid us of the bonds we brought on each other when not even we ourselves could, nor wanted to?
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