CHAPTER 85 (1): SILENCE WAS A RATIONAL AVOIDANCE TACTIC TO PRESERVE THE OTHER PARTY’S DIGNITY

The ancestral Lando estate was brightly lit at the entrance. With money working its magic, Londan’s finest photography team arrived on short notice, adjusting the lighting. Behind the open doors lay a magnificent hall, with two high-back chairs made of walnut wood and red velvet positioned at the entrance. Only four people appeared in the frame: the master and mistress seated, with the young master and lady standing on either side.

Veronica stood beside Silvia, while Wayne stood beside Auston. The smiling blonde mother and daughter were in stark contrast with the stern black-haired father and young master in black suits, differing in both appearance and temperament.

Anyone who didn’t know better would think this was a stepfamily!

After several posed shots, the photographer signaled that they could take a break. Auston smiled at Silvia, who looked up at her daughter and student. Veronica turned to glare at Wayne.

Why are you in my family photo?

Wayne stared ahead with a blank look on his face; he wanted to know the answer to that question, too.

Click!

The photographer captured the moment. He was an artist with a vision. The earlier posed photoshoot had been too rigid, relying entirely on the family’s exceptional looks and elegance to make the picture. Their postures were perfect, but superficial and generic, no different from any ordinary family portrait. There was no genuine emotion or any highlight, destined to be tossed into the trash bin for memories before long.

This candid shot was different. Each person revealed their true feelings without the pretense of performing for the camera. This was art that truly reflected real life.

Afterward, the two chairs were removed for several more group poses. The photographer had already captured tonight’s masterpiece. The other shots were purely part of the package. The photographer took shots without enthusiasm, and the four subjects looked stiff as they moved.

I hate taking photos!

Four of them had the same thought at that moment.

The photoshoot was done. The photography team departed. More copies of the photos would be sent to the Lando family later. Silvia needed several for her office, Wayne and Veronica would keep some in their rooms, and Auston, while reluctant, would put a small frame below his wedding photo to keep his wife happy.

He’d planned it all out. He’d place a vase strategically in front of the frame to block the annoying cement barrel.

With the photo session finished, Auston smiled at Silvia, only to be rebuffed predictably. He wasn’t bothered. She was staying in Londan and had promised to come home every night. He’d repeat their courtship, and with Veronica serving as an excuse, everything would fall into place naturally.

Wayne, as the newly added young master of the Lando family, had his own room, too. He would visit frequently and couldn’t stay in the guest room forever.

Auston was quite displeased about the outsider playing fourth wheel and seriously hampering his romantic reconnection with his wife. He considered building a secluded house elsewhere on the estate to exile the intruder—out of sight, out of mind.

Rich people’s logic was buying a house for someone they didn’t want to see.

He put that into action immediately, having Butler Megan arrange for the Lando family’s construction company to arrive that very night to measure, draft plans, and calculate the budget.

Wayne was put in a room in the side wing in the meantime. Looking out of his window at the expansive view, he suddenly realized that the Lando family’s private grounds weren’t shrouded in mist, giving him an excellent view.

Unfortunately, following orders from a certain head of the family, Megan had assigned Wayne a room on the opposite side of the young lady’s standalone house.

“So defensive. He’s seen right through my heart... and liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys!” he grumbled quietly. To be frank, he really didn’t like this father-in-law. From their first meeting, he knew this guy was bad news.

He wasn’t saying that Auston was a capitalist deserving to be hanged from a lamppost, but that the man had a sinister heart beneath his elegant appearance. Just like the antique silver coin he always carried, Auston had two sides: one for the public and the other in his private life. He had surely pulled unspeakable tricks to deceive Master into having a daughter with him. And Master had to have left him because she saw through the bastard’s true nature.

“Playing himself, cheating a favor from me, driving me out of Londan, and I’m supposed to thank him...”

“No, he’s too calculating. There’s no place for me in this house. From servants to the butler, they are all his pawns. Fighting on enemy territory puts me at too much of a disadvantage. I have to visit less often.”

As he grumbled, he noticed a light in the bushes below. A dark shadow moved slowly, and two glowing orbs flickered. Even though he had super vision and there was no mist obscuring the view, he couldn’t make out what it was.

His shock lingered until the shadow moved under a lamp in the garden, and he finally saw the creature clearly: a black cat with two round, bright yellow eyes.

“Monica?!” He leaped out of the window after a pause.

It wasn’t the Monica he had met—not Kristen’s cursed form, but an actual black cat.

According to Veronica, Monica was Mr. Lando’s pet cat. Since he only petted it but never cleaned its litter box, Monica wasn’t close to its owner, preferring to cuddle with Megan instead.

He jumped down and made it to the cat in a few quick steps. Catching it off guard, he scooped it up at fourteen times the normal speed and gave it a thorough petting.

“Monica, wanna fly?”

The black cat’s eyes widened, filled with confusion. It was bewildered, then secretly pleased, then bewildered again. When it thought to claw the human, Wayne had already had his fun and left it behind. It stared at the stranger’s retreating form, crouching low in the grass with its ears flattened back. After a while, it let out a meow.

Not far away, at a window in the side wing, Auston toyed with his antique silver coin as he watched the scene unfold, snorting disapprovingly. “Walking away after satisfying himself? He had his fun, alright. But he showed no responsibility at all.”

Megan stood silently behind him. The way Wayne petted the cat only for his satisfaction reminded her of a certain someone.

Silence was a rational avoidance tactic to preserve the other party’s dignity. Megan hoped her silence might prompt some self-reflection.

Auston felt no goodwill for Wayne. Even without reading Wayne’s diary, his outsourced investigation into Wayne told him that this guy was bad news. Most alarming was Veryl’s assessment of Wayne; he spared no praise and regarded the young man highly.

Veryl was an excellent butler, meticulous and an excellent judge of character. If even he had been fooled, Veronica stood no chance.

Auston thought of himself, then envisioned her going through the same thing as Silvia. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. If not because he couldn’t change the past, he would’ve made Wayne disappear in the most straightforward way.

Three months ago, Silvia had talked to Auston about Wayne and brought up the nylon patent and the concept of stockings. The nylon patent belonged to the Lando family conglomerate. The material was strong, durable, and highly practical, mainly used for military supplies. It wouldn’t be a problem to give the material to his wife to produce civilian clothing.

Auston didn’t miss the opportunity to curry favor with his wife, greenlighting everything without batting an eye. Silvia was so delighted that she went a little soft on her bastard husband. She went on to praise her student’s talent and character. Just like Veryl, she sang praises about him like he was the best thing since sliced bread.

Auston disagreed entirely. When mentioning her student, her beaming expression was identical to how she looked when she was being deceived—no, courted—by him years ago. Auston didn’t believe that stockings would be successful in the market.

These days, munitions were king, and trading securities was the golden goose. He advised Silvia to wake up and not be blinded by the cement barrel’s lies and to come home early to live a life with her bank.

Admittedly, any everyday product would make huge profits from the large market base. Auston knew and believed in that as a capitalist with excellent vision. But stockings? They clearly weren’t essential. How could an optional piece of clothing become a bestseller? And with such low cost but high pricing.

Just look at Londan’s purchasing power. The price of the stockings would prevent regular women from buying them. Only middle-class women could afford such a purchase.

The cement barrel sure talked big. He really thought he’d designed something that would drive women crazy enough to sell their pots and pans or even themselves to buy one? How naive and ignorant. He clearly didn’t understand the market! Auston could already imagine the stockings gathering dust on shelves.

Perfect. The cement barrel would show his true colors, and his wife would finally wake up to the deception.

Even if stockings ended up selling well, Auston still wouldn’t change his assessment of Wayne. People couldn’t earn money in ways beyond their perceptions. If Wayne made big money from selling women’s clothing, it only proved that he was a lecherous man at heart.

Auston hadn’t offered millions to make Wayne disappear. That was too crude a tactic. Wayne was Silvia’s student and one of Veronica’s few friends. The plan would’ve angered both his wife and daughter even if it succeeded, and he would still suffer the loss. Besides, Wayne could gain more by turning the millions away.

Like Veronica.

Auston did not doubt that Wayne would win his daughter over. Just like the way things had gone when he pursued Silvia years ago, it was only a matter of time.

Thus, he went for a two-pronged approach.

One was the honey trap: Lily Haworth was an attractive star whose voice alone could make someone fall for her. No man could resist her temptation.

The other was Red Leaf Asylum.

Planck came from the Free Mage Alliance, backed by the Tulip Families. Auston wasn’t particularly close to Planck, but figured if he asked personally, the man would do him a favor.

Thinking of that, Auston gripped his silver coin tightly, lips curving into a slight smile. He could picture Wayne’s downfall!

Caught in the honey trap, Wayne would be relegated to just a friend by Veronica, losing any chance of going further. And with the asylum’s continuous stream of psychiatric evaluation notices, the Church of Nature would shun him, forcing Silvia to abandon her student, however reluctant she was.

He was the calculating party with power, acting against an unsuspecting target. He would drive Wayne out of this house sooner or later.

“No matter how you look at it, the advantage is mine!”

Auston couldn’t think of any reason he would lose. Laughing out loud, he told Megan to bring the cat up. He was in the mood to pet the cat tonight.