"What kind of psycho gets in front of a knife?"
"She really has a problem, doesn't she?"
"Tell me about it."
Ignoring the fact that a woman was dying, the guests were far too fascinated by her actions to remember she was still on the verge of losing her life.
Dante listened in confusion, still bewildered by the fact he was in a socialite's party instead of on a military base.
He didn't have the time to ponder what was happening for too long when a familiar voice rang out before him.
"It's not enough that you have a son-in-law who thinks he's a dog, you also have a suicidal granddaughter. How lucky you are, Mr. Ward, to have so many things going on in your family."
Raising his eyes, they settled on Gordon Heffley's shimmering gaze.
At that moment, the past few minutes came flooding back to him as he realized what this man was and what was going on.
All this while, Gordon had sat beside Alaric, completely unimpressed with everything, but all of a sudden, he was fascinated by a woman getting stabbed?
A woman getting stabbed.
A woman getting stabbed? Stabbed!
In an instant, Dante's eyes shot straight to the gaping Selene on the floor, and he rushed forward at the realization that this was his wife.
One look at her and he realized she was the girl he met eighteen years ago.
Not thinking twice, he reached out to grab her, only for a hand to knock his arm away.
His eyes clouded over when he raised them to meet Gordon Heffley's eager ones.
Pointing a finger at Dante's nose, Gordon sneered, "You're a dog. A dog only does what it has been tamed to do."
Seeing this, some women in front grew worried.
"Suicidal or not, shouldn't she be taken to the hospital?"
"Yes, it'd be a bad omen for everyone here and even for this house, if she dies here."
"The Ward family may even be plagued with bad luck for the rest of their existence if no one at least tries to help her."
Alaric, who hadn't moved a muscle since his granddaughter got in front of a knife he tossed, panicked at those words.
Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone to call the ambulance, but Gordon snatched it away from him and ended the call.
Meeting Alaric's confused gaze, he promised, "In addition to buying a two-thousand-acre tract of land to house my dogs, I also came here for a social experiment."
"What?" Alaric blurted out in confusion, excitemenr seeping in when he saw he intended to buy two-thousand-acre of land.
Placing the phone on the table next to him, Gordon slipped a hand into his coat pockets and shifted his eyes to Selene again.
"It's nothing harmful. All I ask is that you let me watch over your granddaughter during this time, and afterward, I'll follow you to sign the lease documents for my dog housing."
"You got it!" Alaric agreed without thinking twice.
This granddaughter of his was suicidal anyway and only ever brought him trouble.
Furthermore, the women had just said the Ward family would be cursed with bad luck if no one even attempted to help her.
And just now, he had whipped out his phone to call emergency services when it was snatched away from him.
He had 'tried' and whatever happened next was totally not under his control, and thus shouldn't bring consequences on the Ward family.
Besides, Gordon Heffley was an influential figure. He wouldn't just stand by as a young girl breathed her last.
So this was a win-win situation for him. All he had to do was play his cards right.
The thought had just sunk in when a hand slapped Gordon's away from pointing toward Ayla, and everyone looked up to see the 'dog' rising to his full height.
Being the closest to Dante, Alaric frowned and glared up at him irritably.
"I hat see you doing? Get down on your knees right now!"
For the first time since Dante had arrived in the Ward family, Alaric was a little astounded to see the man towering over him and almost swallowed in fear.
Dante had spent most of his time on all fours that he almost forgot his mad son-in-law was a very tall man.
But most importantly, he had read somewhere that madmen were most frightening when they were truly themselves.
The doctor had mentioned that the drug would only rein in his psychosis, but he was still a madman prone to doing anything at any time.
So when Dante ignored him and bent over to pick up Selene, a chill ran down his spine, rendering him speechless as he feared spooking him.
Even Gordon Heffley realized something was amiss and stepped backward, though he still gritted his teeth in annoyance and shot Alaric a pointed look.
"If he doesn't drop her so I can observe, you can kiss goodbye to that lease on the two-thousand-acre land!"
Two thousand acres of land…
Alaric's eyes trembled, and he immediately pointed at Selene, who was barely conscious, and yelled, "Get off him and let Mr. Heffley watch you to see what happens!"
"Let me down, Dante. Mr. Heffley wants to see how I'll hold up." Catching her breath in-between each words, Selene Ward groaned as she weakly tried to get down.
However, Dante kooked down at her and simply shook his head before storming out of the room in long, brisk strides, stunning everyone left behind.
"I can see you don't want this deal enough," the next second, Gordon hissed and stormed out as well.
The guests exchanged curious glances and shifted uncomfortably.
Someone had been stabbed right in front of them, after all, and a public figure in Elmwood had just placed the Ward family in his bad book.
Given such circumstances, it was naturally best to leave. Thus, they began departing in groups until no one was left.
In pure, undiluted rage, Alaric picked up his phone and called his children and grandchildren.
The group, who were three hours away from hitting the road, immediately got on a plane to return as soon as he ordered them to.
Then he spent the next few houses breaking things around the house out of frustration.
As this was shapenong, Dante already left with Selene in the back of one of the Ward family's cars.
As he watched her lose consciousness in the backseat, he pressed down harder on the pedal, tearing through the city toward the hospital, unaware that he had been photographed by a speed camera.
Within minutes, the photos passed through various channels before going viral among some very powerful people.
Somewhere in another city, a bounty hunter studied them eagerly.
"Ah… the disgraced Supreme Commander is above radar again after five years. Get our boys in Avenhart. The bounty on his head will be mine."