"Stand down!" Damien hollered at Tristan.
"This is a family affair. Go out first."
Tristan reluctantly but obediently withdrew his hand, glowered at Lena's parents again, and left.
Lena's parents were full of resentment, but they did not dare to get physical with Damien again.
Tristan's terrifying gaze intimidated them, and they even had some scruples about Damien.
However, as they looked at Damien's cheap clothes and calm expression that was almost the same as the past, their worries vanished.
"I was thinking too much. A good-for-nothing is still a good-for-nothing!"
"What are you doing standing at the door? Hurry up and come in, you disgraceful thing!"
Kate said while she pushed the door open furiously as she and her husband made room for Damien to enter.
Lena's father humphed coldly, finding Damien more worse than an eyesore.
Damien followed them and entered the house.
The living room of the Parkers' home was very lively at this moment, as it was crowded with more than twenty relatives.
Upon sight of Damien, who came in after Lena's parents, many of them who knew who Damien was, looked puzzled.
"Hey isn't this... that good-for-nothing? Why is he suddenly back?"
"Who? Is this the good-for-nothing you guys mentioned just now? Didn't you say that he already died?"
"Who knows? He's been missing for so many years. And now that Mr Thompson is going to get engaged with Lena, he's come scurrying back. Who knows what thoughts he's harboring?!"
"He definitely really do have evil intentions."
Damien on the other hand glanced at the people around him, some of whom used to mock him before in the past, and some he hadn't met before.
The most striking one was a young man sitting in the center of the couch and gaining the attention of everyone.
He looked around his mid-to-late-twenties and was dressed fashionably, his hair gelled back and his under-eye bags slightly puffy.
To Damien, he was definitely an avid drinker and a lustful person.
He reckoned that he was Mr Thompson, the new fiancé that the Parkers chose for Lena, whom everyone else was talking about.
Damien secretly sneered.
They're treating this piece of trash like a rare gem?
However much to his dismay, Lena was not in the living room, and that made Damien, who wanted to see her, feel slightly disappointed.
Visibly annoyed, Kate said,
"Okay, we can't be bothered to talk to you either. The point of today's meeting is regarding Mr Thompson and Lena's wedding anyway. You came at the right time. This saves us the hassle of getting your death certificate from the courts. When Lena comes home, immediately go get a divorce with her"
Damien did not utter a single word.
The Parker relatives gathered around them suddenly began mocking him sarcastically.
"What? You don't want to get a divorce?"
"Of course he clearly doesn't. It wasn't easy for him to marry the most popular beauty of Greenville and form ties with the Parkers. Of course, he's going to cling tightly onto her."
"How shameless. Doesn't he realize that he can't even hold a candle to Mr Thompson at all? Don't he have any self-awareness!"
"Look at how shabby he is. He's not even worthy of carrying Mr Thompson's shoes! Hurry up and make yourself scarce!"
At the side, Lena's father knocked on the table and exclaimed,
"I'll be honest. I won't ever let my daughter suffer together with you! What can a penniless and worthless man like you give her? If you still have a conscience, and if you're still a man, have the decency and self-awareness to divorce her. Stop wasting my Lena's time and holding her back!"
Damien closed his eyes and looked unusually composed.
"If Lena doesn't want to be with me any longer, she can let me know by herself, and I'll divorce her without another word. But you people have no right to make arrangements for us!" he barked sneeringly as he stared at the people around him.
The whole living room suddenly fell silent as everyone was stunned by Damien's outburst.
What? This loser says we have no right?!
"Pfft... "
Just as they were about to lose their temper, someone burst into laughter, stopping them from talking.
Clyde Thompson who was snuggled up on the couch, fiddling with his Rolex watch and large ring while sizing Damien up.
"You must be that....useless someone, right? What have you been doing these past few years?"
"I was just getting by." Damien replied indifferently.
Clyde chuckled again and clapped his hands as he stood up.
"If I where to be you, I would suggest that you don't force me to deal with you the hard way. Lena isn't someone a wimp like you deserves. Even a fool knows why you're clinging to the Parkers."
He took out his checkbook from his pocket and then quickly wrote down something on it.
"Here's a check for twenty thousand. It's enough to support you for several years. Be smart, take it, and get lost, lest you end up with nothing in the end" Clyde threatened.
Damien reached out to take the check while the others watched in contempt.
"Indeed, he just wants money!"
"A loser is a loser. You've probably never had so much money all your life, huh?!"
"Hmph! what a jerk!"
"Mr Thompson just had to wave his hand, and this piece of trash took the money readily. Tsk."
Rip! Rip!!
A crisp sound filled the air, immediately making everyone stop their mockery as they looked at Damien in disbelief.
Goddammit!
This good-for-nothing tore the check!
He tore the thirty thousand dollar check!
Is he out of his mind?!
Like what the heck just happened?
Everyone watched in disbelief as Damien gently tossed the ripped pieces of the torn check.
"Mr Thompson or whatever they call you, I want you to know that you're just an outsider. You don't have the right to interfere in our family affairs."