Upon hearing that there would be a feast, Harry turned up as well, and with him, Daniel came along. The house which had been quiet for a few days suddenly turned livelier than ever.
After dinner and while it was still bright, Sophia said that she wanted to buy some pet food for the cat and tortoise. Thus, she left for the supermarket together with Stanley and Sean.
On their way out, Stanley complained, âWhy is the Old Master so kind to you? He was even so generous as to give you the cat which he wonât even let me touch! Did you tell him that youâre married to Uncle Michael?
But that doesnât seem right because he just told me today to court you as soon as possible and even got me such a dumb excuse to send you home.â It was clear as day to Stanley that Mark was especially enthusiastic to Sophia and it even made him a little jealous.
Dressed in casual sportswear and carrying a small backpack, Sophia chose not to answer him. Since they were the treasures given to her by Mark, she wanted to buy some pet food from the supermarket.
After all, they were now in her care and she should at least make sure that they didnât lose weight.
After they left the area, Stanley and Sean went in the direction of the military compound, taking the dog out for a walk after dinner to aid their digestion, while Sophia went the opposite direction where the supermarket was. Before parting ways, Sean couldnât help but assure her, âDonât be stressed out because of the amulet. Iâll try to persuade the Mitchells to give up on it.â
Nodding her head, she watched as they left, their arms on each otherâs shoulders. Smiling, she realized why she had always felt close with Sean; it was because he was her cousin.
Seanâs grandfather was Woodyâs youngest brother and his descendants had always followed Woody and Cooper around, making them one of the pillars of strength in the Mitchells. Unfortunately, after Cooperâs death, Alex came into power and the influence from Seanâs branch of the family gradually weakened, but it still carried a certain authority within the family.
After they parted ways, Stanley was still happily reminiscing about the bottle of wine from the cellar on the way back to the military camp. It was so good that just a sip of it was enough to satisfy him for half a lifetime! How wonderful it would be if Michael opens a bottle of his wine from his cellar collection every day!
On the other hand, Sean was in much deeper thought. After today, he would have to face Alexâs wrath when he returned to the Mitchells, where Alex might make things difficult for his grandfather and uncles.
The last time after he obtained Cooperâs USB drive, he brought it home to show it to his grandfather and uncles, who all agreed that the information on it should be destroyed after going through it.
The information which it held was simply too shocking and involved some sensitive incidents which could possibly destroy the Mitchells or place them in serious trouble if it was leaked. Besides the part where Cooper made a confession, the rest of the information was destroyed immediately to eliminate any future problems.
In the aftermath of Cooperâs confession, Alexâs branch of the family didnât believe it and suspected it was Seanâs branch of the family who had secretly kept the token to Cooperâs inheritance.
Nevertheless, it had been more than two decades and Cooper never intended for the Mitchells to receive that property because there was no way to put the tokens together. In addition, nobody could decipher the thousand-digit code and the Mitchells couldnât bring forward the tokens required by the bank in Kuwait.
All the Mitchells knew about was that Woody got the amulet for Cooper, which he had worn since young, but they didnât know that there was actually another half to it. As Woody was old with dementia, they couldnât find out anything from him while the priest whom he went to for the amulet had passed away years ago.
As for Cooperâs beloved woman, there was no way to start searching for her at all. Since he was the front of the Mitchells and their pride, anything which tainted his name would not be published and the situation back then was handled in secrecy.
Twenty years had passed, and the people involved were either dead or demented, so there was no way anyone could find out where that woman was buried. With all of their leads coming to a dead end, the Mitchells could only watch in vain as such an enormous treasure dangled before their eyes but they couldnât reach it at all!
Equally concerned about what happened to Sophia today, Stanley couldnât hold back anymore and asked Sean while they were walking the dog, âYour family wonât do anything to Sophia, will they?â
Even Sean was deeply worried. âIf needed, I have no choice but to bring the amulet back home and see what happens. At the end of the day, thereâs nothing they can do even if they have the amulet.
Itâs impossible for them to retrieve the money because Cooper never intended it to go to them. Iâm guessing that this is his final revenge toward the Mitchells! Once theyâre done trying, Iâll think of a way to return the amulet to Sophia.â
Stanley snorted, not wanting Sophia to be involved in the Mitchellsâ mess. âWhat do you think your family did to Uncle Cooper? Why did he hate you guys so much that he even had such an evil plot in mind for you guys after his death?â
As part of the Mitchells, Sean never denied that their family had done Cooper wrong. Letting out a deep sigh, he muttered, âIf I was Uncle Cooper, I⦠might be even more ruthless.â Following the finding of Cooperâs recording, Sean had discreetly investigated with the elders in his family.
Despite the fact that many people had passed away, there were still traces of information available and at the end of his investigations, he could totally understand Cooperâs fury.
âWhy do you say that?â Stanley asked. It might be the Mitchellâs family affairs, but he was still extremely curious about it.
Smiling bitterly, Sean answered, âStan, can you imagine the helplessness when you see your beloved woman being poisoned right before your eyes?â
Stanley tried to imagine it; if Sophia was poisoned right in front of his eyes, he would definitely shoot everyone with a gun. Meanwhile, Seanâs expression was immensely sad. He had experienced enough of the Mitchellsâ iciness ever since he was a child.
Back then after the death of his father, his mother went down on her knees and pleaded with his grandfather to allow her to bring Sean away. However, she was ruthlessly rejected by him and he didnât even allow her to step into the family home or meet Sean after she remarried.
It was also his own grandfather who sent him aboard for treatment and used all sorts of cruel methods to lead him back on the right path.
In spite of that, Sean knew that he was not sick but was simply waiting for his mother. He wished that he was a girl, so that he could leave that cold household along with his mother. Sadly, the Mitchells saw his anticipation as a form of intolerable illness!
Electric shocks, hunger, beatings, confinement and all sorts of tortureâthose were the darkest two years of his life. He thought about dying and even cut his wrists countless times, only to be saved and go through another round of torture after that.
The so-called treatments were just torture methods to force him to let go of his obsession so that he would lead the so-called correct path and become what they assumed to be normal. For two years, Sean felt as though he had lived through two centuries. Finally, he caved in and obediently became what they deemed to be normal.
Even though he felt that he was a walking dead, he still thought that he was much luckier compared to Cooper because his punishment from the Mitchells was more than torment!
Suddenly, Sean stopped in his tracks and turned to Stanley. In a low and cold tone, he said, âAs Cooperâs punishment and to make him give up everything back then, the Mitchells poisoned his beloved woman right before his eyes. But they didnât stop at that.â
He paused as his eyes clouded over and he fisted his hands tightly. âWhile that girl was still breathing her last breaths, they burned her body and made Uncle Cooper watch the whole process.â