Chapter 734



Justin smiled, “No, I’ve never heard of it.”

His words seemed to make Philip gag, and even his choice of words became less severe. He said, “How come you don’t know anything at all, young man? How did you manage to expand the Hunts to their present size? The way I see it, the Smiths should have taken over as the number one family a long time ago.”

His words gave Justin the illusion that the man seemed to be giving him some advice.

Philip continued to speak fiercely. “The Imperial League is the most mysterious business organization in the world. There are twelve members in it, and each uses a different animal as an alias. They can master trends in the world economy because they have the keenest intuition and are sensitive enough to discern trends in world development and pick up on improvements in technology. Some time ago, the Imperial League had said that the U.S. real estate market would experience rapid development, so everyone went to the U.S. to take their share of the spoils. Now, the Imperial League says that the real estate market will go into decline, while new energy and technology will mark the overall development, so everyone is starting to invest in them.”

At this point, Philip said, “Don’t be mistaken and think that it is the Imperial League members who are influencing the direction of the world; rather, this is the inevitable trend of social development. The Imperial League is merely following the trend. But with this group of far-sighted people, our twelve families will never have any problems. We will always be in the leading positions in the world. The Hunts don’t even know about the Imperial League, they will be eliminated by society and will be out of the game sooner or later!

“If you don’t find a way to join the Imperial League, you can wait to be totally crushed by me!”

Justin: “…”

If it had only been an illusion before, he was sure of it now – Philip was pointing him to a way out.

Find your favorite stories at g Ɐ ln σ ν𝒆 𝓁s., conn From start to finish, Philip had never wanted them to die!

Justin was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he spoke, and his manner of addressing Philip also became a little more respectful.

“Uncle Philip, you don’t really hate my mother at all, do you?”

His comment made Philip choke.

After a while, he scoffed, “How can that be? I hate her with every fiber of my being. For a mere $80,000, she walked out on me. Ha, in the face of money, our relationship is worthless.”

Justin, however, said, “You could have killed me when you kidnapped me then. Wouldn’t it have hurt and saddened my mother more than separating me from her? Why wait to save me after twelve hours?”

Philip did not speak.

Justin spoke again. “You were waiting for my mother to give in and come to you for help, were you waiting for her to apologize and bow to you?”

Philip scoffed, “Boy, you talk too much!”.

Justin let out a low chuckle and said nothing more. However, he had already understood.

Philip really loved his mother very much.

It was true that Philip hated his mother too, but in the face of love, most of his hatred had been offset. Although he had punished his mother in this way, he had never wanted to kill her. This showed that he had never really thought of hurting her.

Maybe…

Justin lowered his eyes. He couldn’t help but begin to wonder.

When Herman realized the truth back then, if he had aggressively protected and defended his wife instead of turning her in, maybe Philip wouldn’t have been so persistent but would have chosen to let her go.

Because sometimes the best way to show one’s love is to let go.

It had to be Herman’s choice that had made him even angrier and more disappointed, right? Iris had left him for such a man!

When Justin put himself in the other man’s shoes and thought about it, he immediately understood Philip’s indignation and selfish motives at the time. Although it was he who had brought about his family tragedy, at this instant, Justin instead hated Herman even more, not Philip.

He lowered his head and asked suddenly, “Uncle Philip, do you know what set you up to fail then?”

Philip was silent for a while. Then he sneered, “A boy like you plans to teach me how to behave?”

Justin ignored his sarcasm and spoke earnestly. “Love can stand tests, but it can’t stand being constantly tested. You and Mom maintained a relationship for three years in college. When you were a poor boy, she had already chosen you. Doesn’t that already prove that she is not someone who detests the poor and persecutes the rich? Yet you still cheated on her after that, testing her again and again. That could only have ended in tragedy.”

There had been no misunderstanding between Philip and Iris.

What there was between the two of them was only a feeling of resignation.

At the time, Iris’s father had forced her to marry Herman by threatening not to pay for her mother’s medical treatment. At that time, Iris had tried to approach Philip for help. She asked him if he had any money and if he could pay for her mother’s medical expenses.

A person who had been rich since he was a child was not something to which others could compare. No matter how much he pretended to be poor, there would always be traces of his true origin.

Iris should have suspected it before, shouldn’t she?

However, Philip had taken the opportunity to test her one last time to make her choose between his mother and him.

If Iris was capable of abandoning even her gravely ill mother for their relationship, then he would never distrust her again.

Unfortunately, in the end Iris dared not risk it. She had chosen her mother.

Philip was suddenly angry. “Love is the purest thing in this world, it must not be mixed with any kind of interests or impurities! Your mother is a person who shirks her responsibility in love, that’s why she met a man like your father! A man who can’t stand even a test.”

Philip was a very extreme man.

Justin snorted. “If Mom could only choose one between her mother and her mate, and yet she would have chosen you and decided to let my grandmother die? How could anyone like that exist?”

“Why not! Back then, I…”

Philip slowed down in time at this point. He scoffed, “Heh, you think I was wrong, don’t you? In that case, how about you, can your relationship stand up to a test?”

Justin raised his eyebrows. “I never put those things to the test. I never put human nature to the test either.”

“You never test it, or are you just afraid to test it?” Philip provoked him. “Isn’t your current situation exactly a test? Now that you’re in trouble, how do the Smiths react? They must still show you their full support, right? So, are you moved, is that it, shall we make a bet?”

Justin smiled. “What kind of bet?”

“We’ll make a bet on the Smiths’ reaction after you lose! We’ll see if they’ll let their young lady marry you after you lose! And we’ll make a bet on whether or not your fiancée will still marry you!”

Justin narrowed his eyes. “I won’t lose.”

Philip scoffed, “Being confident is good, but arrogance does nothing but blind you. This world has no shortage of people stronger and more powerful than you. You think you’re already number one in the world just because you’ve flourished in the Hunt? You’re nothing in front of anyone in the Imperial League.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

“Who gives you advice! Justin, I’ll wait for you and Iris to bow down to me. There will come a day when you will come begging me.”

Philip was probably furious. After saying that, he hung up the phone immediately.

Justin stared at the phone.

His anger towards Philip from earlier slowly dissipated.

At that moment, he heard voices from outside. A smile formed on his face and he walked out of the study. As soon as he left the room, he saw Nora and Iris carrying the three children upstairs.

Seeing him, Cherry ran up first. “Daddy!”

The two boys, Pete and Xander, were more reserved. They approached him meekly. Pete said, “Dad.”

Xander pursed his lips and mumbled listlessly, “Dad.”

Seeing his awkward behavior, Justin squatted down and looked at him at eye level. He asked, “Xander, can we now change your last name?”

Hearing this, Nora knew immediately that Justin must have seen everything that had just happened. She curved her lips in disdain.

That stinky man had such a sweet tooth. He must have tipped him off to help Iris, ha.

Despite her thoughts, she looked at Xander with concern. Suddenly, he smiled and suggested, “How about you adopt my last name and be a Smith, too?”

Justin didn’t object. “Adopting Smith as a last name works too. Xander, I’ve thought of some names for you, would you like to try them?”

Xander looked at the five faces around him. They all had concern in their eyes, which made him a little uncomfortable.

But after thinking about it, he continued, “I don’t want to take Hunt as a last name, lest those people say I’ve come back to fight for the family estate with Pete. Ha, I’m not interested in that estate at all. I’ll make my own money when I’m older.”

Justin then replied. “Uh-huh, so are we going to change your last name to Smith?”

Xander looked at Nora. Then he lowered his head and said, “I…I don’t want to take Smith as a last name either.”

Those present were surprised.

Xander rolled his eyes. “Does it really matter what my last name is?”.

Nora thought for a while. “Not really, it seems.”

“Then that’s it, isn’t it?”

After saying that, Xander turned around and ran straight to his room. After entering, he closed the door from the inside.

The little boy sighed quietly.

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. When he answered, Trueman’s voice came from the other end, “Hi, Xander, it’s Dad.”

.

.

.