Chapter 558: Chapter 558: Seizing Power
Smack—
The loud, ear-piercing slap coincided perfectly with Harold’s utterance of the word "dare," leaving a bright red handprint on his cheek, making him look utterly ridiculous.
Harold gritted his teeth, glaring at Kenny with eyes that seemed to wish they could devour him whole: "You little..."
"Continue," Kenny instructed calmly.
Slap, slap, slap!
The Hidden Guards moved so swiftly that Harold’s mouth was already swollen beyond recognition.
He wanted to resist, but no matter which way he turned his face, it was met with a painful blow from the guards!
The elders wanted to help Harold, but with Kenny holding the Bone Branch Badge, representing Cyrus Hawthorne’s identity, the guards would only follow his orders.
"Enough! All of you stop it!" Harold, feeling his dignity slipping away in front of the elders, roared in intolerable anger: "Have you all grown tired of living, siding with a woman who betrayed the Family Head?"
The Hidden Guards looked at each other, saying nothing.
Harold clutched his swollen mouth with one hand and pointed fiercely at the bystander, Ann Vaughn, with the other: "You, get out of here! The Hawthorne Family doesn’t welcome traitors like you!"
Kenny’s eyes flashed with a cold glint, as if Harold was asking to lose his mouth!
"You have no right to drive us away." Ann Vaughn held Kenny’s small hand, her eyes cold as she looked at Harold, "If you want to accuse me of being the cause, then bring forth solid evidence. Otherwise, with just a few of your rage-filled curses, are you taking everyone for fools?"
"You—"
"He has no right, but what about me?"
At this moment, a deep, aged voice suddenly came from the railing on the second floor.
Everyone looked up to see Henry Hawthorne being wheeled by a servant to the railing.
Upon seeing Henry, a flicker of shock passed quickly through Harold’s eyes.
How is it possible...
By the railing, Henry coughed a few times, his face looking worse. After struggling to recover for days with acupuncture and medicine, the blow from Cyrus Hawthorne’s death news had taken it all away.
"I warned you long ago," Henry paused his coughing, his cloudy eyes sharp as he gazed at Ann Vaughn downstairs, "You would bring calamity to Cian, and indeed my prophecy proved true."
His words were not heavy, his frail voice sounding almost light.
Yet they struck like a heavy hammer, carving a hole in Ann Vaughn’s heart.
Eyes that had been dry now suddenly brimmed with an acidic, moist sensation.
Even the great uncle believed... it was her fault Cyrus Hawthorne suffered.
Ann Vaughn lowered her eyes miserably, masking the tears that nearly spilled over, her tightly pressed lips turning white yet never loosening.
For a long while, Henry sighed, saying: "You should leave..."
"Before the truth is revealed, no one has the right to say it’s my mommy’s fault." Kenny stood protectively in front of Ann Vaughn, his small body shielding her, "You just want a scapegoat to vent the anger you can’t discharge elsewhere. Truly despicable."
Henry’s face flushed, clutching his chest, wanting to retort to Kenny, yet finding himself unable to speak.
Kenny no longer looked at him, coldly finishing his speech before taking Ann Vaughn’s hand, gently saying: "Mommy, let’s go home."
"Okay." Ann Vaughn felt a warmth spreading through her near-numb heart, nodding at Kenny, taking his hand and turning to leave.
Just as they were about to exit the living room, Ann Vaughn suddenly turned back, her bright eyes fixed on the elders hiding behind Harold, indecisive.
She smirked sarcastically: "Wise people always leave themselves two options. Are you really so sure Cyrus won’t come back?"
After saying that, not waiting for the elders to reply, she walked out of the living room with Kenny.
With the guards present, no one dared to stop them.
Once they had left, Henry couldn’t suppress a fit of coughing, his straight back bending, even blood seeping from the corner of his mouth!
"Quick!" Harold, anxious, hurriedly instructed the bodyguards back in the living room, "Call the doctor right now!"
However, those he could command were the ones he brought along. Only Cyrus Hawthorne had the authority to command the family’s Hidden Guards and bodyguards.
After Henry was taken back to his room, Harold frowned in thought. No, this old fellow couldn’t die yet.
If he must die, it has to wait until I’ve truly gained control of the Hawthorne dynasty, otherwise if someone suspects me... it’ll be a real problem.
"Harold, are you sure the Family Head has really met his end at sea? What if this is false and the Family Head returns? How do we explain ourselves?" Now that the living room was empty and no others around, the elders voiced their concerns.
"The Hawthorne Family has both the old master and Ann Vaughn with that child. If you want to surpass them, it may be very difficult."
Harold, full of uprightness, responded: "An old man, a child, and a woman, what can they do? I am Cian’s uncle. Now that he’s not here, it’s only right for me to step up, take charge of the overall situation, and investigate the cause of his death to avenge him!"
The elders, who were initially skeptical of his actions, found much of their doubts eased at his words.
The Hawthorne Family was facing a crisis. The old master suddenly fell into a coma and went to the hospital, and that child with Ann Vaughn, a woman, couldn’t handle much.
Only Harold was capable of presiding over the Hawthorne Family’s affairs. What more doubts could they have?
Besides, it was Mrs. Quinn who had invited them.
The late Family Head’s mother even so highly recommended Harold to be the new Head of the Hawthorne Family, they naturally had to quickly pick a side.
...
While returning to Villa No. 8, the car was shrouded in silence.
Until Kenny relayed a message through the Hidden Guard serving as the family’s informant, saying that Harold had temporarily taken control of the Hawthorne Family and was set to officially take over the Hawthorne Group the next day...
Kenny shared this with Ann Vaughn, who had been lost in her thoughts.
"Harold’s ambition is no small thing." Ann Vaughn closed her eyes slightly, her pretty face full of sarcasm, "First the family, then the Hawthorne Group... He wants to swallow everything that belongs to Cyrus Hawthorne, isn’t he afraid of indigestion?"
Leaving aside the family, the vast business empire had been singlehandedly forged by Cyrus Hawthorne.
What right does Harold have to shamelessly claim it as his own?
Ann Vaughn knew the answer very well, but she desperately avoided it, lacking even the courage to think slightly about it.
"Mommy, do you really think Daddy is dead?" Kenny softly said, seeing the grief hidden in his mother’s eyes, "Kenny doesn’t think so."
Ann Vaughn lifted her reddening eyes to look at Kenny, silent.
"Mommy, will you trust Kenny? Kenny promises to help you find Daddy." Kenny reached out a small hand to hug Ann Vaughn, comfortingly patting her back.
Ann Vaughn let out a small laugh, trying to appear nonchalant, her voice hoarse: "Silly boy, Mommy trusts you."