Chapter 122

After everyone left, the Thornton family elders followed Damien's instructions and launched an investigation, which did turn up something off about Coralie.

After questioning the servants, someone came forward as a witness — on the night Iver was murdered, Brad had walked into Iver's study and never came back out. That alone was enough to point to Brad as the killer.

But the most damning evidence was the murder weapon.

The weapon's surface had no fingerprints or biological traces, but forensic examiners found Brad's DNA on the recovered bullet.

With both witness testimony and physical evidence stacked against him, Brad had no way to fight back.

The elders had him arrested immediately and planned to put him on trial at a later date.

"No, you can't take my son — Iver was killed by Alexander, Alexander did it!"

Coralie came stumbling out and threw herself in front of the group, blocking their way.

"Iver just died, and now you're going to bully a widow and her child?"

But the Thornton family elders didn't budge.

"If Iver knew, he'd be cheering," one elder said coldly.

Coralie tried to argue back, but what they said next drained the color from her face.

"Starting today, Brad is no longer a member of the Thornton family. He's being expelled. And as for you — I'll draft divorce papers on Iver's behalf. You are no longer the lady of the Thornton family."

The eldest elder fixed Coralie with an icy stare as he spoke.

"You can't do this, you can't!" Coralie's face went blank with shock, then she broke down completely and screamed.

"We absolutely can," the elders said, their expressions hardening.

"You think that Damien is going to run this family properly? You think changing his name makes him a real Thornton? No! He's in league with Eloise — he came here for revenge against the Thornton family. He's going to destroy everything you've built. Just you wait!"

Mrs. Thornton shrieked at them like a woman who had lost her mind, laughing and crying at the same time.

She was dragged away by force, but her words had already planted a seed of doubt in the minds of the Thornton family elders.

Damien hadn't grown up in the Thornton family, and because of what had happened to his mother, he actually had a grudge against them.

Meanwhile, Damien had slept for a while and woken up again. He reached out to Ghosthand and asked him to look into Alexander and his mother.

"See if you can find their old home or any belongings they left behind. If there's anything, have it buried with Iver — consider it a way to thank him for looking after them all those years," Damien said.

"Sure, I'll look into it. That Iver really had terrible luck though — the son he took in was a fake, and his real son was the one who killed him."

After hanging up, Damien got out of bed. He had no intention of staying with the Thornton family. He'd only come back to confront Brad.

Several of the elders watched Damien getting ready to leave and exchanged puzzled looks, unable to figure out whether he was putting on an act or genuinely wanted nothing.

"I said I don't want to be the Thornton family's heir. Apparently nobody took me seriously."

Then again, it was hard to blame them — who could walk away from a fortune this size without a second thought?

"You're still Iver's son. Now that Brad has been expelled, Iver's funeral falls on you. And even if you don't inherit the Thornton family, we can't let you walk away with nothing." One of the younger elders spoke up.

"I'll be there for Iver's funeral. As for everything else, keep the money. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like a copy of the colosseum's blueprints. I enjoy studying that sort of thing."

Damien showed no hesitation and no reluctance — completely straightforward about the whole thing.

"Done." The elder agreed without missing a beat.

An hour later, the blueprints were dug out and handed over to Damien.

"Thank you."

With that, Damien didn't linger. He took the blueprints and walked out of the Thornton family estate.

He was just heading out the door when Ghosthand sent a message. After Iver and Alexander's mother had gone their separate ways back then, they had never seen each other again. The mother and son had lived under false names the entire time, and in the end, neither of them had survived.

Because they had moved so many times, their old home was long gone. They had no family left, so naturally there were no belongings to be found either.

Damien felt a wave of sadness, then turned and headed to Iver's study. He wanted to take something of Iver's to offer at a memorial for the real Alexander and his mother.

Iver had never been there as a father, but he had genuinely cared about his son Alexander. Damien wanted to go and tell them that.

He had just reached the study when the butler suddenly appeared.

"Mr. Alexander Thornton, Mr. Iver Thornton left something for you," the butler said.

"For me?" Damien frowned.

"Yes. It actually belonged to your mother originally. Your father always meant to give it to you, but never found the right moment." The butler held out a wooden box.

Damien took it and opened it for a quick look, but nothing about it seemed particularly special.

"Thank you." He gave the butler a nod and turned to leave.

In the days that followed, Damien made no appearances outside of Iver's funeral.

The people from Celestial Temple kept a close watch on Damien and noticed that no one had gone to find Verity, and that Damien showed no sign of searching for the Celestial Stone. They began to wonder whether he had already gotten his hands on it — which would explain why he seemed so calm.

After Iver's funeral, Damien was getting ready to take the box and pay his respects at Alexander and his mother's graves. He had already had Ironclaw track down where the two were buried.

But before he could get there, a distress video came in from Mona.

"Damien, you'd better bring the Celestial Stone to trade for this woman. Otherwise, I'll make her wish she were dead."

Milo gripped Mona's jaw as he spoke, the camera pointed straight at Mona's battered face.

Damien's expression went stone cold. "Don't touch her."

"I'll be waiting." Milo hung up.

Damien immediately told Ironclaw to change course.

On the way, he forwarded the message to Eloise.

"I knew it — with her personality, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened!" Eloise said, her voice tight with frustration.

She watched the video Damien sent over. Mona was strapped to a frame, roughed up and in a bad state, and Milo clearly hadn't held back at all. Eloise felt sick with anger and worry.

"The only Mordell left alive is Verity. They must think you already have the Celestial Stone."

Eloise paced back and forth across the room. She had no idea whether Damien actually had the Celestial Stone, but she had to get Mona out.

If Damien didn't show up, Mona probably wouldn't make it.

"Damien, you—"

"I'm already on my way," Damien cut in.

Eloise felt a rush of relief. "Okay. I'll get my people together and meet up with you right away."

On his end, Damien's car had already crossed into Milo's territory.

"Stay sharp when we get there. I'm expecting an ambush," Damien said, pocketing his phone.

"Understood," Ironclaw replied.