Chapter 114 General

"Dig in!" Carlo urged Mark and his wife, encouraging them to enjoy more of the meal.

Isabella wasn't to be outdone. "Mark, this dish is delicious."

"I'll eat, I'll eat." Mark felt as if his stomach was about to burst, but he bravely kept eating.

Both the elder and the younger were overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

Meanwhile, Miranda was also looking distressed; no matter how delicious the food, it was like a lump in her throat, impossible to swallow.

"Henry, what are you doing now?" Mark forced a smile and said, "For a second there, I thought you were the waiter. But thinking about it, it's impossible; given your determination and intelligence, there's no way you wouldn't have achieved anything in seven years."

"I've earned some merits in the military, managed to become a General," Henry replied with a smile, not going into detail.

This revelation caught Mark off guard, and he quickly took a sip of red wine to compose himself.

"A General at such a young age? No wonder you're formidable; even Nicholas seems wary of you."

Laura glared at Henry, convinced that Nicholas's willingness to host this banquet stemmed from gratitude for Henry saving his life. It seemed Nicholas was simply too eager to repay the favor.

Henry's claim of being a General was just another one of his tall tales.

Yet, she knew better than to expose her boyfriend's shortcomings in front of others. She said nothing and simply inquired.

"Where's Mr. Nicholas? Using his restaurant, the least we could do is invite him to join us for a meal, right?"

Gratitude fades with time; only by continuously leveraging that indebtedness to maintain their friendship could they remain in good standing with Nicholas.

The more Laura thought about it, the clearer it became that she was painstakingly rationalizing the actions of her somewhat simpleminded man.

"He should be arriving soon, right?" Henry mused, checking the time and feeling it was about right. "By the way, when they get here, don't pity them too much."

Carlo pinched the wine glass in his hand and nodded.

Henry had planned to bring the three members of the Miller family to the hotel, though initially, Carlo was reluctant to join.

After all, they were his own father and brothers.

But as he thought about Isabella's ordeal and Henry's past framing, anger welled up within him.

Moreover, he had always harbored a suspicion about something - he always felt that Agustin's death was too fishy, and Simone was a prime suspect.

When he shared his suspicions with Rob, he realized that although Rob spoke of investigating, in reality, he remained indifferent.

This led to even graver suspicions in his mind.

That was the fundamental reason he chose to side with Henry and break away from the Miller family.

He had yet to share these suspicions with Henry.

Back then, Henry, still inexperienced, hadn't yet come to suspect foul play in his parents' death.

"I'll tell Henry when things are clearer..." Carlo mused, wary that if Henry learned the full story, he might lash out and harm Rob and the others immediately, or worse, take down the entire Miller family. He opted to dig deeper before revealing anything.

He dared to manage Henry, but he knew that his nephew was no longer the somewhat naïve boy he used to be.

Seven years in the military, decisive in killing, he had taken numerous lives.

This could be seen in one of Henry's subordinates, Antonio.

The mere thought of this individual made Carlo's face lose color.

At this moment, someone knocked on the private room door. Recognizing the newcomers, a cold smile played across Henry's face.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Nicholas entered first, nodding at the people around the dining table and stepping aside.

Behind him came Rob, Simone, and Fabio, their faces ashen, as they knelt and shuffled forward into the room on their knees.

Even so, when Isabella saw the faces of these three people, she panicked, jumping up and clinging to Henry.

"Why are they here? What will we do? Henry, I'm scared!"

Remembering the torture in the dog kennel at the Lewis family's villa, Isabella shuddered.

It was her most terrifying nightmare. Just thinking about it sent chills through her entire body.

And these three people were the culprits who had pushed her into the hands of the Lewis family.

Isabella still remembers when Rob snorted with derision, "Isabella, you're my favorite granddaughter, and it's because I care that I'm forcing you to marry Maurizio. You better obey. What? You don't want to marry into that family? Someone, tie her up and slap her, hit her until she agrees or faints, then carry her to the Lewis family!"

Simone and Fabio looked on, their smiles vicious and twisted.

"I'm so scared!" Isabella burrowed her head further into Henry's embrace.

Henry held his sister with an icy gaze in his eyes.

Seeing all three on their knees like that, it was no wonder she was terrified, hinting at the unspeakable events of the past.

"Isabella, listen to me. Look up. Their arms are broken; this is the first 'interest' I've collected for you. You can't be afraid of them forever. Go on, hit them!" Henry said, turning his head away, unable to bear the sight of his sister's frightened eyes.

Isabella knew she had to take drastic measures if she wanted to release all that pent-up pressure for good.

Otherwise, she'd be haunted by this shadow for life.

Even if he wiped out the Miller family, the Lewis family, Isabella would still have nightmares about the past.

Only by letting Isabella see for herself, by slowly stripping away the villains' terrifying facade to reveal their vile, weak nature, could she move forward.

At that moment, Sophia had an idea, "Isabella, use this."

She handed over a wine glass, "Throw it at their heads, let out your anger."

Hatred and fear, when bottled up inside, can turn a person sullen or twisted, it had to be dealt with.

Isabella finally mustered the courage, grabbed the glass, and hurled it at Rob's head.

Nobody knew what Nicholas had done to them, but as the glass flew towards Rob, he looked frightened, yet he dared not dodge.

With a smash, the glass shattered, its shards cutting into his face, blood slowly seeping out.

Isabella stared blankly at her so-called "grandfather", tears surging forth as she cried out, throwing the objects on the table one by one.

Glasses, wine bottles, plates, soup bowls...

"I said I didn't want to marry into the Lewis family, but you beat me, you tortured me!"

"I told you I just wanted to live well, to wait for my brother, and you said he was dead. You even tied me up with a decaying corpse, claiming it was my brother."

"I hate you!"

The girl's cries, the sound of breaking dishes, and the muffled groans of the Miller family members blended into a chaotic symphony.

Henry clenched his fists so tightly that he could barely restrain himself from killing the three men on the spot.