Chapter 302 : Jareth’s Request

Chapter 302 : Jareth’s Request
Jareth lifted a hand and pointed directly at Luke. Then he leaned back in his chair and said in a  tone, "Switch her mother's position with my mother's. Make my mother the official wife and hers the mistress."

His eyes remained fixed on Luke. "Can you do that?" he asked.

Luke was so furious that the veins on his forehead bulged. He slammed a hand onto the table and shot to his feet. "Jareth, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you even know your mother's status? She was nothing more than a maid, yet you think she's qualified to trade places with my mother? A legitimate heir is a legitimate heir, and a bastard is a bastard. Do you think changing a title can erase the truth?"

His chest heaved in anger. "We allowed you to be born and raised in this family. You should be grateful! My mother suffered because of you and your mother. What right do you have to trample on her memory?"

Jareth tilted his head slightly, and his eyes were filled with contempt. "Your mother couldn't even keep her husband under control. She has no one to blame but herself."

Luke was stunned for a moment. When the meaning behind Jareth's words finally sank in, rage surged through him so violently that he nearly coughed up blood.

After all, Jareth's mother had started out as nothing more than a maid in the Lopez family, a product of Jackson's indulgence and a stain the family had never wanted to acknowledge.

After Jareth was born, both he and his mother were completely cast aside.

Luke's mother never blamed Jackson for what had happened. Instead, she directed all her resentment toward Jareth's mother, finding every opportunity to humiliate and torment her. Even when Jareth's mother tried to leave with her son, she was stopped. The Lopez family could never allow their disgrace to become public knowledge.

If Jareth hadn't fought his way to the top and become someone the Lopez family couldn't afford to ignore, Jackson would never have considered acknowledging him as part of the family.

Jackson remained silent after hearing Jareth's demand. A few minutes later, he finally said, “We can add your mother's name to the family registry, and we can move her grave so she rests beside mine.”

Luke was stunned by Jackson's answer. He clenched his teeth and said, "Dad, if her grave is moved there, then where is my mother supposed to be buried?"

Jackson shot him a cold look, his eyes full of disdain, as though he couldn't understand why Luke was still questioning him.

Luke immediately fell silent. Instead, he turned toward Jareth. Hatred burned in his eyes, so intense that it looked as if he wanted to tear him apart on the spot.

Jareth's eyes swept between Jackson and Luke before a mocking smile appeared on his face. "See?" he said. "Your mother's position was never worth much. She spent her whole life scheming for it, yet all it took was a single sentence from Jackson to erase everything."

Bitterness flooded Luke's chest. He slowly turned toward his father, resentment surging uncontrollably inside him.

How could Luke not hate it? How could he possibly accept it?

If Jackson could cast his mother's place aside today, then one day he could do the same to him, or even to Ronan. After all, the only thing Jackson really cared about was profit.

Jackson ignored Jareth's earlier remarks. He simply looked at him coldly and asked, "Are you signing it or not?"

Jareth casually pushed the agreement aside. "I'm not signing it."

Jackson's expression darkened. His voice turned noticeably colder. "What exactly are you dissatisfied with?"

"Everything," Jareth replied decisively. His tone remained as arrogant as ever. "I'm dissatisfied with all of it. Do you really think you're some priceless treasure?"

He let out a mocking laugh. "Being buried beside you would only disgrace my mother. Yet you're acting as if it's some great reward."

Then, his eyes swept toward the agreement on the desk. "As for that worthless grave plot and your so-called family head position, only someone as useless as Luke would treat that garbage like treasure."

Luke's eyes reddened, and he looked as though he might break down at any moment.

He was already past forty. For decades, he had carried the title of heir, living like a crown prince beneath Jackson's absolute control. Everyone admired him on the surface, but only he knew how much humiliation he had endured behind the scenes. Now, after all those years, he had gained nothing and was being pushed aside. How could he accept that?

He hated Jareth for being more capable than him, and he hated Jackson for never handing over more authority.

Jackson's expression grew even darker. He had already provoked Luke's resentment. The last thing he needed now was to lose Jareth as well. He had to keep Jareth under the Lopez family's banner no matter what. "So you don't care about being buried together," Jackson said. "And you don't care about being recognized as the Lopez family's second son."

He briefly stopped before continuing. “Then what about your mother's ashes? Don't you want to know where she's buried? Don't you want a place where you can visit her?”

As long as he became part of the Lopez family on paper, he would gain the right to visit his mother's grave.

Jareth suddenly laughed, as though he had just heard the most ridiculous joke imaginable. "My mother's grave? A man as cold-blooded, selfish, and heartless as you treated her worse than dirt when she was alive. And now you expect me to believe you gave her a proper burial after she died? More likely, you wrapped her in a straw mat and threw her into some random ditch."

His eyes were filled with mockery and intense resentment. "Or what? You think you can hand me a random pile of ashes and I'll believe they're hers? She's already dead. She's gone. And you think waving her ashes in front of me is enough to move me? What a joke!"

Jackson's grip tightened around the armrest. "You ungrateful bastard!" he barked.

Jareth sneered. "Save your lectures about morality and filial piety. The only reason you're so desperate to bring me back into the Lopez family is that when I die one day, you'll have the legal right to inherit everything I own."

Who do you think you're trying to fool?