Chapter 3 His Father

Seeing a taxi enter this luxurious estate for the first time, the driver was so excited he could barely contain himself, bragging over the radio. "Guys, guess where I am right now?"

"The Winston family's private estate!!"

"Wow, this place is amazing."

The taxi slowly drove into the estate.

Leon glanced at him. "You'd better keep quiet. There's a drone hovering above us, monitoring everything we say and do. If you leak any of the Winston family's private information and piss them off, that's not my problem."

The driver jumped, instinctively looking up.

Sure enough, high in the clouds, a drone was silently circling like a vulture.

The driver got spooked and quickly stopped showing off, driving obediently.

Since entering the estate, Leon's killer instincts sensed he was being closely tracked and monitored.

The massive estate had at least dozens of guards stationed both openly and hidden.

They protected every corner of the estate with almost no blind spots.

Leon shook his head.

Too weak.

These defenses were useless, full of holes. In an instant, Leon had already worked out various plans in his mind for how to infiltrate, assassinate, and escape unscathed.

"Sir, we're here."

The taxi driver's cautious voice interrupted Leon's thoughts.

A mansion comparable to the White House appeared before them.

The million-dollar luxury cars parked at the entrance made the taxi look completely out of place.

"The famous Winston family has really fallen if they're allowing taxis in. How ridiculous."

A Maybach pulled up at the entrance at the same time.

A man and a woman got out.

They looked at the taxi with obvious disgust.

They stared coldly at Leon, as if examining a lowly servant.

Contempt.

Written all over their faces.

Leon frowned, taking in the couple's appearance, then searched his memory for information about them.

His killer's habit meant he'd already investigated the backgrounds of all the Winston family members before coming.

Soon, he recalled the man's identity.

Sebastian Winston, also his cousin, who managed the Winston family's financial operations. Very arrogant personality. The woman beside him was his wife, Isabella, daughter of some well-known family from New York's Upper East Side.

"Hmm?" Sebastian looked at Leon's face, his expression suddenly serious, then filled with hostility.

"What's your relationship to Ryan?"

"What do you think?"

"Leon!! It's you!!" Sebastian's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Isabella looked confused. "Darling, who's Leon? I've never heard of anyone like that in your family."

"Of course you don't know, darling. His parents were expelled from the family ten years ago." Sebastian said sarcastically. "Leon, I can't believe you dare to come back."

"Only a taxi would suit your status."

"Sebastian, your sense of superiority is still so cheap." Leon just nodded slightly, considering it a greeting.

Sebastian frowned.

None of the reactions he'd expected--embarrassment, anger, groveling explanations--happened. This Leon, who'd disappeared for ten years, didn't even show a flicker of emotion in his eyes, as if Sebastian Winston was just a passerby not worth a second glance.

This indifference annoyed Sebastian more than any rebuttal could have.

"Leon, if you're smart, you shouldn't have come back. There's no place for you in this family." Sebastian sneered.

"Whether I have a place or not, you'll find out soon enough." Leon looked at him like watching a clown's poor performance.

Sebastian clenched his fists.

"Just wait. I'll make you a stray dog again soon enough."

Leon smiled and walked into the mansion.

Only then did Sebastian's wife, Isabella, react. "He's Ryan's son?"

"Yeah, that's him."

Sebastian responded. "His father ruined our marriage arrangement with the top-tier Augustus family and married some ordinary woman on his own, and that's the son they had! Ten years ago, at the family council, they had a falling out and were expelled from the family. I heard Ryan and his wife went to Europe, then later there was some accident."

"He... came back to claim inheritance..." Isabella's voice suddenly filled with alarm.

"Hmph, if Grandfather wants to give the inheritance to this abandoned person, I'll join forces with the others to oppose it."

"Let's go!"

Leon entered the hall.

The noisy hall suddenly fell silent.

Black trench coat, lean but upright figure, deep and stern features, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Leon instantly drew everyone's attention.

Some were impressed, some disdainful.

Whispers arose.

"That's Leon, he looks so much like Ryan."

"Yeah, worthy of being from the 'Winston family angel's' bloodline."

"If Ryan hadn't broken off the engagement with the Augustus family, how would our family have suffered such suppression?"

"Didn't we hear that Ryan and his wife died? Their son supposedly died too, but he's actually alive."

"Hmph, Alexander was nearly killed in an assassination attempt recently, and he comes back now--is he here to claim benefits?"

Leon's gaze locked onto the head seat.

Sitting there was a man in his seventies, silver hair combed without a strand out of place, hawk nose paired with sharp gray-blue eyes. Even leaning on a cane, he radiated an intimidating presence.

Alexander Winston.

To his left sat a middle-aged man in his forties, face bearing three parts resemblance to Leon, suit impeccable, cufflinks custom platinum with diamonds, every gesture carrying the superiority unique to the elite class.

Charles Winston.

Sebastian's father is the next head of the Winston family.

Alexander sat in the head seat, those gray-blue eyes narrowing like an old but still dangerous wolf, quietly contemplating something.

Too much like Ryan.

Like they were cast from the same mold.

"You're Leon? Is it really you! After all these years, you've grown so much. We thought you..."

Charles didn't finish, but everyone understood what he'd omitted.

"Thought I was dead?" Leon picked up the thread, voice flat.

Charles's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "How could that be? We've been looking for you all along. It's just... You disappeared too completely."

He walked up to Leon, reaching out to pat his shoulder, the gesture intimate yet carrying a condescending air. "It's good you're back, good you're back. Sit down first, have a meal with us, and we can talk about everything slowly."

"Father! We're late, we were delayed at the estate by a taxi blocking the road."

Sebastian and his wife also entered the hall.

Compared to the gossip about Leon, people were much warmer toward Sebastian, with various compliments and praise flowing endlessly.

"A taxi? Who's so bold as to drive a taxi into the Winston Estate's territory? They're completely disregarding our family rules. I'll send someone to teach them a lesson right away." Charles was furious.

"Oh, don't blame the driver; he was just bringing Leon," Sebastian said.

"Forget it then," Charles said with exaggerated magnanimity. "After all, Leon doesn't really understand family etiquette. Take your seat, we've just been waiting for you."

Sebastian looked over at Leon triumphantly.

"Father, Leon rarely comes back, and it seems there's no seat for him. Why don't we add a chair and put it on the side?"

Laughter rippled through the hall.

Sitting at the side table was undoubtedly a servant's position.

Everyone looked at Leon mockingly.

Faced with this humiliation, they all expected him to leave in embarrassment.

But Leon ignored them, walking straight toward the head seat at the dining table.

The old man's face was haggard, but his eyes extremely resolute.

As Leon approached, Alexander's breathing actually grew rapid. Just then, Leon pulled out a chair and sat down in Charles's seat.

"How dare you!" Charles exploded in anger.

"Alexander, since you invited me back, shouldn't you make all the irrelevant people leave?" Leon ignored him, just smiling slightly.

Alexander finally spoke:

"All of you leave. Leon stays!"

"You heard him?" Leon looked indifferently at Sebastian and Charles, then swept his gaze around everyone in the hall.

"What!" Charles's face turned iron-blue.

The entire room was shocked.