XMOS

50 chapters! Only 3 chapters more for the current arc to end

Gray waited till the old bastard came haggling down. Meanwhile, his butler had invited him and Jenna to the living room, where they were seated down and treated like proper nobles. Perhaps the butler wasn’t an idiot like his master.

“L-lady Jenna,” Aiden came scuttling towards her. “I didn’t know you were here. M-my apologies for shouting-”

“Oh, it’s fine Aiden,” Jenna wagged her hand. “I believe we have other matters to discuss.”

Aiden’s face paled. “W-what other matters?”

Aisha and her mother entered the room, and Gray, with a start, realized Aisha’s cheek was red. He thought he had never cared about her, but the sight made his blood boil.

“Mr. Crowell,” he hardened his voice and stared at the man. “I was planning on going light on your punishment, but dogs like you don’t deserve sympathy.”

“What is the meaning of this?” he snapped back, not looking at Jenna. “You are insulting a noble right at his house!”

“There has been a conspiracy inside this house,” Jenna crossed her legs and leaned back on the seat. “I believe you were already planning on insulting Gray.”

Aiden breathed a few moments, and then his face remained stoic. “I know nothing of such betrayal, my lady. Now if you may, I kindly ask you to leave and come back with proper authority to insult me straight at my face. I believe you are a law student. You should know by now that you cannot arrest a noble without evidence.”

“I’ll present evidence, right in this room,” she looked over at Aisha and Montrea. “Would you two be willing to provide evidence against his conspiracy? In turn, he will be arrested, and you two can live on your own.”

Aisha nodded, but Montrea’s expression was doubtful.

Now’s the time.

Gray called the power of the tattoo. Jenna had told him her plan before they arrived, and even though she never specifically pointed it out, after last night’s event, she had come to the realization that he could control any of the women he impregnated. And that was his job.

Tell your husband’s betrayal.

Montrea gave a horrifying glance at Aiden. “H-he planned on using both me and Aisha as tools. After he impregnated us, he would file a divorce, which would result in the two of us getting your child support.”

“In the name of Her Majesty and the laws of the high court, do you both declare this statement as true?”

“Yes! Yes,” Montrea eagerly nodded her head, while Aisha gave a simple affirmative.

“This is madness!” Aiden pointed a finger at his wife and daughter. “These two are conspiring against me.”

“Laws of the high court Aiden,” Jenna frowned. “There are testimonies of two people, and both those people are related to you by blood. I also found the lawyer whom you shared your opinion with. My guards are at his house, getting a statement. This is more than enough for me to put you behind bars, or since this is an assault against another noble, it could result in some severe whipping.”

The man fell to his chair. He was silent for a few seconds before staring daggers at Gray. “You’ll pay for this.”

“I won’t be paying anything Aiden. I fucked your wife, and now I fuck your life.”

The man rose from his chair, ready to spring at him.

“Do you want your punishment doubled?” Jenna probed. “If you keep even a finger on Gray that would be assault. Two assaults for one noble isn’t going to give you a happy ending Aiden.”

He stopped, then stepped back. “What are you planning on doing to me, Lady Jenna?”

“We could go to court for this, or we could settle this anonymously, so only the people in this room will know the truth.”

“Aiden, please do that,” Montrea said silently. “You’ve lost.”

Aiden glared at her. “Me? Just me? This entire family is dead. All my life, all of my sweat and blood has been to bring this family to the top! And look at the two of you. You brought it to ashes! I shouldn’t have married a whore of a wife to begin with.”

“You are the one who asked her to go whoring herself Aiden,” Gray said. “Besides, as the victim I get to decide the punishment. And I ask you to hand over your property to Aisha. Both you and Montrea are now cast out from this family.”

“B-but Gray, I helped you!” Montrea walked towards him. “I was a victim too. I was following along-”

“Which makes you an accomplice,” Gray said. “Aisha was the only one who mentioned this to me. So she stays. The two of you will leave. But, since you are carrying my child, I’ll give you an offer.”

Her face paled. “And that is?”

“You will go to the Southern Estate which you legally provide me, and control everything in there in my name.”

Montrea nodded eagerly, she was expecting a worse punishment.

“Aiden,” Gray got up. “Leave this place. You can carry a little cash to keep your dignity, and go wherever you want.”

Aiden looked at the two of them, and then at Aisha. “You own this place. I raised you Aisha!”

Aisha’s gaze was deadly. “Get out of this house old man! This house belongs to me and my future husband.”

Aiden looked around the room, hoping for one last defense. But even he seemed to know there wasn’t anyone to save him. “I…won’t take this lightly….”

“Me neither,” Gray grinned, unbuttoning his shirt. “I need to give one last punishment to you before you leave. You wanted to steal my dignity, and karma should teach one better. Which is why we’ll all go to the bedroom and play a little game.”

Aiden paled. “What game?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” he turned to Aisha. “You might want to wait in the carriage.”

As the others scuttled up, Aisha grabbed Gray. “Gray, I don’t care what you do to the bastard father of mine, but please, keep my mother’s punishment light.”

Gray nodded. “I will.”

She grinned and then kissed him hard. Hard enough for her tongue to explore all of his insides.

“I love you, my husband!”

She left with a trot.

Since when was I her husband?

He nodded his head and walked up. He never wanted to lie to Aisha, but the bitter truth was that he never planned on going easy on Montrea.