Life After Prison

“Timothy Tanner?” Severin’s face soured as he looked at the grinning man in front of him. He was a little unhappy, but he forced a smile and asked, “What’s with the two of you?”

Quinn smiled triumphantly, “Can’t you see? We’re both married. We got married not too long after graduation! It’s such a shame that you couldn’t come to our wedding, but we understand. You were in prison, after all!”

Severin’s expression sank even more. Although Timothy and Quinn were all smiles, their words belied hints of a superiority complex. Perhaps they felt that way because Severin excelled back in college and was president of the student council!

“Where are you heading, Severin?” Timothy asked.

“Oh, the Richemont Hotel!” Severin said casually.

“I see! You’re attending Lucy’s wedding too? Well, hop in!” Timothy smiled. “Don’t worry, your clothes might be a bit old, but it doesn’t really bother me. You should get the chance to experience what it feels like to sit in an Audi!”

“Sitting in an Audi, eh?” Severin’s brows furrowed slightly but he soon flashed a cold smile and got in the car. “Honestly, I’ve never sat in an Audi before. Are the seats made of real leather?” As Severin spoke, he touched the back seat and exclaimed, “Whoa! It’s really soft!”

“Hehe, look at you. You’re like someone who’s never seen the world. This car is the best of its kind, costing tens of thousands!”

Timothy drove the car with pride and asked again, “Why are you still touching it? Will you be able to pay for it if you leave a scratch on it?”

Severin smiled and said, “I still prefer taking a helicopter though. That was my mode of transport when they sent me back here!”

“Cough, cough!” Quinn, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, nearly choked on the water she drank when she heard Severin’s words. She screwed the cap back onto the bottle and turned around. “You’re one to joke, aren’t you? A helicopter? That cracks me up!”

She then looked at Severin and added, “I remember you wearing these clothes in college, Severin. Why are you still wearing them? They don’t fit you too well now, do they? And I’m guessing you just got your hair cut?”

Timothy then remarked, “The Richemont Hotel is one of the most well-known luxury hotels in our city. Severin should know how to pay attention to his image, but then a good set of clothes, pants and leather shoes are really expensive, so a change of hairstyle might just do the trick. Haircuts are pretty cheap now, aren’t they?”

Severin chuckled indifferently. “I was planning on getting a new set of clothes, but I was caught up in something and didn’t have any time, so I decided to just forget about it! I don’t care about this kind of stuff anyway!”

“Haha, just admit it if you’re poor. Isn’t that better than trying to act as if you’re not?” Timothy sneered.

Quinn said with a snicker, “Women like us have it easier. We don’t need to work too hard, as long as we look good and find a rich man to marry!”

When Timothy heard that, he immediately retorted, “That doesn’t sound very nice, Quinn. Does that mean you wouldn’t marry me if I had no money?”

“Duh. Do you want me to be poor with you?” Quinn rolled her eyes at Timothy and felt firm in her conviction. After she finished speaking, she could not help but look at Severin and shake her head. It

was clear what she was trying to imply.

“You have a point!” Timothy chuckled, and said again, “You regret it now, don’t you, Severin? You know that Easton is a rich man, yet you still had the guts to fight him. That’s just asking for trouble. Look at me. I relied on Quinn’s longtime friendship with Lucy and cozied up to Easton, and the man just set up a small company for me and gave me a few small projects. Now I’ve become someone with millions worth in assets!”

At that juncture, he could not help but bask in pride while saying, “This car will soon fail to match my net worth. I plan to change to an A8 sometime later. Driving a car like that is the only way I can show off my wealth and status!”

Severin sighed to himself after hearing the exchange between Quinn and Timothy. He did not expect that his college classmates had become so materialistic and snobbish after only five years.

“I just thought of something, Timothy. You see, Severin was once our classmate, right? He probably doesn’t have a job since he’s fresh out of prison, so why don’t you let him work in your company as a security guard? That should be okay, right?” Quinn thought for a moment and said to Timothy.

“I can’t do that, unfortunately. He’s an ex-convict. If anyone finds out that I hired an ex-convict to be a security guard, it’d leave such a bad impression! Besides, is a skinny guy like him even able to put on a fight? If I want to hire someone, it as to be those intimidating, thug-type guys. They have to be tall, strong, and capable to scaring people just by standing at the door!” Timothy said.

“You have a point!” Quinn nodded in agreement. She subsequently asked Severin out of curiosity, “Have you tried getting on Lucy’s good side? She might have broken up with you and married Easton, but you and her were once together for three years! I don’t suppose there’s any issue if you ask her whether Easton could give you some money to get by.”

Severin clenched his fist immediately after hearing that. “Ridiculous! Why would I need help from that b*stard? Easton isn’t even worthy of carrying my shoes!”

“I know you’re angry, but you can’t blame Lucy for what happened. Think about it, why would Lucy have to wait for you when Easton is so rich and powerful?” Quinn sided with her best friend and spoke up for her.

Severin gritted his teeth and said angrily. “I don’t mind it if she didn’t wait for me. My sentence wasn’t one or two years, after all. What irks me is why she had to get together with the man who forced himself on her back then.”

When Severin brought that up, he clenched his fists and said again, “The most despicable thing she did was refuse to refund my dowry, sold off my matrimonial home to Easton for half the original price, had Easton send his people to intimidate my parents, and then demanded my parents to fork out another huge sum to pay him! I’ll take my time to get even with them, because I want them to understand the consequences of offending me!”

“Gasp!” Quinn was a little scared when she heard that. She gulped and asked him cautiously, “Umm… you’re not going to wreck things at the wedding, are you, Severin?”

Timothy was just as frightened when he thought of the possibility that Severin might be going to wreck the wedding. He stopped the car at once and turned around to ask, “Are you for real, Severin? You said you were attending the wedding, right? Are you going there just to wreak havoc? If that’s true, then I’m afraid I can’t give you a ride there. I genuinely thought you were going to the wedding because you wanted to give Lucy your last goodbye.”

Severin smiled faintly. “Relax, you two. I’m not going to their wedding. Just looking at them disgusts me. Why should I put myself through that agony? I’m going there because I was invited to a meal, and the person happened to reserve a private room at the Richemont Hotel!”

“Who could that be? Are you trying to lie to me? Who would invite you to have a meal at such a high- end place?” Timothy looked at Severin in astonishment. With further thought, he realized that Severin would be courting death by causing trouble at the wedding, since it would be tantamount to offending the Loughs. Severin would then be sent back into prison just days after being set free, as his influence paled in comparison to that of the Loughs.

Besides, even if Severin was killed on the spot, the Loughs would not have to face any action simply by virtue of who they were. More than a few people have been killed after offending the Loughs!

“His name is Henry something. Henry…uhh…Henry Longhorn!” Severin went blank for a moment and eventually said calmly.

“Henry Longhorn?” Timothy and Quinn exchanged glances at each other and immediately exclaimed, “You’re kidding, right? Henry!”

“Yeah. He’s an old man. Why are you both so surprised?” Severin still remained indifferent, as if he was talking about something trivial like the weather.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.