Heart of Envy and Resentment

After Headmaster Denton left, Luo Wei and Monica also took their leave.

"Evelyn," Monica said with a smile, "If there's nothing else for me to do, I'll head back now. It's been a long night, and I'm quite exhausted."

Before she could leave, Evelyn called out to her.

"What is it?" Monica turned back, her eyes filled with puzzlement.

"Monica, you..." Evelyn hesitated for a moment. "After today, you'll still help me, right?"

Luo Wei's gaze also settled on her. To be honest, he was quite curious about Monica's current state of mind.

After all, this position had originally been hers. To say she felt no regret would be impossible, and Evelyn wanted her to become an ally.

Monica was momentarily stunned, then laughed. "Of course! If the family head has any orders, I'll carry them out with my full effort."

"Oh? Is that so?" Evelyn nodded lightly. "I'm glad to hear you say that."

Monica quickly reassured her, "I mean every word! Besides, I've always admired you since we were children. And after last night, I respect you even more. I have no objections to Father's decision, so I hope you won't hold any grudges against me."

"Of course, even if I were still discontent..." Monica joked, glancing at Luo Wei, "I wouldn't stand a chance against him anyway, haha..."

Evelyn's claim to the position was legitimate, and she had strong backing. Only a fool would oppose her now. Monica could only hope that Evelyn would remain as magnanimous as she appeared.

"You said it yourself," Evelyn replied with a sly smile. "Go get some rest. There will be plenty of troublesome matters in the family's future, and I'll need your help. Don't complain about being overworked or regret your words later!"

"Absolutely!" Monica readily agreed with a smile.

Little did Monica know, however, that in the future, as Evelyn's right-hand, she would be buried under an inhuman workload...

As the guests gradually departed, the banquet hall grew quiet. Luo Wei had intended to ask Tilis if she had anything else to say, but his attention was suddenly drawn to someone who stood out starkly against the relaxed atmosphere.

Not far away, Laney lay sprawled in a pool of blood, her hate-filled eyes locked onto Evelyn.

"Why isn't she dead yet?" Luo Wei frowned as he approached. "Teacher, didn’t you finish her off earlier? You’re not planning to spare her, are you?"

"Of course not," Evelyn said, walking over as well. "Helena shattered every bone in her body. I just didn’t have time to deal with her yet..."

"Heh heh heh..." Laney let out a hoarse, mocking laugh, dripping with venom.

"Evelyn, if you don’t kill me now, once I recover, I swear I’ll make sure you die with me! I’ll avenge Lairs! I’ll make you suffer a hundred—no, a thousand times the pain I’m in now!"

"Who is this woman? Why is she so full of herself?" Tilis, annoyed by the delay, flicked her wrist, and Laney’s body was lifted into the air by an unseen force.

The shattered bones in Laney’s body creaked faintly, and she immediately let out a pained groan.

"Why do you hate Evelyn so much?" Luo Wei studied her with a frown. That inexplicable hatred had always puzzled him.

Evelyn was equally confused. "I did beat you up when we were kids, but that was after you and your brother ganged up on me first. Weren’t you the ones who kept rallying others to exclude me? Shouldn’t I be the one hating you? What exactly did I do to deserve this?"

Laney, unable to move, could only glare at Evelyn with burning resentment.

"You really don’t know? After your mother married into the family, Father never even looked at us again! And back then, our mother was still alive! Why?!"

"Why did you get all the love, treated like some kind of princess? When I accidentally trespassed into the family’s forbidden grounds, Father nearly beat me to death! But you—you went there too, and he just turned a blind eye! And you flaunted it! Why did you get everything? Father’s favor! The butler’s doting! And even—even..."

Her furious gaze shifted to Luo Wei. "Even a man like this! Someone whose eyes are only for you! A noble descendant of the Vampire Clan, yet he’d go to such lengths for you! Cutting through thorns just to hand you the family’s throne!"

Laney laughed wildly. "And now, it’s all yours! The Abraham family, everything! You must be so pleased with yourself! Acting all indifferent on the surface, but inside, you’re gloating, aren’t you?! Hypocrite! Hahaha, hypocrite!!"

Her mad laughter echoed through the empty hall, grating on Luo Wei’s nerves.

"Enough of your nonsense!" Luo Wei used magic to dislocate her jaw. With her mouth hanging slack, Laney could only gurgle incoherently, finally falling silent.

He stepped closer, locking eyes with her. "First of all, your mother’s suffering was entirely the Duke’s fault. Evelyn and her mother had nothing to do with it. Shouldn’t your hatred be directed at your father?"

Luo Wei scoffed. "Why didn’t you seek revenge against him? Because you knew you couldn’t win? Hah! So you just picked an easier target. All that righteous talk, but you’re no different from the Duke."

"Second," he continued, "Evelyn earned her place through strength. What you call hatred is just jealousy. And let’s not forget—after she left the family, you had over fifty years to prove yourself. What did you do?"

"You squandered that chance. You knew the Duke would never betray the Emperor. The moment you conspired with the family’s traitors, you lost any claim to the Thornflower family’s inheritance. That’s why the Duke had no choice but to pick Monica in the end."

Laney’s bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Luo Wei, who then turned a gentle gaze toward Evelyn.

"And lastly, have you ever stopped to wonder why so many people adore her?"

Evelyn listened quietly, her expression flickering with surprise.

"Sure, we had our... disagreements at the very beginning."

Remembering the past, Luo Wei chuckled and shook his head. "But I believe that no matter how many times we meet, no matter where or how we cross paths, I’d always be drawn to something in Evelyn. We’d still end up like this."

He winked at Evelyn, who rolled her eyes dramatically—though the corners of her lips curled up ever so slightly.

Outwardly, she remained composed, but inwardly, she was overjoyed.

"As for you..." Luo Wei turned back to Laney, his face twisting in disgust. "You’re just arrogant, consumed by envy, and rotten to the core. I wouldn’t take you even if you were handed to me for free."

Laney’s eyes burned with fury, veins bulging.

"Also~" Luo Wei grinned mischievously before revealing a secret, "I'm actually not from the Vampire Clan. All that talk about a hidden aristocratic family was fake—just a lie. If you'd known earlier and secretly spread the word, it might have caused quite the uproar, leaving Evelyn with no chance at becoming the clan head~"

Laney's eyes widened abruptly. Despite the excruciating pain wracking her body, she struggled violently, her bloodshot gaze burning with even greater resentment.

In Luo Wei's hand, a surge of bloody energy coalesced, forming a crimson dagger.

"Teacher, should I do it for you, or would you prefer to handle it yourself?"

"I'll do it." Evelyn shook her head and stepped forward. "This is my matter to settle."

Under Laney's hateful and unwilling glare, Evelyn let out a cold laugh. With precision, she drove the blood-red blade into Laney's chest, shattering her Blood Core in a single strike.

"You were too clever for your own good. You had a hand in the bloodshed—now die."

Laney's face twisted in a final snarl before her eyes dulled, turning into the lifeless gray of a corpse.

Even the most deep-seated hatred could vanish in an instant—physical annihilation was always the simplest solution.

As they stared at Laney's body lying in a pool of blood, Tilis pondered for a moment. "High-ranking Vampire Clan members make excellent ingredients for potions. No sense wasting it—I'll take the corpse."

"Be my guest," Evelyn replied offhandedly. "You can have Meizi and the other old Vampire Clan corpses too."

"Great!" Tilis immediately expressed her gratitude and moved to prepare Laney's body for transport.

But as she looked at the corpse—still frozen in an expression of hatred even in death—she suddenly cast a meaningful glance at Luo Wei.

"Looking at this, the Duke really was a scumbag, wasn't he..."

"Luo Wei, take note! This is what happens when you don’t handle family relationships properly!"

"I’m nothing like the Duke!" Luo Wei shot back, exasperated, before turning to the witch. "By the way, didn’t you have something to say?"

"Oh, right." Tilis nodded. "I’m in a hurry—still need to deal with my own corpse later..."

Her gaze lingered on Luo Wei as she recalled a certain moment during her battle with Eleya deep in the snowy mountains.

"She said she wants to see you."