The Soldier's Unsurpassable Honor
Chapter 130

Panic gripped Joan's chest and words were lodged in her throat. Fane had done everything for her. He had only agreed to this false marriage and to take Ivan's place in the military because he wanted her to receive proper medical treatment.

She did not know any of this when she was confined to the sickbed. It was only after she was discharged from the hospital that the doctor handed her Fane's letter, and she found out about the entire situation. Throughout these five years, she had been fearful, too. She feared that Fane would die on the battlefield.

Plenty of people also told her that her son was dead. He would not have remained silent all these years otherwise.

She could only pray for her son as she waited for him to come back.

At this moment, they heard the quiet whirr of an approaching electric scooter. Fane and Selena were on the scooter, finally home. They parked the vehicle inside the garden.

"Fane, are you okay? I heard that you beat up the Drakes' bodyguards. Is it true?"

Joan immediately leaped forward and asked Fane, overwhelmed with worry.

"Oh, I did beat them up, but don't you worry. Everything's fine!"

Fane smiled as he spoke nonchalantly.

"See? See? He admitted it himself! How can he be fine after beating up the Drakes' bodyguards?"

"Yeah. You've done nothing but drag the Taylors down with you for the past five years, Fane. I suggest you leave. How can everything be fine after you provoked the Drake family?"

Xena shot Fane a disdainful look. "You're a grown man, and yet you don't know what you can and can't do. You even made Selena help you extort 300,000 from her mother. It's ransom money, isn't it? Thank goodness, Aunt Fiona is smart enough to not have complied. Otherwise, it would've been gone for nothing!"

Fane could not help but flash a mirthless smile at Xena's condescending demeanor. "Now I get why Selena doesn't like you that much. You sure talk a lot for someone who's an outsider in this family. Why do you care so much although you're just Ben's girlfriend?"

"You-"

Xena was so furious that she suddenly did not know how to retort.

"Hmph! Fane Woods, are you trying to revolt?"

Fiona placed her hands at her hips. "I still haven't acknowledged you as my son-in-law. You're the outsider here, don't you know that? Xena has been with my son for two years now. She's practically his fiancee, and she's already a daughter-in-law to us. She's not an outsider!"

"That's right!"

Xena immediately lifted her chin when Fiona spoke up for her, her confidence returned. "Even if Uncle Andrew and Aunt Fiona haven't acknowledged me yet, I'm practically Ben's heart and soul. Besides, Ben and I aren't far from marriage either! Besides, Ben would have been well-off if not for you, and I wouldn't have to suffer like this!"

"Tell me, how did you two manage to get the Drake family to release you? I think you gave that few hundred thousand to them first, and so they let you come back to take more money. Is that right?" "Even if they want money, I'd never fork out a single cent to compensate for those bodyguards. Not for some trash like you!"

Fiona noticed that Fane stood rooted to his spot, completely still. She carried the luggage bag over and held it out toward him. "We just bought this. Think of it as our last gift for you. Take it and go; the further the better. You might still live this way, that is if the Drake family can't replace you!"

Thinking for a moment, she then added, "Oh, and take your mother with you. She's an outsider in our family too!"

"Ma, what the hell are you talking about?"

Selena could not take it anymore after watching the entire exchange. She stepped forward and snatched the suitcase away. "Fane did beat up the Drakes' bodyguards, but seriously, everything's fine. Not only did Miss Tanya allow him to continue going to work tomorrow, but she even arranged a private chalet for him at the Drake family's estate. He'll be able to rest there during his breaks, and he can even stay there if he doesn't want to come back!"

"I-Impossible. You're lying! He beat up the Drake family's bodyguards. How can everything be fine?"

Fiona was completely taken aback, a stupefied expression on her face.