"This is the ninth month since he left. His daughter was born and finally, he listened to what he said before leaving. He named his daughter Nita, which means gift of God like drops of water. It's a good omen, reminding us to stay together as a family forever. But where did you go and why haven't you called me yet?"
"It's been two years now. Our daughter can call me 'mom' but she doesn't know how to call you 'dad'. Today, I received bad news from our family's eldest brother."
"The people from his unit told me that he joined the special forces and it's a life-threatening job. He's still being rescued and there will be many more situations like this in the future. Being alive is a miracle. They gave me a death notice and told me to treat him as if he's already dead. I didn't dare to tell our parents that he's still alive because I don't even know if he'll come back alive."
"It's been six years now. Recently, there have been many things happening at home and I miss him. I don't know if he's alive or not... but it doesn't matter anymore."
The diary abruptly ends after this entry, dated just one month ago.
James tightly held onto the thin diary, tears once again streaming down his face.
That foolish woman waited for him for so long, not knowing whether he was alive or dead!
Thinking back to his actions in the army, James's heart was overwhelmed with pain.
He couldn't make phone calls, according to the rules.
But couldn't he secretly make a call, even if it was being listened to?
Over the years, James had been afraid of being targeted and endangering the safety of Mary's family, but he always managed to report his safety by phone.
"Knock, knock."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Lisa pushed it open and walked in.
In that instant, Lisa's figure and the memory of Mary seemed to overlap.
"Brother-in-law, my dad wants you to come down. He said there's an important meeting at the Smith family today and wants you to attend."
"A meeting?" James turned around and wiped away the tears in his eyes, shaking his head.
"Tell my uncle for me that I won't go. I have to go out and find Luke and Nita later."
"But my dad..."
Lisa looked at James's desolate appearance and swallowed the words she wanted to say.
In fact, there was one thing she had never dared to tell James, that her sister was still alive...
It was just that her sister had been captured by a very powerful family, and before she left, she had instructed Lisa not to mention it to anyone, even if James really came back one day.
Before her sister left, she had solemnly told her that if James found out, he would definitely go and look for her, but that would only put him in danger.
Lisa didn't know how powerful the family her sister had mentioned was, but Hill Don dared not reveal that the video of her sister being raped was fake, which proved that Hill Don was even more afraid of that family.
But her brother-in-law was in so much pain...
Just as Lisa was struggling, Auntie Alice's voice came out.
"James, you have to go. The Smith family was originally meant to be passed on to you by your brother and sister-in-law. Your uncle doesn't have the intention to compete, but your younger uncle has been coveting it."
Auntie looked at James with concern.
James had not eaten anything since he arrived home, fearing that his lovesickness would worsen.
Moreover, it was necessary for James to attend this meeting. The city now knew that the Smith family had made a connection with a powerful figure, who had already wiped out the four major families in Michigan.
Now, those families were interested in befriending the Smith family, and some even had the intention of elevating the Smith family to a new leadership position.
All of this was brought about by James, so it was only right that he take charge, rather than letting the third son take over.
"Aunt, I don't care about these things," James sighed. His mind was not focused on this at all.
"I know you don't care about the Smith family's assets, but they were left behind by Mary's parents. They shouldn't be taken away by others. At the very least, they should be under your name, right?"
Auntie Alice looked at James, her gaze gradually becoming sharp. "Neither I nor your uncle, nor the Smith family, are worthy of inheriting the assets left behind by your eldest brother."
"On the day your eldest brother in law had his accident, your uncle and I were afraid, but your younger uncle's family took advantage of the situation and even voluntarily joined the Hill family the next day.
For the sake of your eldest brother's
property, they disregarded their dignity and family ties!"
A surge of resentment erupted from her heart, making Alice's tone even more forceful. Thinking of what the Smith family had done, Alice felt angry.
What kind of person would say something like "Hill Brody is really good at playing" after their niece was violated? And those unspeakable words like "sluts should be treated like this" and "she was already a whore". This is also the reason why Auntie Alice didn't want Smith Jay to take over everything in the Smith family.
"I understand, Auntie. You guys prepare first, I'll come down later." James agreed and put his notebook in the drawer. He didn't bother to change into a clean set of clothes.
After Alice and the other person left, James looked at the wedding photo on the bedside table. A touch of tenderness appeared on his weathered face.
°°°°°
A hundred meters away from the Smith family's courtyard, there was a stand-alone villa. This villa was originally built next to the Smith family's courtyard, but now the Smith family's courtyard had become a ruin, making the villa look a bit lonely.
However, there was no sense of desolation in the villa at this moment.
A large red lantern was hung on the villa's door, and even a hundred-meter-long red carpet was laid outside the door.
Today, the owner of this villa was entertaining guests from all over and had specially prepared a luxurious dinner at home.
But it was still early, so there weren't many guests arriving yet.
Inside the villa, a woman who was about the same age as Lisa was dressed up and looked very attractive. She was wearing a white dress and impatiently ordered the servants to wipe the wooden floor with a cloth.
"Dad, it's already so late, why haven't Smith Chad and the others arrived yet? I don't think we should have invited them!"
"But those big shots from the city came for our face. Won't it be disappointing if they don't see them?"
The 18-year-old girl looked at the middle-aged man at the main table with a displeased expression, holding her head high in arrogance.
"Nia, you can't be so rude to your uncle and his family. We're all relatives," Smith Jay smiled, appearing to scold her but without any real blame.
Why did he invite Smith Chad and his useless family over? It was all because the big shot happened to appear at the villa where Mary lived. Although Jay thought Chad was lucky, since the location of the revenge against the four major families happened to be where Chad lived, he had to bring him over to show off.
As for whether Chad would cause trouble at the banquet, he couldn't be bothered to think about it. At most, he would let Chad make an appearance, but he was delusional if he thought he could get on the table!
"Hmph, who cares about them? They look so poor and disgusting. If it weren't for Mary giving them the villa before she died, they would still be living in that shack," Smith Nia said disdainfully, kicking a servant next to her.
"How are you doing your job? Can't you see the footprint next to my foot?" she scolded the servant, who dared not speak up. The footprint was clearly left by Nia just now.
As the servant picked up a cloth to clean it up, the villa door was pushed open and uncle Chad and James appeared at the entrance.
"Oh, big brother is here. Come in, come in," Smith Jay said hastily.