The Silver Is Gone

At this moment, the couple next door were eating and drinking merrily, completely unaware of what was happening in the adjacent room.

After a satisfying meal, Jasper Cheng and Lana Evans hugged their silver and walked home, utterly content.

On the way, the two discussed how to spend the silver and, once it was gone, how to use Sam Evans again to get more.

Just as they were happily making plans, a few masked vagrants suddenly emerged from the alley.

The vagrants saw them and immediately rushed over, showering the couple with punches and kicks.

"They've got money, grab their silver!" the vagrants shouted, swarming Jasper Cheng for the cash and snatching it away.

Jasper Cheng, having just gotten his hands on the silver, refused to let go so easily. He clung tightly to the money, loudly calling for help, but the beating only got worse.

In the end, the vagrants made off with the silver, leaving Jasper Cheng battered and bruised, his leg nearly crippled. Lana Evans took a few blows herself, her hair left in wild disarray.

Supporting each other, the couple limped away. Jasper Cheng was on the verge of tears, wailing, "My silver! My ten thousand taels! What am I supposed to do? I barely had time to enjoy it, and those damned bandits stole it!"

Leaning on each other, the couple struggled home. Susan Evans had been about to cook when she saw her daughter and son-in-law return in such a sorry state, and hurried to greet them.

"Oh my, what happened to you two? Where's the silver?" Susan Evans asked anxiously.

"Don't even mention it, Mom! We were mugged by a gang of vagrants on the way home. They beat us up and stole all our silver," Lana Evans sobbed.

Susan Evans quickly covered Lana Evans's mouth. "Keep your voice down, Lana! Your father is sleeping in the next room. If he hears, it'll be a disaster."

Susan Evans hurried the young couple into their room and told them to close the door so they could talk in private.

But Sam Evans couldn't sleep at all. After coming home, he locked himself in his room, pulled the covers over his head, and lay on the bed. He heard every word of Lana Evans and Susan Evans's conversation. For a moment, he wanted to rush out and confront Lana Evans: Why did you do this to me?

But that impulse vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by a cold, numbing emptiness.

Suddenly, he didn't want to ask anything, didn't want to know anything. Deep down, he already knew the answers—he'd just been stubbornly refusing to face them. Now, with the harsh truth laid bare before him, Sam Evans finally realized what a fool he'd been.

He'd always thought of himself as a good father, giving his all for his daughter.

But in the end, he'd just been used, played for a fool.

Arthur Evans and Evans Manor saw right through Lana Evans's true colors and wanted nothing to do with her. Only he, foolish and naive, had been used as a pawn—handing over Evans Manor's hard-earned money to this heartless couple.

So when Sam Evans overheard them saying the silver had been stolen, he couldn't help but feel a bit of secret delight.

He'd rather the silver he borrowed be spent by those vagrants than let that heartless couple keep it.

The more Sam Evans thought about it, the more his head ached—but at the same time, he felt lighter inside, as if he'd finally figured things out.