CHAPTER 110: YOU COULD HAVE MARRIED ANYONE ELSE, NOT THESE TWO

"Grandpa, you’re here," Aaron called out from the side, his expression bland.

"Ah! My granddaughter, come let Grandpa see you." The older man ignored Aaron and strode towards Eva with an excited expression.

He patted the back of her hand as he stared at her from top to bottom with a relieved smile, happy his missing granddaughter was back.

"Grandpa,’’ Eva called out awkwardly, not knowing what else to say in this situation. But before she could dwell on her hand, her hand was released, and a space bag was placed on her hand.

Randall’s smile grew wilder at the sound of hearing grandpa called out softly, not like those rough grandsons who filled the house, who only remembered him when it was time for hunting in the dungeon. Sigh... no family love.

"Here." He retrieved a space bag he had prepared before coming here. He placed the bag into her hands, stopping her from rejecting it.

"These are the gifts grandpa prepared, take them." Randall’s tone was firm, showing he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Eva looked over to Grace, who nodded in approval—the things father-in-law gifts aren’t ordinary, and to prove the fact, Randall added.

"There are three unranked monster cores for you to absorb. You can use them to increase your level. Don’t absorb them alone; make sure either your father or mother is there,’ Randall warned with a serious expression, leaving Eva clueless about the reason.

Noticing her expression, Julian explained, "It’s lethal to absorb a monster core in the first place, unlike when you kill a monster and absorb the energy it gives off after death." He paused, feeling Randall’s probing gaze on him. Aaron seized the opportunity and continued from where he had left off.

"The energy in a monster core is volatile and can render its victim either dead or driven mad if careless." Eva’s grip slackened slightly on the space bag, feeling as though she was holding a hot potato with bare hands.

Although the upgrade of her powers tempted her, she wasn’t desperate enough; she quite enjoys this second chance at life.

Eva believed she should follow Julian’s training plan and build her strength gradually, but when the thought of them going to the surface crossed her mind, her resolve wavered.

If she hadn’t known of such a method to increase her strength, she would have focused solely on Julian’s training plan, but now a better plan lay ahead of her.

Aaron noticed her dazed expression and thought he had frightened her, so he quickly finished his explanation to soothe her fears.

"So, you need someone to guard you or absorb the excess when the energy is trying to consume you instead... but, the process is excruciating and would leave you weak and unable to use your powers for several hours.

"What a relief." Eva patted her chest, tightening her grip around the space bag. She turned to Randall. "Thank you, Grandpa. This means a lot to me, and I promise I won’t waste the monster core. I’ll absorb it properly."

Her voice carried genuine sincerity, her eyes shimmering with gratitude—enough to make the older man nearly hand over everything else in his space bag.

"Dad will get more for you, since you like it.’’ Leo interrupted the moment, causing Randall to frown and almost hurl his cane at his son.

Ethan had been strangely silent ever since Randall walked in; it was as if he was trying not to draw attention to himself, but alas, the more you want something not to happen, the more likely it is to occur.

Randall snorted at his son’s behavior and was about to pull out a seat to join them for breakfast when he noticed a familiar figure from the corner of his eye.

He was about to ignore it, but couldn’t help but take a proper glance, only to be stunned.

"Boy, what are you doing here?! Weren’t you supposed to be missing? No wonder I felt you were familiar." He pointed at Julian, now realizing where the sense of familiarity came from.

He almost forgot about Ethan’s second, Julian, who was practically known as Ethan’s brother, even though they weren’t blood-related.

Everyone looked at them with a curious expression. Eva felt there had been too much excitement in one day and sensed another drama was about to unfold.

"Grandpa, how have you been?’’ Ethan asked with a strained smile, wondering why he and Eva had met Eva’s grandpa sooner; he thought they would meet, but not so soon.

"Peh! Who’s your grandpa? Don’t claim a random relationship with me," Randall spat with an expression filled with rejection. But Julian’s next word almost made him have a heart attack.

"But Grandpa, we’re related. Eva’s our wife,’’ Julian announced, with a smile, so glad and grateful to have married Eva earlier, or they might not even smell the door with the bad relationship Randall had with Ethan’s grandpa—a kill each other on sight kind of relationship.

Something flashed through Leo’s mind, and his eyes widened with realization, but he was unsure. "Dad, is he..?’’ He trailed off with a questioning expression.

"You! You!’’ Randall could only mutter in a trembling voice as he pointed at Julian and Ethan before collapsing onto the silent Eva, his expression shocked to the very core that his granddaughter married his nemesis’s grandson.

Eva was stunned by Grandpa’s big reaction, and she couldn’t help but feel she had done something wrong.

At this moment, Ethan shared the same feeling as Julian, knowing he would have been driven out if he weren’t married to Eva.

"What’s wrong with father? It seems he knows who Ethan is." Grace whispered to Leo as she signalled to Randall, who clutched his chest with a pained expression.

Though a flicker of Schadenfreude stirred her heart, she didn’t want her daughter to associate with a bad person.

"If my guess is right. Then sigh..." Leo ended his sentence with a helpless sigh, feeling pity for his father’s cruel fate.

"Is the kid bad?’’ Grace asked, her main concern at that moment.

"No. But Father and Ethan’s grandfather have never been close. For as long as I can remember, they’ve been at odds—always competing with each other," Leo explained, summarising their decades of bad blood in a few words. While pondering how he hadn’t realised Ethan and Julian were connected to Mr. Gus.

"That’s a relief; I thought the kid had questionable character or was bad in nature." Grace’s tone was full of relief, disregarding the fact that her father-in-law wasn’t on good terms with her son-in-law’s family.

As long as they treat her daughter well, she won’t interfere in their relationship.

"Grandchild, you could have married anyone else, not these two. One with an unhinged father and grandfather, the other murdering..." Randall stopped himself just in time, before he could finish his sentence, trailing off awkwardly.

Julian’s carefree expression changed, his mood darkened, and his eyes showed fear that Eva might have noticed Randall’s slip.

"Grandpa, don’t worry, I’ll treat Eva well and protect her with my life," Ethan chimed in, although he was attempting to divert their attention from Julian; he was sincere at that moment.

"Tsk! If you don’t, I’ll make sure my granddaughter leaves you. There are plenty of powerful, handsome men out there," Randall scoffed, clicking his tongue in disdain. He refused to accept the idea of being related to that man.

"No. She can leave with us—there’s no need for marriage," Leo cut in, clearly displeased with his father’s words.

Aaron nodded in agreement, while Grace subtly glanced at the quiet Julian with a curious expression as she reflected on her father’s unfinished words.