The Mafia Lord's Secret Lover - Chapter 209
Chapter 209: The Judgment
Axel lowered his gun and handed it to Liam without a word.
Then he walked forward slowly, his footsteps echoing across the marble floor.
The air grew thick, heavy with his presence.
Even without a weapon, his aura was suffocating.
William Walters tried to straighten himself, his pride still clawing for air. But his body betrayed him. His legs trembled violently, his hand slick with blood.
He sank back against the floor, breathing hard, glaring weakly at the man before him.
Axel stopped a few steps away, his tall frame casting a shadow over William’s figure. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His silence was far more terrifying than any threat could be.
William felt the weight of Axel’s stare press down on him, suffocating him. For the first time in his life, he felt powerless, truly powerless.
He swallowed hard, his voice hoarse. “W-what… what do you want?” he rasped.
Axel didn’t answer immediately. He tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable.
There was no warmth left in his eyes, none of the tenderness he’d shown Evelyn minutes earlier. His calmness now felt deadly.
When he finally smiled, it was not the smile of a man; it was the cold, eerie curve of someone who could take someone’s soul.
That smile could have frozen the blood in anyone’s veins.
William’s pulse quickened, and his breath caught painfully in his chest. His mind tried to process what his eyes were seeing, what his body already knew.
He realized too late that the man standing before him was not just Evelyn’s husband. Axel Knight was Alexander Knight’s son… the son of his greatest enemy.
And now, that son stood before him. He looks calm but also dangerous.
Axel’s presence was suffocating. His tall frame cast a long shadow across the blood-streaked marble floor. When he finally spoke, his tone was low and steady, a voice that could slice through bone.
“I don’t know what happened between you and my father,” he began, eyes sharp, “but if you ever try to harm my wife again, I will return it to you tenfold.”
William Walters didn’t respond. His jaw clenched tightly, veins straining at his neck. His bloodshot eyes burned with hate, yet even that fire was beginning to fade, smothered by the power radiating from Axel.
Axel took another step closer. His gaze was sharp as a knife, leaving no room for resistance. “Do you understand?”
The words were simple. But something was terrifying in how quiet they were. There was no shouting, no rage. Just a cold and cruel certainty.
In that instant, William understood. This wasn’t a conversation or a warning. It was judgment, and maybe, execution.
His throat tightened. He wanted to spit an insult, to assert his pride as a man who once commanded an entire company, but his voice betrayed him.
Instead, William nodded once. A weak, broken gesture. He knew it was over. He had already lost. Lost to this young man, his daughter’s husband.
For a fleeting moment, Axel seemed to relax. But then his gaze darkened again, a storm rising behind those icy eyes.
Without warning, he stepped forward and pressed his leather shoe hard against William’s knee.
The sound that followed cracked through the room like lightning.
A howl of agony burst from William’s throat as the joint gave way under Axel’s weight.
“Stop it! Stop… Please stop it!” William cried out in pain.
“This is for what you did to my wife,” Axel said coldly.
William’s body trembled, his breath coming in ragged bursts. His hands clawed at the floor, but he could barely move. His dignity, his power, his pride…all gone.
Tears gathered in his eyes, half from pain, half from the humiliation of being brought so low.
But Axel wasn’t done.
He bent slightly, his face expressionless, then delivered a swift kick to William’s head.
The older man cried out again, collapsing entirely onto the cold marble.
“And this,” Axel continued, his tone lower, darker, “is for what you did to my mother. You shameless bastard.”
William froze. His eyes widened, horror dawning too late. He had forgotten the faces of those he’d trampled in his thirst for control.
Axel’s voice cut through him like a curse. “You’re lucky your blood runs in my wife’s veins. If not, I would’ve ended you already.”
William wanted to respond, to curse, to defend himself. But only one trembling word escaped him. “Y-You…”
He couldn’t finish.
The pain was too much.
His entire body ached, but what hurt most was hearing the conviction in Axel’s voice, the burning loyalty for his mother that William himself had never shown his own daughter.
And with that, William Walters fell silent, unable to bear the nameless pain. He fainted.
…
Outside the mansion, the air was still heavy with tension.
Evelyn stood near the entrance, trying to steady her breathing.
Nolan Palmer stood beside her, silent for a long while before he finally spoke. “So,” he began gently, “your child’s father… is Axel Knight?”
Evelyn looked up at her old Martial Arts Master, her lips curving into a small smile. “Yes.”
Nolan exhaled deeply, a mix of surprise and relief softening his features. “Now I understand why you kept your mouth shut when your father forced you to tell. You were protecting him.”
“I was protecting both of them. Axel and my child.”
The older man stayed quiet for a moment. Sunlight shone on his face, highlighting the wrinkles that showed his age and regret.
“I’m sorry, Eve,” Nolan said at last, his voice filled with regret. “I couldn’t help you then. I didn’t know what was happening. You know me… I don’t keep up with the internet, or rumors…”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I know, Master. And I never blamed you. Everything that happened… was because of my own choices.”
She paused, took a deep breath before continuing, “Even though those choices made me lose everything, I don’t regret them. Not even for a second.”
Nolan looked at her for a long moment before sighing, a faint smile breaking through his sadness. “You’ve grown into someone strong, Eve. Stronger than I ever imagined.”
“I had to,” she replied quietly.