Chapter 1179

Tiana had already been urging Andrew to make a trip to the Rhodes residence. With his current matters finally settled, Andrew made his way there.

Meanwhile, back at the Haywood residence, the funeral was underway. The place was shrouded in white—the last rites for Seth.

It should have been a major event, but the atmosphere among the Haywoods was lifeless. No one looked remotely interested, and many of the younger members were outright slacking off, hiding in corners, smoking, drinking, and chatting.

Someone whispered, “Xavier’s the eldest son of the Haywoods and a damn colonel in the military, yet he couldn’t even bring back Andrew’s head? What a letdown.”

Another chimed in, “No kidding. Seth got taken out like that, which is a direct slap to the Haywoods’ face.”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen our family this humiliated. Xavier even said he’d kill Andrew within three days or take his own life. Big talk for someone who came back empty-handed…”

After just a few gulps of alcohol, the younger Haywoods started running their mouths freely, loudly, and without a filter.

Suddenly, a kick flew out of nowhere and sent their table flying, knocking over drinks and snacks.

The trash talkers jumped to their feet in panic.

“Uncle Jude!”

“Uncle Jude, we were just chatting—why’d you kick the table?”

Jude Haywood, a stern-faced middle-aged man, appeared with a freezing expression. Without a word, he slapped each of the young men across the face, one after another, until their ears were ringing and heads spinning.

“You little punks! Skipping your duties just to sit here talking crap? And who the hell gave you the guts to talk trash about Xavier?”

Normally, none of them would have dared talk back to Jude. Nonetheless, emboldened by the alcohol, their faces flushed red as they stood their ground.

One of them argued, “Uncle Jude, you can hit us, yell at us—we’ll still say what’s on our minds!”

“Yeah! Xavier’s supposed to be the face of the Haywoods, our top guy! But what did he do? Just made empty threats and failed to even pluck a hair off Andrew!”

“Seth was one of our own, and he got killed by a nobody. You can’t tell us that’s not humiliating!”

Jude fell silent as their angry voices echoed off the walls, silently agreeing that they were not wrong.

The Haywoods had handled Seth’s death with shocking meekness. In the past, if any member of the Haywoods was bullied, revenge would be swift and brutal—no questions asked.

And the killing of a direct bloodline member? That was unheard of.

To Jude, such an incident should have been impossible. If it did happen, the perpetrator’s entire bloodline would’ve been wiped out without hesitation. But now, here they were hosting a funeral under a cloud of shame while Andrew, the killer, walked around unscathed.

Xavier had marched out like a conquering emperor, sword in hand, roaring about vengeance. It had fired up everyone, and they had believed. Yet, he had returned with nothing—defeated, withdrawn, and empty-handed.

That had sent a wave of disappointment through the entire Haywood clan.

Jude’s voice was low and cold. “No matter what, Xavier’s name is not something for you to mock. I better not hear another word like what I just heard. Next time? You’ll be answering to family law.”

The young men nodded, but Jude could tell—they had not truly listened. They had grown up drunk on the Haywood name, too arrogant to be humbled by a few threats.

With a long sigh, Jude turned, pulled back the curtain, and stepped outside. But the moment he did, he froze in place.

“Xavier!”

Xavier stood right outside the curtain, dressed head to toe in black.

Obviously, he had heard everything—all the mocking and insults.

Jude felt his heart drop. He immediately stepped forward. “Xavier, they were just talking nonsense. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Xavier’s eyes were cold as ice as he stared him down. “Even these half-blooded mongrels think they can run their mouths about me behind my back now?”