the two-faced Adopted Girl Who Melted CEO's Ice-Cold Heart-Chapter 782: The Dragon Slayer Protecting the Princess

Yeats Howard, covered in bruises and puncture marks, struggled to his feet, stumbling and nearly falling. So he got beaten up this badly just because the little uncle wanted to assert his fatherly authority in front of the two little kids?

This is fucking okay?

Nicholas Carter watched his dashingly handsome, skilled-at-swordplay dad with his cute little face tilted slightly in contemplation.

"If you learn swordsmanship, you can protect the Princess and Benjamin, and become a Dragon Slayer." The man bent down, his charming face full of smiles, carrying a rare gentleness as he coaxed, "Want to learn? Call me Dad and I’ll teach you everything."

The young boy’s eyes lit up, nodding heavily and saying crisply, "I want to learn."

So? Ignatius Leclair waited eagerly for the little guy to call him Dad, but Nicholas instead sprinted away, shouting, "Mommy, Uncle Leclair said he’s going to teach me swordsmanship!"

Ignatius froze, his face turning dark, thoroughly defeated in this first encounter with his son. Another day passed without his son recognizing him as Dad.

Yeats Howard burst into laughter, holding his sore waist and laughing until he was rolling on the ground.

Benjamin Leclair tilted his little head, chuckling as he bolted away, sweetly calling out, "Mommy, Daddy hit Yeats again!"

Delphine heard the commotion, knowing that the two grown men were playing around with the kids. Hearing the joyful laughter, she smiled knowingly.

Maximilian entered the villa to the sound of the little master and little miss’s laughter, waiting a minute before heading in to find the man. Speaking in a low tone, he said, "The prison called. Stone Leclair has had a stroke and might be bedridden for life. He’s asking to see you one last time."

A stroke? Isn’t that too easy for him? Ignatius Leclair’s eyes darkened suddenly, and he nodded, saying, "After lunch, I’ll go see him."

After Stone Leclair was imprisoned, all his private assets were audited. The so-called great tree had fallen, scattering the monkeys, and the suppressed scandals resurfaced, this time irrepressibly. Stone Leclair’s two secretaries were also implicated in multiple criminal cases and were imprisoned alongside him.

When Ignatius arrived at the prison, the warden personally came to greet him, cautiously explaining, "He had already suffered a stroke upon arrival. Now, he’s paralyzed on one side and developed aphasia, only able to mutter your name incessantly."

Ignatius nodded slightly and entered Stone Leclair’s private cell. The nearly sixty-year-old man sat in a wheelchair, his mouth crooked, his eyes dull, unable to move. Seeing Ignatius, he became visibly agitated but couldn’t utter a single coherent word.

The man looked down at him with an air of superiority. Seeing how far he’d fallen after all the evil he’d committed—strokes, aphasia, reliant on others for his every need—it felt like divine retribution.

Ignatius sneered coldly, speaking arrogantly and indifferently, "Father, I’ll make sure someone takes excellent care of you, so you don’t meet your end too soon and evade the pain. When you do die, don’t even think about seeking out Mother; you have no right to disturb her peace."

After his merciless words, Ignatius saw the old man trying hard to say something and sneered again, turning away without looking back.

Once outside, his mood was foul. He leaned against the car door, quietly smoked a cigarette, and finally gave Maximilian a casual command to visit the old man at the hospital.

The elder had mostly recovered in recent days but remained unable to return to the Leclair residence. Stone Leclair had been imprisoned for only three days, yet rumors about Ignatius having a dual personality had already spread. The major families of Southeast Asia positioned their people around the Leclair estate day and night. Inside the social circles, opposition to Ignatius as heir grew louder: how could someone with a dual personality and mental illness be the heir to Southeast Asia’s top family? Either the heir must be replaced, or the Leclair Family must step down from their position in the hierarchy of Southeast Asia’s elite families.