Chapter 570
At this time, the Earl of Silverstone’s family received a letter from Oliver.
The letter was addressed to Zoey, his wife. After reading it, she took the letter to find Evelyn, Caspian, and his wife.
Caspian Prince was Oliver’s younger brother, and served as a junior official in the Ministry of Infrastructure. It was a comfortable position, but he had remained in this role for four years without any promotion.
His wife, Luna, was the daughter of a merchant, so she had married up. Viola never liked her much, and often complained about how Luna seemed to be all about money.
.
Evelyn’s face changed upon reading the letter. “My son–in–law is still alive? And has achieved merit? That’s
Zoey gently reminded her, “Mother, you can’t call him your son–in–law anymore.”
Evelyn sighed. “It was a slip of the tongue. Who would have expected him to still be alive?”
Caspian also read the letter, and said, “Mom, Zoey, this is good news. We should be happy. After all, the fact that he’s alive is more important than anything else.”
“That’s right,” Zoey said with a look of sympathy. “When Thomas died, our in–law… Oh, even I have often addressed her wrongly. Alice had fainted several times from the grief of losing her son. She now has to take medicine regularly, and her health has declined significantly. With Thomas‘ return, her joy might just restore her health.”
Evelyn recalled how she had wept alongside Alice upon hearing of Thomas‘ death. Thomas was a man of steadfast integrity. Though Evelyn didn’t wish to compare him to anyone else, he was indeed the kind of son–in–law every mother–in–law would cherish.
Now that Evelyn knew he was still alive, it was truly a reason to rejoice.
Zoey said, “I came to tell you about this because I know Viola will learn about it sooner or later. It might be better to have her return home soon to discuss this matter.”
Zoey knew that her younger sister–in–law was not faring well. One of the maids who had accompanied her was someone who used to serve Zoey, so Zoey was well aware of the internal affairs of the Warren family. After a recent quarrel, Viola and Barrett’s relationship had become strained, and their life together was far from satisfactory.
Zoey feared that upon learning of Thomas‘ survival, Viola might seek a divorce from Barrett and attempt to rekindle her relationship with Thomas.
Zoey wouldn’t allow this matter to happen.
It wasn’t for any other reason, but because Zoey felt that Viola was unworthy and didn’t deserve Thomas. Thus, Viola had to be called back to the residence and reminded of this fact to prevent any unwarranted thoughts from arising.
“There’s another issue,” Zoey continued. “Now that Thomas has returned, we’re unsure whether the court will reclaim his war pension. Recently, Viola used part of it to buy wedding gifts for her younger sister–in-
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Chapter 570
law. Although the gifts were later returned, she will inevitably need to use the money if she remains in the Warren family for a long time.
“I was thinking that perhaps we should withdraw ten thousand silver coins from our family’s public funds to return to the Farrell family. As for the two shops, we could also convert their value into silver coins and return that to them. What do you and Caspian think?”
“I agree with your suggestion. In fact, when Viola remarried, I felt we should have returned the pension and the two shops. I even mentioned this to you before, Zoey. At that time, Viola cried and swore she wouldn’t remarry, intending to stay loyal to Thomas for life. The Farrell family was concerned she might suffer in the future, which is why they gave her the pension and the two shops. But now that she has remarried, it is time to return what should be returned,” Caspian said.
Zoey nodded. “I remember you mentioning it, Caspian. What do you think, Mother?”
Evelyn pondered for a moment. “Returning the money from our family’s public funds is unreasonable. If we are to return anything, it should come from my own resources. I agree that we should return the ten thousand silver coins and the value of the two shops. In fact, Viola has benefited from this arrangement.
“Those shops have earned rent for many years. If she had chosen to stay unmarried and Thomas returned, it wouldn’t matter whether the money or shops were returned, even if they didn’t reunite as a married couple.
“But now, she has remarried, and Thomas has returned. I’m sure Thomas will marry again in the future, and we can’t allow his new wife to know his pension was spent frivolously. It wouldn’t be right.”
Zoey turned to Luna. “Luna, what do you think? Do you agree with what Mother and I have decided?”
Luna replied, “Zoey, Viola has always been unwilling to listen to me. You and Mother can decide what to do.”
Luna was aware of what had happened previously. If that incident hadn’t happened, it wouldn’t matter if Thomas‘ pension and the two shops from the Farrell family were returned to them or not, as Viola had indeed suffered in the years of Thomas‘ “death“.
However, because of what had happened, Viola shouldn’t have taken Thomas‘ pension and the two shops in the first place.
“Since that’s settled, we should send someone to have Viola return home sometime,” Zoey said.
