166-167 The Dust Settles
Each following day, Olson would lead a group of hunters searching through the snowy mountains for the bear that had completely vanished, his reproach towards Orleans becoming even harsher. Several times, even in front of everyone, he berated him as a "useless coward." As for Wen Maixue, he would sometimes scold him lightly, and other times, he would physically hit him, completely tearing off his mask of a noble lord.
The imposing Olson by day, lived a miserable night. He desperately tried to fall asleep, but invariably woke up at midnight, finding Wen Maixue invariably not by his side. He knew where Wen Maixue had gone, yet he could not interfere. The flames of resentment soared higher and higher in the hearts of the father and son, both on the brink of explosion, yet each still clung to the last layer of moral defense.
It was still a night when Olson woke as usual at midnight, the area beside him ice cold, Wen Maixue having left again.
Olson touched the shotgun under him, his arms numb due to the suppressed sleeping position, but none of these compared to the couple he saw in the car that night.
Outside the tent, there was a loud commotion, not like someone passing by, more like a wild beast driven to frenzy, the noise of crazed running.
Olson found his savior. All the pent-up anger with nowhere to vent in these past days finally found an outlet. He could imagine the bear as any enemy he liked, whether it might be the long-dead Mussen, or Pello whom he had caused to be killed, or Orleans who had stolen his woman. Regardless of which, so long as he could fire a few shots and feel his numb arms revive on the rifle butt, it was all acceptable.
With these thoughts in mind, Olson sat up. He even climbed out of the tent surreptitiously without having the time to put on his bulletproof hunting suit. He decided not to call for any assistant, relying solely on himself and the shotgun in his hands to kill the bear. The gunshot might awaken everyone in the tent, and also let that jubilant dishonorable couple know, he was the real man.
Olson unlocked the safety of his gun, walking onto the snowy ground.
The bonfire burned at its old location, the thick charcoal ash making the whole bonfire appear dirty and chaotic, like a soul void of humanity, so deplorable.
"Mai Xue, why are you calling me out in the middle of the night? It’s not safe around here," Orleans sat on the SUV, vigilantly surveying the surroundings.
Lately, his father’s attitude towards him had been poor, humiliating him repeatedly in public. These incidents led Orleans to suspect whether his father had already learned about his affair with Wen Maixue. From start to end, Orleans hadn’t mentioned to Olson his love for Wen Maixue. Orleans knew his father well; he was autocratic and cruel. If his father knew of Orleans’ indecent thoughts towards Wen Maixue, the first thing would be to kick him out of the house.
"Orleans," Wen Maixue faced the car window, alert to the movement by the bonfire, "It seems like your father already knows about our affair," she said, leaning on Orleans’ shoulder, her eyes still fixed outside the window.
"What?" Orleans, this cowardly noble son, was truly frightened, "Who... who told him?"
"Perhaps he noticed our intimacy, and I’ve pleaded for you in front of him more than once," Wen Maixue’s face, filled with deep sadness as she seemed to muster all her strength to speak, "He even said tonight before sleeping, that he would strip you of your inheritance."
"What? He wouldn’t dare!" Orleans muttered uncertainly, "I know all his dirty deeds, those things in Africa, and about the Diamond. These issues alone are enough to ruin him; he wouldn’t dare do that."
"No, he already has it all planned out. Do you think this bear hunt was just about hunting bears?" Wen Maixue saw two figures by the bonfire, one tall and one short, one of them dragging a shotgun.
"Could it not be?" Orleans also heard some noise behind him, he turned around, seeming to see a bear-like figure moving by the bonfire. He rubbed his eyes, trying to see more clearly, but there was nothing, likely just an illusion caused by the flickering flames.
"No, didn’t you notice that the hunters have been completely unenthusiastic recently? There’s no bear at all; this is all Olson’s conspiracy," Wen Maixue’s facial expression changed with the jumping flames, as if seducing Orleans, yet also instigating him.