The chief guard lowered his fist.
Mrs. Agele walked toward Mr. Stone.
She stood before him, tears running freely down her cheeks.
"Why, Mr. Stone?"
He looked away.
"Why did you choose to do this to me and my children?"
Mr. Stone said nothing.
She swallowed hard.
"My husband is dead. His children are grieving. I have done nothing to you. Why couldn't you leave us with the little land he left behind?"
Still, he remained silent.
The chief guard's patience snapped.
SMACK!
The slap echoed across the field.
"Answer the lady."
Mr. Stone's head turned with the force of the blow.
He slowly looked back at the chief guard.
Humiliation burned in his eyes.
No one had ever dared to strike him.
No one had ever spoken to him as though he were beneath them.
His fists clenched.
But for the first time, Mr. Stone realized something terrifying.
These men were not afraid of him.
And whoever had sent them was powerful enough to make him answer for everything he had done.
Prince Stevenson sat beneath the shade of a tree while one of the Ralston soldiers tended to his injured shoulder.
"Hold still, Your Highness," the soldier said.
"I am holding still!" Stevenson cried, wincing as the cloth touched the wound.
"It is only a surface wound."
"Then why does it hurt this much?"
The soldier almost smiled.
"Because you keep screaming."
Stevenson glared at him before another wave of pain made him grit his teeth.
Nearby, Mr. Stone was still on his knees, his hands restrained behind him. His eyes remained fixed on the chief guard with such hatred that it seemed he could strangle the man if given the opportunity.
The chief guard noticed.
"Stop glaring at me and answer the lady!" he shouted.
Mr. Stone clenched his jaw.
Then, with shaking hands, he reached inside his coat and pulled out a folded document.
He threw it toward Mrs. Agele.
"Here."
She caught it awkwardly.
"That's the land deed for your house," Mr. Stone said bitterly. "Your husband used it as collateral when he borrowed money and grains from me last year."
Richard immediately took the document from his mother's hands.
He unfolded it.
His eyes moved across the writing.
Then his expression changed.
"What is it?" Bryan asked.
Richard didn't answer immediately.
He continued reading.
Mr. Stone noticed the look on his face and suddenly began laughing.
A loud, hysterical laugh.
"You see?" he said. "Now you understand."
The chief guard slapped him again.
SMACK!
"What is so funny?"
Mr. Stone's laughter stopped.
He stared at the chief guard with pure hatred.
He wished he could end the man's life that very moment.
Bryan snatched the document from Richard.
He studied it carefully.
Then he looked up.
"This is indeed our father's land deed."
Everyone fell silent.
Mrs. Agele stared at her sons.
"What?"
Bryan's eyes narrowed.
"I remember this document."
He pointed at Mr. Stone.
"But I was the one who took this land deed the first day you came to our house after Father's death."
Mr. Stone's face changed.
"I took it and hid it under the bed, inside a box."
Bryan stepped closer.
"That means Father never borrowed money from you."
His voice became louder.
"And he never gave you our land."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Mrs. Agele suddenly rushed toward Mr. Stone.
SMACK!
Her palm struck his cheek.
"You are a wicked and crude man!"
Mr. Stone stared at her.
"My husband was your best friend!"
Tears streamed down Mrs. Agele's face.
"He made you who you are today!"
Her voice broke.
"The moment our farms caught fire and we became poor, you abandoned us. You disassociated yourself from our family!"
Mr. Stone lowered his eyes.
"I remember my husband going to you several times during farming season," she continued. "He begged you for seeds so we could plant and repay you after the harvest."
She pointed at him.
"But you always turned him away!"
Her voice trembled with anger.
"You told him you barely had enough seeds for your own farms."
She shook her head.
"Mr. Stone, you are a wicked and heartless man."
Everyone stood in stunned silence.
The truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
This man had once called their father his best friend.
Yet when their family became poor, he abandoned them.
And now, after their father was dead, he had returned to steal from his widow and children.
"What a world," one of the soldiers muttered.
Before anyone could react—
SMACK!
The chief guard slapped Mr. Stone.
Then again.
SMACK!
And again.
SMACK!
And a fourth time.
SMACK!
Four resounding slaps echoed across the field.
Everyone stared.
Even Mr. Stone looked completely confused.
The proud man who had arrived ready to kill was now trembling.
Tears rolled down his face.
"Lady Agele…"
His voice broke.
"Please forgive me."
He lowered his head.
"I know I have wronged you and your family."
He began sobbing.
"Please let me go. I swear this will never happen again."
Mrs. Agele stared at him for several seconds.
She was not a woman who enjoyed fighting or arguing.
Despite everything he had done, she slowly turned toward the soldiers.
"Let him go."
The chief guard immediately shook his head.
"No, Lady Agele."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"Lady Zilayefa ordered us to bring the thief to her."
He looked toward Mr. Stone.
"So I cannot release any of these people."
Mr. Stone's face fell.
The soldiers moved forward.
They tied Mr. Stone's hands and secured the rest of his men.
"Take them to Ralston Estate."
Mr. Stone looked toward the distant road.
For the first time, fear replaced the anger in his eyes.
He had expected to frighten a grieving widow and her children.
Instead, he had exposed himself.
And now he was being taken directly to Zilayefa.
Whatever punishment awaited him at Ralston would be decided by the woman he had underestimated.
The soldiers mounted their horses and began the journey back to the estate, with Mr. Stone and his men bound and walking under guard.
Behind them, the remains of the stolen building stood scattered across the land.
The land that had never belonged to Mr. Stone.
The land that had finally been reclaimed.