Virgil froze. After a long pause, he smiled bitterly. "You don''t understand. It''s precisely because I love them that I need to stay away from them."


    "Are you worried that Esmond and his people will cause trouble for you? We live in awful society now, and no matter how cocky they are, they can''t get away with murder. Besides, you don''t even live on thatnd anymore. You don''t even have your own house, so why do they still pursue you relentlessly?" Rita asked.


    Virgil''s expression darkened. "It''s not that I don''t want to pursue this matter, but the gap between me and them is too vast. Perhaps it''s because I''m the only one among us who insists on causing trouble, which riled them up. As long as I''m alive, I''ll never let those unscrupulous developers off the hook. I''ll always remember who made me homeless, who made me afraid to even see my own children!"


    "Actually, part of the reason I came here today is to ask you for more specific details about what happened back then. I''ve found out about Esmond and thepany behind him, but more details are hard toe by at the moment," Rita said with a frown.


    She was also at a loss for how to proceed with the investigation. She tried to look into Esmond''spany from many angles, but it seemed imprable like an iron barrel with no cracks to be found. "Did they show any suspicious behavior when they evicted you? They must''vepensated you for something, even if the contract was unfair. Did they leave any evidence behind?"


    Virgil lowered his head in recollection, while Rita anxiously stared at him in the hope to hear a useful clue from him.


    "I felt the contract was extremely


    unfair when first saw it, so I didn''t sign it at all and didn''t pay them any attention Later, as more and more residents moved out, I gradually sensed that something was wrong... But couldn''t find that contract anymore."


    Virgil suddenly clutched his head in anguish. "It''s all my fault for having no legal awareness. Otherwise, I would''ve taken a photo of the contract as a record. None of my neighbors understood what the


    contract was about when I


    vel


    discussed it with them, either. But in the end, they were forced to leave


    too. I only knew that they must have threatened them through illegal means! Yes, that must be it! My neighbor didn''t hear anything until he moved out. He just told me to take care of myself and not to confront the developers before leaving."


    The more Virgil thought about it, the more he felt that his neighbors had all been threatened to leave. Maybe someone even resorted to violence against them.Têxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    "What about you? It couldn''t have been just your family was the exception, right?" asked Rita.


    Virgil suddenly slumped at the mention of his family, his earlier riled-up emotions gone. He was once again thrown into the pits of despair.


    "Well, I don''t know what my wife


    heard from others, but since all the neighbors were leaving, she refused to stand the ground with me. I know I can''t me her. We would''ve ended up with nothing if we didn''t leave, but I was too stubborn. We argued endlessly about the matter. Looking back, I knew she was terrified, yet I didn''t fulfill my duties as a husband tofort her. In the end, it led to our divorce. I just can''t understand. I spent all of my savings buying that house, so why were we forced out so easily in the end?"