"War?"
The word hung in the humid evening air of the garden, stark and absurd.
For a moment, the guests at Hughes Manor were silent, processing the sheer insanity of the statement.
Then, the dam broke.
"Hahaha!"
A wave of raucous, belly-shaking laughter swept through the crowd. It wasn't nervous laughter; it was the genuine amusement of watching a clown perform a particularly good pratfall.
"Did he just say 'War'?" a socialite gasped, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "Oh my god, this is rich! A convict who just got out of prison declaring war on the Hughes Family? Does he think this is a video game?"
"This guy is a treasure!" a businessman chuckled, swirling his cognac. "He has no money, no background, and no army. He is like a peasant with a rusty hoe threatening to storm a cas
