Arwen had muttered all that to herself, but since it ca after Alfred had told her everything, he thought she was talking to him. With a smile, he responded, "Madam, sir cares for you a lot. Otherwise, we have never seen him concerned like this for anyone."
"No one?" she asked, clearly feeling a sense of warmth spreading in her heart. "What about his family? He must be like this to them as well."
She didn't intend to hear that it was only her that he cared about, rather she wanted to feel that he treated her like his family. If he treated her like his family, then he treated her like his own. And with her losing one, she truly wanted to call him as hers. Even though he had already called her his family and often made her feel the sa, still she just wanted to confirm it this way one more ti.
Alfred hesitated and when he didn't speak for a long mont, Arwen was ready to probe him, but just when she was about to ask him again, she heard him speak. His tone was carrying a bit of reluctance, "Madam, s-sir has no one in his family."
Arwen paused at that. Her expression shifted to that was confusion. "What do you an?" she asked, suddenly realizing that before today she never cared to ask about his family. How can she be this inconsiderate?
"I thought there were people in his family," she muttered to herself, feeling guilty.
Furrowing his brows, Alfred said, "There are people in the Winslow family, but sir is not very close to them. He doesn't consider them as family. Over the years, even staying with them, he has kept himself aloof and indifferent. He didn't even use to return ho. It's only now, with you there, that he cos back ho in ti after work. Otherwise, usually, he had always preferred to work late in the office."
Arwen didn't know how to react to this. Since she has shifted to Winslow Residence, she has never seen him returning late at night. He is there always before or on ti, right before dinner. She knew he had a working pattern that kept him effective, but she never thought that he had been a workaholic before.
But apart from his working attitude, sothing else caught her attention. Not choosing to ignore it, she asked further, "Why is he like that to his family? As far as I have known him, he has a caring attitude for the people around him. Especially towards the ones whom he thinks related to himself."
She wasn't just talking about herself, she had seen him around Dr. Clark and Lawyer Thorne. It didn't look like he didn't care for him. Instead, the friendship she had witnessed between them, she could tell that they share a bond that cos from mutual care, concern and respect.
Alfred seed hesitant. And Arwen could tell that a refusal to reveal more was on his tongue. But before he could actually refuse, she took the chance and spoke, "Did Aiden ever refrain you from telling anything that I asked you about? Did he explicitly say that you can't reveal the thing to about the family?"
Even though he looked uncertain, Arwen was sure that Aiden would never do that. He would never give any power to anyone to make her feel oppressed or helpless in any way. She didn't know from where that confidence was coming, but she was certainly very sure of that one thing.
And that was the reason why she put her words like that in front of Alfred. So, the mont he said that he hadn't gotten any such instruction, she asked him to tell her all.
And it happened as she had expected. Alfred shook his head and denied it. "No, Madam. Sir has never given any such order. Instead, he has given you the authority to order us around as you want or wish."
Arwen smiled, satisfied with how well she had understood another thing about Aiden.
"Great!" she began. "Then it seems you have no reason to be reluctant. Tell what you know and don't worry, I won't snitch you."
A part of the reason she held for asking Alfred about it instead of Aiden was because sowhere she knew Aiden would be uncomfortable to talk about. If not he would have already told her about it. Since he hasn't, it only ans that he wasn't very sure about telling her about it.
And in that case, she holds the responsibility that in future whenever she asks him anything about it, she mistakenly doesn't touch his wound that's not yet healed.
Alfred took a mont to fra his thoughts before finally speaking. "Sir might be a Winslow, but he hasn't grown in the family," he said, his words making Arwen's brows form creases of confusion.
"What do you an?" she asked.
To which, the driver further said, "Madam, I am just a driver working in the family and might not be aware of everything. But as far as I have known and heard, it's being said that Sir hasn't lived in the family in his early years. He only returned ho in his teens around the age of sixteen or seventeen."
Arwen's brows tugged in a frown. But she patiently waited to hear him speak the rest.
"It was the Old Master who brought him back," Alfred added more. And that too happened after many years of persuasion. Sir never wanted to return back to the family. He only wanted to stay with his mother and look after her."
And at that, Arwen suddenly rembered. Aiden had once ntioned his mother to her.
It was the day when she had helped him open the social dia account. She had asked him why he had studied in an average school like Cralens High School and he had said that it was because that was the only school his mother could afford to send him to.
So, that was what he ant when he said that he couldn't afford to go anywhere else.
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