"Moon is waiting for at the hospital," Aiden said briefly, letting Morgan know that he has more important things to do.
Morgan’s brows furrowed, and he tapped the cane against the floor. "I know, and that’s why I stopped you now and not after Arwen returns ho." There was a flair or irritation in his tone —one that ca from disapproval.
However, Aiden wasn’t affected by it. He walked towards him without faltering and calmly took a seat across from him. "What is it you want to talk about?"
Morgan stared at him, his brows never easing. After a mont, he finally asked, "I heard Dafydd ca to Cralens a week or two ago? Do you know about it?"
Aiden looked back at him, his gaze as nonchalant as it could be. "That’s definitely not what you want to clarify, is it?"
Before Morgan could speak, Aiden cut in smoothly, answering exactly what Morgan was there to find out, "If you want, you can mourn for him now."
His words stunned Morgan for a mont, and he could not speak for several seconds. When he recovered, he asked, "You killed him."
"Not yet." Aiden shook his head. "I wouldn’t let death be his easy option ... an easy escape."
"Aiden!"
"I will make him crave for it every day, every mont, every second," Aiden said, his voice carrying the insanity that Morgan very well knew he was capable of. "I will make him beg for it, cry for it and yet not let him have it the easy way. He will suffer the consequence of the very thought of harming sothing he should have even thought of harming in the first place. So ..." he paused in his words, only to take a lung full of breath. "You can mourn for him. Because death is already written in his fate. And I am there to make it more and more painful for him."
Morgan closed his eyes, not in disapproval or disappointnt, but in realization that nothing he would say would change a thing in what his grandson had decided.
Of course, Dafydd was his son, and seeing him go earlier than him was both unfortunate and heartbreaking. His old heart couldn’t help but fear the pain that would follow.
He might have been cold and indifferent to him, but he could erase the fact that he was the son he had with his wife.
"Now that you have had what you were aning to ask ," Aiden spoke with the tone of finality. "I don’t think you need here sitting in front of him anymore." He stood up, ready to leave. "Moon must be waiting for . I will leave first."
And with that, he turned and took the steps towards the door. However, just then, Morgan spoke up again.
"Aiden," his voice held an exhaustion as though he was tired of it all already. "You might not have accepted Dafydd ever, but he is still your father. If you punish him so severely, the family might not take it lying low. They might rebel against you and —"
"The family?" Aiden turned, scoffing at that. "Don’t tell even you believed that I ever considered Winslow as my family —the ones I would protect with my life?"
Morgan didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. The answer was written all over Aiden’s face.
"I only associate myself with what my mother left with. I stayed there because it was her dying wish," Aiden continued, his tone sharp but steady. "Everything I have done —every decision, every restraint —was for her wish. Winslow was never my family. It was just a legacy she wanted to take over. And because she wanted it, I kept it alive."
He took a step forward, the light from the window catching on his features, hardening the shadows across his jaw.
"If the rest of them wish to rebel, they can. I don’t care. But if they think they can take what’s mine, they are gravely mistaken. I won’t let my mother’s last wish go unfulfilled."
His voice dropped lower, quieter —almost reverent.
"To , only two won have ever mattered in my life. One who is already gone from this world ... and another, who has beco my entire world." He paused, his eyes softening for just a fleeting second —the briefest glimpse of the man behind the armour. "There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them. They are the only family I ever had."
And with that, Aiden turned to leave.
Morgan didn’t stop him this ti. He sat there, watching the fading figure of his grandson —a man who carried the weight of both vengeance and love in equal asure.
He didn’t speak, didn’t try to justify or reason anymore. Because deep down he knew —Aiden wasn’t cruel without purpose. His every cruelty was out of sincerity and the purpose of protecting soone or sothing he held dear.
Just before stepping out, Aiden stopped. Without turning around, he spoke again, his tone quieter and firr.
"You are the man my mother respected the most," he said. "So much that she left under your care without even thinking twice. And because she respected you so much, I will too —even if you choose to mourn soone who deserves every second of suffering, he is enduring. Just don’t expect to be kind, because that’s sothing I am not going to comply with. Not even on your say, or anyone’s begging."
Morgan’s lips lifted faintly. The words were blunt, almost detached —but they still carried sothing rare from Aiden —an acknowledgent.
And for him, that was enough. Enough to spend his remaining old age with.
Shaking his head, he leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly as the sound of Aiden’s retreating footsteps faded.
"Like mother, like son," he murmured to himself, the faintest smile ghosting his face. "Both cursed to love fiercely ... and destroy just as completely."
—————
anwhile, at the sa ti, at Foster Ventures —
It was already evening, and people had started moving, leaving the work. Over all these days, Zenith had helped Michael enough to adapt to the work and ongoing projects.
Since Ryan had strictly asked her not to pull away from her responsibilities, she was still the one to report everything to the CEO’s office. But behind the scenes, Michael was a great help to her. He would help her in everything, and that had considerably decreased her work responsibilities ... giving her enough ti to get a breather even in the most hectic schedule.
"Sister Zenith, this is done," Michael said, finally bringing the fine to her desk that he had been working on. "You can check and see if there is sothing that I haven’t been careful about."
Zenith looked up at him and smiled. "You don’t have to be so polite, Michael. If anything, you have learnt in all these days —it’s just to be more perfect at work. I am sure you must have done it with perfection."
"Still, it would be better if you check it once." Michael insisted.
Zenith nodded to him and opened the file to check, skimming through the details. And just as she had thought, everything was just right. As she closed the file, she humd and said, "This looks good enough. We can present to Sir tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? I thought it would be today?" Michael said, looking a little confused. However, Zenith simply explained it to him.
"We would have done it today if we still had the ti," she said, pulling her hand up to check the ti on her watch. "It’s already ti to log out, and this isn’t sothing urgent. So, we can always push it to tomorrow. There is no rush."
Michael nodded, understanding. "Oh yes, I almost forgot to check the ti. And by the way, you even said you have plans in the evening with soone. Isn’t it?"
Zenith pinched the space between her brows and nodded with an exhausted sigh. "Oh yes, there is a blind date I am arranged for. So, yes, I have so plans that I can’t avoid. I need to rush. I will just log out for today and head out that way."
"You are always so considerate, Sister Zenith. Trust , that guy is lucky, and he wouldn’t let you slide if he lays his eyes on you even for once." Michael joked, but before Zenith could laugh at his humour, Ryan’s cold voice pierced through them.
"I want an update on the Green Valley Project."
While Michael straightened his posture, Zenith stood up with a slight furrow between her brows.
"Sir, do you need it now?" There was a slight tone of doubt in her words that made Ryan’s gaze turn cold.
"Yes, now. Do you have a problem with that, Secretary Zenith? Is it not yet done?"
"It’s ready, Sir," Zenith reported. "But —"
Ryan didn’t let her speak. Cutting her words off, he simply said, "Since it’s done, I want to see it right now. In my office." And with that, he already turned back in the direction of his cabin.
Reviews
All reviews (0)