Once her parents left after dinner, Alaric watched Aveline making herself comfortable on the couch, wrapping herself in the warm throw, ready to hibernate.
"Now, I’m tired." Her silent protest against getting up from there.
Shaking his head, he went upstairs to his study and returned shortly.
Aveline looked up from her place and smiled, seeing his hand holding a laptop and a small electronic device, which appeared to be a fingerprint scanner.
She never acted spoiled in the two years of her marriage with Damien before she regressed. With Alaric, he never said it out loud, instead, he quietly spoiled her.
She slid aside, giving him the corner of the couch so that he could lean back and extend his long legs to get a bit of rest
The corner of his mouth curved upward. He didn’t refuse her gesture and sat down beside her. "I take it you won the event?" he mused.
She just smiled, eyes closing for a mont of peace while his fingers rhythmically tapped the keyboard.
Stifling a yawn, she let him scan her thumb to get the fingerprint for his penthouse door. "Aren’t you scared I might start partying at your penthouse?" She pointed at the huge space in the living hall, perfect for throwing a party.
Alaric paused at her words. Although she didn’t socialize much, she did enjoy her life and partied with friends before getting married. Now her lifestyle looked quite different, as if she had lived away from friends and people for years.
"You couldn’t possibly throw a rave party," he mused while working on his laptop.
Aveline opened her lips, then closed them, nodding and humming at his words. At most, she could throw a party for fifty people. She didn’t know more people than that. "I can’t break your record."
Alaric had thrown a party so huge in the heart of the city that the roads were blocked for miles. Random people joined his party, enjoying unlimited drinks and food, and then... he was taken into detention.
She was a victim of that party, missing her comrcial flight that she had booked. She had to charter a flight. Hence, her father purchased a private jet.
She slumped into the couch as she rested her head on his arm. "You were crazy. Definitely not my type."
She wouldn’t bother to give him a side eye if he were still the sa brat. But she had already learned enough about him to guess it wasn’t an act of being spoiled. It was sothing she was yet to understand.
Silence settled in the living hall. The noise from the kitchen, where Martha was washing dishes, was faint enough to forget.
Aveline almost slipped into sleep when he said, "I stopped everything after seeing you at the hospital." He said it too casually.
Aveline straightened her back. "Hospital!?" She wasn’t able to recall any particular incident where their paths could have crossed.
Alaric had to recount the past.
--- Past ---
Alaric had been at the hospital that day to visit his paternal grandmother, who had insisted on seeing him despite her critical condition.
After spending a quiet few minutes in the ICU, he stepped out, the sterile sll of antiseptic still clinging to his senses.
He was crossing the corridor toward the elevators when a choked sob stopped him. The sound was unguarded, and the sight was impossible for him not to recognize.
Aveline.
She sat on a bench near the surgery wing, her shoulders trembling, her face buried in her hands.
Two nurses stood at the corner and sighed as they spoke in hushed voices. "The girl from the orphanage didn’t make it..."
"...poor thing, the manager’s been here the whole month."
He wasn’t sure how he felt, watching her cry for an orphan. But he just stood there and quietly watched her.
When a nurse arrived with the paperwork, she lifted her head, her face red, lips trembling, and eyes swollen.
He noticed the way her hands clenched around a crumpled tissue as if it were the only thing holding her together.
He quietly followed her downstairs when she didn’t wait for the elevators. She made so calls, then watched her settle the bills, complete the formalities, and leave in the ambulance, ditching her expensive car behind.
--- End ---
Aveline sighed, recalling those days. "I had just started working at Ivy orphanage and found out about Ira’s health condition. I wanted to get her the best dical treatnt, tried whatever we could do, but we weren’t able to save her."
She flashed him a tight smile and leaned her head back on his arm, turning toward the city view. That day, she had understood that money couldn’t fix everything, they couldn’t help all the children who were ill, and the orphanage was rely a shelter with food.
After that incident, her father made sure she didn’t get attached to the kids at the orphanage and limited her visits to the orphanage.
Alaric didn’t offer any words of comfort. He tucked her in the warm throw and turned to the laptop.
Her grief for soone she wasn’t bound to by blood made his own existence feel smaller, shallower. Every ti he saw her afterward, it reminded him of the gap between who he was and who he always wanted to be.
He also wished to be soone worthy of her. For that, he needed to stop the chaos.
He gently adjusted her, then entered so of her details to give her access to the Apex system. Then he taught her how to log in remotely.
Halfway through Seraphina’s biodata, she dozed off, mumbling, "Why...?" The rest of the words were barely audible.
Afraid he would disturb her sleep, he stayed still while working on his laptop.
Shortly, his mobile started buzzing on the coffee table. He would have ignored it if ’Dad’ wasn’t easy to read from the couch.
Carefully laying her head on the cushion, he answered the call as he stepped away from her. He stood far enough to avoid disturbing her sleep, yet close enough to look at her peaceful face.
"Hello?"
[Ric... the Astors might create another scene.] Edward’s voice was heavy.
As far as he knew, Edward had invited the Astors for dinner. Her father was good at diplomacy, so how did he lose control?
"What happened?" he asked.
--- Two hours ago ---
At Lancaster Mansion,
Seraphina arrived early to greet her mother, uncle, and aunt, who ca along with Dahlia.
Dragged there against her will, Dahlia glared at Seraphina. But the grandeur of the mansion’s interiors caught her eye, and she admired it.
Looking at the luxurious and tiless designs, ’Living here could make anyone feel like a princess,’ she thought.
They exchanged pleasantries before everyone sat at the dining table with Edward, Isabella, and Nicholas.
The dinner passed with talk of business and politics, but once the plates were cleared, Edward’s tone shifted.
He said diplomatically, "Although we have handled the situation, Dahlia’s actions, rattling to the dia... aren’t justified..." He didn’t get to continue.
Dahlia’s father, Oscar Astor, leaned back, brushing it off. "Just a spoiled act. Let’s not make it a big deal, Chairman Lancaster. She has already apologized to Aveline Laurent."
His tone, careless and dismissive, did not sit well with Edward or Isabella. Still, Edward kept the peace. "Alaric likes Aveline and..."
"How does that matter?" Oscar cut in. "n often like many won."
That irked Isabella, "Pardon for correcting you, gentlen," She said, her voice steady. "Alaric loves Aveline. And he is not the type to jump from one to another." It was the first ti she had openly spoken for Alaric, even with Nicholas sitting right there.
Nicholas gritted his teeth. He wasn’t expecting her to start speaking for Alaric instead of apologizing for his actions, whether it’s right or wrong.
"Of course, Alaric is a good child," Oscar replied, the words sounding more like a taunt aid at Alaric’s past than a complint.
Then his smirk deepened. "We can’t say the sa for Aveline Laurent. Two months married, another month, and she has already seduced your son."
Edward’s expression darkened at how lightly Dahlia’s father spoke about a woman.
Dahlia’s mother let out an awkward laugh. "Don’t take us wrong, that’s just the fact. We simply don’t understand why the Lancasters are tolerating a woman like Aveline or the Laurents."
Isabella frowned. More than solving the situation, she wanted to change their thinking.
"Exactly," Oscar added. "And Henry Laurent thinks we would beg for rcy if he blocked us from his brands."
Seraphina’s lips curved in a quiet snicker, hiding her satisfaction. The situation was spilling steadily as she planned.
Isabella and Edward exchanged a look. They hated dealing with unruly politicians.
Since they couldn’t talk this out, they had to choose the hard way to protect their second son and his interests.
"In that case," Edward said evenly, "I suggest you broaden your views, Mr. Astor. We Lancasters support Alaric’s choice. And in the future, I won’t be inviting the Astors to our events to avoid further problems."
Isabella followed with a polite smile. "Aside from personal relationships, in business, it’s wiser to maintain strong ties with other business families than political ones. I’m sure Seraphina understands our decision."
Sera’s mother’s jaw tightened, but before she could speak, Seraphina held her hand and sighed. "I understand, Mom." She turned to her uncle and aunt, who had risen from their seats.
"Uncle, Aunt, please. This isn’t about Aveline, it’s about Alaric. We need to support him as a family. Let’s not be petty. An apology would satisfy everyone."
Isabella and Edward: "..."
For the first ti, they saw Seraphina’s manipulation at work, so deliberate, almost as if she wanted them to notice.
Oscar Astor sat back down, his face flushed with suppressed anger. "I’m disappointed in the Lancasters. Anyway, if it’s just an apology, we’ll give it. We’ll et the Laurents, Alaric, and Aveline."
They stood to leave. Even Sera’s mother, who had always been cordial to Isabella, snorted on her way out.
Nicholas hissed at the end, "Was all this necessary? They’re my in-laws. If Alaric marries Aveline, will you treat the Laurents the sa?"
Edward bit his tongue, forcing himself not to snap. Isabella, however, saw the hatred in Nicholas’s eyes, aid directly at her.
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