"What’s more, I have it on good authority that my uncle here paid him a visit and gave him several new bruises," Alia couldn’t help but add acidly. She glared at her dear Uncle Joshua, who did not seem the least bit ashad of his actions.
Not to ntion, he wasn’t the least bit injured either. There was only the smallest cut on his upper lip, and it could have been caused by anything from an errant lip bite to a particularly vigorous sheet of paper.
Her father had claid that her uncle looked worse than him, but unless Joshua Kentwood suddenly stumbled upon a miraculous cure for injuries, Alia knew that deep down, her father had not won the fight.
That very thought upset her. Knowing her father’s attitude, he would not have failed to land even a single hit. Her uncle must have caught him unawares and then blitzed him quickly with his fists, before turning to run like a coward.
If she thought that her grandparents might feel the slightest bit of sha at the ntion of their other son, she was sorely mistaken. Her grandparents only gave Joshua an indulgent look, before shaking their heads at her.
If anything, hearing about Alia’s father actually caused the glint in their eyes to sharpen into knives.
"Joshua? Beat up Michael? Nonsense, my dear granddaughter, your uncle Joshua would never hurt a fly," Martha Kentwood tutted. "My precious boy isn’t violent. Why― your father was the one who had a temper all these years!"
"You’re right, Martha," Lewis Kentwood agreed with a scowl. "If there was a fight, Michael must have started it. And if he got injured, it just ant that his mouth was cashing cheques his fists couldn’t deliver. To think he’s getting his daughter to argue for him! I cannot believe how I could have raised such a failure..."
Alia was going to spew blood. No wonder her father had never spoken about his own parents. If she had parents like these, she would have checked herself into the orphanage with her bags, social stigma be damned.
"It’s alright, Mom and Dad. Don’t be too angry― think about your blood pressure!" Joshua said, every inch the caring son. He turned to Alia and smirked. "Besides, it was Michael who wanted to pick a fight with . It wasn’t my fault that he lost his footing and fell face-first on the floor. You should get your father a walking stick, niece. He’s certainly losing control of his faculties."
"Serves him right!" Lewis Kentwood bellowed in the lobby. "Michael... that ungrateful boy never looked back the mont he realized he married a rich woman! After all the hard work we have done to raise him!"
Mutters filled the lobby as everyone began to draw their own conclusions about her father’s character, while Alia gnashed her teeth in anger. All these people didn’t know the truth about her family.
Martha Kentword added her own two cents. She lanted loudly, a hand on her chest as though she was the epito of a heartbroken mother. "No matter how often we tried to reach out, he rebuffed us completely... In fact, if not for the tabloids, we wouldn’t even know what you looked like!"
Her words had the intended effect. How could anyone ignore the despair of an elderly grandmother who simply wanted to see her granddaughter. Wasn’t it despicable for her son to not even allow brief contact?
"Thankfully, the fates have intervened." Her voice was suspiciously loud, despite how choked up he was. "We finally got to see you again... I understand that you might not want us here, but can you allow us to take a longer look at you? Our minds are not as nimble as before; we might forget what you look like soon..."
Alia could only let out a small laugh of disbelief. With such genes in her family, she really ought to have gone for theater. Their splendid performances had effectively tugged on the heartstrings of everyone present, indirectly backing her into a corner. She could not chase them away without looking like an unfilial granddaughter.
Then, she caught sight of the victorious look in her uncle’s eyes. Almost imdiately, she recalled the painful purplish bruise that now decorated half of her father’s face.
On second thought, perhaps being heartless and unfilial is the right decision. Letting trash into one’s ho would only an inviting vermin and disease.
"Well, you can look online. My photos are plastered on every tabloid under the sun. Since it has served you well enough to begin with, there shouldn’t be a problem now," Alia said, giving all three of them a flinty glare. "Security, escort these people out of the lobby. We are a professional workplace, not a wet market. Aiden, let’s go."
She turned to leave, only for Martha Kentwood to reach out and sink her claws into her wrist.
"How dare you!" Martha Kentwood’s mask slipped for the briefest mont at such an unceremonious dismissal, before she caught herself and cleared her throat. "Alia, dearest, I don’t understand... Why do you hold so much hostility for us? Is it because... we’re poor?"
"It must be because Michael poisoned her mind," Joshua said ferociously. "Mom, he doesn’t want you to build a relationship with your granddaughter because he’s so bitter his marriage ended early."
"His marriage ended early because he couldn’t keep his wife alive," Lewis Kentwood scoffed. "If anything, that should have taught him that nothing good cos out of falling in love with a woman so out of his league!"
Before Alia could do sothing foolish like roundhouse kick her grandparents in the face with her lack of flexibility, Aiden cleared his throat and pried Martha Kentwood’s fingers away from Alia’s wrist.
"Now, now," he said, "we are all civil people here. Can we just put a pin on this discussion and co back to it later?"
"Aiden, do not interfere," Alia said with gritted teeth. The last thing Alia needed is for her greedy relatives to turn their eyes on him.
Lo and behold, they did.
"Who are you, young man?" Martha asked, her eyes narrowed as she focused on Aiden’s hand around Alia’s wrist. "Why are you holding onto my granddaughter so possessively?"
"So possessively―" Alia repeated in indignation, only for Aiden to cackle in laughter.
"Oh lady, if you think this is a possessive hold, your husband clearly isn’t treating you right," Aiden drawled out.
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