"Dad!"
"Lewis!"
Joshua Kentwood was the first to react. He reached down right before the security officers could and caught his father before he hit the floor. As such, the old man wasn’t greatly injured from the fall, but with the way he was clutching his chest, that was the least of his worries.
"Call the ambulance!" soone yelled, and the entire lobby went into an uproar.
Alia reached into her pockets and quickly punched in the number for the ambulance, chewing on her nails as she waited for the other end to pick up.
"Hi, I need an ambulance," she imdiately spoke into the phone once it got through, reporting the address of the office building.
It took no more than ten minutes for the ambulance to arrive and cart Lewis Kentwood off to the nearest hospital, with Joshua and Martha in tow. Right before they left, Joshua Kentwood made sure to throw a nasty glare in Alia’s direction before he boarded the ambulance with his mother and father.
The doors closed and the ambulance sped off. However, Alia doubted it would be the last she ever saw of them.
"Should’ve just let him die," Aiden muttered under his breath, only to receive a smack over the back of his head by Alia.
"Are you nuts?" she hissed, dragging him to a corner when she noticed the pairs of eyes watching her.
"Ow!" Aiden yowched, holding his head tenderly as he got dragged off by her.
Alia toned down her volu but not her anger in her next words. "You may not be the CEO of X’el, but your family still owns the shares of this place, not just Matteo. If the company’s reputation goes down, you all will have trouble on your hands too!"
Sulking, Aiden said, "Co on, Alia, you can’t seriously think that’s a real cardiac arrest? He’s faking it!"
"And you would know that for sure?" Alia shot back. "Even if he was faking it, if he actually fell―"
"He wouldn’t fall because his son was always going to catch him," Aiden said with a roll of his eyes. "Why do you think your good uncle was standing so close to his father this entire ti? He was always watching and waiting. Their eyes t so many tis― I could practically hear their entire evil plan with just one look shared between them!"
He then squinted his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.
"It doesn’t seem like they’re any good, especially after what they said about your parents. Yet you’re still speaking up for them?"
"I’m not speaking up for them," Alia argued.
"But you’re pinning this on even though what I said was in your defense!" Aiden retorted. "It was clear that they did not give a flying fuck what you said. That’s why I had to step in!"
Alia’s lips parted before she quickly pursed them tightly together.
"Thank you," she said, her tone much more gentle this ti.
She noticed― how could she not? Aiden could very well just walk away and feed her to the wolves.
But he hadn’t. He stayed by her side and helped her out even though she was always on the defensive when around him. It seed like even though he was at opposing ends with Matteo, he had never done anything to hurt Alia since she knew him.
"I get that you were trying to help, but that was vile," she said. She cracked a smile though, and finally let out the laugh she had been trying very hard to hold in. "The things you said... I don’t ever need to hear such things in my life, thank you very much!"
"Well, your lovely cousin always hated for my words," Aiden said with a cheeky smile. "Might as well show her that it can be put to good use. It’s not my fault she always puts herself in the line of fire."
Alia laughed, trying to keep her chuckles contained so that other people wouldn’t see more than the shaking of her shoulder. She made sure to keep her back facing them― if she was lucky, they might even think she was crying in sadness and remorse.
"I appreciate your help," she said. "You’re a good friend, Aiden."
Aiden’s smile brightened and he held his nose high with pride.
"Of course," he said. There was a small crack in his voice that Alia didn’t catch.
"But," she added, "whether I like this new extended family of mine or not, they’re still elderly. If it was real, and if anything happened to them, it could be disastrous."
"Evil people tend to live the longest," Aiden grumbled under his breath. "Lewis Kentwood will not die anyti soon. That I can assure you."
***
"Are you sure you don’t need to go up with you?" Aiden asked when he finally stopped his motorcycle in front of Matteo’s apartnt building. He removed his helt and looked up, squinting at the highest floor. "Doesn’t look like my brother’s ho yet. What even is he doing out so late?"
"He’s busy with work," Alia vaguely said. She wasn’t sure what she was even allowed to tell Aiden when it ca to the company’s projects. "He should be back soon―"
Her words were cut off by a ding that sounded. More and more ca in, and soon enough, it was a ringtone on full blast. Alia jerked back as the sound only got louder after Aiden pulled his phone out of his pocket. His finger tapped the screen before placing it against his ear.
Alia could vaguely hear so shouting going on in the background, further backed by the fact of how Aiden pulled apart from the phone with a wince. It sounded like Catherine’s voice.
"I’ve not," Aiden spoke into the phone once the screaming died down. "I was driving."
A pregnant pause. He sheepishly gave Alia a sorry look before turning away.
"No, but Mom―" He pursed his lips. "It was the truth! They were the ones causing trouble―"
At the sa ti, Alia felt her own phone buzz in her pocket. Her heart dropped as she pulled it out, seeing Ronan’s na plastered across her lock screen. Opening the chat, she pressed the link he sent. Instantly, the latest article posted by Lady Vanity covered the top half of her screen.
’ALIA KENTWOOD STRIKES AGAIN! UNFILIAL GRANDDAUGHTER SENDS ESTRANGED GRANDFATHER INTO THE HOSPITAL AFTER A VERBAL WAR, AIDED BY AIDEN MONTGORY.’
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