"What is the aning of this?!" Annalise barked, slamming the back of Aiden’s seat and shaking it vehently. "Until the results are out, there’s a possibility Emline is carrying your kid! You can’t just throw her here―"
"I didn’t realize the Hawthorne family ho is shabby enough to be described as though it’s a rubbish dump," Aiden quipped. "You literally stay here," he said to Annalise, "and you grew up here," he said to Emline. "Why should I send you two anywhere else other than the Hawthorne estate?"
"You―!" Annalise said, her finger jutted out and in Aiden’s face. But before she could say anything, the sound of footsteps caught their attention.
The car door to the backseat was pulled open, and before Annalise could react, she was yanked sharply out of the car. Her heels weren’t exactly the most comfortable, and she wasn’t able to find her balance after being pulled so roughly, causing her to stumble a little against the small stones on the ground.
However, she wasn’t even allowed the chance to stand upright, a slap t her cheek, causing her head to veer sharply to the side. Inside the car, Emline let out a gasp, while Aiden’s eyes widened with surprise.
"I told you to convince Emline to get rid of the baby!" Benjamin Hawthorne all but roared at Annalise. There was no greeting and no warning. "What is Aiden Montgory doing here?"
"Benjamin..." Annalise trailed off, her voice barely even audible as she cradled her tender cheek.
Her husband, on the other hand, towered over her. Benjamin Hawthorne was a man who kept to himself more often than not, and he hardly appeared in public spaces other than professional settings. There were little to no rumors about him, and as such, Aiden hadn’t seen much of the man other than the few tis they happened to be in the sa venue.
Now that he finally had a close-up on him, even Aiden pursed his lips just the slightest. Benjamin Hawthorne was soone with an impressive aura, and now filled with rage, that domineering energy was easily doubled.
"Dad, I just―"
"Have you forgotten that you’ve been disowned by your grandfather?" Benjamin said to his daughter, though his voice was significantly softer and kinder than when he spoke to Annalise― albeit not enough to make it entirely kindly.
"Am I not your daughter?" Emline asked, her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
In the short two hours Aiden had spent with her, he had seen her mood swing from angered, to deranged, to ballistic, and now, a sobbing wreck. Not even an award-winning actress would possess such a range of emotions.
"Emline―"
"Why am I not allowed to return ho?" she asked. "I am carrying a child and the family of my baby’s father refuses to let stay! Are you going to kick out too?"
Then, to add to her theatrics, she got out of the car. With wobbling feet, she took a step back as though she was about to bolt for the gates.
"There’s no more place for in this world..." Emline murmured under her breath, her lip wobbling. However, it may be a murmur, but everyone present heard every single word clearly. She wasn’t even trying to hide it. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to broadcast her performance.
"Emline, don’t be ridiculous," Annalise said, going over to her daughter. She held her tightly in her arms, carefully holding her as though Emline was a fragile doll. "Of course you have a place in this world. This is your ho. You’re a Hawthorne."
In the car, Aiden snorted. This was what he said just now, but Annalise was all too eager to rip him a new one for even suggesting the truth.
He reached back, prepared to pull the car door closed, but suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two very familiar figures.
Unfortunately, Aiden wasn’t the only one who had noticed them. Emline’s eyes quickly went from watery to bloodshot as she stared fixedly in the direction that Matteo and Alia were in.
"What are you doing here?!" Emline screeched, worming out of Annalise’s hold just to storm to where Alia stood.
Aiden imdiately bolted out of the car, scrambling over before firmly wedging himself in Emline’s warpath. He used his body to block Alia from view, and likewise, Matteo just ever so subtly shifted Alia behind him so that if there was ever a need, he could just kick Emline straight off the steps leading to the front doors if she dared to co close.
"I was visiting Grandfather," Alia answered breezily. "I didn’t realize I needed your permission to co ho."
"This isn’t your ho," Emline hissed out. "You’re not a Hawthorne; you’re a Kentwood! Your mother eloped long ago and let go of her claim to the family fortune!"
From where Emline couldn’t see, Benjamin Hawthorne’s expression turned darker.
"Emline, sweetie," Annalise tried to say, "Let’s go inside. You need your rest―"
"I want her gone!" Emline yelled, losing all her rationality. Gone was the demure princess― with her hormones a tangled ss in her body, she no longer had care for pretenses. "She needs to leave―!"
A second slap rang through the courtyard, leaving Matteo, Alia, and Aiden wide-eyed and jaw-slacked as well. They stared at Emline as Annalise’s horrified gasp rang through the air just as Emline’s face was turned to one side.
Benjamin Hawthorne’s hand was raised, his expression alarmingly murderous as he looked at his own daughter. Whatever minimal warmth and kindness he had when he previously spoke to her was gone.
"She is your cousin and a rightful Hawthorne," Benjamin said, his voice dangerously low, causing Emline to shiver. "You’ve made your choice when your grandfather gave you the chance."
Emline looked up in disbelief. She had lived for over two decades and never had her dad ever hit her. She was always the princess of the household, and now, for Alia, he laid his hands on her.
"Dad..."
"If you wish to co ho, abort the child," Benjamin coldly said.
He then cast a glance at Annalise― his words were ant for both mother and daughter to hear.
"I don’t care if the baby is a Montgory or conceived from the sperm of so random dirty mongrel― get rid of the child or else, don’t even think of coming back here."
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