Before things escalated further, Lucian opened the door, and Valerie almost fell since her back was pressed against the door to prevent her brother from entering her apartnt.
Valerie lost her balance, but thankfully, Lucian was right behind her to steady her again.
"What is it? Is there sothing wrong here?" Lucian trained his eyes on Marcus.
The arguntation stopped. Marcus sized Lucian up and down, but Lucian’s eyes fell on Marcus’s hand, which gripped Valerie’s tightly.
"Do you have a problem here?" Lucian didn’t believe that easily.
"It’s okay; everything is fine here. He is my brother." Valerie half-heartedly introduced Marcus to Lucian.
She dismissed the tension quickly because she didn’t want this to escalate further. It will only cause more trouble.
Lucian looked at Marcus, who smiled at him smoothly, but thankfully the latter behaved this ti.
"Yeah, I am here to visit my sister," Marcus said. "Can I co inside?" Valerie looked at Marcus. She was scared out of her mind if Marcus entered the room, but Lucian ca to her rescue.
"Do you want him to get inside?" Lucian asked Valerie. He could sense how uncomfortable she was.
But for the sake of peace, she let him in, or else her brother might cause a ruckus. "Yes, it’s okay."
"But you don’t look like you want it."
Marcus scoffed. "Your protection is not needed here," he said derisively. "Don’t you have a sibling? It’s very common for siblings to bicker with each other."
And with that, Marcus entered the apartnt. He pushed Lucian out of his way, and the latter couldn’t do anything because Valerie didn’t want him.
After that, Marcus took the guest bedroom, where he slept. He could ask for money from his sister later on.
"Are you sure you are okay?"
"Yeah, I am fine."
"I don’t think so." Lucian looked at her suspiciously.
"Why do you think I am not fine? He is my brother; of course, I am fine," Valerie replied defensively.
Lucian didn’t believe that; yet, he didn’t continue this conversation. He was wise enough to see that this would go nowhere.
Instead, they spent three hours later talking about trivial things.
***
Aubrey was in the hospital because her pregnancy beca more difficult for her. She had been very stressed out because of what was going on lately, and Arlo didn’t make things any better.
And now she had to be on bed rest because the stress finally wore her down.
It was Elise who found her first. She fell unconscious after she took a bath, and her mother happened to want sothing from her.
Therefore, she found Aubrey just in ti, and now all of the family was there.
Undoubtedly, Arthur was not happy with the way Arlo handled the situation. He was livid with how negligent he was.
"Where is he?! Where is he?!" Arthur asked Jack when he saw Arlo was not there in the hospital with Aubrey.
Currently, his daughter was still sleeping. She woke up a few minutes ago and asked about Arlo, but that bastard was not there.
Arthur just received this information from Elise when they were already in the hospital while he was away for a mission.
He dropped everything and went here to check on Aubrey imdiately.
However, to his annoyance, Arlo was not there, and Jack explained that Arlo was currently still in the factory.
"He has been looking after the factory because of the flas a few weeks ago, and Arlo has been there ever since."
"He is still in the factory when his woman and his baby are in critical condition?!" Arthur roared; he glared at Jack. "What nonsense are you trying to spit out?!"
"We had a hard ti contacting him, probably because he was so busy, but I got a hold of him a few minutes ago, and he is on his way here. You don’t need to worry."
"You don’t need to worry?" Arthur mimicked him. "It’s my daughter who fell unconscious and in a critical condition, and you said I don’t need to worry? Where was the bastard who had impregnated her and left her miserable like this!?"
Jack was not happy when Arthur was bad-mouthing his son right before his eyes. Yet, he said nothing and put his attention back on Aubrey.
"You need to calm down, or else you will disturb your daughter’s rest. The doctor said she needs it. It’s good for her condition and the baby."
Arthur was not happy with that, and in the end, he chose to walk away from the ward. He couldn’t stand the sight of Aubrey like that.
***
For so reason or another, Lucian ended up sleeping in Valerie’s apartnt. He actually ssed up with his car.
It might sound stupid and crazy, but Lucian had a bad feeling about this brother of hers.
anwhile, to ask for her permission to stay the night directly would sound very creepy and very awkward.
Yet, Lucian had this strong instinct that sothing might happen to Valerie if he left her alone with him.
He didn’t like the sight of Marcus at all.
"What do you an your car broke down?"
"I don’t know." He scratched his head, standing in front of his poor car with Valerie beside him. He called her to go down to see his ’broken down’ car. "I am not sure why."
"You can leave your car here and take a taxi."
"But I feel uncomfortable taking a taxi around this ti. The cri around this area has increased."
Valerie blinked her eyes and then laughed. "Seriously, when did you learn about the cri around this area? You didn’t even co from this area."
"Well, I read the news. That’s why I know."
"Seriously, your excuse is ridiculous."
"What do you an ridiculous? The car is broken, and I cannot call the tow truck."
After a little bit of arguntation, Lucian finally managed to find a decent excuse to stay in her apartnt. His skill as a lawyer helped to sugarcoat the reality and win the argunt.
And because Marcus had occupied the guest bedroom, Lucian must sleep on the sofa.
"I don’t think the sofa is comfortable enough."
Lucian was so tall, and the sofa was not very long, so obviously, his legs would dangle.
Lucian grimaced. "Well, we can sleep on your bed if you don’t mind."
"Don’t even dream about it."
Lucian grinned and flashed her a mischievous smile, to which she responded by rolling her eyes.
"Fine. I will take the sofa; it’s better than sleeping on the street."
"You are being dramatic." Valerie prepared a pillow and a blanket for him. "There is a hotel next to this apartnt building. You can book a room there."
"Yeah, but that hotel is expensive."
"Seriously, you can even stay in that hotel for years without even hurting your bank account."
"I am trying to learn how to live frugally."
"In that case, you need to stop gambling, Lucian. You will go bankrupt even before you realize it."
"Thanks for your advice, but I don’t need that. Ares has told off about the sa thing too."
Lucian stayed the night so he could look after her. Even though this was the first ti Lucian t with Marcus, he didn’t have a good feeling or impression about him, especially with the way they bickered with each other.
It was not like a sibling bickering.
And Lucian was proven right, because the next day, when the sun had not yet risen, Lucian was woken up by a muffled conversation between Marcus and Valerie.
From what he heard, Marcus demanded money from her.
He wouldn’t leave before she gave him money; he was even threatening her.
"Don’t you ever co back again!" Valerie growled in a low voice, but you could feel the hatred in it.
And after that, Lucian heard the door was closed.
Valerie tried to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t wake Lucian up, but little did she know, Lucian had heard their conversation.
Valerie stared at the closed door for a long ti. Her mind must have been wandering around until she didn’t even realize that Lucian had been staring at her, standing behind her back.
"That’s why he ca here?"
"Oh, you startled ," Valerie said with a sigh of relief. But then she rembered what Lucian asked. "No, it’s not always like this." Valerie didn’t know why, but her imdiate response would be protecting Marcus.
She always had this part of her that wanted to protect her brother, even though he didn’t deserve to be protected.
She didn’t want other people to look down on Marcus.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am sure. He needs money..."
Lucian finished her sentence. "Because he uses drugs." He felt angry, which was not a good sign because he had crossed the line. "He wanted money from you. I know soone like him. Either he used it to gamble or he is a druggie."
Lucian had seen countless people like Marcus. After all, he used to go to places like that, gambling away his money. He recognized this kind of people...
However, Valerie didn’t appreciate the way he talked about her brother. Her eyes glistened with anger, yet she tried to suppress it by telling him to leave.
"You don’t need to worry about that. He is fine, and don’t compare him to yourself. He is not a gambler." Valerie beca more defensive now because Lucian judged Marcus.
"Then, he is a druggie," Lucian concluded.
He obviously had crossed the line now.
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