Chapter 4

Aaron

It should be said that the issue that was hanging over their heads like a sword had been resolved however I knew that none of us who were still in the living room felt completely relieved about it. Myself in particular had a heavy heart as I gazed in the direction which Valeria had disappeared to with mixed feelings in my heart. 

Unable to completely understand what was really going on, I turned to my dad to talk to him about it but before that, I noticed my mom's fidgety appearance first. I didn't even have to make use of my brain cells that much to figure out what was on her mind, especially when she seemed not to be able to take her eyes off the direction of the stairs - wasn't she just worried and panicked about Valeria's dismissive attitude towards her? 

To be honest, sometimes not even me myself could figure out the exact kind of person my mom was even with how smart I consider myself to be. But as far as I had observed, she was a person who seeks only what benefits her and avoids the otherwise - someone I considered smart. Yet, how somewhat 'stupid' she becomes when her interests are being threatened makes me doubt if she was really that smart after all. 

It was also because of the fact that I wasn't exactly sure about her that when dad, Nessa and I was devising the plan to make Valeria get married to that man, I had suggested to hide it from her. Because one scary thing about my mom's kind of person was their unpredictability. You could never predict what their next move would be since in the next second. 

She might just end up revealing our plan to Valeria in the end and stop her from coming back home. 

Our mom might indeed love her children, but sadly enough, her love just wasn't enough in the face of her personal interests... 

But was she to blame for that? 

No, I didn't think so because I knew that it wasn't exactly her fault that she was that way. If there really has to be someone to blame, that should be her maiden family. Because in mom's maiden family, the girls were only treated and brought up to be married off as bargaining chips, not to mention that the fight between the male heirs was also known to be fierce and bloody. 

In that environment, knowing how to choose the safe side to stand on in order to avoid being retaliated against and also to have a chance at scoring a better marriage partner was therefore a must-have skill for them unmarried girls.

And after marrying into the Hale's, the situation wasn't any better since her husband was also someone who valued benefits and family interests over everything else. All of them in this family  were.

But, there was one exception...

...and maybe that was why she could never seem to fit in with the family. 

A sigh unconsciously escaped my lips when I thought of this before speaking, "Mom, how about you go find Valeria upstairs and talk to her or something?"

The moment I said that, I saw my mom's face lit up as she stood up hurriedly making me have no doubt that she had definitely been waiting for someone to say that all along, however before she walked away, she seemed to remember something and turned to look at my dad timidly,"Darling, may I go?"

My dad gave me a glance before nodding at her and gestured for her to go on. As if she had received a grant of amnesty, mom said a soft 'thank you' before hurriedly walking away as if afraid that if she stayed for a second longer, she would be stopped from doing so. 

"Dad, don't you think Valeria's reaction towards the end was a bit too... calm?", I wasted no time in voicing my doubts out loud after mom disappeared upstairs. 

Dad showed a look of contemplation at my question while his brows furrowed slightly and only responded a few minutes later, "I also think that her reaction was a bit worrying because according to her temper..."

Dad didn't continue but I understood what he meant - Valeria's temper had always been stubborn and explosive so it was definitely suspicious that she had became so calm after crying for that short of a period of time. It made one unable to think of whether she was cooking up something insidious to get back at us in that head of hers. 

Dad seemed to have guessed what was on my mind as I heard him say, "But so what if she is planning something. As long as she gets married to that man obediently, whatever happens after would no longer be within our scope of consideration. Besides I don't believe that she would really have the heart to do anything do us in the future after gaining power."

A rebellious daughter in exchange for their family's continued prosperity - it was a good deal to Mr. Hale whatever way he looked at it. 

I undoubtedly agreed with my dad but I didn't know why, I still felt somewhat uneasy... 

For some reason, I couldn't help but remember Valeria's hopeful eyes and how they had looked at me desperately. Yet, although I knew what she wanted - a different answer, one that was beyond doubt cruel to her, I had still gone ahead and personally made the light in those eyes go dim by denying her of it. 

And on seeing that, it seemed to have awoken my long-dead conscience and made it prick. 

After all, in the end it wasn't like I had no feelings for her; we were biological siblings nonetheless. It was just that... 

No, there was no point in making excuses for myself. Between her and family interests, I chose the latter. And judging from her reactions and demand for a severance of ties letter, the siblings relationship between us would be close to unsalvageable after today and so was with the whole family as well. Valeria was never a docile and obedient person after all. 

Rather she was independent, opinionated and strong-willed. She might value familial ties but wouldn't be tied down by it. She was someone who would rather not have it than compromise. 

In fact, I admired those qualities in her a lot but at the same time hated them since it made her not as easy to control like Nessa. 

Thinking about Valeria's matters always tends to exhausts me and not wanting to bother myself about it any longer, I shifted my attention and continued the discussion with dad.

"As long as we successfully cooperate with the Blaze Corporation, we definitely will be able to pull through this period of time and even possibly make our family climb towards another height. We therefore have to make sure that nothing goes wrong with this marriage. It is our best bet after all." I heard dad say in a rare serious tone.

But I knew it was because the cooperation with the Blaze Corporation was just too important to our family that he acted that way. 

Us Hale's had always been the top noble and wealthy family in Meteor City for a long time now, however in recent years the family business had been showing a trend to go downwards no matter how hard dad and I tried to stop it. This undoubtedly put our position as the leading family in danger and made the other families who had long since wanted to replace us as the leading family stare covetously at us while waiting for the perfect time to attack. 

Therefore, I also replied seriously, "I understand, dad."

"Then I am relieved when you say that. You have never disappointed me before this." Dad said after patting me on the shoulder to which I smiled politely to. 

He suddenly said after some time, "Ah, yes. About the severance of ties letter that Valeria wanted, after thinking about it, I think there wouldn't be a need to take it seriously 'cause I think that it's just her throwing a temper."

Hearing that, my eyebrows couldn't help but furrow slightly because contrary to what he thought, I personally didn't think that Valeria was just throwing a petty temper by saying that. 

She did indeed wanted nothing to do with this family.

However... 

I didn't plan to say anything to rebut him since I knew that he could sometimes be very obstinate in what he thought was right so I only nodded in acknowledgement. 

Anyways, sooner or later, we would know whether she meant it or not.