Xander's heart continued to race. From the way that Lina looked at them, he could tell that the alcohol was beginning to wear off completely.
She could at least sense exactly what was going on.Mrs. Jane was one that she was tasked with right after the death of her parents. Her Uncle's wife, James.Even though Mr. Jane never liked her, there was nothing that could be done about it since right after the death of her parents, her grandfather, the Patron of the family, had tasked them with her care.And this ripped Mrs. Jones's heart even more, she was more loved and carried more air of grace than all her other children, fueling her hate and anger even more."Lina? Do you just decide to go about into the slum picking up people and bringing them into the family's Villa?" Her words were likened to the sharp edges of a sword piercing through the heart.The frown that appeared on Lina's face afterward was inevitable.Lina knew that it was her fault and could not allow only Xander to take the blame. She strolled off from her seat with a little stagger."I won't have you talk to my visitor in such a manner Mom." It was only out of respect that her voice was calm, her hands clutched to control the anger that was rising deep in the inside of her.Soon the door made a cracking sound and someone walked in. Even without looking up, Lina could already tell that it was her uncle. The one that used to treat her worse than a dog when she was little until her grandfather finally stepped in.The hatred that harbored in her heart for him was so extreme and knew no bounds. She could equate him with a dog, or even more.The sense of his presence brought a really deep frown to her face. Those are some of the faces that she wished she never knew. But they were family after allMr. James paired up at the set of Lina and Xander standing together and his face twitched into a frown."What's going on here?" His face wilted down into a frown."I caught them making out." Jane quickly jumped on the question before Lina could get to say anything."What? So it's true?" He fired back his anger extremely inflamed.But this was solely not out of goodwill. Instead, he was angry because going out with someone else at this point was only going to ruin the plans that he already had and that was something that he could not afford.Hearts raced. The anger in his heart alone increased, seeing that the boy that his niece brought home was also clothed with rags.But on the bright side, it was only going to make things easier for him. A few cash and he was sure that the fool would be scrambling away at a high speed."Let's get this over with already." He muttered to himself, shifting his gaze back to Lina and waiting for a response as soon as possible.Lina could not believe that she had a close-call kiss making out. But she wouldn't have been expecting more from her anyway, thinking about how hard she had been right from childhood.Lina's breath was sucked deep into her windpipe to control herself, making her turn towards Mr. James and she went ahead to say."It was my fault." She finally let out, not having the strength to explain to anyone. Besides, not like they were going to believe a word of what she said."I can't believe that out of everyone in the world, this is the trash can that you choose, do you even have respect for our family?" He thundered at her, making Lina lift her brow."It's my life. I don't remember when I started sharing." She replied calmly but the words only seemed to increase his anger.The velocity of it was strange. She could tell that there was something more to it but she just couldn't place her hands on it."Have you suddenly gone mad Lina or did he cast some spell on you or did your brain suddenly molten into a rock?Because I don't see the reason why you would be dating such a low life. Even though you aren't thinking about yourself, what about the rest of the family? Whose reputation are you going to stain?" He thunderedBut that was Lina's last stray. She would not cope with the attitude that he was giving anymore and she leaned forward.Staring right into his eyes without pepping, she said."When the same family doesn't care about me? I am only a small fray, meddling in the business of my one company.And for the last time, I won't have you call my visitor such names again." The anger that she was trying to bottle up was beginning to show off in her voice."Visitor? Why aren't you telling the truth, Lina? He is your boyfriend right?" He replied quickly."What?""You were seen with him at the Hopkin's hotel. Don't even try to lie to me."So it had gotten to the state that she was being monitored. But she would have them believe whatever it was that they wanted to. Not that their opinion mattered in the first place."Believe what you want to." She replied nonchalantly."You.." Mr. James blotted out, returning his hands to its placeThe face of her uncle soon twisted into a stiff form. Taking a good look at Xander, he could sense that he was just a Swindler who was going to take her money."Even if you don't respect our family name, Do you realize that you are already engaged to someone else?" Lina's father added.Her eyes shot up, even though Xander didn't know what they were talking about, she was engaged.Mark was the invisible boyfriend that she had been threaded to right from birth. A member of a wealthy family.But she didn't care.From the few times that they had spent together, he was sure that was someone that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with and never liked him.Her uncle could see the lines that were written all over her face."Don't bring that up here Father." She replied.Her uncle had always seen her like someone who was stubborn and would not listen to her so he decided that he was going to take the shorter route instead.He turned over to Xander with a flinch in his facial expression and said."Never see my niece again for a million dollars which will be paid into your account right away."The amount was enough to make Xander bulge as he had never held one-third of that amount of money before.His heart raced and thoughts ran through his head and he could not help but gulp."Father?" Lina fired angrily but it seemed as though someone was not even standing there as all his attention was focused on Xander."That amount is going to change your life forever. I am sure you know the right thing to do." There was a smirk on his face as he spoke.It was going to be a really big insult to Lina if Xander accepted such money and even though he needed it, he pushed it backward to the old man and said. "I can't accept your money, sir." He replied politely.They tried to persuade him but he would not move away from his stance.Mr. James thought it was going to be easy for him after all and this made him frown deeply.Xander was just like his niece. Extremely stubborn. No wonder they were able to find themselves and get along so easily in the first place.But he was not going to sit back and watch them spoil their plans. But after the long time that it had taken them to plot it out.He leaned forward with an irritated look on his face, having the intention to scare Xander away who continued to stare right into his eyes without a bulge.He was one of the most confident people that he had meant who would dare to stare right into his eyes. Even as a poor man that he was.'Maybe he is just trying to act strong just because he is intendin
"How can you make him come up with the man of that root when we barely know anything about it?" The frown on Lina's face knew no bounds.She never thought that her uncle was going to resort to such a means to achieve his aims. Regrets washed over her, for allowing Xander to take up the challenge in the first place."There was no rule to the game right?" The grin on Mr. James's face was one that spoke of pure evil.Lina clenched her teeth, wishing that she could take the root off the floor and snatch it right on the floor so that it was going to shatter.Mr. James smiled because there was certainly no way that he was going to get it correctly. And this way, he was going to be out of their lives forever.In the real sense, he saw Xander as the biggest fool of the century, thinking that he was going to win a fight with the lord of cunningness.The Initial smile on his face broadened even more to the extent that he could not hold it anymore."You can still back down now and leave. But I
"What did you just say?" James inquired in such a manner that got Vincent confused.He could easily tell that something was happening there but he seemed to be the only one in the dark."He simple language, you lost." Xander interpreted with a smirk that was enough to get anyone angry but instead, Mr. James was still imprisoned in the dark realms of his shock. As a loud drum sucked deep down into his body system, he could hear the faint banging of his heart growing louder with an increased velocity.Neither was he ready to accept defeat either way. But it seemed this Xander of a kid just found a way to gag it down his throat.This increased his anger and hatred towards Xander who he now saw as a force to reckon with and do away with as soon as it was possible."I'm sure that he cheated, there is no way that he could have gotten the answers correct, I made sure of that." Mr. James quickly sprouted out.Not only was he going to be disgraced by losing a bet to such a slimy punk. But als
"Why now?" Was the definition of the expression that was written all over their faces.It would have been easy to deal with Xander and Lina together but with the patron around, that was going to be close to impossible.With glares left in their faces, there was nothing left to be done apart from them to welcome him off course.Staying away from their deadly stares as though none of them existed, Mr. Anderson walked over to his favorite with a great smile on his face, and without being told, Lina walked up to him.He was beaming with comfort that he didn't feel when he was with the rest of them and they got into a tight hug.They were like two lovers who just got together after being separated for just a short time, even though it had been just for a few hours."I am so glad to see you, Grandpa." Her smile was enough to clear the whole room from the tense aura that he had encountered when he had walked in the first instance."Too bad that I am not as happy to see you as you are to see
"But he isn't part of the family, he can't join us for a family dinner since it's traditional right?" Vincent quickly chimed in but Mr. Anderson's eyes knitted out the sound of the words.Mr. Anderson wasn't the type of person to be argued with and Vincent knew exactly that the boundary had been crossed.He quickly retracted his hands realizing the mistake but the did had been done already."Do you intend to start arguing with me at this point? Maybe you want the post of the family's Patron?I am sure that you are going to do a better job than I am doing." He said with a deadly frown on his face."I.." Vincent was suddenly short of words. Even though the old man's decisions were always ahead of him, there was nothing he could do about it this time.Vincent sipped in a really deep breath to bottle up his rising anger and went ahead to say."I apologize for my mistake." Mr. Anderson was not too old to catch a glimpse of his mouth-knitted apology.Seeming as though no one had spoken, he
Vincent who had been searching for every possible way to disregard Xander wouldn't let a chance that was presented before him on a platter of Gold slide away so easily as he quickly leaned forward and said.Underneath his frown was a grin that made his chest pop with full pride as he went ahead to say."I said it right from the very beginning, he was nothing other than a scammer.Now that he is revealing his true colors, are you now going to believe me, Grandpa?" He quickly chimed in.Chatters soon filled the hall, some were cursing him while others kept making fun of him.Even Lina and Mr. Anderson could not help but frown this time. At first, Mr. Anderson thought that he was a genuine person but it turns out that he was wrong altogether.Because he just came back from a medical checkup done by one of the best doctors in the city.It was obvious that he had made this thing up so that he was going to ask for some sort of reward afterward.But why would he fake such a terrible attemp
Lina's face was beyond washed up with embarrassment. That was supposed to be the most happy part of the year for most people in the family but she seemed to have ruined everything.Xander intended to keep mute and accept defeat but his reflexes suddenly kicked in the worst possible way that it could ever.It was as though there was a strange surge of energy running through his vines, bringing out emotions and pieces of information that he could not even tell who it belonged to or where it came from.All he knew was that this force was so powerful that he could hardly tell where exactly it came from.Before he could put a stop to these words that were forcing themselves out of his mouth, the deed had already been done."You call yourself a doctor and can not even diagnose when your patient has an Internal injury or not. And you dare to be called one of the best?I wonder how rusty regular members of your association would be if you can't even diagnose such a small issue." He jerked bac
The hall went on in a rampage as the patron of the family passed out right before then. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that they had a powerful doctor right before then.Doctor Gerald smiled to himself as he watched them run around in panic like a little sovereign watching his subject. Then, they were finally able to calm down. Their reflexes jerked back to normal as they turned around towards the miracle doctor."Doctor Gerald, you are here. Grandpa is going to be fine right?" One of them quickly said..."Yes doctor Gerald, you have to save Grandpa." He finally said.But again, he smiled at them, pushing his collars backward and straightening up himself, swelling up with so much pride."Don't worry everyone. This is just a small issue that would be taken care of in a matter of seconds." He finally replied.He walked up quickly to the old man and felt his pulse. It seemed to be doing fine apart from the part that he was.He only needed to give him a few pressures down his pressure