"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 me. His words were rather ironic as he was grinning from ear to ear.Lina was unbothered since she already knew that was his regular behavior. "I know you must have been longing for me all through your check-up." She added with a really deep smile.Mr. Anderson walked towards the center of the large room, cracking his hands on the table until he created a steady beat.He knew that they were not happy to see him from the looks on their faces. He knew that he had ruined a massive fun but not like it mattered to him either way.With an unbothered look on his face, he walked closer towards Vincent, and getting over to him, he hit a walking stick into Vincent's legs and he reciprocated by blotting out in obvious pain."How dare you try to chase away the one that saved my grandchild?" He fired as he continued to hit the stick on the legs.Lina could not help but let out a slight chuckle no matter how hard she tried not to.Meanwhile, Vincent gritted his teeth with so much anger but there was absolutely nothing that he could do apart from plead.Even though the aching of his feet was solely out of this world, he still had to push forward a smile as it was an unwritten tradition of the family.No matter what the Patron did to you, the only thing that you could do was fake a smile and move all ahead.When the old man was done with him, he paused before turning around towards Mr. James and his wife and said."You are supposed to be the most respected person in the family. I can't believe that you are going to stoop this low not to fulfill your promise.Even if you would try not to look at yourself, what about the rest of the family? Do you also intend to pull down our name alongside yours?" Everyone in the room was stunned as to how the old man would know the context of almost everything that had happened there.The smile on Lina's face had broadened him more. While her uncle was prone to taking things out the violent way, she always had a means of meeting her end without resorting to violence.Vincent caught a glimpse of her smile before it broke off from her face and could easily tell that she was the one that was behind it..."You little prick. You think it's going to end here right?" Were the thoughts that clotted his lungs that he could hardly breathe properly.Fuming with every tint of anger but the odd thing was he didn't care to let it out like a man dying of silence.And it turned out that her plan worked out completely well. When she heard that her grandfather was doing perfectly fine, she sent the recorded messages of everything that was going on since her uncle was the trust me at your risk type.And it turned out that her plans worked. Even without telling her grandfather what exactly she wanted him to do, he came down to her rescue without a second thought.Vincent frowned.He was already planning on her to take his revenge but on a pitiful Xander who had a part of absolutely nothing that was going on.He felt his heart beating hard against his chest as though it was going to burst through. Wishing already that he could rip every single one of them apart with his hands."But how did you know about that?" Mr. James just came back from his sudden shock."Is that what you should be thinking about now?" He thundered back at him."Is that really what you are concerned about?" Mr. Anderson threw his walking stick into the joints of his knees aiming perfectly as always"I don't care about what you are more concerned with but first, you are going to do as you have said and also, and also, Xander is going anywhere." It was obvious that he already got the name from the message that was sent to him.Recently, most of the companies that were allocated to him were already running out of stock and the one that Lina had chosen was the best.Now, he regretted that he had gotten into the bet in the first place, if not, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this kind of mess in the first place.Mr. Anderson pulled away from them and Walked over to Xander with a smile on his face."I am sorry for what happened. Thanks for saving my Granddaughter, he said." A slight cough escaped from his mouth.One that had a foul odor but it seemed as though only Xander could perceive it but everyone in the room was already alert."Are you okay sir?" Xander quickly inquired with a worried look on his face.Vincent frowned immediately, using every means possible to pull Xander down."See what your proclaimed boyfriend is trying to do? He got Grandpa coughing just by getting closer to him.""What are you trying to say?" Lina's snare was enough to take anyone aback but in the real sense, it was more."It had nothing to do with Xander." Mr. Anderson smiled, pulling off straight and coughing into his handkerchief."The drugs that were given to me by my doctor. He said that they were going to make me cough for a while and reduce my pain. And I must say that I am feeling the effects." He smiled, straightening himself up.But Xander could tell that he was wrong. He had an underlying health issue and if not treated soon, he was not going to outlive that day.But that was what the disjunct Knowledge that kept sidelining into his head told him. What if he was wrong eventually?This wasn't a game of some herbs. This was Anderson Hopkin's, the Patron of the third most powerful family in the city. He couldn't go about spewing ideologies of things that Haven't been confirmed when there was every possibility that he could be wrong.With a deep breath, he swallowed this fact down into his stomach. He was going to wait. And if the needs called for it, he was going to act."I am so glad to meet you." He said once again but didn't seem as though he was done with his long speech yet."We are having a family dinner tonight, I would love it if you joined us.""That would be great," Lina quickly chimed in before Xander could say anything because the looks on his face said otherwise."What?" Vincent and the rest of the gang exclaimed in so much shock."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
Xander walked away with a long face. He has other things to do anyway, maybe he was going to get a job.Even though he had been wrong, Hopkins still didn't have the right to act the way that they acted to him.But where does he go now?While he continued to walk, he was about to storm off to the other end of the road when two guards came before him.The fact that he was making at the moment spoke of total disgust."What exactly do they want from him?" The frown on his face only grew deeper as the minute went by."What exactly do you want? You want to beat me up or what?" He Inquired with a stale look on his face."Lady Lina ordered us to get you back." He said."Get me back?" Xander turned with a furrowed brow.His first instinct was to reject it. They were going to see him as a cheap fool if he returned to that place.But after giving it a thought for a while, calling him back could only mean that she felt remorseful after everything that she had done.It wasn't nice to punish her wh
Doctor Gerald didn't say anything for quite a while. His eyes were just focused on him without saying another word.Everyone thought that it was already over for Xander but before they could distinguish what was going on next, a slap was the next thing that was heart in his face.The fine lines of Doctor Gerald's hands were finely imprinted on his face. Everyone was still stunned.The apprentice could not believe what was happening. He thought that Doctor Gerald was going to support him had he had always done but this time, it was differentThe pain was already welling up through his face. His attention was all confused on Doctor Gerald whose anger was out of this world."Are you crazy? Sir Anderson is dying and you dare to obstruct his treatment?You have been a stain on my reputation but I have always overlooked it because I had taken you off from the street and swore that I was going to tend to you no matter what.Is this how you repay kindness? This time, you are crossing the lin
Doctor Gerald was already ready to turn around and leave. His head turned towards the door and his apprentice packed his things.Vincent groaned angrily. There was a place for sympathy in his heart for the old man. Besides in his opinion, the old man had only been standing in his way ever since.But now that he is gone. It was going to make things a lot easier for him.The board were now going to be the ones that would be doing the choosing and now that Mr. Anderson died in the hands of someone that Lina had brought to the family, there was no way that she was going to be elected."Cough! Cough!" A loud cough was soon heard throughout the hall like the loud sound of a horn.And from the direction that the sound came from, it looked like it was coming from Mr. Anderson.But after what everyone in the hall had seen just a while ago, it was difficult for them to believe this.Their hearts were still frozen.For a while, there was a pause in the hall. Nobody moved. Then the sound came aga
It was difficult for Lina to believe that Doctor Gerald had said these words. Since she has always believed that he was an upright man. Where did all of that just go in a flinch?Meanwhile, for Doctor Gerald, he felt that he did what had to be done. He was one of the best doctors in the city.Admitting that he was not able to treat Mr. Anderson was going to be a really big blow and Xander might end up taking his place.This was something that he could not afford."That you once again." Mr. Anderson had a really weak smile on his face as he spoke.Lina could not contain her anger anymore and she turned around towards Doctor Gerald, removing all the formalities that used to be added to his name."Doctor Gerald." She blotted out angrily, making everyone in the room shift their attention over to him."What do you think that you are doing? Taking the glory when you know that you had nothing to do with what happened?" She thundered but Doctor Gerald faked ignorance, claiming not to know w