Family Fight .

Chapter Three

           “Aaaaah. What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Jared yelled with shock. His heart sank and not just him, even Karen was astounded. ‘I didn’t know he had such a bad temper.’ she thought to herself with a worried look on her face. 

       However, when they all looked at the vase, they noticed something. The vase wasn’t smashed to pieces like they all expected. But it wasn’t undamaged either.

      “If it’s truly what you claim it to be, and it does come from the Ming Dynasty, then the vase should be in pieces by now.” Jason analyzed before picking up the vase that only seemed to have suffered a small breakage at the edge at which it made contact with the ground. “Also… for a vase made during the Ming dynasty era, don’t you think this vase’s designs are a little too… perfect? The carvings here are very intricate. No human can achieve this sort of precision without the modern tools we have today.” He pointed but the latter glared at him.

      “You… what… do you… think… you’re doing?!” Jared’s face was red hot, looking ready to explode. He clenched his fists and all he wanted to do was beat Jason to a pulp.

      “What am I doing? I’m just helping you out by confirming the quality of this stuff.” he mentioned before pointing at the vase again, “Besides… that vase has a dangerous smell. I don’t know whether it was ignorance or deliberate, but the vase contains some volatile organic compounds that when exposed to them for long periods, can lead to long-lasting health issues.” he added before looking at Jared.

       “In order words, given how old grandmother is and how frail her organs might be at this age, she might not survive if she was near this stuff for too long,” Jason concluded.

        “That’s enough, bastard. Are you saying that I’m trying to kill my grandmother here?” Jared yelled and wanted to rush to Jason but was held back by a few onlookers. However, Jason stood in place, completely unmoving.

        “Nope, not at all. I’m just stating the fasts here. If you do not believe me, you can call an industrial chemist or a forensic scientist to come take a look.” Jason replied and Jared got even more furious.

         “Why you…” Jared was completely infuriated, “What do you know about antiques? You’re just a low-class motherf*cker who doesn’t appreciate anything. You shouldn’t even be speaking at all, but instead, you dare to talk and even damage my present to grandmother. Your shamelessness knows no bounds.” he growled furiously. 

Meanwhile, he was completely overwhelmed at heart. His heartbeat was extremely fast and he was scared. Jason’s words were extremely true. 

 ‘This asshole… he got me figured out. I knew that grandma would be overwhelmed with presents today and I knew that my present would also be kept in the storeroom like most of the others, that’s why I bought a replica of the ordinary thing. I wasn’t expecting that this bastard would find out about it. I intended to use the remaining money, which I was given to buy an exotic vase, to get a new car and make Charlie, my girlfriend, happy. Damn it… this asshole just ruined it all. Damn it all!’ he cursed under his breath as he furiously stared at Jason, who returned the glare.  

         He was completely calm before. But now, he glared at him and his eyes turned serious. 

         “You compare my gift to yours like it was nothing, but that only serves to show how childish and immature you are. Indeed, I couldn’t buy Grandmother a big and flashy gift, but I bought a pendant that I could afford for Grandmother but I didn’t just pick it at random. The pendant was meant to portray my gratitude to her for taking me in and adopting me. I didn’t bye something that could potentially kill my benefactor. You, on the other hand, didn’t buy something of good quality, but also something that could endanger the life of grandmother. You should be ashamed of yourself, Jared.” Jason scolded.

         “That’s enough, Jason.” A deep and stern voice resonated around the entire room. The voice belonged to a middle-aged. He was tall and had shot black hair with a few strands of white hair and some wrinkles on his face. He looked stout and a bit burly and he gave off a domineering aura.

           He descended the stairs and walked towards Jason. “I will not allow you to sow discord in my family any more than you already have. If it weren’t for the fact that my father was the one that took you in and it was in his will to not cast you out, you would be in the streets begging for alms. Now you wish to take his magnanimity for granted? You wish to sow discord in the family of your benefactor?” the man scolded but Jason didn’t yield.

          “Pardon me, Mr. Albert, but my benefactor wouldn’t be happy if his wife were to die due to the ignorance and stupidity of his grandchild, would he?” he returned.

          “I advise that you keep your mouth shut this instant or I may be forced to throw you out of the house.” Mr. Albert threatened. Karen, who was watching from the sidelines, could see that things were starting to turn ugly. 

           “Please Father, don’t take offense. My brother started this in the first place so he should be blamed for all this.” Karen tried to defend Jason but a cold glance from her father was enough to shut her up.

          “And does that give this bastard the right to speak ill of your brother and almost call him a murderer?” Mr. Albert growled and Jason couldn’t help but interrupt.

          “I never said such, sir.” 

          “You dare to talk back at me?!”

“If you place false accusations on me, then yes. I will talk back.” Jason returned. In terms of aura and demeanor, Mr. Albert gave off a much stronger vibe than Jason. However, Jason looked a beat weak but in terms of aura, he didn’t seem to be losing to Mr. Albert.

  “Know your place, peasant.” Mr. Albert’s wife growled at Jason and the latter wanted to roast her but decided to keep his mouth shut. He took a deep breath and looked at the couple. He was on the losing end here, and he didn’t want things to escalate too much. 

 ‘I owe Mr. Marco a huge debt. I shouldn’t cause problems in his family. He wouldn’t want that, right?’ he thought to himself before sighing.

 “I won’t argue with you all any further. Today is meant to be a day to celebrate, grandmother’s birthday, not flaunt each other’s prizes and discriminate here. However, if all you people wish to do is to keep insulting me and my wife, then I do not believe that I should stay here any longer. I only came because I cherish Mr. Jamie and hold her dear for taking care of me like I were her child.” Jason said before pocketing his hands again and turning around, “I will not stay here and argue with her children and grandchildren like babies.” he said as he walked away. 

He looked very calm, but he was boiling with anger. Jared’s act couldn’t help but remind him of his elder brother, Lorren. They were both assholes.

 Karen had mixed feelings. She didn’t like Jason that much, as she also looked down on him like the rest of the family. But from the way he spoke just now, she began to have mixed feelings about him.

 ‘Maybe he’s not as bad as we all think he is…’ she thought. The hall room was a bit noisy, but everything quieted down the moment they all spotted the celebrant descending the stairs. Jason hadn’t gone completely, but he decided to watch everything from a corner. His image in people’s eyes was twisted, so they chose to stay away from him like he was some sort of plague.

  Mrs. Jamie, head of the Marco family, walked down the stairs of the mansion’s balcony with a dazzling smile on her face. The silver pendant on her chest reflected the light from the chandelier and made itself obvious, announcing itself to the world.

 As she descended, Mr. Albert took the opportunity to sing her a birthday song, which everyone else sang along with him before clapping. Mrs. Jamie Marco smiled and her eyes began to get teary.

  “Thank you all for coming to this celebration. I appreciate it, on behalf of myself and the Marco family.  I wish to use this opportunity to thank you all for visiting and sending presents. It has been a wonderful day for me and I am quite delighted. I am also very glad to have lived to watch my children and grandchildren grow. Truly, today has been one of the best moments of my life. The family has prospered, not because of our efforts, but because of our various partners all around the world, and I do want to use this opportunity to thank you all. God bless you, and have a pleasant weekend.” She spoke and a thunderous applause was given by everyone.

She walked amongst the crowd and shook different people’s hands. Karen saw this as an opportunity to get to talk to her grandmother about it and she quickly approached her.

   “Grandma…” she bowed slightly when she reached her grandma’s view but the latter smiled and stopped her. 

  “My daughter. How are you enjoying the party?” she asked and Karen blushed.

  “It’s wonderful, grandmother,” Karen said and Mrs. Jamie nodded and hugged her daughter.

 “Uhm… my big brother brought you a present. It’s a vase, but Jason and he both argued about its authenticity. I was hoping you could check it out.” She divulged and Mrs. Jamie’s expression turned a bit grim. While Karen might’ve made it seem like the argument was nothing, she already knew that the thing must’ve escalated to just more than a small bicker between brother and brother-in-law.

 “Hmm. Show me the vase.” She said and Karen nodded before taking the damaged vase from the table trolley and giving it to her grandmother. 

  She looked around the vase and she couldn’t help but marvel.

  “Wow, what a wonderful gift indeed. Too bad that it has been damaged and will never be the same.” She said as she studied the vase more and more. However, at some point she suddenly paused.

   Karen’s heart skipped a beat. This pause wasn’t normal. It was like she had discovered something. Something shocking enough to make her pause to think about it.

   “Grandma?” …