The quiet and shy boy"s personality did a complete flip when they left us alone to chatter. His shyness flew out of the window and he started chattering non-stop. He bombarded me with questions like a maniac. In less than 10 minutes, he knew about my father, my favourite games, and the teachers I hated.
I didn"t tell him about Ayaka.
People who like to talk a lot don"t use their brain much. So, I gave in to him for the first fifteen minutes before I started asking questions. Adrian was just the right person.
"You don"t even know Father"s name?" He widened his eyes in surprise. "His name is Sylvester Ash. He is --"
To summarise to a long introduction that the idiotic chatterbox gave me, Sylvester Ash was one of the powerful men in E country. His name was feared in the business and political worlds. He was also infamous for his NGO work. Christie Kang was indeed his mother. She was the second wife of Sylvester Ash. The first wife of Sylvester Ash died due to an illness when my mother was around twenty.
Christie Kang was my grandfather"s wife. She was my step-grandmother. She was also my mother"s mistress. I wondered if my grandfather knew about it.
My mother stayed here whenever she visited the country for her solo concertos. In fact, the scrawny boy had played the piano with my mother in one of the concertos.
I felt that Mother cared about this boy more than Ayaka and me. At that moment, I hated that boy. I didn"t show any of it on my face.
It occurred to me that Ayaka must have felt the same way. I relaxed my body and leaned back.
"Which school do you go to?" I asked him.
He was caught off guard by my question. "I am homeschooled."
"Oh…" I wanted to say that I didn"t like going to school. But the boy had a hint of jealousy in his eyes. I decided not to say it in the end. I saw the servants walking around with their heads low.
"Don"t try talking to them." Adrian sighed. "They don"t talk. They only know how to work."
I raised my brow. "Are they mute?"
He shook his head. "No, I heard a maid cry once when she broke a teacup. After that, she was never seen again."
She must have been kicked out.
Adrian forgot about his jealousy toward me. He showed me around the mansion. It seemed that there were more prohibited zones that accessible locations. He showed me his room which was four times the size of my room. His wardrobe was bigger than our kitchen. He had too many clothes. He asked me to try some of them. I declined politely. Even if my father was a jobless b.u.m who would spend his lifetime drowned in alcohol, I didn"t like wearing someone else"s clothes.
At the age of eleven, he was already studying college-level books. I fell short in every regard. My English wasn"t free of an accent either. It was my turn to feel jealous and inferior.
Then, he took me to the sports room where he and I played tennis until we were out of breath. We laid down on the floor. While I panted for air, I thought about Ayaka. She would have liked this. I was worried that Father would beat her up again. His temper would flared up without reasons. If Mother and I were there, we could soothe him. But Ayaka only knew how to make it worse.
I already wanted to go back home. The dazzling mansion was nothing compared to the familiarity of my home. I liked being with my sister more than a scrawny boy who was the son of my mother"s mistress.
"You are here." I heard my mother"s voice. She was standing at the door. I noticed that she changed her clothes. She was wearing a grey dress and slippers. Her hair was tied in a casual manner. "It"s dinner time."
"Sister." Adrian ran toward my mother and wrapped his arms around his waist before I could say anything. "I like Christopher. You and Christopher should stay with us forever."
"..." I wanted to hit that boy. That was my mother. Why didn"t he hug his mother who was standing behind my mother?
"I will think about it." My mother stroked his head. "You reek of sweat. Both of you must take a bath before you come down."
Christie led me to my room. My mother stayed with Adrian. I sighed. So, this was how Ayaka felt. I ignored the poisonous feeling growing in my chest. My luggage was already in my room. Christie closed the door and sat down on my bed. She looked at me with a smile. I waited for her to speak. I didn"t like her. To be honest, I hated her with everything that I had. My mother was cheating on my father. I knew that the woman was a better person than my mother. It was my mother"s fault for cheating on my father. If she chose not to cheat, would Christie ever get a chance?
Still, I hated her because I couldn"t hate my mother.
"You must be tired."
I gave her a nod.
"Do you like Adrian?"
I met her eyes and said, "Yes."
"You don"t have to lie." Christie pinched my cheeks. "Your mother has the same habit. Whenever she lies, she would meet that person"s eyes, for sure."
After a short pause, she continued, "You don"t like me either."
I shrugged. I knew that I should have said the following words to her. I don"t know where the courage came from. I forgot about my mother"s predatory eyes. I spoke to her what I shouldn"t have. "You are my grandfather"s wife and yet, I saw you kissing my mother at the airport. I saw you look at her like my father looks at her. How do you expect me to like you?"
Christie"s lips trembled. Her eyes became wet. She pushed me away and ran out of the door. I got up from the floor and frowned at the open door. If she had the strength to cheat on someone, then she should have the strength to hear my words.
However, my mother didn"t think the same. She forced me to face the consequences in the following days. Sometimes, I wonder if I didn"t say those words to Christie, would my mother have let me live in illusion that she created for me and Ayaka?
My mother was lucky to die before I could take the reins of the Consortium and torture her to answer my questions.I still have a year before I can sit on the seat of the president. Nagasawa family is acting as the regent. To protect Ayaka and keep her away from the shadows of the Consortium, I will become a horrendous creature like my mother.