Mikael looked up from the book when the door to his Study was suddenly knocked, and then he watched his mother and father enter the room.
"I need to speak to you," Gabriel said to him.
Mikael nodded and stood up to sit with them on the couches.
"What is it?" he asked and watched his father hesitate a little. "Is it about Alison?"
Gabriel frowned at his words and raised his eyes.
"You know?"
"Now I know, yes." He sighed. "Your reactions earlier were a dead giveaway. She's my sister, right?" he asked, and both his parents frowned at the indifference in his voice.
"Yes."
"Well, then I have only one question for you," he said and looked his father right in the eyes.
"What?"
"Did you abandon her?"
Gabriel could tell that Mikael was upset with him, and those blue eyes, which always looked at him with respect, were filled with hints of indifference right now.
"No, I did not abandon her. I went back for her, but she was gone. I even tried searching for her, but could not find her. She was a refugee, without any identification or address, and she had entered the country illegally..." He stopped and sighed before lowering his head.
He did not speak again and covered his face with his hands, digging his elbows on his knees.
"I should have tried harder..."
Mikael's sharp senses picked up the whisper.
Maria then told him exactly what happened all those years ago.
Gabriel's Brigade had visited the village where Alison's mother was living at that time.
Diana was eighteen years old, and she had an older sister, Leah, four years her senior. Her father had been killed in the war back in their home country, and her mother died shortly after they illegally entered Dragonia, unable to bear the sorrow and the toll of the journey.
The two sisters were adopted by the kind fishermen in the village, who raised them, but it was clear at a glance that the girls did not belong there.
Their fair complexion was different from all the darker-skinned people in the village. The soldiers immediately called Diana in for questioning.
All the villagers begged them to show mercy when it was found that the girl had no identification and was a refugee, and soon an official investigation was called to look into this matter.
The other refugees had long left the village in search of life, and the soldiers found a sunken boat in the waters when the search was called after they interrogated the villagers.
Since she was only a girl, Gabriel let her go, but he was smitten by her beauty.
The days he stayed there, he grew closer to her, and eventually, they slept together.
A week later, after they accepted each other, Gabriel and his Brigade received a mission, and despite his insistence, Diana refused to leave as she wanted to take care of the old couple who had raised her and her sister.
The old couple were nearing their death, and it was their wish to die in the place where they were born.
Seeing that he could not convince her, Gabriel promised her that he would come back within three months, but he could not.
The mission took longer, and eight months later, when he came back, the village was no longer there.
A tsunami had hit the place, and most of the villagers died in the disaster.
Some ran away, and when they were found, no one knew where Diana was.
Gabriel was heartbroken when the villagers guessed that she probably died in the disaster, and he was even more devastated when they told him that she was pregnant.
He kept searching for her and even tried searching for her sister, Leah, for two years, but did not find even a trace of either of them.
The loss caused him to fall into a state of depression, and he took an official leave.
When the sadness consumed him too much, he shut off his emotions and returned to work, giving up the search.
All these years, he really believed that Diana had died, and the reason why he never found her sister was because Leah had changed her name and assumed the identity of a girl from another village. She was now called Saddie.
"Saddie" married a contractor named Lucas, who was the pot-bellied man whom Mikael had seen earlier tonight. And they lived in a village until a few years ago, when they came to Sylvor City with their children and niece.
Mikael no longer blamed his father in his heart, but he felt very restless.
Had he not received the quests for Alison and Min-Jin, he would not have met them. And if he...
He remembered that his innocent and timid sister was supposed to become a Villainess, which meant that she would have suffered something so dreadful that she became ruthless.
The young Zarayne did not even want to imagine what would have happened to her that night at the Sterling Hotel had he not been with Min-Jin when she received that call.
Taking a deep breath, he stood up and calmed himself down.
"You should tell her the truth, Father."
Gabriel frowned at his words and clearly hesitated.
"She might hate you after learning the truth, but at least she would know that she does have a family and that her father had not abandoned her and her mother. Maybe this is exactly what she needs to feel safer and more confident in her existence."
"I agree, Gabriel. Tell her the truth or I will do it myself. I am not going to let you keep her in the dark," said Maria.
Seeing him not react, Mikael picked up his phone and called the girl.
"Boss."
"Come to my Study."
"Yes."
A few minutes later, a knock came, and Anaiah led Alison inside the room since she did not know where the Study was.
Both girls were confused when they saw how Gabriel was sitting there, looking quite unsettled.
"Come, sit with me." Maria smiled at the girls, and both came to sit on either side of her.
Mikael did not want to see tears, so he picked up the pack of cigarettes and left the room.
He walked out and sat on the steps of the front door of the house, looking at the dark and cloudy sky, which rumbled from time to time, and there were flashes of lightning as well.
The wind ruffled his hair and clothes and made his cigarettes burn faster, and when he smoked half a dozen of them, his sharp sense of hearing picked up the sound of his Study door opening.
It was Gabriel who had left the room, and Anaiah followed him.
His father walked past him as he entered the car that came to pick him up, and Mikael watched the line of cars leave the gate to head to the Zarayne Manor.
"How is she?" He knew Alison was devastated, but still asked Anaiah, who sat next to him and hugged his arm, sobbing at what she had just learned.
"She's broken."
"Hmm..." He sighed and put out the cigarette, knowing well that Anaiah hated them, and the two sat in silence there for a good half an hour before Raeya and Klara came looking for them.
"Who is in the Study? The door is locked from inside." The older twin curiously asked, but when she came in front of them and saw their expressions, especially Anaiah's, where tear stains were still visible on her face, she became worried. "What is wrong?"
"Nothing," Mikael told her, and then smiled and asked the girls to sit with them.
Since neither of them spoke, the twins did not ask another question, understanding that they were not in the right mood.
"Aunt Lu once told us that you never brought your girls to the Villa." Raeya tried to liven up the atmosphere. "Guess she was wrong."
"I don't. Not the girls I don't want to see the second time."
"Oh, so you plan on keeping Min-Jin, Ginny, and Alison with you all your life?" She narrowed her eyes and coldly asked, and was confused when Anaiah sent her a glare.
"Excuse me." The little Miss Zarayne said and stood up to leave, and this made the twins feel very awkward.
"You should be mindful of your words in front of her, Rae. She respects and loves me a lot," Mikael gently told her.
"Loves you?" She narrowed her eyes.
"You asked me why my Aunt gave me the Redline Securities, right? The truth is that Anaiah and I are going to get married in the future. She is being mentored by my mother, and after her, she will lead the Zarayne Conglomerate. So, Redline Securities will pass down to our children." He lightly said, and though the girls were surprised, they were not too surprised.
Anaiah had always been a little too close to Mikael, and she was the only girl in the world who could make Raeya feel jealous and threatened. And the reason was that she could see that her husband cared for his cousin a lot.
He even killed the boy who had slandered Anaiah after she had rejected him. Then again, that boy deserved it after the nonsense he kept spouting to the people.
Everyone knew that it was Mikael who was behind that boy's disappearance, but there were no clues or evidence. And since that day, no male had ever dared approach the little lady of the Zarayne Family, much less say something ill about her.
And now, Mikael had openly acknowledged to them that Anaiah and he were engaged.
Raeya stood up and clenched her fist.
"Mikael. Do not forget that I am your wife."
"You do not need to remind me of that." He narrowed his eyes at her, and seeing the coldness, she gritted her teeth.
"I will tolerate Anaiah, but if I ever happen to hear you say that you want to officially marry someone whom I do not consider an equal to me and Klara, I will take it as a disrespect towards us. And that will be the end of our relationship." She warned, clearly furious at him and breathing unevenly. "I am not just the daughter of the Albonn Family. I am much more than that. So, do not make me force you to respect me and my sister. Do not hide anything like this again!"
She marched inside the house after leaving the warning, and Mikael helplessly smiled.
"She did not say those words out of anger, Mikael. She means them." Klara sighed and wanted to get up, but he grabbed her hand and made her sit close to him.
"Do you think I will ever disrespect you?" he asked her, looking right into her eyes, and her face burned up in a blush.
"Most women would consider you disrespectful for what you are already doing. You are married and have extramarital affairs."
"Keeping mistresses is not illegal. It is the culture of the part of the society where we belong." He smiled.
"Doesn't make it right. Women are no less possessive than men are, and the women who are completely okay with sharing their spouse are rare."
"Do you mind me having mistresses?" he asked.
"Yes," she straightforwardly answered. "However, I understand that it is who you are. Lustful, selfish, vain, and greedy. You are not a man who can stay loyal to his wives. At least, not physically. You are a scum."
"Ouch." He chuckled.
"But you have good qualities too. So, I can tolerate your affairs as long as you do not blatantly disrespect me or make me feel that you do not care about me being your wife. I also do not want you to feel that you are trapped and lose your charm and smile, because if you are not happy, you will not be able to keep anyone around you happy." She softly said, and Mikael was stunned when she raised her neck and planted a kiss on his forehead. "I never said thank you to you."
"For what?"
"For saving me." She smiled and then lowered her head when his lips reached for her forehead.
"You are welcome. Here, take this." He reached inside his pocket and took a pill bottle, inside which two ping-pong-sized pills were placed.
"What's this?" She frowned and opened the cap to take a whiff.
"Marrow Quenching Pills of the best quality."
As soon as she heard what these pills were, she looked at him in shock.
"Take one before taking a shower tonight, and the other is for Raeya."
"You should..."
"I do not need them. They are for you," he gently said to her.
Klara smiled at him after those words and then hugged him.
"Thank you!"