The Winter’s Family

Shortly after the whole fiasco at breakfast, Lyla had gone back to her room. She couldn't even remember the last time she had felt so frustrated. Nothing was going as she planned. She was supposed to be respected but that horrible housekeeper refused to acknowledge her. That old hag had definitely ruined their food on purpose. There was no doubt about that.

When Lyla first met Derek and heard about the contract, she was thrilled. She wholeheartedly believed that it would give her the perfect opportunity to seduce a rich young man and make all her dreams come true. However nothing like that was happening. All her attempts at seduction had been ignored. She couldn't imagine how such a thing was possible.

While it was true that she was receiving a lot of money, that wasn't nearly enough for Lyla. Getting married and living with a successful business man was supposed to give her unending benefits and yet it didn't. What else could she do? The only one that seemed content with the situation was Aiden. That fact alone was enough to cause endless irritation for Lyla.

She hated her nephew almost as much as she had hated his mother. Lyla's sister was always considered the perfect child. It wasn't until she suddenly announced to the family that she was pregnant that their parents disapproved of her. They demanded that she abort the child or be disowned but she refused to give up the baby. True to their words, they disowned her and Lyla thought things were finally looking up.

However, just because they no longer had the perfect child didn't mean her parents paid any attention to her. Lyla was considered a lost cause from an early age and nothing would change that.

Soon after Aiden was born, Lyla's sister died. When her parents heard the news, their father had a stroke and ended up in a wheelchair while their mother had a heart attack and passed away. After his wife died, Lyla's father didn't have it in him anymore to care about anything and he retired to the countryside.

When things had finally settled down, a lawyer that worked for her sister showed up. He said that she was the last relative capable of looking after Aiden and that she should become his guardian. She was about to adamantly refuse but then she heard about the child's inheritance. She thought it would be easy to get the money so she agreed to take him in. However, soon after she realized that she wouldn't get a single cent out of it.

She immediately tried to send Aiden to foster care but who would have known that Lyla's father wouldn't let that happen. He contacted her again only to warn her that if she sent the child away she would be taken out of his will. She was stuck with him.

Lyla frowned. She didn't want to think about all of that anymore. Besides, she had to come up with a way to trap Derek. If she couldn't seduce him, she'd have to think of something else. But what?

At the same time, Spencer stormed into his room and slammed the door shut in a rage. His expression was ugly and he angrily paced the room, occasionally kicking things as he passed. He could still taste the salt in his mouth which only fuelled his anger.

"How dare she? She's just the help! Argh!" He stopped walking and slammed both his hands on the bed, breathing heavily and clenching his teeth. "And Aiden. He dares to threaten me? He dares to laugh?! That bastard!" Then, there was a knock on the door. "What?!" The door opened and Becca walked in.

"Stop shouting, you idiot."

"Now is not the time to mess with me Becca." Spencer glared at her. She rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm so scared. Anyway, if Aiden's bothering you just do something about it instead of screaming and whining like a child throwing a tantrum."

"Don't you think I would've tried that by now? If you're not going to say something useful then get the hell out!"

"Oh my gosh! Do I always have to think for you? This is why you're an idiot. All the things you tried before were obviously going to fail. But, it's different now." Spencer looked confused.

"What's different?"

"What do you have now that you didn't have before?" A few moments of silence passed.

"Uh, I don't know." He shrugged.

"Really? It's money! You have money, you moron! You tried to beat him up before but got your ass kicked instead. So, just get other people to do it for you. Aiden may be able to fight, but there's no way he could go against multiple opponents and still be fine. Just pay some gangsters to beat him for you." Becca crossed her arms. "Or are you not even capable of that?"

"That's…" Spencer's eyes widened. Why hadn't he thought of that before? He didn't have to deal with that bastard directly as long as Aiden learned his place. He grinned. "Yeah! I'll have them record it too. That way I can see his face when he begs me to forgive him." Spencer was desperate to get back at Aiden for an incident that happened a few years prior.

Ever since the three cousins started school, Aiden had always out done him. Spencer was terrible at studying but Aiden was at the top of the class. Aiden was also better at sports than him even though he always looked weak and girly in Spencer's eyes. It wasn't only Spencer who felt that way either. A lot of the boys were angry that they weren't as good as Aiden and eventually their resentment turned into bullying.

For the most part, Aiden put up with it and ignored them but as they all got older, things began to get worse. It was then that Spencer had tried to beat up Aiden in order to show off to his friends but his plan backfired. Instead of Aiden getting hurt, it was Spencer who lost the fight. Even worse than that, he never even managed to land a single hit on Aiden. Ever since then, Spencer was determined to turn the tables but he never could.

"Just make sure to wait for the right moment or you'll screw it up again." Becca didn't wait for Spencer to say anymore and she left the room and went back to her own. It was nine in the morning and instead of sleeping, she was woken up by all the yelling. Thinking of Spencer, she mumbled, "Dumbass." Becca was never the smartest but the level of stupidity her brother had was ridiculous. However, she could understand why he was angry. After all, she despised Aiden too. Although, not for the same reasons.

If Aiden had been like every other guy she knew, it would have been fine. She probably wouldn't have cared one way or the other about him living with them. She could've just ignored him like she ignores all of the other unworthy people. What she couldn't accept was the fact that he was more attractive than she was. Even when they were younger, he had always been praised more. When strangers saw Becca for the first time they always complimented her looks. When she was little they called her cute and when she got older they called her pretty. However, Aiden would always be the one in the spotlight as soon as he showed up.

People would gasp when they saw him. They used words like "adorable" and "gorgeous". Some people were speechless and others even asked if they could take pictures. PICTURES! Becca couldn't stand it. The adorable one was her. The gorgeous one was her. It had to be her! She spent hours putting on makeup, styling her hair, and picking out the perfect clothes. All of that so she would look perfect all the time. But Aiden didn't even have to try. He could just wake up in the morning and people would fawn over his looks. It wasn't fair!

Due to the jealousy that she would never admit, Becca did everything she could to ruin Aiden. She caused problems between him and everyone around him. She'd start rumors, she'd lie to her mother, she even tried to get him sent away to boarding school but her mother said they couldn't afford it. No matter what she tried though, Aiden never suffered enough to make Becca feel better.

That was why she gave Spencer the idea of hiring gangsters. He would never come up with that idea on his own, after all. He was too stupid. But, if Aiden was beaten badly enough, he might even end up scarred and disfigured. That would be the best so helping Spencer would be worth it. Thinking of that, Becca smiled a soft smile that didn't match her disturbing thoughts.