The whole family 6

"Anna?"

Aiden rose a brow and narrowed his eyes as his gaze moved between Lilith and Martha, the two people he didn't wish to see. She probably went to look for him at his house before coming here for them to tag along.

Seeing the displeased look on her brothers face as he stared at the elderly woman and the other, Anna quickly hurried to explain.

"They heard you were in the hospital, so they wanted to come. Martha was worried, too."

"I'm not the one who's sick." He retorted,

"Kai!" Lilith called in a small sad voice and quickly rushed to the boy, enveloping him in a careful hug so he wouldn't hurt.

"Hands off Lilith." Vladimir warned casually. Of course the threats didn't stop at Aiden... they didn't trust Lilith too, she was a mermaid and as his brother, they could see how she looked at Kai so they had to keep her in check. Sure they were friends, they could hang out and she could take care of him but crossing the line they drew was a big NO. Knowing better, Lilith let go of Kai and straightened her back but still stood close, analysing his current condition with a worried look,

"I'm glad you're okay," she placed a small kiss on his forehead and Kai smiled. He then turned to Aiden with his smile still intact.

"Aiden," he called and the young master quickly fixed the scowl that appeared on his face when Lilith walked up to kai.

"who's that? She looks so much like you and she's also pretty!" Kai attempted a whisper with a bright gaze directed at Anna. What was this cute reaction about? She was basically the walking female version of him so what was so special about it anyway, Aiden pouted.

Hearing the whispered compliment, Anna smiled and placed her hand on her chest as if she was deeply touched by it,

"Oh, thank you sweetie," she curtseyed and walked into the room with elegant steps and a straight back and Martha followed behind.

Seeing the unfamiliar person striding to where Kai laid, Vance quickly stepped forward, obstructing her way

"What do you want?" He had a deep scowl on his face as he stared at her as if warning her to keep her distance.

"I just came to see my dear brother over there." She glanced over Vance's shoulder at Aiden who had broken into a cold sweat. Having a conversation with Anna now, she'd just ask him about what had transpired between he and his father and that wasn't a conversation he'd like to have but alas, it was inevitable. He turned to Kai and ruffled his blonde hair with a small smile,

"I'll be right back. Okay?" He informed and the merman nodded with a small smile. He pecked Kai on his lips and shot Lilith a sharp glare to let her know her place. He then followed behind Anna out to the waiting area.

"How did you know I was here? The last time I checked you were in the Philippines." He folded his arms across his chest and awaited the reply.

"I came back and I got a call from Erica saying your lover was kidnapped and you were at the hospital. I told her to inform me if you ever get into trouble." Damn that family doctor and not giving someone their privacy.

"I didn't get into trouble."

"Oh really? Then what did father talk to you about the day he called?" Anna cocked her head to the side,

"I'm taking over the company for the time being. He's going to Hong Kong for his treatment." Aiden was silent for a second without saying anything and Anna could sense what was going on in his head

"Don't you even think of lying to me." She warned and Aiden sighed,

"He said found out about Kai, okay?"

"What? How did he find out?"

"He said a business client he met with mentioned it to him and Kai's brothers said they met with dad so I assumed they were the clients dad was talking about." Aiden explained casual and took a seat on one of the waiting room chairs.

"No. The client dad spoke of was inex's CEO. That means they probably went together for them to have the whole idea."

"Why would dad have anything to do with inex?"

"Inex bought the sea portion of the hotel so they have to work together now."

"Why would they do that? And why would dad even agree to do something like that? He's never broke anyway so it can't be because of the money." Aiden wondered what the two brothers were planning by doing something like this. It was impromptu and felt uncalled for. Since he had to run the multiple business from the next month, that meant he had to see a lot of them and inex's CEO... how frustrating.

"He owns a share of the new casino hotel... it's just business."

Business or not. Was it because he had taken Kai from the sea that they would go as far as buying the whole beach?

"What are the rule of the beach now?"

"Just no late night dives starting from ten pm."

That confirmed it... it was because of what had happened. It was at midnight Kai was caught in the net so if people were gone by ten pm sharp, there'd be no threat. Damn, does mermen really knew their game.

Anna sighed and stared at Aiden with a worried expression before she continued,

"What did dad tell you about the boy? He sounded really calm when he asked me about it the other day. So what was the catch?"

This was the topic he didn't want to talk about and she just had to bring it back up.

"He said he doesn't care what I do," he casually shrugged his shoulders and slid his hand into his pocket, "Under the condition that I'd marry Naomi specifically and give him a male heir when the time comes."

"What about your boyfriend?"

Aiden glanced up at his sister and rose a brow,

"What about him?"

"Don't you think he has the right to know the conditions you agreed to if he wants to stay with you?"

"I don't think there's a reason he should know about it."... at least not yet. Kai was protective of him so he wanted to use that to his advantage... if he wanted to make sure they'd be together for life, he had to play some cards even if it meant deceiving him,

"This was planned ever since you guys were kids and you even agreed to it then. You know how she feels about you too so how can you just have a child with her just to please dad and just leave her like that."

"Who said anything about having a child with Naomi? I just told you that was dad's catch."

"What? You're rebelling now? What's wrong with you? I can't believe his brothers let him be with you."

"Of course they didn't agree. Their doing it for his sake. Kai doesn't want to leave so they let him stay."

"Aiden come back to your senses. What you're doing will only hurt Kai,"

"I'll take care of it so you don't have to worry."

Aiden stood up from the chair and was about to head back to Kai's hospital room when Anna drew back his attention,

"Lilith... the girl with the purple hair... she said she has a thing going on with him and you're just in the way, Martha's in on separating you two too.

"Lilith doesn't know what she's talking about besides she's leaving soon..." She was bound to do something stupid to keep Kai next to her or take him with her despite his brothers agreeing so he would just wait this one out. Kai would be the one to send her off.

"... and as for Martha, I happen to like her substitute more so I won't be needing her assistance anymore."

"Your firing her? She's been there all our life."

"I'm simply giving her an early retirement. She'd just be in the way of me and Kai anyway... I don't want that in my home."

He turned to leave again but soon remembered something and turned back to his sister.

"By the way, why did you come back?"

"I'm getting married." She let out a small smile. Anna was already a successful woman so it was about time she settled down to have her own family.

Aiden smiled at this information. "Congratulations. I'm sure you'll be very busy from now on, won't you?"

"Yeah. So don't come onto me with your love problems cause I've got enough on my plate already, got it?"

The young master nodded.

"Dad agreed?"

"Mom did. She'll persuade him anyway so there's no problem."

Aiden nodded again with a smile,

"I'll be leaving then." Anna informed,

"Hold on. Take Martha with you. I don't need her anymore so she might as well take care of your child, don't you think?"

"That won't be a bad idea." The young mistress smiled and followed Aiden back to Kai's hospital room.

When they walked in, Kai was seated on the foot of the bed and the family doctor, Erica was by his side and had already removed the IV drip from his arm. She wiped the spot the needle was injected in with a damp cotton to stop the tiny bleeding and when she saw Anna walk in, she smiled at her,

"Congratulations." She bowed slightly and Anna smiled back but didn't dwell much on her, since Erica was done with removing the drip and gingerly walked out of the room to give the family privacy

"Martha," she called out to the elderly woman with a smile and Martha gave her all her attention, "how would you like to take care of me and my new family? Aiden suggested it and I think it's a good idea. You come take care of me before and after the wedding and even my children... what do you say to that?"

Martha was indeed shocked and yet overwhelmed by the thought of taking care of Anna's kids. It was a wonderful thought! And she would gladly accept the offer if it meant taking care of her grandchildren since Anna was like a daughter to her.

"Of course! I would love to!" She beamed and turned to Aiden who offered her a reassuring smile and she smiled back.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine without you aunt Martha." Kai beamed as well. Martha felt somehow played. She didn't know why he'd suggest such a thing but as of now it didn't matter to her because taking care of her children would be a dream.

"Well that is settled then. We'll take our leave now." Anna bowed and so did Martha before leaving the hospital room.

Kai then turned to his brothers who stared back at him intently,

"Aren't you two going back to your casino? We'd like to go back home since the doctor also said I could leave." Kai said nervously,

"We're off to meet Ilya, there's something we need to talk about." Vance responded and ruffled Kai's hair,

"If there's anything you need us for, you can come anytime." He then turned to Aiden and pulled him by his collar. "If anything happens to my brother, you're dead." With that, the twins walked out the door leaving Lilith inside with them.

"Wait, could you take Linda with you." Aiden called out but the brothers didn't pay him mind and slammed the door shut. He sighed. Lilith shot him another glare and Aiden shrugged seemingly unaffected. Kai stared at her for a second while picking on his nails nervously before he went on to say,

"Uhhm... Lilith... I've settled things with my brothers now so... you can go back home." He stuttered, finding it hard to send his best friend away.

"What? You're really gonna send me off like this?! I told you I'm not leaving without you." Kai sighed and pinched his nose bridge,

"Lilith we agreed on this, please don't make a scene."

Lilith didn't reply to Kai and instead turned to Aiden.

"Can we talk outside for a moment."

"Whatever you wanna say to him you can say it to me too." Kai interrupted, feeling somewhat threatened by the way she spoke. He didn't want to leave them alone. Lilith was cunning and always had things done her way... he didn't want to leave Aiden in the hands of someone like that.

"I'm the one who asked him to let you stay. He never even wanted to in the first place so there's nothing you can say to convince him." Now Kai had a small crease between his brows as he spoke and the young master smiled at this.

Even for Aiden, her pissed facial expression spelt bad news to him when she requested to talk but just to mess with the merman, he agreed to it either way because he knew this was going to be it...

"It's okay, Kai . I'll hear what she has to say and be back, okay?" Aiden gently stroked Kai's cheek with a reassuring smile and the latter nodded half heartedly.

Lilith and Aiden stepped out of the room and just stood In front of the door, since Aiden didn't want to go anywhere further, there weren't many people passing by anyway so it gave them some privacy,

"What is it you wanna talk about?" The young master had a foxy smile on his face that pissed the mermaid. She took a deep breath and closed the gap between them, slowly sliding her arms around Aiden's neck,

"You don't want to keep him with you do you? He'd just be a burden anyway," she said under her breath and carefully caressed his cheek with the back of her tanned hands. Aiden rose a brow, honestly confused and repulsed on what she was trying to do but he still remained unmoving wanting to see how this would end.

"He isn't a burden so if you don't mind, let go of me." Aiden rolled his eyes. Lilith glanced up at him with a smile of her own and Aiden immediately noticed that her eye colour had changed from the usual dark blue ones to a piercing and alluring shade of bright purple. It felt like it was pulling his soul away from his body and washing away his memories at the same time and yet... it was so addicting to look at...

"Don't you love me? Why do you need him when I'm here for you?"

Ah! There it was, the foolish thing she was bound to do.