Chapter Sixteen

LEO

 

"What did you just say?" I ask, confirming if my ears just deceived me.

 

"I said, let's have a baby." Erwin repeats himself, grinning broadly.

 

"L-Little nut don't tell me you guys are really gonna have a baby just, yet." Jules is bewildered, "You guys aren't married for even a month!"

 

"Looks like you have lost it along with your brother-in-law, Jules." I run an exasperated hand through my hair. "And why did you stop the car, Kevin?"

 

"S-Sorry!" He apologizes then restarts the car. 

 

"Why did I say something wrong? You are the one who said that you want a child." Erwin blinks, making my heart stop for a moment too.

 

I should go and see a doctor.

 

I exhale a deep breath, "Erwin, you are not wrong. I do want a baby but it is too soon for us to have one. We need to plan it out first and other than that…" I don't finish the last sentence as a wry look crosses my face. 

 

"What is it?" Jules and Erwin ask in unison then look at each other and give a small smile.

 

I shift Rita's position on my lap, "Well there still is a power struggle awaits for me to go through. I don't want my future child to see something ugly like that." I pinch Rita's cheeks as she grins at me widely, I smile back.

 

"Oh." Jules breaths as guilt surfaces in his face but Erwin's expression remains unreadable. Jules shifts a little in his seat, uncomfortable, "I am sorry I left it all to you."

 

"Hey, it's okay really." I assure him, "At least it helps me to get back at them for what they did." I sigh.

 

Everyone is silent in the car except Rita who is noisily fiddling with my locket.

 

How did it end up like this?

 

"What do you mean by: what they did to you in the past?" Erwin slowly asks after a few long moments of silence, his expression is indescribable.

 

"Well, this is a story for another day." I evade the question very obviously that everyone in the car gives me a look, except the little girl on my lap, oblivious of the world. "In any case, where do you plan to go next, Jules?" I speak to change the subject and I am successful at my attempt.

 

"Oh next?" Jules shifts to a position in the seat to face the back seats, color returning to his gloomy face as he says, "Alaska!"

 

***

 

After changing to some fresh clothes and dropping Jules and Rita to the Snow estate I go to my company. Though Rita threw a huge tantrum while parting ways with me, there's nothing I can do about it. I feel so bad for that poor baby that my heart aches every time I take him in my arms. How did an angel like her born to a devil like my sister?

 

Jessie Snow the eldest among my siblings. She is seven years older than me. An alpha but not a dominant one. And her pheromones are not that as well just like our father. She is pretty average to be an alpha in our family.

 

 Admittedly, our family is not that accomplished in producing dominants. But they are very good at producing alphas throughout the generations. Apparently there are two people who are dominants. And one of them is of course me and the other one is my second eldest brother, Leon Snow. My most formidable rival to the chairman's chair.

 

Although we are both dominant, we are treated completely opposite from each other. He is treated like the pride of our family and I am treated like the shame of our family. It wasn't always like that when we were kids.

 

Everyone was very certain that I would be an alpha too since there isn't a single omega in our generation. So it was all normal until I manifested as an omega. Everything changed drastically.

 

Jessie's behavior toward me worsened. It was still somewhat acceptable because we never got along that much to begin with. Why? Because she was jealous of me and Leon since we possessed some abilities, something that people called geniuses possessed. She still is jealous because of course we are still geniuses.

 

But what was inacceptable was my parents' behavior. They didn't like me all that much because they had that kind of look in their eyes whenever they saw me. My assumption is that I was an accident. This is why I grew up in my grandparents', far away from my siblings. But Jules and Leon occasionally came in to play with me and that made me really happy. However, after the fact that I am an omega came out, they sent me to a boarding school in Canada. That is where I first met Ruth. So, in other words they abandoned me. And who poisoned their heart even more was no other than my own eldest sister, Jessie Snow.

 

I got out of the boarding school at eighteen. And again start to live with the parents who abandoned me. I had no choice but to move in with them. Because Grandma was currently overseas for a very urgent business trip and my grandpa had passed away by that time. I had no other resort to turn to, so I went back to that house. But a few weeks later they kicked me out just because of a misunderstanding. No, it wasn't really a misunderstanding, they intentionally framed me. Even Leon too didn't believe me and slapped me across the face before throwing me out. I can't blame him for that alone though. Because he was deceived. But the slap he gave me didn't just make my cheek sting but my heart too. It hurts 'till to this day.

 

That time I think Jules was in China on his world tour, so I think he is still oblivious to this fact to this day. And I guess it wouldn't matter that much to him even if he knew about this shitty incident. 

 

After they threw me out I had nearly lost my mind. I didn't know where to go. What to do. How to survive this brutal world all by myself until my grandmother came back. That is the time when Ruth took me in. He helped me to recover from my mental instability. After my grandmother returned, she was enraged because of what happened to me.

 

And then this is when I think she made that will.

 

My grandpa was one of my favorite people in the world, so was I too for him. So when he died he left his shares of the company for me to inherit when I turned twenty, which equals to a total seventeen point three percent. It was when I made my first comeback to the company and to my family after I turned twenty and inherited my grandpa's shares.

 

By that time Jessie was married to Tina. A daughter of one of our shareholders. She was timed from the very beginning that fed off Jessie's inner poison until it exploded and rained down on her as unbearable betting and harassments. My grandma tried to help her after she learned about this but Tina was so afraid to open her mouth against Jessie, so it was all for naught.

 

And my whole family was shocked to the boot when they learned about my grandma's will six months ago from her personal lawyer. Because all her inheritance that amounts to a total twenty-four point six percent of shares is under my name. She left it all behind for me under some stupid conditions and we all know what they are.

 

Now if I think about it, I think almost every member of my family has banged their heads against a pillar when they learned about this will and how they dug their own graves over the years.

 

Knock. Knock.

 

A sudden knock in the door snaps me out of my dilemma.

 

"Come in." I straighten up in my seat as Kevin pushes through the door and comes up to my desk at the end of my office. "Did you need anything, Kevin?"

 

"Well, it is already lunch time, don't you think we should grab our lunches?" Kevin suggests.

 

"Is it already?" I check my wrist watch, "Yes, yes please." I get on my feet and tidy up my desk a little before going out for lunch.

 

Kevin starts to lead me toward the door but suddenly black dots fill my pinched vision and my head starts to spin. I halt, my ears buzzing. My breathing starts to become unsteady. The last thing I see before I hit the unforgiving cold ground is a blurry Kevin running toward me, maybe screaming my name too. And then everything turns dark.