While the house was bustling with activity even though it was already squeaky clean, a black car with tinted glasses drove in. It got the attention of everyone working in Lunch mansion, Madam Lu stared out through her window, a dark smile appeared on her lips as she saw the men that stepped out of the car.
All four of them carried and aura around them, just one look and one would know that they were men of authority. The older man with grey hair stood tall and rigid, his three sons followed behind him.
When they stepped into the house, all the servants stopped their activities and formed a neat line, their eyes down, not because they were asked to but because of the fear they had for the men.
With her thicker making up caked on her face, Madam Lu walked down the stairs excitedly after instructing her daughters to follow behind her shortly after.
"Welcome General Duan" Madam Clara greeted with a huge smile on her face, as evening came, the family arrived not a second late.
Madam Clara admired the god like looks of the three men behind the general but her brows creased in confusion
"General, I thought you only had two sons"
The General glanced at the men at his back, a smile appeared on his lips as he walked towards the man with no emotion on his face
"This is our head of guard, he is the head and the trainer of all our bodyguards and men, he is also my trusted assistant"
Madam Clara was shocked, the General's men were no joke when it comes to strength and yet such a young man had trained them all!
The man bowed at madam Clara not a single emotion could be seen through his cold eyes.
"This are my sons, Li Chen and Su Chen" he pointed at the identical twins that looked like complete opposites considering the fact that one was blonde and the other was a brunette, the blonde had a bright smile on his face "… and this young man here is Dylan" The General said filled with pride.
"Oh, welcome young masters and Mr. Dylan, it is an honor to have you all at my house today" Madam Luv knew how to sweet talk, she planned to use it her advantage for the next week, her daughters' engagements hadn't been set in stone yet but she would make sure that by the end of the week, they would be planning a wedding.
All three of them bowed at the young madam respectfully before walking in.
"So when do we get to meet the hot ladies?"
The old madam halted in her steps in surprise, how could the General's son say such a thing?
"Su Chen!, watch your tongue!" Li Chen warned, despite being identical twins, their characters were so different from each other.
While Su Chen was carefree and lively, Li Chen was reserved and elegant. The brothers were so different but it didn't stop them from being prominent men in the country.
"What did I say wrong?" Su Chen shrugs as he leaves the rest of his family standing by the door and walks in.
Madam Clara coughed lightly to ease the awkward atmosphere
"My daughters are in their rooms getting ready, you will meet them soon" She said with a soft smile.
The men followed behind her, after being shown their rooms where they would spend the rest of the week, they were led to the dining room.
"These are my daughters" Madam Clara said filled with pride, her daughters were really beautiful and there was no way the General's sons or any other man would be able to look the other way.
"This is Lily and Rose"
Yep, she named both her daughters after flowers, and both of them did look extremely fragile as flowers.
Madam observed the reaction of the men, she could see them taking second glances, it made her extremely satisfied but yet the reaction of the General's right hand man irked her. He didn't even raise his head to stare at them, and when he did he continue to stare like they were walls he had to look at.
"Oh God, she named them after flowers…" Su Chen elbowed Dylan's rib.
"Behave…" Dylan said under his breath and tried his best not to snap at the scents of perfume the mother and daughters had bathed in.
Dinner was served not long after the introductions, the atmosphere was lively and everyone was smiling
"But I heard Mr. Lu has another daughter, why isn't she here?" The general asked, everyone knew about Lu Zhang's illegitimate daughter and how much he treasured her but that was the stories the outsiders knew…
Madam Clara's expression soon changed, she was having such a good time and they just had to mention that useless idiot! She would not let the b*tch ruin her mood!
She forced a smile "She is not really a people person and she usually likes to just sit on her 'wheel chair' quietly" Madam Clara emphasized on the wheel chair part or her words. The general's eyes narrowed as he noticed how she quickly dismissed the topic. The disdain in her eyes didn't go unnoticed by any of the men on the table but they didn't say a word about it, it seemed like there was more to the rumors that were going around in the society circles. They all feigned loss of interest and changed the topic.
...
"Young miss, are you sure you won't go and have dinner or at least greet the general? "
Anna's fingers stopped moving, she looked at Janet, a million thoughts going through her head. She didn't have to join them, it wasn't like she was part of the family or anything.
"My step mother would have already come up with an excuse as to why I'm not there so don't worry"
"But still, young miss…"
"Just forget it!" Anna replied a little harsher than she meant to.
Anna let out a sigh and stared at the piano, her mother was the person who taught her to play, they were always so happy when they were in this room…Anna kept wondering what went wrong. Her mother always brought her here whenever she was bored, hurt or depressed.
Her mother was the person that made her fall in love with these keys, the tunes, the melodies.
Anna realized how lonely she was, despite the fact that Janet was always with her, she couldn't tell her feelings to her because either ways, Janet was hired by Madam Clara, she couldn't trust her and even though she funds out she can trust her…she was afraid of trusting, like she trusted her mother or her father when he told her he was bringing her into a better and happier life than the one she was used to in the small village she grew up in.
"I'm sleepy, Janet, I will like to go to bed now''
Anna moved past Janet and since she didn't want to bump into her step mother or sisters, she took the back door and headed straight to her room, she heard voices from the dining room, laughter…mostly her sisters' loud obnoxious and irritating voices. She kind of pitied the men who wanted to marry her sisters.
After being tucked in by Janet, Anna said a silent prayer to who ever would listen then she fell asleep.
"Please let me die…" she has whispered.
That night she dreamt of her mother and the last words she said to her the last time she saw her alive
"Your father has another family, he wants to take you away from me to them"
"But why would he do that?, don't want to leave you mom" Anna asked still shocked by the news
Her mother looked at her "No matter what, I will always be here for you, you are my, my daughter and I won't let anyone take you away from me!"
Anna smiled unconsciously in her sleep but deep down she knew it was another promise that her mother never kept.
.
That same night, Dylan took a walk to the lake behind the mansion and sat there for quite some time. He stared into the water lost in thought. He really was regretting following the general and his sons to this house. It was filled with fake and superficial women who couldn't even act coy to save their lives.
It disgusted him, it brought back memories he hated, memories he wanted to forget.
Women…he hated them, they were all the same. They used men, destroyed them, not caring about the latter's feelings or how much they would lose.
Men give their all for love but women always have a plan b…he knew all about it. He put all of his trust in her and yet she betrayed him and now the sight of every woman made him feel disgusted, he would never love or trust again!