Today, Damien and I are going to meet my parents.
The gift I received still bugs me but I don't know who should I ask.
Fortunately, Damien didn't ask me further about the gift.
He must've noticed that I looked uncomfortable.
"Are you ready? It's been so long since you last saw your parents..." Damien said, hugging me from behind.
I smiled and gave him a head pat, "I'm actually nervous but... You're by my side so I'm not scared at all." I replied.
I wore a thick coat to hide my belly. I don't know who would be attending today, I cannot be carefree and show my baby bump to them.
I don't want to put Dylan in a position where I have to be anxious about how I move or eat.
Damien drove to the address that my parents sent me.
As soon as we stood at the door everyone welcomed and assisted us, "This way please, gentlemen."
We followed the waiter and he led us into a private room.
The door opened and as soon as I looked inside, I saw my parents looking at us while crossing their arms and legs.
We sat down at the table but everyone kept quiet which made the whole situation awkward.
"It's been a while since I've seen you mother, you still look as pretty as before," I said.
My mother looked away from me and pouted but she answered me in a few seconds, "Then you should have visited us sooner." My mother whined.
"Mom... Dad... This is Damien, he is my husband." I said and pointed to Damien.
Dad looked at Damien angrily and said, "How much do you want to stay away from my son?" Dad offered.
"D-dad!" I exclaimed, slamming my hands on the table.
Damien chuckled and looked at my dad with a charming smile, "I'm afraid that your son is priceless." He replied.
"Hmm.. that's true. Then... I'm against this relationship! Stay away from my son!" Dad exclaimed.
"Dad!!!" I exclaimed but dad wasn't listening to me at all.
Damien kept his smile and respectfully answered him, "I'm afraid that you are 8 years late." He replied.
"We cannot have someone like you be with our son, you are not good enough." Father continued.
"Mom! Say something to dad!" I whined.
"But dear... Your dad is right." Mom replied, tangling her hands in dad's arms.
"He can't leave me!" I exclaimed.
I took off my jacket and showed them my baby bump, "I have his child!" I exclaimed.
Dad held his nape as if he was about to pass out while mom quickly smiled at Damien.
"Oh my... You should have told us sooner, we wouldn't have tried to break you off. So are you my son-in-law?" My mom said to Damien.
Her change of treatment of people is almost scary.
"Your brother did tell me that you became an omega but I didn't expect you to be pregnant... How many months old is the baby?" Mom asked with a smile.
"He is 5 months old... He is a boy and we decided to call him Dylan..."
"A boy-- Dear... Should we name their child the heir?" Mom asked dad.
"Hmm... you're right, I think we should do that," Dad said proudly.
"STOP! STOP!" I exclaimed.
"No one wants your company. I want to live a peaceful life!" I exclaimed.
Mom and dad were busy chattering with Damien so I excused myself and went to the restroom
I was about to go back to the private room when I saw a glimpse of Lennox running.
I ran outside and looked around and saw him running I quickly rushed to the alley and pulled him.
I covered his mouth and looked out to see if the people chasing him are still there.
When I thought that we were safe, I quickly let go of him and realized that he was trembling.
He got on his knees and begged me, "I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry so please let me go. I-I didn't mean to hurt you s-so please tell your brother to let me go." He stammered.
Grasping my pants in desperation.
I helped him up and saw the scars on his face, "Who in the world did this to you?!" I exclaimed.
"Follow me," I said and grabbed his hands.
We exchanged coats and I gave him my hat.
I escorted him to my car and hid him in the passenger seat, "Wait here. If you see someone approaching you, duck and hide immediately. I will be back. Don't try to escape if you don't want to die." I said and immediately ran to the restaurant.
I was on my way inside when a group of men stopped me.
As soon as I looked at them, one came flying to the ground.
"You shouldn't touch someone thoughtlessly you know." I looked behind me and saw Brother Sven.
As soon as they saw him they immediately ran away.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Brother Sven asked, looking at me from head to toe.
"Ew, what's that? This is why I told you alcohol is not good for you." He continued while looking at my belly.
"THIS ISN'T BEER BELLY! I'M PREGNANT!" I exclaimed.
"Whatever." He said and continued walking to the restaurant.
I catch on to his phase and followed him inside.
As soon as we opened the door, Damien stood in front of us, "Damien..." I said in a low tone of voice.
"We've been waiting for 20 minutes but you didn't come... What happened to your coat?" He asked.
I realized that I made a mistake and wore Lennox's coat instead so I quickly thought of excuses
.
"I... I left it in the car and changed." I replied awkwardly.
"Sven... You're here." Father said.
Brother Sven sat in front of dad so I grabbed Dylan to sit back as well.
"You're pretty chill for someone who tasked his son to trample a whole company." Brother Sven scorned.
"Trample? Whom did you mess with?" I asked.
My father sighed and sipped his tea, "They dared to mess with a Valerian so they ought to be taught a lesson." Father replied coldly.
"I even sent you a gift, didn't you like it? Your dear brother avenged you." Brother Sven said with a wicked smile.
I was wondering why FZ Group suddenly went into chaos. It turns out my brother had something to do with it.
I underestimated his craziness.
Even when we were a child... He was always extreme to those who treated me badly.
How could I forget my crazy brother...
I looked at Damien and showed my discomfort, he immediately understood and excused us, "I'm sorry, but it seems like Noir is not feeling well. We will visit you again soon but we have to go home. I apologize." He said.
"Me too. I have work to do. I'll visit Noir some other time." Brother Sven said and stood up.
"That is not good. Go home quickly... And you Sven! Get back on your seat." Mother said.
Brother rolled his eyes and got back in his seat.
We left first and as soon as we got outside, I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Did something happen? Your clothes look beaten up." Damien remarked.
I pulled Damien into a quiet place and looked around to make sure that we were alone, "I'll explain at home. But... Lennox is in the car and we have to go home fast!" I said.
Damien honored my words and drove quietly. I called brother Nine to tell him what was going on so he could help.
[ Brother Nine ]
BN: Hello?
: Hello? Brother! Can you hear me?
BN: Noir... What's going on?
: You studied medicine, didn't you? I need you to go to my penthouse and bring a first aid kit.
BN: Were you hurt? Hold up! I'm going there!
*Beep beep beep*
We're in the penthouse and we waited for brother Nine.
I let Lennox sit on the sofa and brought him some food to eat.
Brother Nine burst through the door together with Sasha.
"What happened?! Were you hurt?" Brother Nine panicked.
"Not me but... Him..." I said and pointed to Lennox.
Brother Nine treated Lennox's wounds and injuries and started to ask him.
"That crazy bastard Sven... Did he do this to you?" Brother Nine asked, shaking in anger.
"N-No! This is the wound I got from running away from my family... S-sir Sven didn't do this to me." Lennox replied.
Lennox looked at me and said, "I'm sorry... But may I talk to you alone?" He asked.
When brother Nine finished treating him, Lennox and I went to the guestroom to talk.
"I'm sure you wanted to be alone with me because there is something important that you wanted to talk about," I said.
Lennox quickly ran to the toilet and vomited. I was horrified as a hunch came up to me.
"Lennox... Are you pregnant?" I asked.
He looked at me with a horrified expression written all over his face.
Lennox clenched his fist and pursed his lips, "Don't ask me about the child... I... I need your help." He cried.
"Your wounds... Who did this to you?" I asked.
"My... My parents... They sold me to your family in order to appease the anger of your father... When they realized that I have no value to your family... They ordered their people to hunt me. If I go out there without your help. They'll kill me! So, please... Please save me." Lennox cried, kneeling in front of me and trembling.
I got on my knees and hugged him to comfort him.
I helped him up and walked him to bed, "Even if you get out of here, You can't guarantee that you'll live. Even if you leave the country... They'll surely find you."
Lennox just cried helplessly and covered his face. I touched held his hand and tried to console him.
"You may stay here until everything is settled. I will protect you in this mess." I promised.
After an hour of consoling Lennox, he finally fell asleep.
I went back outside and saw everyone waiting for me.
"What happened?" Damien asked, running to embrace me.
We sat at the dining table.
I was facing my brother while Damien was facing Sasha.
I breathe deeply before telling them the news.
"Lennox is pregnant," I said.
"So what? He isn't our problem. You should explain why did you bring him here." Brother Nine replied halfheartedly.
"Brother Sven could be the father of his child," I said.
Brother Nine spat his drink and coughed excessively.
"W-What in the world is that crazy bastard thinking?!" Brother Nine exclaimed.
Luckily all the walls are soundproof. If not, Lennox would've been woken up.
"I'm not sure yet but it is just my guess. We would need more information to be sure."
"Let's keep this for ourselves now." Sasha proposed.
"What Sasha said is true... Let's keep it to ourselves for now until everything is quiet again." I said.
"It seems like the both of you have a lot to discuss, we'll leave the both of you to talk. " Sasha said and left with Brother Nine.
When Damien and I are finally alone, I decided to talk to him, "There's a lot that I want to tell you... Shall we go upstairs?"
We went to our bedroom and sat on the bed.
Damien waited for me to explain patiently.
"I don't know how to start this but... Let's go back to when I was a child."
I told Damien the story about my childhood and he listened to me patiently.
"We were the 3 sons of the richest man in our neighborhood..."
[Flashback]
"You're the son of the most respected man in this neighborhood, you ought to act like one! Tch, why should I teach a defective child? You're sickly and don't even have any talent. I would've been happier if I taught either Young Master Nine or Young Master Sven." My tutor scolded.
I went back to our mansion looking down, but as soon as I saw my brothers running towards me I smiled as brightly as possible.
But... They're my brothers. They know me more than anyone else, "Noir... Is something wrong?" Brother Nine asked.
"N-nothing..." I replied.
Brother Sven held my cheeks and raised my head, "Liar," he said.
Since lying to my brothers was useless, I decided to tell them a part of how I felt.
"I wish I was as talented in baking and medicine as Brother Nine or as genius as Brother Sven... If I am a little useful... Father would tell me he's proud of me."
My brothers played with me like usual so I thought nothing will change but...
When the morning came, my tutor came to find me.
"I apologized for speaking that way to you yesterday. I-I hope you'll forgive me."
Ever since then, every time that I tell my brothers about the people who bullied me, those people would come to me the next morning to apologize. Then... I'll never see them again.
I understood that my brothers are only looking out for me because I was their sickly little brother.
I was weak and inferior to them so it was normal that they would protect me.
That's what I thought...
But... When I woke up from our reality, I've seen the dark side of our family.
I wasn't simply "sick" I was sick because there is someone who is making me sick.
Our relatives would send spies, poisons, and people to harm us.
The reason why I didn't know was merely because my brothers are protecting me.
I realized how powerless I was and lived under my family's protection in the years that followed.
[End Of Flashback]
"That was until I ran away from home to marry you."
"Ever since then, the threats in my life disappeared along with my childhood."
Damien put me in his lap and kissed my forehead, "I didn't know you went through that." He said.
"It is something that I do not want you to know..." I replied.
After telling Damien my story, he started to space out but every time I ask him why he would just smile and say it is nothing.
"You should go to sleep now, I'll read some books and sleep with you." He said and kissed my lips goodnight.
"Goodnight," I said.
"Goodnight." He replied.