The atmosphere inside the Albonn Manor was very solemn.
Grisha Albonn, mother to Raeya, Klara, and Stephen Albonn did not even dare to raise her head to meet her Father-in-Law's eyes.
The old man was sitting on his throne, his aged grey eyes as indifferent as ever, but inside them, unspeakable emotions passed.
His son, the Heir of the Albonn Family, Alastair Albonn, a man in his late forties, was pacing back and forth, his tall figure slumped, and anger visible on his face.
In the corner, a young boy of twelve years was sitting nervously, and on either side of him was an old lady, one was his maternal grandmother and the other was his paternal grandmother.
Other than them, there was the family of Alastair's younger brother, Edwin, and with him were his two wives. Next to them, on the sofa, were a pair of boys, half-brothers.
They were 14 and 13 years old, and they were just as nervous as Stephen.
"Master, the Young Misses are here. There are two female bodyguards with them, and there is a Driver in the SUV behind them. All Aurors and strong..." Suddenly, out of nowhere, an old man wearing the suit of a butler appeared in the room.
As soon as he finished his report, he left, and a few minutes later, they heard several pairs of steps approaching the lounge.
Despite her nervousness, the mother could not help herself and stood up, rushed to see her daughters, and when she finally laid eyes on them and both cheerfully hugged her, tears leaked out of her eyes.
"Okay, don't cry. Please..." Klara pleaded, but their mother kept holding them in her arms.
Raeya feigned nervousness as she looked at the members of her family, and shied her eyes away after meeting her grandfather's gaze.
"Why?"
Alexander Albonn straightforwardly asked, not beating around the bush, and his son, who was about to approach his daughters, stopped in his tracks.
Grisha immediately let go of her daughters and sadly looked at their faces.
"Be strong..." She whispered before she stepped aside, and her words gave Klara some strength to get a grip on her emotions.
"I love him, Grandpa..."
To the dismay of everyone in the room, except for the young boys, it was the younger twin who spoke those words.
She was always the more obedient and sensible of the two, and now, it seemed that they were all very wrong about her.
"Do you even know what kind of a boy he is?" Alastair coldly asked his daughter, and she furrowed her brows at his words, finding them quite hypocritical after all the evidence against him that she had read and seen.
"I know."
"Really?" He angrily smiled at her. "Then you must also know that his family is after our business and has been eyeing our wealth for the last three decades?"
"I am aware." She nodded her head and then raised her eyes to meet her Father's gaze. "I made sure that we signed a Prenuptial Agreement."
Both her parents frowned at her words, and her mother calmed down a lot.
"Show me." She demanded, and Klara, who had already sorted things out in the car, opened her phone and showed her the file that contained their Prenuptial Agreement.
Alastair looked over her shoulder as he read through all the clauses, and he was left stunned.
He could not even form words as the Agreement had been very well-drafted, not leaving any loopholes, and safeguarded the inheritance of both his daughters.
And not just her present assets, but also her future assets.
On the other hand, even though Mikael had protected his family assets as well, he had not put a clause on his personal assets, present or future.
It was almost as if his daughter was taking advantage of him.
However, both of them frowned when they looked at the clauses that concerned divorce.
Klara had given up her right to initiate a divorce, and after they went through the agreement, it was clear that the marriage could not be broken. At least, not within a few years, and not without an ugly battle in the court which would ruin the reputation of both families.
"Is everything okay?" Edwin, Klara's uncle, walked over and worriedly asked his brother, who sighed and handed him the phone to read through the file.
"Yours is the same?" He looked at Raeya and asked, and she nodded her head, offering him her phone.
Even though he believed her words, he still took it and went through the agreement, and only God knew how relieved he was right now.
"This is good." Edwin also took a sigh of relief but then confusedly looked at his nieces.
The only issue he saw was that both the sisters had married the same man, and he knew that such a thing could destroy the bond of sisterhood.
There were bound to be conflicts in marriage, and jealousy between the two sisters was a tragedy.
However, he still hoped and prayed that they would remain happy with their choice.
Seeing that her husband and brother-in-law no longer had any serious objections, Grisha felt relieved, and then she smiled and grabbed her younger daughter's hand and gently squeezed it.
"Why did you opt for court marriage? I am sure if you had discussed these things with us, the two families would have sorted it out..."
Raeya sadly lowered her head at those words.
"Mother, Mikael's family is against it. You know they are after our wealth. They would have never agreed to these terms, which is why we had to take this step."
Klara, hearing her sister's words, and seeing her expressions, again exclaimed in her heart about how good of an actor she was.
There were hardly any flaws that could be noticed.
Suddenly, seeing that their parents were not mad anymore, a young boy rushed up to them and immediately hugged Raeya.
"Hey..."
"Hey. Where were you yesterday?"
"I went to the arcade with my friends. It was fun!" He excitedly told her, and then curiously looked at her. "Are you really married now, Rae?"
"Yes, why?" She nodded and asked when she saw him grow a little depressed.
"You won't live with us anymore?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes.
"This is my home, why would I not live here? And it's not like I am in a different city. You can always come over to see me..."
"Take your sons out."
The sudden words from the old man, who slowly stood up from his chair, tensed them all up, but neither Grisha nor her sister-in-laws dared to disobey the command.
Stephen and his cousins were led out in the lounge by their mothers, and now, only the two old ladies remained seated.
"You married someone without the consent of your family. You have no place in this house if you can not honour our traditions and values. Get out."
There was no room for any discussion, and even though both the girls knew that he would never agree to their union, they were still hurt by how cruel he was.
"Father, the Agreements are fine... please." Her Uncle nearly begged him, but one cold gaze from the old man froze him.
Alastair frowned at the judgement that had been passed against his daughters and gritted his teeth.
"This is their home, Father. They will not be kicked out. They had their reasons..."
The words stunned everyone in the room, and both the girls felt warm in their hearts at seeing him take a stand for them.
"A rebellious father sired a pair of rebellious daughters. Why am I not surprised?" The old man laughed and then coldly looked at the two girls. "You will receive your inheritances after my death, but not as long as I live. After this day, no adult bearing the name Albonn will stay in touch with you, and you will not receive any help and aid from my family as long as I live. You will not step inside this Manor again, not as long as I live, and you are forbidden from attending my funeral and its rites. Take your things and leave, and tell your father that he needs to think things through and not harm your brother and mother by standing up for his insolent and rebellious daughters."
It was clear to everyone that he did not intend to fall into an argument with his son, and after saying what he had to say, he left the lounge.
In their hearts, both Klara and Raeya were relieved that their parents and brother were not implicated in this mess, and once the old man exited the hallway, they hugged their father and apologised to him for creating this mess.
Grisha, who saw Alexander leave, worriedly came rushing into the lounge and immediately asked what happened.
She felt dizzy when she heard that her daughters had been expelled from the family.
Mikael's family was already against them, and now, her daughters were left without their care and help as well.
"Calm down. Father has not truly expelled them. He only forbade the adults bearing our Family name from helping them. Stephen is still a kid..."
The family chatted for a while, sat down, hugged each other, and then their mother helped them pack their stuff.
Knowing that he would not be able to financially help his daughters after this day, Alastair transferred a hundred million Draks each to their accounts.
He trusted his daughter's abilities and knew that with this capital, they would both make their newly found company work even if there were some early setbacks.
However, there was something that worried him, and it was the fact that his enemies would take advantage of this and try to make things difficult for his children to get back at him.
And then there were all the rumours that surrounded Mikael, the prodigal second son of the Zarayne Family.
There was hardly any good word about him in the circle, and he was worried that his daughters had been charmed by that playboy.
He swore that if he mistreated his daughters, he would get the boy killed and free his children from his clutches. Even if his daughters ended up hating him.