"Do you also feel the same?" Tyler questioned Llyod.
"…"
The second son of the Cacia was not like his twin. He was not hot headed and knew to assess any situation before jumping into the it. So, when his big brother started asking questions back to back, he avoided giving the answers as the older twin did not want to step on the landmine.
But the landmine was specifically coming under his feet on its own.
"Tell me!" Hiss out the older brother.
"Big Brother. I…"
His reluctance to reply was the answer itself. Tyler understood his two brothers. And he could not feel more disappointed than he was now.
"I thought you are a grown up now… Llyod… Abel... But it turns out you are still immature."
Tyler's calm criticism put out any fire that been left to burn in Able. As well as Llyod hope.
"I thought that now that you're leading your own companies, you could easily handle your own responsibilities…" Tyler did not hide the disappointment he felt.
"And here you are complaining about your likes and dislikes." He breathed out low.
"…"
The twins knew not to talk back at a time like this. Not when their older brother was openly showing his dissatisfaction over their behavior.
"Whether you like it or not. Maevie had been a part of our family, is a part of our family and…. Will always be a part of our family. She is as much of a sister as Sienne is to us. She should be! … Whether she causes troubles or behaves like a baby, she will always be our sister. Our responsibility."
"…"
"Did father not tell this to us the day Aunt came back to our family? Did mom tell us to treat her as well as we treat Sienne before she left just two weeks ago? Did you forget the promise you made to grandma to take care of her? Or did your brains got eaten by termites?"
The two brothers did not reply. Seeing the two, he remembered Abel's words. He understood their unhappiness. But he saw a problem far greater than their discontentment.
"How much of a bad thing had she done for you to hate her so much? Tell me what had she done so bad to you that you don't even want to recognise her as your sister? Our sister?"
He stood up and walked in front of Abel as he said those words. Like a lion in front of the cups. Daring him…
As if he had been waiting for the question for ages, Abel fired out,
"She brought Sienne to the drug party!"
But his answer only increased the dissatisfaction Tyler had over them.
"Abel… As a brother your focus should not only be that Maevie brought Sienne to the party. But that also she went to the party."
"…"
"Even if you did not think of her as a sister, as someone who should be responsible for Maevie, do you think you accessed the situation from the right angle? A leader of a team such as yourself?"
Abel had nothing to object to his brother's criticism. It was indeed his failure to accesses the situation.
"Why? Would you not care if Maevie had been there on her own?"
"That… I…"
"Or did you feel that she did not deserve your care? Even as a person who had been living under the same roof as you have, for more than a decade? Is your heart that strong?"
"I'm…"
Abel wanted to apologize. But he was ashamed to utter even a word after his ugly thoughts had been exposed by his brother. But the fact was that he hated Maevie for what she had done. So he never even thought of caring for her.
Seeing the two brothers could not give a proper answer, Tyler gave up. Instead, he let the two process their thoughts for a minute or two before he continued to dig.
"Other than that, what more hateful and unforgivable things had she done?"
"…"
"Think… Think carefully… Remember why you hate her… Did she harm you?"
Abel did not think for long before he gave his answer.
"Because she's pretentious. She asks as thought she's the victim all the damn time. I… She caused so much troubles and tried to blame Sienne multiple times… She even fell on her own and tried to blame Sienne for pushing her… She…"
Abel paused as he ranted out. He thought of a time she had harmed anyone.
"She…. She…"
But he could not remember any of such incident. No matter of any trouble Maevie had caused, if he thought carefully, she had not physically harmed anyone.
Yes…. She usually vented out her temper by pouring drinks and throwing things. But nothing she had done, seemed to be so unforgivable now that he carefully thought about it.
Llyod was also feeling the same.
Tyler could see the changes in the attitude of his brothers. He too knew that although their adopted sister was notorious for behaving like a villainess, she had never done any unforgivable harm to anyone. If anything, she had done more harm to herself than other.
"When she had done those things, how were your response?"
Tyler, at this point was not only asking his two brothers, but reflecting on himself as well. How had he responded to all the mischiefs Maevie had committed so far?
Tell his parents. Let them scold her. Get her punished.
All these he had done. Even hide her mistakes to save their family's face. So had his two brothers. But…
"Have you ever addressed her mistakes…. her wrong doings…. face to face and asked her why she had done that?"
'Why had she done it?'
"Why would she do that other than to get our attention? Other than her jealousy of Sienne?" Abel responded.
"And why does she feel the need to get our attention? Why is she jealous of Sienne?" Tyler asked.
'Because we don't pay attention to her. Because we treat Sienne better.' Llyod answered in his mind.
"See Abel… Llyod…" Tyler approached the twins calmly. " Maevie behaving like how she did is not only her fault… But also, ours. We made her feel the need to do such things. And had ever corrected her when she did."
He paused and looked at the reaction of his two brothers. They were finally getting the lesson he was trying to give them. To guide himself as well.
"If she does something good, it is our duty to encourage her. If she did anything wrong, the responsibility of correcting her comes to us. Like I'm correcting you now. As your older brother."
"We had never guided her properly. But we should now. We have to be responsible for her."
Tyler paused, and then showed them the file he had brought with him.
"Cause we're the only one she has."