The Elsher family's dinner ended on an awkward note.
Jonathan received a phone call from his chief assistant. He quickly disappeared to his home office, his movements expressed urgency.
Samantha hurried to Stephanie's room. She instructed the maid to bring food for her cherished daughter who didn't eat much during dinner.
"Eric, follow me."
Unwilling to back down easily, Declan ordered Alaric to meet him in his bedroom once dinner ended. The confused Rafael also tagged along, hoping to get his curiosity answered.
The three brothers walked down the hallway, the heavy silence between them was paramount. Not even the playful Rafael dared to make any joke.
Declan and Rafael inherited Samantha's elegant chocolate brown hair while Alaric was blond like Jonathan.
The third son got their father's light blue eyes while the others possessed their mother's vivid sapphire eyes.
The three Elsher brothers were among the most sought-after bachelors in high society. Their prestigious background and good looks played a major role.
The brothers also were known to dote on the fake heiress so much even after the return of the real heiress.
"Get in."
Alaric and Rafael stepped inside Declan's bedroom, following him. Even though all of them lived in their own private residences now, their bedrooms in this family home were still immaculately cared for.
"Tell us everything," ordered Declan as he sat on the single couch in the seating area, his voice had a slight edge, "Don't miss anything."
"Yeah. We're surprised, you know."
Rafael threw himself on the three-seater couch, leaving Alaric standing. The latter exhaled a sigh before adjusting his glasses.
"Can't we not do this? I'm still tired from my surgery this afternoon," Alaric groaned, distress evident on his whole face, "It's nothing much, really."
"I'll decide whether it's nothing or not after hearing your story," Declan firmly reiterated his order, not bothering with Alaric's claim of being exhausted, "Tell us now."
Alaric grumbled under his breath, seemingly discontent but unable to win against Declan's tenacity. Instead of finding a seat, he remained standing opposite his brothers.
"I dunno the details tho. I just heard she caught him cheating and then she got into an accident soon after. If I'm not mistaken, she didn't notice a car was coming when she ran to cross the road."
Alaric's tone showed no signs of pity for what Lariette had just gone through. He spoke as if he was narrating something that annoyed him.
Frowning, Declan's brows almost merged together. He pointedly asked, "Where did she get admitted? To your hospital?"
"Yeah," Alaric nodded once, shrugging, "I heard she was there for three or four days. I only heard my colleagues talking."
A few of Alaric's colleagues mentioned a patient named Lariette Elsher. He confirmed she was his sister but, he didn't go out of his way to check on her.
Not even once.
Rafael gasped, catching the meaning behind Alaric's words, "Did you mean you didn't visit her? Ever?"
"Why should I?" Alaric scowled, his sapphire eyes and tone cold, "I'm busy enough with my job."
"What about Mom? Or, Dad?" Rafael asked despite thinking his questions were pointless, "They didn't visit Lari either?"
"Mom's busy with Phanie's wedding, remember?" Alaric crossed his arms over his chest, sounding more irritated as time went by, "Dad's busy with the company. I told you, she's fine."
"Fine, my ass," Rafael rolled his eyes, knowing full well how much Alaric loathed Lariette, "I wonder how apathetic man like you can be a doctor."
"Back to you," Alaric retorted, irritated by Rafael's words, "You've never cared about her either. Don't pretend to be now. Enough. I'm out. I have another surgery tomorrow."
Rafael glanced at Declan only to see his eldest brother shaking his head. They quietly looked at Alaric walking out of the bedroom. The secondborn immediately disappeared behind the door.
Another heavy silence shrouded the bedroom. Declan and Rafael didn't expect to come home to this mess.
"Dec... Should we contact Lari?" asked Rafael cautiously, "I think... Mom and Phanie only called her to get her to forgive Damien."
Despite not saying anything immediately, Declan shared the same opinion as Rafael. It was clear that Stephanie and their mother wanted Lariette to return to Damien.
And...
Alaric and their father were completely unbothered by it.
A heavy sigh escaped Declan's lips. Dark clouds loomed over his grim countenance.
"I'll contact Lari," Declan decided after a moment of silence, "I'll talk to Mom and Phanie out of it. Lari shouldn't get back to that cheating bastard."
Rafael nodded hesitantly, understanding that any topic regarding Lariette was not easy to discuss.
"If you need me to do anything, just tell me."
"Yeah. Return to your room. I'll call her now."
"...okay."
Rafael quietly exited the room, his shoulders slumping from the weight of his worries. Declan was left alone to his thoughts.
Lariette.
Like Alaric, neither Declan nor Rafael cared about their returned youngest sister when Lariette first appeared ten years ago. They were more worried about Stephanie who thought she would be discarded by their family.
Over the years, Declan grew busier with his responsibility as the heir of the Elsher family. He often brushed away Lariette's attempts to bond while showing how much he preferred Stephanie.
Declan thought nothing was wrong despite knowing his maternal grandfather had been pointing out the blatant favoritism.
Until... his girlfriend pointed out this certain incident.
"Don't you notice? When all of you hurried to Phanie, Lari was alone. She just silently left. She didn't even complain once. Her injury was heavier than Phanie's yet no one cared about her."
Last year, Declan's girlfriend, Celina Bennet joined their family for dinner. Lariette was also there, sitting next to Stephanie.
One maid accidentally dropped a pitcher of hot water, causing it to spill on Lariette and Stephanie.
Samantha, Rafael and Alaric hurriedly checked on Stephanie who got hurt on her right elbow. The one who suffered more was Lariette. The scalding water burned her left arm and left thigh.
Lariette left silently as if nothing happened to her. Not even one cry of pain came from her.
No one—including Declan—noticed Lariette's obvious injury until he was reprimanded by Celina. She chased after Lariette who left alone before performing first-aid on her.
That incident forced Declan to retrace his memories back before he painfully acknowledged how unfair they had been to Lariette.
But...
The damage had been done.
Even after a year, Declan was unsure how he should approach Lariette.
Fishing his phone out of his shirt pocket, Declan opened the messaging app. He needed to scroll down for a bit before finding Lariette's chat, signifying how much they didn't interact with each other.
The last text exchange was from last month. It only happened because Declan had to check on something with Lariette.
'How's her injury now?'
Declan dropped the idea of texting Lariette. Instead, he called her number. He didn't remember the last time he talked to his youngest sister.
He tried, and tried, and tried, yet... none connected.
Even his following texts received no answers.