"Do you hate my son?"
"The boy is four years old! Why would I hate him?" Victor looked at her, shocked. "You tell me, don't you regret going to that party? Did you dream of being a single mother? All I'm doing is trying to fix a mistake!"
She regretted that night more than anything, but she couldn't even think of living a life without Little Roe.
"Roe is not a mistake, he is my son! I would not be alive without him after what happened to me! How could you call a living, breathing child a mistake?" She was trembling in rage.
After the scandal broke out on the night of her graduation party, her brother and uncle were quick to sweep it under the rug with their influence, but the damage was done.
She was ostracized by her friends and classmates so badly that she left art and went into hiding. She didn't even notice she was pregnant because of the strain.
"You know that's not what I mean." Victor quickly held her hands. "You are my only family, and I get it—you couldn't abort him, but I cannot let you live like this either. Your life is over before it even started because of what that f*cker did to you."
Victor felt enraged at Azrael. His sister had never even been on a date or a trip with friends. Their aunt was a conservative woman and kept a close eye on them, afraid someone would mock their shortcomings for not having parents.
The first party she went to after graduating at the top of her class ended with a scandal and a bastard child.
"Then you should punish Azreal Hawthore, but for you, Little Roe is an easy target!" She shook her head. "I regret leaving him with you. I really love Little Roe. I gave birth to him. He's a part of me. If you can't accept that he is my life, then I'll have to keep my distance from you."
"V..."
"No, brother, no." She shook away his hands. "I want to kill you for hurting Little Roe, like you want to kill Azrael for hurting me. But... we are all we have since Mom and Dad left. I don't want to break it off."
Victor opened his mouth, but she raised her hand.
"It's either you accept me and my son, or I will make a grave beside our parents and think my brother died. I don't want my son to be hated. I want him to be happy."
Victor lowered his head in guilt, and Valerie stood up.
"If you agree, then we will fly back together. Otherwise, please book another room. I don't want to always be paranoid that you will hurt my son."
....
"Angel? This is definitely a kitten with claws." Thinking back to the feisty woman's glare, Azreal couldn't help chuckling.
He was too stoned to remember that night, but he probably hallucinated the part where this wild cat was moaning his name.
He mused, going through files on Valerie. Surprisingly, she was a well-known young artist and... 26.
He frowned. Seven years younger than him, so... she would be 22 when she sneaked into his hotel suite.
Luka looked bewildered at his boss, who was chuckling and frowning by himself.
Azrael glanced at the DNA test on his desk. It was as he expected.
The boy-Roe was his son.
"Sir, how should we proceed? The Chairman refuses to hand over the land for the by-products factory till you visit him in person."
Azreal frowned, "Forget about it for now. I will get it signed by the end of the month."
He flipped a page and unsurprisingly, the footage from the hotel on that day was 'damaged' in a fire that same month. Right before the fire, her brother and uncle were snooping around the hotel.
By another coincidence, her family business was a subcontractor under one of their subsidiary firms. Then his son 'accidentally' got lost when his position was stable as the next Head?
Her reputation as the socialite wife of a mysterious man was immaculate: donating, volunteering, and not a single scandal in sight.
Coincidences? What a joke!
He took another puff, smirking. "She's a smart woman."
"Yes, Sir...?"
If this wild kitten was playing the long game with him, shouldn't he play along?
His phone rang again, flashing 'Chairman.' He threw the phone on his desk with a sigh.
He would be fuming now.
Azreal squinted his eyes in thought. "Didn't my old man say he will delegate his voting shares if I gave him a grandson?"
"Sir, that..." Luka stuttered speechlessly.
His grandfather meant a child between his fiancée, Andrea White, and him after they were married!
The chairman wanted a merger to solidify their global position by absorbing their one and only competitor in the domestic market, the Whites, through this marriage.
Luka could only imagine the consequences of this would be for his Boss.
Azrael chuckled, throwing his head back. "Funnily enough, I have that in writing."
His assistant felt sweat trickling down his back. He could see the clash between titans coming soon. Seconds later, his phone started ringing yoo.
"Sir." He handed his phone to his boss, flashing 'The Chairman.'
"Answer it." He threw the files on the table. "And try to contact Vincent. Ask him where he booked the escort for me that night."
"Ye-Yes, Sir."