Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 128: First step to being good: invest!

Chapter 128: First step to being good: invest!

While Knox and Azrael were missing, a particular child noticed the disappearance of the kind and beautiful guy who gave them food earlier.

He glanced around as he carried the train toy in his arms, and when he couldn’t spot who he was looking for, his eyes darted to another kid who was surrounded by other orphans.

"Psst," the boy called the little kid who was seemingly younger than him. When the latter didn’t turn to him, he called out louder, "Hoy!"

Some of the kids turned to him, finally. However, before he could walk to them, a taller kid blocked his path and looked down at him.

The tall kid frowned at the one with the train toy, "Hey, Aresh, you’re being rude! Sister Nalia said that you shouldn’t call someone like that. Apologize to Knoa!"

The boy named Aresh furrowed his brows at the tall kid. The latter was older than him, he was tall and bigger, so Aresh thought, ’I’ll lose if I tussle with him. They all look like they’re going to attack me if I don’t say sorry. But I did nothing wrong!’

Another kid moved closer and spoke, "You should say sorry, Aresh...Sister Nalia will scold you."

He rolled his eyes at the second kid. Why would he apologize when all he did was call the chubby kid? Because the latter didn’t hear him and he shouted louder, he was in the wrong already?

Aresh grumbled. His attention was caught by a head peeking from behind the tall kid. Bright green eyes greeted his black ones. Staring at those innocent orbs that sparkled with curiosity and wariness, Aresh found himself mesmerized by the kid’s emerald eyes.

"Hey!"

Aresh jolted. He blinked, shook his head, and glared at the tall kid. "So, ’hoy’ is wrong, but ’hey’ is not?"

"Huh?" The tall kid asked, dumbfounded.

Aresh clicked his tongue at the slowness of his conversation partner. He slightly shoved the tall kid away and the kid with mesmerizing eyes appeared before him.

Aresh scratched his head and carefully asked, his voice unmasked with the gruffness and indifference he used while talking to the other kids.

Aresh, "Hoy, uhm...is the one with light brown hair, pretty green eyes, and lovely smile, your father? He’s not, right?"

Hope was etched on the six-year-old kid. He prayed inwardly, ’Say yes, say yes. Don’t be his son!’

His prayer was interrupted when the tall kid pushed Aresh away from Knoa. He angrily shouted, "Hey, what are you doing? Don’t scare him. Someone reports him to Sister Nalia! He’s harassing Knoa!"

"What are you on?! I was just asking!" Aresh shouted back. He was just a six but his voice was fuller and thicker than his peers, so when he yelled, it sounded like he was angry. He quickly zipped his mouth and nervously looked at the kid with pretty eyes, fearing that he might have frightened him.

The anxiousness for being hated and feared that started to creep inside Aresh froze when he noticed those verdant eyes didn’t show any hostility or recoil at his shout. An immense feeling of relief washed over him.

Knoa tugged on the tall kid’s shirt and finally spoke, "Older brother, it’s fine. He’s not harassing me, he’s just asking."

The taller kid gave Aresh a hateful look. In their age group, Aresh is the one who always gets into trouble. He speaks rudely, the way he stares is scary, and his actions are reckless and always call for a fight.

On top of that, he rarely speaks with his peers and would just preferring conversing with the adults, so the other kids find him weird.

But none of that bothered Aresh, to be honest, he was even grateful that the kids were leaving him alone and won’t drag him to play anywhere.

Knoa turned to Aresh again, making the latter flinch in nervousness.

Aresh was certain the kid was younger than him, but he felt inferior; the air surrounding the kid was different from his innocent face. It was as though there was a formidable presence behind him, looking at him with sharp and chilling eyes.

In a room far from the open ground where the kids were gathered, glowing grey eyes were peeking into the gaps of the jalousie windows, above the fingers that clawed and scratched on the slatted louver, ready to attack anyone he saw that would make his kid cry.

Azrael watched the unfolding events involving his cub with hawk eyes. Knox already left after receiving a message from Shawn that his guards started to get suspicious of his disappearance.

With nothing to do, Azrael carefully planned how would he approach his son again, and later found him surrounded by that group of kids. He continued watching from the distance.

At that moment, Knoa replied calmly, "If you’re referring to him," he pointed at his father who was currently speaking with other volunteers and caretakers, "then, yes. He is my Papa. Why do you ask?"

Aresh flinched again. He looked away from the unmalicious prying eyes directed at him. He faked a cough and answered vaguely, "Just because..."

Knoa waited. He tilted his head and stared at Aresh with an expectant look.

The two kids were unaware that from the distance, a piece of jalousie got unhinged from the side and almost broke if only Azrael didn’t grab it tightly.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, f*ck!" the piece of rectangular glass louver slipped in his hand and fell on the floor, breaking in half. Azrael gasped, and slowly, he turned to the one responsible for startling him.

Rian showed his hands up, and took a few steps backward while saying, "Geez, man, you said you’re going to act like a saint now and convince Knox’s family to acknowledge you, but look at you, destroying the classroom instead. Tsk, old habits really die hard, huh."

"Get lost before I stab this half on you," Azrael replied, bending down and picking up the two broken parts. He hid them in the cabinet in the corner, and after clapping his hands, he peeked out the window again, but Knoa and the gang were already gone.

"Are you looking for Knoa?" Rian inquired after noticing Azrael’s actions. He moved out from the door and sat on the small chair, the armrest of the Monoblock chair almost burst. Unbothered by the creaking noises the chair made, Rian even crossed his legs and leaned on the backrest.

Azrael shook his head at the ridiculous behavior of his friend, but soon pulled a chair and did the same after one of the guards scoured the direction where the room was.

He straightened his legs and only crossed his feet, then folded his arms on his abdomen, before hurling a reply to Rian, "I am. Some kids seem to be bullying him so I was looking out for him."

Rian scoffed, "Who would dare bully that adorable kid? If he got even the slightest of your ugly attitude, sure, he might get bullied. But the little one was so sweet and kind like his omega father. He’s loved, I tell you."

The temperature in the room suddenly decreased and the bright surroundings dimmed.

Rian rolled his eyes at the exaggeration, "What the hell, man? Don’t go and get angry just because of what I said! Your kid’s just three, who else would profess their love for him already? Gosh, you’re unbelievable."

Azrael’s face darkened after recalling the scene again, "Someone approached him and blushed—

"Kids blush so easily when they find something amusing or pretty! Anyway, don’t waste my time here, dude. I’ll tell you what to do," Rian unfolded his legs quite aggressively and placed his elbows on top of his knees.

However, because of his sudden action, the four legs of the small chair gave up and slid outwardly, catching Rian in between the armrest that folded inwardly.

"Woah!"

"Are you perhaps practicing a comedic skit?" Azrael asked with a poker face. He carefully bent his legs in and crossed his legs higher, then he tapped on the floor with his foot. "Now, tell me quickly what you’re plans are."

Ripping his butt from the deformed chair, Rian responded, "My company is affiliated with Miss Althea’s foundation. Most of their programs are sponsored by SmilEarth. Although, indeed, they don’t need to accept sponsors and can just fund it with their own money, one of the HZF objectives is to raise awareness and encourage thriving businesses to help the underprivileged, the disabled, the cancer community, and so on.

"They accept sponsors solely to widen their reach and, of course, accumulate larger funds. On top of that, most companies are choosing the HZF as their means of showing compassion and delivering genuine or fake humanitarian acts to the public because they are confident that the foundation won’t corrupt or embezzle their donations. This also helps them to build an amiable connection with the Horaces, so to them, it’s a win-win choice."

Azrael, "So, your point is? You want me to donate a whopping amount to HZF? I bet you they’ll throw the money back on my face, in coins so it’ll hurt more, saying that they won’t accept dirty money."

"That’s why I exist here, don’t I?" Rian wriggled his eyebrows. "I’ll be the mediator. If you’re part of the SmilEarth family, then even if you appear at these kinds of events, no one will question your attendance. Don’t rush on it. Your reputation in the charitable communities; build it slowly. Appeal to the public, show them how magnanimous and compassionate the infamous business magnate Azrael Del Valle, then Chairman Horace won’t be able to throw a coin back at you."

Azrael rubbed his chin. He acknowledged Rian’s wise strategy. He slowly nodded and asked again, determination lurking in his eyes, "To be part of your SmilEarth family, what should I do? Do I have to tag along every time you conduct an outreach program and become a philanthropist myself?"

Rian smirked deviously, "Nah. Just invest."

Azarel, "..."

Rian, "Look, if you invest in my company, make it a large amount, so you’d become a prominent figure in charity organizations; you’d receive invitations to events, and gatherings, or even be a motivational speaker to schools. You know, the more exposure, the faster you are recognized."

Azrael, "..."

Rian sighed and looked away, "Listen, I’m not doing this to scam you. So, think about it yourself. Tell me once you’ve decided." He walked to the door but stopped midway and looked back at Azrael, "Use the back gate when you leave."

He was about to walk again when his head darted on the floor. Next to his shoe was a whitish liquid. Rian furrowed his brows, "What’s this?"

Azrael glanced down. His eyebrow twitched after seeing the wet spot next to the door. He casually shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Sauce."

Rian looked at him suspiciously, "The chicken?"

Azrael, "Yeah."

Rian turned away after that. He opened the door, but before he stepped out, he remarked, "Today’s lunch is brought by SmilEarth, and I’m telling you the gravy is brown, not white. Seriously, can’t even clean it? Ugh, my eyes."

Azrael was left speechless, not out of shame, but out of his friend’s dramatic exit.