Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 141: Geraldine meets Knox

Chapter 141: Geraldine meets Knox

After a week, Knox and his companions finally returned home. The kids in the orphanage were saddened by their leave, especially Aresh who became a constant presence to them during that whole week.

Knox still failed to convince the director, but he still didn’t give up. He promised the director that he’d find a way to adopt Aresh, and to Aresh, he asked him to wait. He explained the situation to the six-year-old kid and he was answered with a grateful yet lonely smile.

Aresh understood, and he accepted it without throwing a tantrum. As he and Knoa waved goodbye to Aresh, the little kid’s eyes were noticeably reddened, hammering a nail in his chest. Knoa looked at him tearfully, "Can’t brother Aresh just go with us?"

With a heavy heart, Knox rubbed the kid’s back and shook his head slightly, "For now, he can’t. But next time we come again, I’ll make sure that he’ll be coming home with us. I promise."

It was a promise he would fulfill, Knox told himself. He consoled the little kid as he watched the passing trees outside the vehicle’s window. Until they spent their whole vacation, the two guards didn’t find out about Azrael, and he was grateful to Rian and Ragel for always covering them up.

’Now that I remember, Ragel and Edna don’t seem to talk as much as before. Did they fight?’ Knox pondered. He fell asleep wondering about the two. When he woke up, the van was already entering the premises of the mansion.

Knox sprung up, looking behind to check Alex and Franz from the back. The guard on the passenger seat noticed him awake, so he explained, "We already dropped him off at their houses, young master. They didn’t want to wake you up, so we let them go."

Knox nodded, "How about Shawn?" He adjusted Knoa’s position on his lap and sighed in relief that the kid didn’t fall. He must have been so tired that he fell asleep during the entire travel. Knoa squirmed and groggily rubbed his eyes.

The vehicle stopped at the entrance.

"Knoa, we’re here," Knox informed the kid who was blinking his drowsy eyes. He brushed the kid’s disheveled hair cascading on his face and tucked them on his ears. The door slid open and Steve’s face greeted them.

The older alpha took their baggage and gave it to the servant waiting beside him, and then he stretched his arms to Knox, asking for Knoa, "Let me carry him, young master Knox."

Being called ’young master’ didn’t feel right at all, so every time someone addressed him like that, Knox would scrunch his face. He gave Knoa to Steve who comfortably settled himself in the arms of the older man.

Knox asked, "Why did you wait for our arrival? You don’t have to do that next time." He really felt living like a true noble in that moment, being waited upon by the butler on his return.

Steve simply smiled and quietly mumbled, "The chairman asked me to escort you to your new rooms."

Knox looked confused, "New rooms? Are we being relocated?"

Steve reluctantly answered, "Yes. To the left wing, young master."

"Why?" Knox probed. He could think of an answer, but as far as what he knew, the answer would have been impossible since he was informed of their departure already. However, seeing the hesitation in the secretary’s face, Knox’s heart pounded in nervousness. ’Are they still...?’

"Madam Geraldine decided to stay for a month, young master," Steve informed, noticing the slight pause in the omega’s movement. He sighed and continued, "She decided at the last minute, so we failed to inform you in time. The chairman was afraid that you might be uncomfortable with her around, so he prepared another room for the both of you in the left wing."

Steve climbed the stairs and headed to the left wing, opposite the main bedrooms located in the right wing. The left wing is where the guest rooms were located, but Knox wasn’t bothered by that. What made him worry was having the arrogant woman meet Knoa.

If Knoa was able to win the heart of the chairman in a short time, it might be difficult for him to do the same to his wife. Geraldine Horace hated Knox, and everyone in that mansion must be aware of that.

Knox pursed his lips, then he suggested after thinking deeply, "Then, we can just go back to my apartment. Just ask someone to drive us back—

"I’m afraid I can’t let you do that," Steve firmly refused. "Your old apartment was lacking in security, so the chairman won’t agree."

"Athan said that he’d take care of my new house. I thought he already bought me a unit in the same apartment building he was living in. Hasn’t he?" His half-older brother even suggested to already moved his stuff at home into his unit, so it’d be easier to move after he acquired the unit next to his.

Steve gently tapped Knoa’s shoulders when he jolted slightly. Then, he answered in a lowered voice, "Sir Athan might have been forgotten as he was busy running his company and doing some intensive investigation..."

Knox furrowed his brows at the secretary. The latter’s voice trailed off, and he turned his head away from Knox, pretending like he was searching for the right door among the identical doors on both sides of the hallway.

’What was the point of choosing which was the right one? Aren’t they just guest rooms? They’re interiors are all the same!’ He opened the door closer to them and peeked his head in. After checking the state, he glanced over his shoulder and said to Steve, "This room is fine. And tell me about that intensive investigation. What do you mean by that? Did something happen again?"

"Ah, no, young master," Steve hurriedly answered with a dismissive tone. He waved his hand in front of Knox and added, hiding the panic in his voice, "It was just something that the chairman asked him to do. I don’t know the exact details, but I think it’s about the businesses abroad that the eldest young master was handling."

Knox, "I see." He took Knoa from Steve after opening the door to the room he chose himself. "Well, then, goodnight, Sir Steve."

Steve glanced at the arched window at the end of the hallway where the golden lights of the setting sun passed through. He smiled and responded warmly, "The day is still bright, young master. But if you are to rest as well, then I will just come back to deliver your dinner later. Goodnight, young master Knox."

Knox curtly nodded. He turned away and was about to step in, however, his body froze when he heard a light and soft snicker. A half-suppressed, scornful laugh laced with elegance and gracefulness.

Steve gasped after seeing his master’s wife. He bowed his head and greeted the madam, giving Knox a worried look behind his lowered head.

"I’m sure it felt nice being called ’young master’," Geraldine walked closer, holding a white folded fan decorated with gold linings on the edges. She tapped it on her folded arms and continued, "Of course, I have no more complaints. I just want to remind you to act carefully from now on. You now carried the weight of being a Horace on your shoulders, no matter how dirty the blood you carry, unfortunately, half of it is noble. So, I’d really like you to act properly from now on."

Knox pursed his lips and simply nodded his head, not daring to meet those condescending eyes that always made him feel so little and insignificant. He held Knoa’s head and gently pressed him on his chest, as though he was afraid to even let the kid look at the woman. He was grateful that Knoa was asleep, and he prayed that he continued sleeping until the chairman’s wife was gone.

Geraldine raised her eyebrow. Her amber eyes moved down on Knox’s arms, and they stayed there for a while. She then sported a smile that even the crows could tell was fake. "It’s such a pity that he’s sleeping. I heard a lot from Nathaniel, about how smart and active that kid is. He seemed to take a lot from his other father, even though I don’t know who it is. Seeing how my husband adores him must be because he’s more likely to manifest into a dominant alpha."

Geraldine laughed softly, yet her next words were said mockingly, "You really know how to use your charm, don’t you? I guess, it really runs in the blood."

Knox clenched his teeth. He bit his lower lip to suppress the urge to talk back. He swallowed the anger creeping into his throat. Behind his hair that cascaded on his lowered head, hiding his face, an expression of contempt and hatred flashed in his eyes.

How dare the woman imply that his father pined for the chairman, just to choose a dominant gene to breed with? Why was all her hatred concentrated on his father alone? He didn’t make Knox all by himself!

His eyes were reddened and moist from keeping all those thoughts to himself. He felt like exploding, yet he couldn’t offend Athan and Althea’s mother. The fear of getting abandoned once more by his family overwhelmed his desire to hurl back insults at the woman before him.

He bit his lower lip until they bled until Geraldine decided to leave after whispering some contemptuous words, "How revolting."

Steve stood next to Knox with his hands behind his back, clenched into fists, as he watched the pair of father and son, both innocent people, being treated poorly. His chest was heavy, yet he couldn’t speak a word to interrupt the lady. So, he didn’t dare to speak comforting words to Knox as well, as he had no right, after just watching from the sidelines.