Chapter 83: The Ruthless Negotiation
Desmond
“What?” I couldn’t believe that my son was negotiating with me by… staying away from his mother.
Sander exhaled sharply and smiled emptily. “Papa, I am not naive to know that you are the one who caused Mama to bleed. Mama almost lost my baby sibling. The only plausible cause is you, Papa.” His tone sounded cold. “This is not the only moment you have hurt Mama. This time, I am not going to turn a blind eye.”
The way my son spoke was the same as mine when I was going to turn the tables. It was frightening that Sander was really my son.
Was this what Seraphina was getting frightened of? I had turned my son to be like this?
“I have been patient with your actions, Papa, to be honest. I am hoping that you will have some character development however, in the end, Mama is still hurting by your actions. You are not good for her.”
I was silent, and couldn’t defend myself from what my son proclaimed. It was as if what he was spouting right now were the things I needed to hear.
“That is why I have decided to negotiate with you. Please stay away from her from now on and let Mama live in Verlice’s vacation house.” He inhaled slowly as his chest rose up and down. “I am not going to let you hurt Mama anymore. I did not wish to see her cry every time I always mentioned you, Papa. Mama says she is fine but she is not. She has never been fine ever since you made her return back to the Rising Diamond pack. I am not very happy anymore.”
I gulped, not knowing what to do seeing how serious and cold Sander was. I did not know that my son was capable of talking like an adult and in the same way I spoke, too.
“If being a broken family shall make my Mama be happy, then so be it. I do not wish to have a complete family if you, Papa, keep hurting Mama so many times.” His hands on the table clenched, glaring at me. “Please do not come near Mama. If you really love my Mama, you will choose to stay away from her.”
“And if I did not adhere to your negotiation, what shall you do, son?” It took me a short moment before I finally retorted back.
I was taken aback that Sander had been like this. He had never shown this side to me or to Seraphina before.
“Then I will have Franklin and Jeremy tie you up.”
I arched my eyebrow. “They are my pack members only listening to their Alpha, Sander. Besides, just because they are elites I picked them to become your butlers does not mean that they can defy me. Mind you that you are only the son of the Alpha.”
I had to put him in place. Sander was acting all mighty already. Perhaps, he really inherited it from me.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
He was really Seraphina and I’s son.
Sander didn’t look bothered at my words. “I am just jesting, Papa. I know I am not strong enough to fight you but I can hurt you as much as I want.” He smiled sinisterly. “If you will not adhere to it, then I am afraid that you will never see Mama or me ever again. Honestly, I wish for you to suffer more.”
The way my heart was beating so fast at Sander’s words made me feel alarmed. “Don’t speak like that to me. Don’t ever threaten me like that, Sander Verlice!” I couldn’t help raising my tone.
My son wished for me to suffer more. Did he really abhor me that much?
It was my fault if he was feeling this way. After all, I have hurt Seraphina so many times.
Sander didn’t flinch. “Papa, that attitude of yours is the reason why Mama is hurting. You want to control us only for you to know that we do not want that. You are selfish. You only think of yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mama does not want you anymore.”
“You-” I couldn’t retort anymore.
What Sander said had hit me below the belt. Shit… It was getting more painful that my son was acting this way.
“I have watched your movements and how you handle everything with Mama. I even observed how Mama is reacting to you.” I gawked at him. “You showed your efforts to coax Mama but why is Mama still hurting because of you, Papa? If you really love her… If you really love my Mama… Why did it turn out like this? Why is she unhappy?” His eyes started brimming with tears. “I know Mama wants to leave you but she is only staying here for my sake… because she wants me to experience a complete family. But the more she is staying here, the more she is hurting more. And it is because of you, Papa… I hate you for always making my Mama cry.”
Sander couldn’t keep up his cold facade as he started to wail in tears. I lowered my head as tears were threatening to fall from my eyes seeing how my son was hurting by our situation.
My hands were fidgeting on the table. This was one of the things I was frightened of. My son was also affected here.
What an idiot I was to think the only way to reconcile with Seraphina was to force her to marry me…
I only thought about what I thought was best at that time. I controlled everything so Seraphina would never fall out of my hands. But it looked like what I was doing hurt her.
And the result was this… Seraphina was deciding to get away from my grasp.
We almost lost our second pup… because of me. How devil I was… I deserved to be punished.
I stood up and took Sander in my arms. “I am sorry, Sander…” That was the only thing I could say. I wanted to say more.
I wanted to console him but was that enough to take away the suffering I had caused to my beloved mate and my son?
“Papa…” Sander sobbed. “I hate you. Stay away from Mama from now on, please. For Mama’s sake, I wish for you to stay away from Mama. You are not good for her. I do not wish to lose Mama’s sanity because of you.”
He struggled against my hold. I had to put him down when he was screaming against me and punching me as if he wanted to inflict on me.
The only thing I could do was to watch. My son didn’t want me to touch him anymore.
“I am going with Mama.” He hiccuped as he dried his tears and looked at me with rage. “You are not going to follow us. If you love Mama, give her what she wants for the best of her and my baby sibling, Papa. Halt being a selfish one!” He couldn’t control his anger, raising his voice at his father.
It was palpable that Sander really wanted to protect his mother from me. It was my fault because I made his mother cry.
“Sander-”
“I am not going to forgive you if you ever hurt Mama again, Papa! I swear to the Moon Goddess!”
My eyes widened. Did he swear? He had sworn to the Moon Goddess?
Sander’s chest rose up and down, clenching his hands. “Have mercy on Mama, Papa. It is time to let her go,” he said in a calm tone. “And I am going with Mama. I am going to take care of her and my baby sibling. You will never be a part of the family I ever want, Papa.”
“What…?” It broke my heart more when Sander said that. He was already casting me away as his father.
“Also, please don’t take what is mine from the beginning because of what I said, Papa.” He looked at me with an earnest expression.
“W-What do you mean, Sander?” What did he mean by that?
“I might have said those hurtful, truthful words but I am still your first child. I will inherit your Alpha position of the Rising Diamond pack and be the next head of the House of Marquis Verlice.” He stepped forward, looking up at me as if he could overwhelm me. “So, please don’t make my cousin, Daniel, or my half-brother, Hezekiah, become the next heir.” He bowed his head before me. “To summarize our negotiation, you will stay away from Mama from now on. You will never gain benefit from our negotiation. This is in fact to make you suffer.” My eyes widened. “This is a unilateral discussion and your silence may be taken to mean tacit agreement, Papa. That’s all. Have a good evening, Papa.”
I felt useless right now when Sander left along with his butlers. My son had been uttering words only an adult could do.
While I was here… I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t man up. I was being a valueless father and mate.
Every step Sander was taking meant that he was going away from my grasp as well. I was going to lose him just as I was going to lose Seraphina.
“What have I done?” I mumbled, howling in pain right now.
I sought comfort from my wolf but it turned out that he accumulated resentment against me. He was blaming me now that I did not listen to his words.
And now… I was going to lose the two most important people in my life.
What had I done to the family I was dreaming of? How could I ruin everything?
Mother… Father… If you had seen how I handled the family I had, for certain, you two wouldn’t be so proud of me.
With what was happening, I felt like I wanted to end my life right now.
“This is certainly the punishment from the Moon Goddess…” I concluded as I looked up in the starry night sky. “Please, Moon Goddess… Is there any way I can fix it?”
My voice croaked as I only received the sound of the crickets and frogs that had scattered in the surrounding.
My eyes lingered at the tea Sander made for me. I sat there in silence as I could feel my heart being pricked by thousands of arrows and bled as I could feel that my family had been torn because of me.
Because of me… Yes, it was because of me.
“I am such an asshole…” I smiled bitterly as I cried there in silence, letting myself be enveloped with sadness.