5 Father

While the Capulet family held their family meeting, the Aldrich brothers just returned home.

As they stepped through the front door, the first person they saw was the familiar old man with greying hair and a hunched back. However, contrary to his old age and hunched back, he held a steady posture that wouldn’t pale to a youngster.

The butler greeted Romeo and Alphonse with a raspy voice, “welcome home, young master Romeo, young master Alphonse. Master is waiting for you in his study.”

Romeo and Alphonse’s shoulders habitually tensed upon being summoned to their father’s study.

“Noted. We’ll head over immediately.” Romeo accepted the message solemnly.

“Understood, I shall bring the refreshments later.” The butler bowed elegantly, then dismissed himself back to his duties.

The white lights overhead shined down harshly on Romeo and Alphonse as they walked through the black and white corridors. The expressionless servants they passed by greeted them respectfully, then mechanically went back to their jobs. The longer they walked down the stretch, the more claustrophobic and suffocated they felt. Finally, they stood before a huge double door that towered over them.

Romeo clenched and unclenched his fists, while Alphonse behind him took a deep breath. After their preparations, Romeo knocked twice on the door.

“Enter.” A low and powerful voice commanded.

Romeo opened the door and walked in together with Alphonse.

Henry’s study was boring. There were no decorations or colours. Only the necessities arranged neatly in cabinets and bookshelves could be found. The computer on his table, the ceiling fan above, and even the windows were all a standard model. Nothing extravagant, and nothing cheap. The smell of old books and fresh paper invaded the Aldrich brothers’ noses, and every fiber of their being reflexively tensed. There was nothing in the room that brought comfort to them. Everything only brought up bad memories and a reminder of their father’s cold and stern face.

The image of Henry sitting behind his desk almost perfectly overlapped his face in their memories. The only difference was the height of his anger. This was a first, even for Romeo.

Which, they could understand why.

They obediently stood before Henry with their hands behind their back, and waited to be reprimanded until his anger subsided somewhat.

“You went running to the Capulets to beg for their help?”

Henry’s veins on his forehead bulged at the mention of his sworn enemy.

Romeo frowned at Henry’s description and rebutted irritatedly. “I did not go running to the Capulets nor did I beg them. I merely reached out to them-”

“Same thing!” Henry bellowed as he smacked his hand on the study desk.

Alphonse flinched at Henry’s outburst, while Romeo held his tongue and gritted his teeth.

“You put up the Garden of Eden to get them to agree. You tell me, how the fuck is that any different from begging them?!” Henry’s laboured breaths filled the silence in the tense atmosphere.

An abrupt knock on the door doused the flame in Henry’s heart. He took a few deep breaths before giving permission for entry.

The butler pushed in a cart with refreshments and calmly placed them in front of Henry. After unloading the cart, he bowed before Henry in a subservient manner and asked, “is there anything else you require from me, sire?”

“No.”

“Then, I shall excuse myself.” He bowed once more, then brought the cart out with him and closed the door behind him.

As silence returned to the room, Alphonse let out the breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding.

Henry took a long sip from his cup of coffee, before continuing to reprimand his sons.

“Only because you’re my sons, I’ll give you one chance to explain yourselves.” Henry’s lowered eyes looked back up and eyed each of them. He put the cup back on the desk then continued.

“If your reasons are tolerable, I’ll lighten your punishment.” Henry glared at them with his hands crossed on the table.

Alphonse peeked at Romeo from under his fringe, then looked back at their father. However, he couldn’t maintain eye contact for long. His gaze quickly dropped below waist level. He kept his breathing as level as possible, betraying nothing of his racing heart and churning stomach. He looked as meek and obedient as a sacrificial lamb, except that the one being served up to get chewed out was not him.

Romeo recognised Alphonse’s reaction. Alphonse had no intention of opening his mouth. He had thrown the role of confronting their father to him again.

Romeo met his father’s eyes and stuck out his chest, then confidently explained their plan.

“We involved the Capulets to split their attention and forces between us and the invaders. With their surveillance and manpower reduced, we plan to use this chance to discreetly send part of our force and resources overseas. We’ll invade the invaders’ main base directly, then their subsidiary groups.

Once we’ve consolidated and stabilised the abundant resources overseas, we’ll immediately launch an all-out war against the Capulets. With this much manpower, ammunition, and resources, the Capulets won’t stand a chance against us and they’ll fall.

At the end, there’ll only be us, Aldrich, ruling over Sanbranc.”

Henry silently stared at Romeo for a while, before opening his mouth. “So you have proved to me once again, that you are an idiot.”

Romeo’s face flushed at the insult and tried to speak up, only to be cut off by Henry.

“Wha-”

“You used the Garden of Eden as bait to lure them into biting onto your obviously shady deal. Did you think they wouldn’t be able to guess what your plans are?”

Romeo’s irritation grew upon feeling challenged by Henry. As he spoke, his tone became heavier and heavier. “They wouldn’t be able to do anything even if they guessed our intentions. We have a foreign power we can grab and take hold of, they have nothing no matter how much they scamper around.”

Henry stood up abruptly and pointed in Romeo’s face as he shouted. “You fucking imbecile! Are your ears for decoration?! How many times do you need me to tell you, do not underestimate the Capulets! They won’t be sitting ducks waiting obediently to be slaughtered! They’re all cunning and sly foxes! The whole lot of them!

They’ll definitely use the period when you’re stabilising the power overseas to even out their fighting chances! Even if we have more people, their technology is far more advanced than ours! That’s more than enough reason to not butt heads with them directly!”

Romeo’s emotions riled up at Henry’s shouting, and he started shouting back. “We’ve been secretly studying their technology and have successfully copied them! Their technology is no longer a threat to us!” He rebutted stubbornly.

“You think they wouldn’t know we’ve been snooping around?! You think they wouldn’t have any reserves and ignorantly release every new product they’ve produced?! For god’s sake, Romeo, get your fucking head out of your arse! They’re not stupid, and you’re not smart! I’ve told you to lay low, so just lay low!”

Romeo’s blood rushed to his head at Henry’s insult and out of impulse, he insulted his father with contempt dripping from his words. “Admit it, you’re just afraid of them!”

The sound of porcelain shattering pierced the ear drums. Alphonse shut his eyes and his throat constricted further.

Romeo stared blankly at the floor, not noticing the coffee staining his clothes and shoes. His hand slowly raised to his forehead and gently touched the wet spot. When he brought his hand back down, his pale and slender fingers were dyed an astonishing bright red.

Henry ignored Romeo’s bleeding forehead and spoke with disappointment and restrained fury. “You don’t know what Noah Capulet is capable of. I have personally witnessed the bloodbath he poured just so he could attain his current position. Noah Capulet is far more terrifying than you could possibly imagine.

All you had to do was follow three simple rules. Lay low, don’t wake the sleeping dragon, and don’t poke the hornets’ nest. That family would have eventually fought amongst themselves, and we just needed to take advantage of that time to fish in troubled waters. But you, you actually broke all three rules to fuel your arrogance and sky-high ego.”

As if rehearsed before, Alphonse looked up at the same time that Henry turned to him. Despite being under Henry’s long and hard stare, Alphonse’s wide-eyed but level expression stayed the same. However, colour slowly drained from his face. He subtly pressed his hands against his thighs to prevent them from trembling and revealing his true feelings.

“I raised you to be the anchor of Romeo's arrogance, I specifically instructed you to stop him when he’s about to do anything impulsive. Yet, what did you do? You ran along happily with his plan like the well-behaved dog you are, and hid it from me. What a good son I’ve raised.”

Colour returned to Alphonse’s face with a vengeance. He flushed from his ears down to his neck. With his gaze back on the floor, he smoothly blurted out a well-practiced apology, “I have disappointed you. You’re right, I should have done better. I’m sorry.”

Henry lost interest in Alphonse and directed his attention back to the rebellious one.

“If your plan fails, then what?”

Romeo’s eyes shook from Henry’s pressure, and whispered in a daze. “We won’t fail.”

“What?”

Romeo clenched his fists so hard that his nails broke through his skin, causing it to bleed. He gained back his bearing, and fueled by the humiliation, he refused to admit any flaws.

He growled back like a cornered beast, “I said, we won’t fail.”

Henry’s face flushed in anger and his hands clenched on to the table until his knuckles turned white.

Alphonse’s eyes darted between his brother and his father. If this continued, he knew that Romeo would get hit again.

“Father-”

“Shut up.” Henry glared at Alphonse’s interference.

“I didn’t give you permission to talk.”

Under their father’s oppression, Alphonse shrank back and did not utter another word. He quickly looked down to avoid getting caught with his heart on the sleeve. He gritted his teeth and inwardly cursed at his helplessness.

Contrary to Alphonse’s expectation, Henry sat back down and didn’t attempt to hit Romeo again. Instead, he crossed his arms and stared deeply at his foolish sons. It was his following words that let Alphonse understand that getting hit would’ve been a much better outcome for Romeo.

“You’ve grown arrogant and refused to listen to my words.The both of you no longer see me as your father and have lost all respect for me. In that case, you don’t need my protection or the advantages that come with being my sons from this moment forth.

Romeo Aldrich, because of your arrogance, your mind has narrowed and you’ve become stubborn. This has caused you to make many mistakes: First, you endangered the Aldrich Organization and its citizens. Second, you colluded with the Capulets, our sworn enemy, in a poor attempt to overthrow them. Lastly, you unnecessarily gambled away the Garden of Eden, the symbol of ultimate dominance in Sanbranc.

For these grave mistakes, you’re revoked of your power and authority in the Aldrich Organization. You’re to work your way back up from the bottom of the ranks, and prove yourself with achievements and reputation that you’re worthy of inheriting and leading the future of the Aldrich Organization.

Since the deal has been made and nothing can be revoked, your role in this cooperation is to be the watchdog for the whole of the operation’s duration. Keep an eye on the Capulets movements first-hand and report back to me.

As for you, Alphonse Aldrich, you have neglected your duty as the advisor to Romeo Aldrich. You are to pack up your bags and be ready to leave at dawn for Janice. With the purpose of retraining and honing your capabilities, you will be under Hamlet and act as a temporary advisor to the overseas force.”

“Wha-”

“Father!”

“Your punishments are non-negotiable. You are dismissed!” Henry bellowed, cutting off Romeo and Alphonse’s arguments and complaints.

Left without a choice, Romeo stormed out of the room with Alphonse following closely behind him.

Alphonse took one last pleading look at his father and pleaded, “fathe-”

“Dismissed!”

Alphonse withered under Henry’s rejection, then closed the door behind him.