119 Saving Face 02
All of them with the exception of Seth, Lilith and Rose could clearly understand the battle of words throughout the interactions between the people present so no necessary explanations were needed.
As Reen silently observe the reactions of her relatives, she exhaled as though trying her best to act tough despite this blatant display of favoritism, she then force a smile.
"I'll visit you again next time alright? Please do enjoy the rest of the day." She said as she slightly bowed towards them trying her best to control her emotions of grievances and unjust treatment then left the house in a hurry.
After Reen left, Charles who was quiet throughout the interaction was filled with obvious guilt and anger loudly berated the people present.
"Why did you have to bring up all those things about her mother in the conversation! How can you overreact without getting your facts right" He shouted at Lilith then at Seth accordingly
"You! Defending her without considering your niece's side! " He pointed at Rose who after being dumbfounded by Reen's crying face pretended to be invisible. She shivered at the reprimand.
"Lily I had a better opinion of you, how could you bluntly showcased your obvious favoritism towards Seth to your own niece. How could you spare them the rod in that sort of situation?! Don't you know that to spare the rod is to spoil the child [2]?!" He scolded his younger sister Lily severely.
"How could he choose such an idiotic woman!" Charles thought, though he did not approve of Elena, she was way better in temperament and demeanor than Seth's mistress.
"This gathering is over, will set another date for such an occasion and be sure to behave better next time." He said as he strode away.
"I… I…" Lilith stuttered while looking at the obvious distain from the relatives even from Rose who had previously defended her.
Rose and her husband were planning to purchase a new car and they highly needed her brother's support for the purchase. Her brother getting angry at her was more important than Lilith's feelings.
She then hurriedly chased after her brother, her husband chasing after her.
Lily could only sigh as she too left for her room. Her husband followed behind her shaking his head as he looked towards Lilith and Seth. After they left, only Seth and Lilith were left in the dining room.
From her previous demeanor of being pitiful and frail, when she was sure everyone left Lilith changed into a demonic witch.
"That mongrel!" She seethes
"Dear, what do we do now… about the money..?" Seth said in worry
"Its fine, for the next gathering will lay low and not incite any of your siblings. They will surely let their guard down eventually and help us." She said still trying to suppress her anger.
Despite this setback she understood that Seth's family truly cared about Seth's well-being coupled with their trait of valuing their face [3] they would surely not let Seth's company closed down as it will badly reflect on them too.
Author's Notes:
ಠ_ಠ
FYI: The emojis are not mine, got them from Google
[1] Which means to refrain from punishing someone who probably deserve punishment
[2] That (at least in situations where a child is the transgressor) forbearing to punish is not a kindness at all, but a harmful kind of misplaced clemency
[3] In China and much of Asia, Face represents a person's reputation and feelings of prestige within multiple spheres, including the workplace, the family, personal friends, and society at large.
