100 Family Holiday (IV)

It was all due to the 'Smith Test'.

Every Smith was cursed with the 'Smith Anger' to a certain degree. Some, are worse than others. The more capable the Smith, the more volatile the anger.

Sayuri remembered what Kyle had told her before of how it felt like.

At its peak, it was intense bloodlust that pushed all rational thought out the window.

Kyle, being a reincarnated soul, could control his emotions far better than anyone and thus, was not only the youngest Smith to have ever been subjected to the Smith Test, he had passed it.

The rule was also that you could only do the test once; thereby eliminating anyone learning from the previous experience. It was also the foundation of how Smith Industries was set: be confident, be the best and once you make a move, make sure you win.

So for Kyle, his path had been set for him from an early stage.

Alex, however, still needed more training on managing his anger issues.

His IQ certainly indicated he would not have a problem with managing the company when trained properly, but his EQ tilted it to the other end. However, they couldn't focus just on helping him deal with his anger, for being a Smith was so much more than that.

Worse, being the son of Kyle Smith had an additional burden: he had to also learn how to deal with people.

Their stares, expectations, admiration, and so forth.

Sayuri sighed as she lay on her stomach, enjoying the whole body massage. Her two daughters were on each of her side: Aurora on her left and Ariel on her right.

Of course, the ones who were responsible for the massage were masseuse (female) and not masseurs (male) – though perhaps in the gender equality era, they were referred to as massage therapist – specialised in therapeutic massages for children.

So whilst the three of them were receiving massages, it was not the same type of massage as it was catered to their age and needs.

Ariel, obviously, had the least 'need' and it was more of a comforting massage. Aurora was similar but was more focused on her muscles due to her self defence training.

"This is so nice," said Ariel with a smile.

"Being pampered is always nice," agreed Aurora.

"So make sure you always pamper yourself," Sayuri told them, "And most importantly, your man must also pamper you. Well, to be more accurate, he must never bully you."

"Okay, Mummy," the girls chimed.

"Otherwise, Daddy and Mummy will kill him," Sayuri told them, "After giving you girls the whooping of your life for even allowing him to do anything but pamper you."

The girls giggled, knowing that their mother wouldn't really do so. Nag, perhaps, but certainly not hit them.

As for the killing part?

Pffft.

Just the way she said it to show how serious she was.

Sayuri just smiled as she enjoyed the massage with her eyes closed.

Yes, death to anyone who dares to bully her kids.

After Kyle tortures them, of course.

"But Mummy," piped Ariel, "Daddy really loves you and pampers you, so why must you still pamper yourself?"

As it was the end of the massage session, Sayuri got up from the massage table and turned to look at her youngest daughter, "Because they are two separate things."

"Huh?" Ariel responded, frowning as she swung her legs as she sat at the edge of the mssage table.

"You are your own person," Sayuri explained as she tied the towel around herself, "And at the same time, form a partner with another. You pamper yourself because you deserve it to indulge in things that you enjoy, and your man pampers you because you are the one that completes him."

"Huh?" Ariel responded again, completely confused and blinking rapidly.

Sayuri laughed and went to pick up her daughter, kissing her on the nose, "You'll understand more as you grow older. For now, just know this. Loving someone doesn't mean losing yourself to the person but growing with the person, side-by-side. It's a two-way thing. You give as much as you get. If the balance is not there, and you're giving more than getting, then leave."

"When you're confident about yourself," Sayuri said, looking at Aurora, "You would know when he's not giving his part. Women tend to lose themselves when they fall in love. They always do things for their man, not complaining and never asking anything in return simply because they love him. Men often take things for granted and accept it like it's their right, and doesn't cherish the women for doing so."

"Your father," Sayuri continued, "Always shows his appreciation and love, and if I feel like I want his appreciation and love, I'd demand it and he'll give it. As I would, for him. Equals."

Sayuri knew this topic was probably too deep for them to truly understand now, and she'd have to repeat the lessons in the future, but for now – it was enough that they understood that their parents respected and loved each other, and never took the other for granted.

"Oh," Ariel nodded, remembering how Daddy would always thank Mummy and tell her he loved her, and how Mummy would always smile and kiss Daddy when he brought her things.

That, she could understand.

Aurora, who was older, understood a bit more – she could see how it was like even at school, between classmates / friends. People doing things and expecting things in return was rather normal, right?

But she also observed the little things, like how people 'expected' or 'took things for granted'. Such as, when one was on cleaning duty – not only did they not appreciate the person cleaning, but they were also careless about being clean. Things littered on the floor instead of throwing it in the wastepaper basket, for example.

The three of them headed off towards the next station, and while the girls were lost in their thoughts about what their mother had said, they left behind the three women who had done their massages also deep in thought.

What Sayuri had said resonated within them and they began to see things about their respective partner in a slightly different light.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

Back at the company, Alex continued to observe his father as he made his rounds in the company.

He had to walk beside his father and listen to him while he was going about and making random statements.

Okay, they weren't random statements but Alex couldn't quite fathom how his father could be talking about one thing with Brian, suddenly turn around to anyone random and say a few words – of encouragement and praise, or … firing him. When the person looked at him either in anger or horror, his father would just say one word – like Ryden – and the person would turn pale and leave without another word.

After making an entire round (and firing 10 people while promoting five), they finally reached Brian's office again.

Once inside, Brian led them towards the sofa set and sat down, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Sam should have sent you the relevant documents on the ones I had fired," Kyle began as he sat down.

"Sam?" Brian repeated stupidly.

"My PA, though to be more accurate, my Executive Assistant," Kyle replied.

"What's the difference?" Alex couldn't help but ask.

"Ah, a lot, and yet, not," Kyle answered, "Different companies have slightly different meanings to the same title positions."

Kyle pointed to the slim man that was still standing and was behind the sitting Brian, and said, "Take Simon, for example. He's Mr. Brian's PA, which basically means he's there ot ensure all of his schedule is proper, reminds him of what is pending and sorts out the important tasks at hand. He's the assistant that helps him do his job."

"Sam, on the other hand, not only does all of that but more. He has more responsibilities and power compared to Simon as Sam can also make decisions on certain things without going through me. For example, what sort of contracts and collaborations that need my approval, and can even reject those that he deems either inappropriate or not applicable."

"He can make executive decisions, unlike Simon," Kyle continued to lecture.

Alex nodded, understanding.

"Of course, it also means next to me, he's the person you don't want to offend – and also the person you want to please the most. Bribing is quite common," Kyle said with a grin.

Alex raised an eyebrow, thinking of his extremely serious and straight Uncle Sam who followed everything by the book.

"Bribe? Uncle Sam?" Alex said in disbelief.

Who would be so foolish to think that Uncle Sam could be bribed? Not only was Uncle Sam the type that would never go against the law, but he was also deathly loyal to his father. Plus, though Uncle Sam may look like a harmless bookish man, when he dealt with things, his style was quite ruthless.

Though he had to admit, when his father told him about it once, he had not believed it. Until his father told him that Uncle Sam had also been secretly trained and was more than he appeared to be.

Kyle's smile got bigger as he leaned on the sofa, "Exactly."

Alex stared at his father.

There was so much more to him than he ever realised.