Spencer looked at her. “That's not what I meant—”
“I know.” Nelly met his gaze. “Though it wasn't my intention to let this happen to Thalia, I was still the cause, which means I have to claim some responsibility for it. So, I should be the one to deal with this matter. You don't have to be very torn about it.”
Pursing his lips, he remained silent.
It was then Alpha Kilian , who was at the side, turned to her with a dark look in his eyes. Moments later, he piped up, “All right, Nelly ... Call someone here to clean the place up first. We can talk about the other stuff at a later time.”
With that, Nelly retracted her gaze from Spencer, turned to gaze at Alpha Kilian , and nodded.
After she left, Alpha Kilian 's gaze fell on Spencer, and he uttered in a low voice, “I hope you understand this is just an accident, Spencer. Without Nelly , Thalia may not have survived until now. Thus, she's not responsible for this matter.”
Spencer retorted, “I didn't mean to blame her—”
“You didn't, but she's blaming herself, and you know very well what kind of person she is, don't you?” Alpha Kilian interrupted, his voice deeper than before.
Again, Spencer remained silent while pursing his lips. Of course, I do. I've known her for so many years. I was just... expressing my worries. It was never my intention to sound like I was blaming her.
Upon taking a deep breath, Alpha Kilian continued, “You're a man, so I hope you can remain composed and rational instead of letting your emotions get the better of you. As for the antidote, I will find a way to get it, by hook or by crook, even if it costs my life.”
“Alpha Kilian , that's not what I—”
“I don't care what you mean. This discussion ends here.” Alpha Kilian said abruptly, cutting Spencer's attempt at an explanation short. Throughout it all, his eyes bored into the other man.
After staring at Alpha Kilian quietly for a moment, Spencer nodded and ultimately swallowed all his negative emotions.
Soon, a housekeeper came upstairs to clean up the room.
Nelly also returned to help the housekeeper out since the room was a mess. There did not seem to be any trace of anger in her countenance.
The two men kept quiet as though nothing had happened between them.
Alpha Kilian watched Nelly as she tidied the area without uttering a single word, then he walked over and grabbed her hand to lead her out of the room.
“What's the matter?” she inquired.
Despite that, no response came from the man, who did not stop walking until they arrived outside. “What's the matter?” she asked again, gazing at him.
Without warning, Alpha Kilian pulled her into his arms.
Nelly was stunned for a moment before she squeezed out a smile. “What's this? Are you trying to comfort me?”
“It pains me to see you like this,” he answered.
His reply stupefied her. While his actions had gone beyond what he was saying, it still made her feel warm to hear him say it for the first time.
“Why? It's not like I was the one having an episode earlier,” she said flatly.
At that moment, he released her and gazed at her fair, delicate face. A tranquil smile was still playing on her lips. She's always like this, showing a smile to everyone no matter what sort of situation she's facing. But the more she does it, the more it pains me to see it.
Alpha Kilian touched her face and spoke. “You don't need to disguise yourself before me, Nelly .”
The smile on Nelly 's face stiffened for a beat, but she soon composed herself. “I really am fine,” she assured, still smiling.
“I know you feel guilty because you believe you've dragged Thalia into this. I also know that you're aggrieved because Spencer's your best friend, and you feel responsible. However, you should realize he wasn't blaming you for what happened, Nelly . He was just venting his emotions,” he explained.
“I know. I'm fine, really. I'm not angry either.”
The man remained unconvinced and was still worried. Thus, he did not retract his gaze from her face.
“I've known Spencer for years, so I won't get angry just because he said those things. Yes, I do feel guilty because I didn't expect my good intentions to go awry... But I'm not that fragile. You don't have to worry about me!” Nelly reassured, meeting his eyes.
It was not until Alpha Kilian was absolutely certain she was all right that he eased up.
“I swear I won't let anything untoward happen to you, Nelly . Don't worry,” he promised. She beamed at him. “I believe you.”
Although they were looking into each other's eyes, they were actually thinking about different things. Unbeknownst to them, two pairs of eyes were staring at them from a corner nearby.
Meanwhile, the smile on Tony 's face vanished after he returned to the bedroom he shared with his siblings.
He paced back and forth in the room while mulling over the conversation between Alpha Kilian and Spencer.
While they did not state it explicitly, based on that conversation, Tony was sharp enough to conclude that they were hiding something from them.
Furthermore, he knew it was an extremely grave matter and that the two men would do something about it soon.
However, the boy had no idea what it was.
It was then that the door to the room was pushed open abruptly, and in came Donna and Ben . “Did you hear something earlier, Tony?” Donna asked.
They made so much noise during their arrival that it startled Tony . When he saw it was the two of them, he heaved a sigh of relief. “What are you two doing? You scared me half to death!”
Ben approached his brother. Upon seeing that the latter indeed had a frightened expression, he questioned, “What's the matter? Were you doing something bad?”
Looking at Donna , Tony sighed in resignation. It's pointless to say anything now.
As he remained silent, Ben piped up, “Although we didn't see what happened inside, we could hear that there seemed to be some sort of conflict between them, as if something had vaguely
transpired. Daddy also promised Nelly that he won't allow anything untoward to happen to her.” That caused Tony to furrow his brows.
Coupled with the conversation between Alpha Kilian and Spencer, he knew they must be keeping a secret for a certainty; it was no longer just a mere suspicion of his.
“What happened afterward?” the boy then asked.
“Spencer is still in Thalia's room right now. The housekeeper went to the room to tidy up some things a few moments ago, but she hasn't come out yet,” Ben informed.
Tony listened with a thoughtful look on his face.
His younger brother eyed him. “Do you know something?” Tony looked upward to meet his eyes, then nodded. “What do you know?” Ben immediately pressed on.
After taking a deep breath, Tony told his siblings about how he had followed their father earlier that day and heard the conversation between Alpha Kilian and Spencer.
Ben knitted his brows tightly after hearing the divulgement from Tony . “Based on what you've said, we can be a hundred percent sure that they're keeping something from us,” he reasoned.
“But despite all we've heard, we still can't figure out what it is!” Donna chimed in.
Ben deduced, “They probably did that on purpose. Maybe they communicated in that manner because they were worried that we would find out. After all, they didn't have to be overly explicit to understand one another.”
Tony nodded. “Yes. We can't rule out that possibility.”
“What should we do, then?” Donna asked. “Just what is it that we cannot know?” He froze momentarily before murmuring, “I'm just afraid that it's something bad...”
“Something bad...” The incident of Nelly fainting flashed through her mind. On second thought, that's unlikely. If it had something to do with Nelly , Daddy would've long been restless, and he wouldn't be as calm as he is now.
At that moment, Tony piped up, “Based on what we've heard, we know that Daddy will certainly
take action, but as to when that will happen, it remains unclear. For now, we shall stick to the plan— we'll split up and ask to see if we can find out something.”
Ben and Donna nodded in unison.
“Come on. Let's go and visit Thalia now,” Tony suggested. “Perhaps we can still find out something if we head there now.”
In response, his siblings bobbed their heads again.
While Tony was the most perverse of the three, he was also the best at solving problems, so with him taking the lead, Ben and Donna naturally did not have to think as much.
With that, the trio set off together.
“We'll just pretend that nothing is going on, and we just came to play with Thalia as usual,” Tony said.
“Acting is what I'm best at,” was Donna 's response. Ben merely stated, “I'll just keep my mouth shut.”
“Mm. You seem to know yourself quite well,” Tony commented.
“You simply can't go without insulting me, can't you?” Ben retorted. Tony replied, “That's not true. I'm just used to it.”
At that, Ben found himself at a loss for words. Subsequently, he cast his brother a side-eye and said no more.
Just as they were approaching Thalia's room, they bumped into their parents. “Daddy, Nelly ,” Tony greeted.
A grim look flashed across Alpha Kilian 's eyes when he saw the trio. “What are you three doing here?” Frowning, Tony responded, “We came to see Thalia, of course... Is there a problem?”
With his eyes cast downward, Alpha Kilian stated, “Spencer is examining Thalia now, so it's not convenient for the three of you to go in. Head back to your room first.”
“Is that so?” Tony queried, a small frown creasing his forehead. Then, he looked toward Thalia's
room and continued, “How long will it take for the examination to be completed? We can just wait here.”
Words eluded Alpha Kilian .
Tony is determined to oppose me.
Staring at the boy, he was about to say something when Nelly beat him to it. “If that's the case, stay here and wait then.”
Stunned, Alpha Kilian tilted his head and stared incredulously at her.
“They won't stop worrying if you don't let them wait, so just leave them be,” she remarked with a faint smile.
Since she had already put it that way, he could only go along with it. He then turned back to the children. “All right, then. Be quiet so that you don't disturb Spencer.”
“Got it,” Tony responded.
Right at that moment, Alpha Kilian directed his gaze to Nelly . “How are you feeling? Are you tired? Do you want to go back to the room to rest?”
“No need for that. Spencer should be almost done, so let's just wait a little longer,” she replied. With his eyes trained on her, he nodded.
Hence, the family of five stood outside Thalia's room and waited.
The three children occasionally peered inside and shuffled their feet bit by bit in that direction to observe what was happening.
They dared not be too overt, though, as Alpha Kilian would cast a glance their way from time to time. After what seemed like forever, Spencer's voice came from the room.
“Thalia, are you awake?”
When Nelly and Alpha Kilian heard his voice, they exchanged glances with each other before striding toward the room with the three children following closely behind.