The Continent of Europe

Chapter 47's

...CHAPTRE 47...

...ADLER'S FAMILY...

"Where have you been, James? Your father is waiting for you."

James' steps came to a halt as soon as he reached the stairs leading to the second floor. He turned around only to find the figure of his mother looking at him with a worried expression. Minerva, name. The woman in her forties walked up to her son and pulled him into a warm embrace.

It would be a lie if James had never experienced the name love in his family. Even though only his mother always behaved like that, lovingly loved him, and was ready to die to protect him from his father.

On the other hand, his father never did that. Never showed any emotion towards his only son other than being cold and flat.

For some reason, he was always jealous of Rosaline, even hating her. Always surrounded by friends and family of choice who understand it and have the same mindset. But as long as he has his mother, it's okay. Really, it's fine.

"Come on, mother? It's not like, I'm going to die today. Dad won't kill me, Mom. Remember, I'm the only heir to the Adler family he has. How angry he was at me, he would never kill me. At least he still has the smarts for it."

Minerva simply nodded, but still buried her face into the nape of her son. Occasionally her slowly aging hands gently caressed the child's blonde strands that were passed down from her husband.

"Of course he won't do that, son and remember your mother won't let him either. You are my precious baby boy."

James could only snicker. Even though she was almost twenty years old, her mother still called her 'my precious baby boy'.

"Stop, Mom. I'm not a child anymore" she protested, but wrapped her hands around her mother's body and held her back.

Minerva smiles. "But to me, you're a kid. A child I have to protect. Remember that's. You're my precious baby boy."

When the door connecting the living room opened and featured a blond man who looked like James. Shortly after, the embrace of his mother was released.

James gave a small snort as his mother walked away, approaching his father. His father, looked up only to see his only son was watching him intensely before tilting his head towards the living room. As if telling his son to follow.

James could see a worried look on his mother's face as he passed by her and walked into the living room. Well, only a small smile could he give his mother to fade the worry from the woman. Although only a little.

In the living room, it feels like in court. James sat alone while his father accompanied his mother beside him. The atmosphere there was gripping and somehow it bothered James.

He really wanted to throw his body onto the bed now and sleep, forgetting all these problems.

"Mind to explain about this? I waited about a month, gave you a chance to explain this." He threw some polaroids right into James' face. He ordered his son to see it for himself.

James' body stiffened as soon as he looked at the polaroid. All the muscles on his face hardened, as hard as possible so as not to expose any emotions. Just like his father said. Adler showed no emotion.

Hesitating, James raised his gaze only to face back the father who was looking at him sharply now while the mother just smiled resignedly.

"Minerva. Tell your son to talk. He has a mouth, right? I'm a hundred percent sure he can

Whether it was a joke or not, but no one laughed. James and Minerva.

Perhaps, sometimes in Minerva's mind she wondered how her husband and son interacted with each other. Every time they quarreled, Minerva would become an interpreter for the two of them.

"Son" she said, "come on, honey. Tell your father what you did in Edinburgh and who was the girl you were with? Don't you already have Clark? Look, there's no Adler cheating on you, okay?"

James rolled his eyes lazily before returning his attention to the polaroid that showed Rosaline's face. Somehow she was relieved that the paparazzi who followed her that day did not take her picture while they were at the inn or while she was asleep on Rosaline's shoulder.

"He's a nobody. I got a project from my college and she, this girl is Rosaline. He was my partner for this project. We went to Edinburgh to check the construction we were running there."

"Why not Clark? You know we can pay the professor to pair you two up?"

James shook his head in denial. "No, Clark got detention right before the project started and his detentions required him not to pair with anyone even with me."

"Why did he get detention? And from whom?" ask Minerva.

"I think it's from professor Watson who's teaching his class and why he got that detention because he bullied somebody on his campus. So, he's got detention."

"Watson," muttered the father, "so is it true that Jenkins' daughter is a bully?" He raised his eyebrows, staring straight at his son.

"Yes, still. That attitude hasn't changed from our little ones" James argued and received a sharp glare from his father.

"Shut up, James. You should have learned that attitude from the Jenkins family. Low people cannot control our lives, we control them. We are the golden money and they are the lowlife. Remember that!"

"But you know how much I hate it. I don't want to do it! I don't care about any caste in this world!"

"We are the golden money, James! Especially the golden three! We can control anything with our power. Money, power, and even ministries!"

Minerva who was sitting next to her husband could only sigh. She took her husband's hand and held it tight. "Floyd," he called, "there's no point in forcing our son to do that."

Floyd, the blonde-haired old man flicked his head at his wife. Her pretty face was soft, making eye contact with gray eyes similar to their son's. Really Floyd is an older version of James.

"Minerva, your son is no longer a child. He should know about the caste in this world. That way I can only entrust the legacy of the Adler family in the future."

Inexplicably, James was eager to argue and tell his father that he did not want any inheritance from the Adler family. However, before it started, that intention suddenly came to a halt when he caught a glimpse of his mother's face saying 'Close your mouth, James. This is not the time to argue!'

James rolled his eyeballs lazily, leaning against the sofa and using his arms as pillows. While listening to the babbling of his father, Floyd, the gray eyes of James he inherited from Floyd wandered around, before finally stopping right to the polaroid still lying on the floor.

He noticed Rosaline's face inside. Smiling and also so pure, as if nothing bad in this world had ever happened in his life. If Rosaline knew how deeply James felt about her life, what would she say?