Engaged At The Moment ✔️

15: I would have even brushed my toes

However, it was another voice that took over. "Forget it, Kara. It's obvious he'd want to turn his back away from his family." Though Aiden's grandma seemed to be referring to Kara, the pointed glare she fixed him as she spoke, made it pretty clear just who her words were addressed to. "He doesn't even care about his little sister."

The shift in the mood was instant. If you thought it was tense before, now it was intense, as was evident in the glaring hatred in Aiden's eyes as he stared back at the older woman. "Don't you dare bring Emma into this."

"Why?" Came the response. "Am I wrong? Aren't you planning on abandoning her like you've always done."

"You know I've never abandoned her."

"Really? So then what do you call wanting to leave like this? Of course, what else can I expect? If you ever really cared for your sister, you'd be setting a model example for her to follow, but instead, you choose to be reckless and ignore what's important. If you care for your sis-"

"He does care," a voice suddenly burst out from beside me.

Emma.

Now, their grandma was staring back at her in surprise. And this time, I couldn't help but relate with her on that one. Since my time here, I'm pretty sure that was the loudest I'd ever heard Emma speak.

"He does care," she repeated. "And that is much more than I could ever say for you."

"Emma!"

Her grandma's warning did not stop her from adding, "do you think I don't know about the boarding school?"

This time, the surprise wasn't only from their grandma, as was evident in Kara's slightly widened eyes.

"Em," Aiden breathed, to which she threw him a tight-lipped smile in response, eyes gleaming. However, when she returned to stare at their grandma, her expression was cold and unmoving.

"I know you used me to get Aiden to do whatever you wanted. But you know the worst part? If Aiden had not agreed, you were actually willing to cast me out just so you could punish him."

"Why would you even think that?"

"I heard you that day!" She fired. "After Aiden left your study, I was still standing behind the door. I heard you make that call asking them to cancel the registration because in your words: 'I'll no longer be bringing the girl.'" She stopped to release a shaky breath before going on.

"That was all I was to you - the girl. Not your seven-year-old granddaughter who had just lost her dad, but just a girl. To you, I was a dispensable thing you could use in controlling my brother. Aiden's right about you; the only thing you care about is playing us like your puppets."

Obviously stunned, it took a little longer than usual for her grandma to manage a response. "How did I never see this? Such insolence!" She flared, advancing towards Emma, who flinched at the sight of her raised hand which was readied to strike.

She instinctively shut her eyes, preparing for the impact. But it never came.

Instead, what followed was: "Aiden." The name seemed to come out through gritted teeth, the older woman's usual poker face betraying unadulterated anger as she stared back at Aiden who had stepped in and held her hand midair, stopping it from going ahead with what it'd intended.

"Don't even think of it," he said, fixing her a hard, meaningful stare to emphasize his point before letting go.

What followed was a string of throaty sounds which I later realized were chortles. Although, to be fair, they sounded more like cackles to me - not like that was much of a surprise, seeing as it was coming from their grandma.