CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.
adrianna saint laurent
perspective
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I MANAGE TO walk to the back of the academy, making sure to see that there was no one around me. It would be bad if they saw me getting into a car that was worth more than my net worth of my current state.
A black Rolls-Royce pulls up in front of me and I glance at the driver's seat to see my family driver waving at me.
"Hello, Miss Saint Laurent," he smiles at me as I get into the car.
"How are you, Antonio? It's been long since I last saw you." I smile as I lean back on the leather seat.
"I'm pretty good, Miss. I went on a vacation with my son last week, it was a nice time to relax," he smiles at me as he starts to drive away.
"Ah, that's nice to hear. How's Andre?" I think about his seven-year-old who would always manage to bring a smile to my face.
"He's great. He's growing up so quickly. Feels unreal," he chuckles and I nod my head.
"I still remember you playing around when you were little with your father's best friend's son. Have you seen him around lately?" Antonio glances at me while I look out of the window.
"I did. He goes to my school and we're in the same friendship group," I chuckle, "But he doesn't recognise me."
"Well, he must be blind. How can he not recognise someone he used to play with almost every day when you were little?" I see him frown while I let out a laugh.
"But I'm getting the feeling he will recognise me soon enough," I mumble.
"Hmm, but do you want him to recognise him? I know you miss the bond that you had," he turns around to look at me as the car halts, signalling we had reached.
"I do but this is not the right time," I chuckle as I open the door.
"I can't wait till he finds out about you," he smiles at me, "But I wish you well. I'll see you later, Miss Saint Laurent."
"Have a good day, Antonio." I wave at him before he drives away.
I glance at the huge building in front of me, the place where all the top doctors in the state worked here. I started to walk towards the entrance and once I entered the building, I didn't even need to ask where I had to go.
"Miss Saint Laurent, your grandfather is resting on the top floor. I'll take you there," A man walks up to me and I nod my head, trying to remember his face.
"Are my cousins there as well, Mr Taylor?" I glance at him as we enter the elevator, leading us to the top floor.
"Ah, you remember my name," he sends me a small smile, "Yes, both of them are there. Although one looks like he was forced to be here."
"Mhm, it's hard to forget names when your grandfather forced you to know everyone's details at a young age," I mutter.
"The fighting will never end, will it?" He sighs as we reach the floor I was supposed to get off at.
"Never," I smile at him as I walk out of the elevator.
"I need to go to the reception to do some paperwork so call me if there's anything you need," he states and I nod my head at him before the doors close.
"Well, if it isn't Adrianna Saint Laurent in the flesh. Never knew you were back in New York, cousin."
I turn around, knowing who that voice belonged to. He was standing there with a smirk on his lips, hands in his leather jacket. His strong perfume was kissing the air around him and you could feel the sense of power and authority flowing around him.
Kade Lennox was the symbol of the power held by the Lennox family and you could see it in the depth of his grey eyes to the harshness of the voice no matter how gentle his words were.
"I was only gone for a month or two but it looks like you've missed me a lot, Kadey." I chuckle, looking into his grey eyes, the colour of eyes I shared with him.
"Who wouldn't miss the chaos that you always brought? I'm a big fan of the mess you create." Kade muses, wrapping his arms around me.
"Why, thank you. Hopefully, I don't create a mess again." I mutter, breaking the hug.
"Adrianna, you're here." I turn around to see my father standing behind me and I smile at him.
"Ah, Kade is also here," he nods at Kade, acknowledging his presence while Kade waves back at him.
"Hey, Dad." I smile as I engulf my father into a hug and he wraps his around me, the warmth coming back to me.
"This has been the longest time you went without me receiving any complaints. The academy must be treating you well," he chuckles as we break the hug.
"Maybe I'm not the troublemaker like you think I am." I shrug.
"Who are you lying to?" My father arches his eyebrow at me, knowing that I will always be a troublemaker.
"I am not," I mutter, rolling my eyes at him.
"Liar," Kade and him mutter and look at each other before laughing at me.
"Well, it's time for me to leave. You have to meet your grandfather and be nice, okay?" My father wraps his arm around me as he places a kiss on my forehead.
"I will," I smile at him and he reflects it before walking away from us, leaving me and Kade alone in the hallway of the top floor of the building.
"I'm surprised that the old man hasn't died yet," Kade snorts, rolling his eyes at our grandfather and I hold back my laugh. None of us ever liked our grandfather due to his obnoxious personality.
I gasp, "You can't say that. That's not nice, Kade."
"Since when were we ever nice, Adri?" Kade scoffs, furrowing his eyebrows at me.
"Mhm, that's true but we got to be nice to the old man. He deserves some pity since he's here." I mutter as we start walking towards his room.
"Says the girl who used to pull his hair when she was little," he grumbles, "Maybe that's why he decided to shave his head."
"Kade Lennox don't you dare paint me as the villain here," I narrow my eyes at him.
"You threw paint on him!" I scoff, pointing my finger at him.
"And then you told me that I should've thrown green paint on him instead so he could look like Shrek." Kade muses, throwing me his usual smirk.
"I don't remember saying that. Stop lying." I scoff, elbowing him in the stomach.
"Pretty sure my dad has a recording of that day. I'll show it to you," he smiles at me while I widen my eyes at him.
"No thank you," I grumble.
Kade shakes his head and glances at my uniform, narrowing his eyes at the academy's logo on my blazer.
"St Vincent's, huh? Why didn't you come to my academy? We would have loved you there." Kade frowns, glancing at me as he waits for my answer.
"My dad would never send me to the same school as you, you know that. I would have punched someone there within the first few minutes and you would have obviously joined me." I chuckle, shaking my head with a grin, knowing very well that Kade and I had always wrecked chaos whenever we were together.
Kade slowly nods his head, "Right, there are many assholes at my school," he groans, rolling his eyes.
"And you're the biggest asshole there," I muse, smiling at Kade while he narrows his eyes at me.
"And you're the biggest bitch around here," he snorts, pointing at me.
"Mhm, I prefer the term 'bad bitch' though," I wink at him.
"Adri!" I'm greeted by the familiar cheerful voice belonging to my younger cousin.
Kai Lennox was standing in front of me, grinning at me while his grey eyes looked like there was a silver flame burning inside, so warm that it would melt you.
"How are you the same height as me?" I frown as he hugs me, "You are meant to be half the size of me."
"Not everyone is a midget, Adri." Kade scoffs, rolling his eyes. While, on the other hand, Kade's eyes were like pieces of silver ice, freezing you in your spot to the point you can't look away or move under his cold gaze.
"Fuck off, you stupid giraffe. At least I'm smarter than you." I scowl at Kade as Kai breaks our hug.
"I thought I saw you downstairs but it was just someone wearing the same school blazer as you," Kai chuckles as he smiles at me.
"What a blind ass. It's time you get glasses," Kade scoffs, flicking his brother's forehead while I start to frantically think about Kai's words.
Fuck, who the hell was here from my school? I mean it should be alright if someone sees me as long as I'm not with them. No one from my academy is supposed to see me with Kade or else it will create a big mess.
"Is that person on this floor?" I mumble, looking around us, making sure no one was here.
"Don't worry, Adri. No one can come on this floor except our family members and the doctors." Kai waves my worry off as he pulls on my hand, dragging me towards our grandfather's ward.
I breathe out in relief, feeling calm that no one could come on this floor. That should be fine for me.
"Make sure to be nice, you two," Kai warns us since he knew that we would always say or do something, resulting in a big mess and maybe that's why no one invited us to family gatherings.
While, on the other hand, Kai was the Lennox family's favourite child. The golden child who was loved and adored by everyone. While we were the least favourite, that didn't mean they could treat me and Kade any worse compared to Kai.
We might have been the troublemakers but we were always the ones who carried the pride of being a member of the Lennox family. We had always won in everything we had competed in, winning was something we naturally excelled at.
"Well, if it isn't the two troublemakers and my favourite grandchild," our grandfather smiles at us as we enter his ward and walk towards him.
"Awh, I missed you too, Gramps." I coo as I give him a side hug.
"No, you didn't," Kade mutters under his breath and I elbow him in the stomach, making him hiss in pain while I smile at our grandfather.
"How are all of you doing? Well, I know that Adrianna has been creating a mess as always while Kade has been getting into fights," he sighs as he rests back on the headboard.
"Here it goes again..." Kai mumbles as he looks between his brother and his grandfather.
"You could've just asked that question to Kai since you already know how we are. Don't talk too much, it can affect your health." Kade mutters, rolling his eyes at the man.
"Watch your mouth, young man. You don't talk to your grandfather like that," he narrows his eyes at Kade while I sigh, knowing what's gonna happen next.
"I don't even want to talk to you but I'm forced to. You don't even deserve to be talked to, " Kade rolls his eyes at the man.
"You know what? You don't deserve to inherit the family business with that attitude," our grandfather scoffs at Kade and I could see the anger visible on Kade's face.
"As if I give any fucks about that. Keep the business all to yourself. I don't need your money to keep me going," Kade hisses before getting up and leaving the ward, closing the door shut with a loud bang.
I sigh and look at my grandfather frowning, he knew he always went too far with Kade but he never apologised due to his big ego. It is all because of him being harsh to Kade which resulted in Kade having a hard time talking his feelings out.
"You shouldn't be that hard on him. He's trying," I frown at him but he only shakes his head at me.
"He needs to get used to this. The world is harsh," he sighs and glances at Kai, reaching out his hand to pat Kai's head.
"You're making his life even worse. Can't you be a little gentle? You've been ruthless to him ever since we were small." I hiss, glaring at the man. Kai kept his hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down but that was not going to help me out.
"Don't support his unruly attitude, Adrianna. He needs to fix it," he narrows his eyes, crossing his arms at me.
"Well, you aren't exactly helping him." I scoff.
He lets out a humourless laugh, shaking his head at me, "You're exactly like your mother, you know? You've inherited her whole persona."
"So I've been told, Grandpa." I smile at the thought of my mother before getting up on my feet.
"You're going to check up on him now?" He sighs, "Can you two ever live without each other?"
"Was there ever a time where I left Kade? No," I chuckle, "Have fun bonding with your favourite grandchild while I go search for Kade," I wave at them before leaving the ward.
I close the door and lean on it, realising a sigh, feeling exhausted on the inside. I take a deep breath before I started to walk in the hallway, trying to find my cousin but he was nowhere to be seen.
His long legs must have helped him walk away real quick.
I look out of the windows as I take slow steps but I halt in my spot when I feel a hand rest on my shoulder. I roll my eyes, guessing it was Kade due to the warmth of the hands.
But as I turn around to look at him, I take a sharp breath in, knowing everything is going to go downhill now.
"What the hell are you doing here, Anna?"