Chapter 8

"Egbert, Perseus, ignore her. Come in." Randolph shot Gabriella a dark glare before inviting Perseus and Egbert into the house. "Perseus, are you in the mood for some coffee? I'll whip up a cup for you." "Thank you, Uncle Randolph. Water is fine." Perseus smiled faintly. Clearly, he didn't take Gabriella's words to heart. When he looked around Randolph's apartment, he felt as though something had pricked him in the heart. Randolph and his family were very well-off, for starters. They lived in a fancy apartment that was over 2,000 square feet long. The dining room of the apartment was bigger than the living room in the Caitford residence. In fact, the rosewood coffee table living room was even more expensive than all of the furniture and electronic appliances combined in the Caitford residence. Three years ago, Randolph's financial situation was worse than Egbert's. Back then, Egbert's family was still running Caitford Clinic. Ethan and Olivia had their own high-paying jobs as senior executives in prominent companies. As for Perseus, he was the role model who was the valedictorian every year. Three years later, he got out of jail, only to see that everything had completely changed. "Randy, we're here not because we want to borrow money." Egbert looked very awkward and nervous. Even when he was in his older brother's apartment, he only dared to sit on half of the couch. He looked extremely humble and pitiful right now. "What are you talking about, Egbert? Even if you're here to borrow money from me, there's nothing wrong with it! I can still call the shots in this family!" Once Randolph was done speaking, he turned to glare at Gabriella, who was in the midst of putting a sheet mask on her face. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You're the best, Randolph. You're the only capable one in this family. That's why you're calling the shots," Gabriella mocked. "You—" Egbert quickly stopped Randolph, who was about to rise to his feet. "Randy, please don't get mad at Gabriella. It's true that we've caused you far too much trouble over the past three years. "We only came here to visit you and Gabriella. Perseus did just return to us, after all." "That's right," Perseus interjected. "Uncle Randolph, Aunt Gabriella, thank you for taking care of my family over the past three years. I'll always remember the things you've done for us. I promise I'll repay you in the future." Perseus was fine with getting humiliated by others, but he couldn't let his parents endure the same treatment because of him. He had lost everything three years ago. Now, he swore to get back all he'd lost. At the very least, he didn't want Egbert and Lindsay to be looked down on by others because of him. "Excellent! It's nice to see you having this mindset, Perseus. I knew you've always been a proud and ambitious lad since young—" "Proud and ambitious? What's so proud about becoming an ex-convict? Pssh!" Gabriella cut in mockingly before Randolph could finish his sentences. "Can you just shut up already? What's wrong with being an ex-convict, huh? Even if Perseus is an ex-convict, he's still my nephew!" Randolph was really pissed at his wife now. "Go wash and cut up some fruit for our guests! Do you even know what are the ways of being a host? Can't you see that my brother and his son are here?" "I'm busy with my sheet mask." Gabrielle remained seated with one leg crossed over the other. She patted her cheeks incessantly to make the sheet mask firmer. Obviously, she had no plans to get up. "You…" Randolph was so furious that a vein popped out of his forehead. Egbert quickly stopped him when he was about to prepare the fruit himself. "There's no need to trouble Gabriella. We can just chat here." Randolph was still angry. Since he couldn't do anything to Gabriella, he could only glare at her. The truth was, Randolph was a matrilocal son-in-law. His importance in Gabriella's family only started rising during the last two years. His in-laws were the ones who had arranged his current job position for him. The apartment that he and his family resided in right now was a gift that Gabriella had received from her family. Randolph wasn't one to forget his roots. "To tell you the truth, Randy, Perseus didn't go to jail because of his crimes. He had been learning how to treat illnesses from his mentor, and he had applied his medical knowledge to the inmates there." Egbert felt that it was fine if he were to suffer from aggrievement. No matter what, he needed to clear Perseus' name in front of others. The news of Perseus not being locked behind bars as an inmate was the most wonderful news he had received over the past three years. "He didn't go to prison for real? That's great news!" When Randolph heard the news, he was happy for Perseus as well. "Are you back to visit the family, Perseus? Or are you going to stay here for good?" he asked while smiling at Perseus. "I'm not leaving ever again," Perseus replied honestly. "I've caused my parents to worry about me so much over the past three years. I need to stay by their side to take care of them and Vincent." "How wonderful! That's how you should be!" Randolph became even more delighted. "Your parents have been… Oh, dear. It's all in the past now. Let's not bring it up anymore. You should work harder in the future. Ah, by the way, have you found a job yet?" Perseus shook his head. "Nope." "Randy, we came here in hopes of asking Cath for a favor. She's a manager in her company, right? We want to see if she can arrange a job position for Perseus. "You see, he couldn't get his medical degree. Not to mention, he got expelled from the hospital after the fight. So…" Egbert looked at Randolph pleadingly, a simper now etched on his face. Perseus' heart bled at the sight. Even though Egbert was begging Randolph, his own brother, for help, Perseus really didn't want to see him in such a pathetic position. "That's not a prob—" "Hmph! I knew it! They always come here for a reason! It's either borrowing money or asking for favors! They really are the leeches of our family!" Gabriella used the opportunity to mock Egbert once again. "Open your mouth again, I dare you! I'll fucking beat you up this time!" Randolph whipped around to glare at Gabriella furiously. The latter quickly shut up afterward. "We're all family here! Everyone's bound to have their darkest moments in life! What's wrong with helping each other out, huh? I'm warning you right now—" "Randy, maybe you should just forget about it. Please don't ruin the peace in your family because of us." With that, Egbert started to leave with Perseus. "Egbert, I've already agreed to your request, didn't I? I need to help you no matter what! Wait here for a moment while I ask Cath to come here. I think she should be done with her bath by now." Now that he had convinced Perseus and Egbert to stay, Randolph moved to knock on a room door. "Cath, can you come out for a moment? I need your help with something. Hurry up, now." "What's the matter, Dad? I have a lot of work to do." Soon, the door was opened from the inside. Disdain crossed Catherine Rowse's eyes when she noticed the two guests in the apartment. "What is it? Spit it out already," she said impatiently. His expression now stormy, Randolph chastised, "What's with that response, Cath? Why aren't you greeting your uncle? Do you even remember your manners?" "Hello, Uncle Egbert." "I'm sorry for interrupting you while you're working, Cath." Egbert remained humble and kept smiling humbly even though he was talking to Catherine, who was his niece. "Just tell me what you want. I'm a very busy woman." Catherine wore a disdainful look that mirrored Gabriella's. She folded her arms in front of her chest while leaning against the door frame impatiently. No matter how angry Randolph was, he knew that now was not the time to show it. He explained, "Perseus has just gotten out of prison, but it's quite inconvenient for him to look for a job at this time. Since you're a manager in your company, I was hoping that you could arrange a job position for him." Catherine was unwilling, to say the least. "Dad, Perseus is an ex-convict! I can't just give him a job! What if my reputation gets affected, huh?" "Stop spouting nonsense! Perseus didn't go to jail; he treated the sick and wounded inmates there when he was away! He was atoning for his crimes by doing good for this world! He's not an ex-convict!" "Well, are there any good people in prison?" Catherine shot back, her lips already curled into a mocking smile.