Chapter 33: The Swan's Duckling

“Mr Hanover?” Elara muttered in surprise.

Mr Hanover cleared his throat and took long strides towards Elara.

“Elara,” he addressed her without the ‘Miss’ because they were outside.

“Is there any problem?” He looked between Armani and Elara whose hand was still on his head.

Elara quickly put her hand down.

“Oh, there's no problem.”

Armani put on his glasses and stood there awkwardly.

Elara realised she needed to introduce them.

“Mr Hanover,this is my classmate Armani”

Armani gave a slight bow.

“Armani,this is my…” she paused, thinking of what she should address him as.

“This is my guardian.” That was a better title.

Mr Hanover nodded at Armani,then turned to Elara.

“Can we go now,miss?” He pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose.

“Yes,we can. I'm sorry for keeping you so long.” She said apologetically.

Before leaving,she looked at Armani one last time.

“Remember what I said. Do not let them walk over you…it's a shame to people your height.”

Mr Hanover’s lips twitched, while Armani nodded quietly.

His gaze was consistent as he watched her walk out of the class, saying something to her guardian.

Outside,Elara and Mr Hanover walked towards the VIP parking space.

There were two cars there,one on the far right while Mr Hanover's was parked closer to the gardens.

Elara stopped walking as they reached the car.

“Mr Hanover,once again I apologise for keeping you so long. You see,I had something urgent.” She apologised sincerely.

Mr Hanover nodded with a slight smile.

“No need to be so formal with me. I just wanted to be sure you're okay. But I see you're doing totally fine on your own.” He ended with a chuckle.

Elara felt slightly embarrassed.

He had seen it all.

“Also,” he walked towards the driver's side.

“I didn't expect you to be familiar with the Winthrop's illegitimate son.”

Elara's eyes widened.

“Illegitimate?”

Mr Hanover smiled. “Get in.”

Elara quickly opened the door and got in.

“So you were saying something.”

She turned to Mr Hanover with rapt attention.

Mr Hanover was looking straight ahead when he spoke.

“He is the illegitimate son of the Winthrop family. Born of a secretary who once worked for his father.”

“Woah” Elara's mouth opened in amazement.She looked back toward the school building instinctively, as if she could still see him.

“I had no idea.”

"Most people don't. The family keeps it quiet. But you know nothing is completely hidden under the sun" Mr Hanover paused, turning on the air conditioning since the windows were up.

Mr Hanover continued.

“When he was discovered,the Matriarch of the Winthrop family flew into a rage,”

Elara turned back to him slowly. Something in his tone made her stomach tighten.

"What did she do?"

Mr Hanover's expression didn't change.

"She ordered that the secretary be killed."

Elara felt the air leave her lungs.

Mr Hanover continued casually.

“The secretary fled with Armani who was just two years old at the time. Sadly,they found her and she died protecting her son.”

He paused again.

Elara said nothing for a long moment. She stared at her hands in her lap.

"And Armani?”

“When the boy was brought before the Matriarch…. She couldn't bring herself to kill him. After all,it wasn't his fault he was born.”

Elara lowered her head, feeling sad for him.

“At least the Matriarch cares about him.” She whispered.

Mr Hanover chuckled.

“No matter how compassionate,a swan can not fully accept a duck as its own.”

Elara felt his words deeply.

“The Matriarch spared him,but that didn't mean she liked him. His own father doesn't acknowledge him either. And to make things worse, by hierarchy he is the last child. Below everyone.”

Elara looked out of the window in a daze.

“That means he lives his life on survival mode.”

Mr Hanover glanced at her briefly.

“Exactly.”

Elara leaned back into her seat, the weight of it all pressing down on her.

“Why is the world so miserable?”

After a brief silence,Mr Hanover spoke up.

“That's by the way. Let's get to the reason we are here.”

Then he stretched to the back and retrieved a file.

Elara sat straight. She had almost forgotten.

“You asked for the details of VX entertainment.” Mr Hanover spoke while carefully untying the file before handing it over to her.

Elara took the documents and carefully went through them.

She couldn't believe it.

“What am I reading?” She muttered in a daze.

Elara angrily dropped the document on her lap.

“So you mean every quarter,VossTech disburses large amounts of money to baby investments like VX entertainment?”

She turned to Mr Hanover who nodded affirmatively.

She scoffed in disbelief.

“And not only is there no result.” She paused as her eyes scanned the document one more time.

“But this greasy man I'm seeing here,”

She squinted at the square passport size picture of a fat man with a sleazy disposition.

Her face twisted in disgust.

“This man is not only the CEO in name but usurps the whole thing?”

Mr Hanover adjusted his glasses.

“Sadly.”

There was a slight pause before he continued again.

“Your parents opened this agency just in case you one day had interest in the entertainment industry. They wanted to pave the way for you… They wanted you to be a free willed child.”

At the mention of her parents,Elara was thrown back into the heavy grief brought about by the remembrance.

Mr Hanover passed her another document that contained the CEOs information.

“He was a mere manager at first, taking the resources subtly. But during these six months of your parent’s passing,he started to go out of hand,took the CEO position and neglected his duties.”

Elara was fuming.

He dared mess with her parents' sweat and blood.

She slammed the document shut.

“Guess it's high time we paid him a visit.”

A chilling smile played along the edges of her lips as she turned to Mr Hanover.

“How does Saturday sound?”