Chapter 170

Konstantin:

“Boss, you are falling for his games and he is taking advantage of the soft spot that you have toward him. Do not allow it.” Batrov said, and I frowned at the man who was daring to question me. 

“I fall for no games, Batrov.” I said, glaring at the man who looked down at his feet, avoiding my eyes. “The fact that you believe that you can question me is amazing. I think that Vladimir was right, you really do seem to be forgetting your place.” 

“I am not forgetting my place, boss. I know that YOU are the one boss in this home. I cannot say that it is the same thing with the man that you want to address as your heir. The man seems to have more motivation than just being your heir. He is only taking advantage of what you are giving him, and to make matters worse, he is taking advantage of the fact that he KNOWS that he has an advantage over everyone here. He knows that you would be listening to what he says.”

“And that is exactly how it is supposed to be. As my heir, my nephew, and the one person who I should be trusting, I doubt that things should be going any different. What I find as amusing is the idea of you believing that you CAN question a decision that I am choosing to make, and even worse, that you think that you can speak to me about something that I am deciding to do.” I said, and he looked down at his feet, avoiding my eyes. 

“The plan was to make him submit. To make him owe you something to force him into your debt…”

“And I changed my mind. The man is not the type to go that way, and I am not going to open the topic with you again. IF you think of approaching her again, I am going to be the one that takes your head.” I said, giving the man the warning that I had in mind. The last thing that I needed or wanted was to have my nephew turning against me. Vladimir was way too strong for me to deal with right now, and I knew that he would easily turn against me if he wanted to. And I knew that I couldn’t lose him if I wanted to. He was far too valuable for me to do so, at least, not until I gathered his allies and those that he considered as friends. 

“Very well,” he said, and I nodded, dismissing the man from the room. His eyes met mine for a second and the man walked out of the room without saying a word, leaving me alone with the number of thoughts that I had in mind. 

The last thing that I needed right now was to be dealing with this. The man was playing a tough game, one that was stronger than I thought that I would be able to handle, but then again, his mother did give me a warning about him a long time ago. I was the one who chose not to listen to it, or more specifically, I was the one who chose to believe in myself a little too much. 

Flashback:

“He is not the man that you think that he is, Konstantin. He is strong, he is loyal, but he is not going to be forced into something that he doesn’t want to do. The man knows what he wants and will hold onto it with everything that he has.” Lena, my sister said, looking me dead in the eye. This was one of the few times that she’s come to visit since she’s been married to the Ivanov family, and I have to admit, I was more than a little surprised by her calm demeanor when her ‘husband’ chose to come back from supposedly being dead.

“He might not be the man that I am used to working with, but that doesn’t deny the fact that he is strong, and that he has the strength that I need by my side. If you can lure him to join my side, if he can be my heir…”

“You want to use my son to legitimize your place, don’t you?” She asked, stopping me. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down as I was reminded, once again, that I was the bastard that they didn’t want in the family. As annoying as it was, even Lena knew that it didn’t change a thing about my place. She wasn’t going to be able to take her place as the family’s ‘Pakhan’ if she wanted to, and that was something that she knew. 

“You know that I have no son.” I said, and she shook her head at me, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did. 

“My son is not going to be going anywhere, do you understand me? I am not going to lose his place by my side, nor am I going to force him to do something that I know he won’t like. You can choose someone else to be your heir, and I am sure that your second hand would be more than willing to do so.” She said, and I looked away from her. “My son will not be a leader over a bunch of humans.”

“He is never going to be Alpha, and you know that Killian would easily kill him if he chooses to try thinking…”

“We are not you, brother.” She said, stopping me. “We do not seek for what isn’t ours, and my son is not as twisted as you are. Now, I suggest that you put that brain of yours in your head and remind yourself that my son is not for your leverage, nor would he be the cleanser of the taint that you inflicted on the family.” 

I banged my hand on my desk and she scoffed before shaking her head. 

“You called for me here, I think that you should have expected my response, or am I wrong, brother…?”

End of Flashback.

“Little did you know, sister, that years later, your own son would prove to be just like his uncle.” I said, voicing out my thoughts. “And the funniest part was the fact that the offer came from you this time.”

“Ah, how time can show things differently, right?”