Chapter 114 114.Emery Aldair
Tabitha’s POV
What happens next is me opening the floodgates of resentment dressed in sarcastic jabs.
“What do you expect from a man who thinks the world bends around his title?” Reed shrugs. He looks disinterested but the fury in his eyes betrays him. “That old man has always believed that everything exists to serve him. The pack. The fleet. Even his own blood.”
Jace lets out a quiet scoff. “You make him sound generous,” he says. “You forgot to mention that he only cares about two things. One, being the alpha of Crystal Ridge. Two, commanding the Kaelara naval station. Beyond that, he has no space for anything else.”
Luca leans against the rail and clicks his tongue. “Everything else is just decoration.”
Their words land heavy, one after another, like stones dropped into still water. I can hear how old the bitterness is. This is not a fresh wound. This is something that has been reopened so many times it never fully closed.
I feel something loosen in my chest. I do not interrupt them. I let them talk.
“He doesn’t even pretend to care about anything else,” Jace continues. “If having heirs was not part of the duty as the Alpha, he would not have bothered with a family at all.”
“It’s all about legacy. That stupid thing.” Reed shakes his head. “As if being an Aldair is something to brag about.”
The brothers exchange looks.
“Surely there was some point where things were at least decent between you, right?” I ask. “I mean, I remember seeing him at your award ceremonies back in Silver Hills High. He showed up. That has to count for something, right?”
Jace lets out a dry sound. “Those were the days,” he says.
“The days of what?”
“The days when we still cared what he thought of us,” Evren says quietly.
Reed exhales and drags a hand through his hair. “We were stupid enough to think we could earn his attention.”
Luca nods.
“We tried everything. We did well in school. We trained harder than anyone else. We followed his rules… we let him decide our lives.”
Evren and Luca share a look that lasts only a second but carries years of resentment.
“In the end,” Luca continues, “it did not matter. No matter what we did, it was never enough. One disobedience was all it took to erase all the efforts we did just to get even a sliver of his attention. We realized that nothing we did would ever be good enough for him.”
I feel my chest tighten. I can hear the truth in his voice, the kind that comes from disappointment that has gone stale.
“What kind of disobedience?” I dare ask.
Reed snorts. “I made plenty, so I don’t really count.”
Jace lets out a short laugh. I bite my lips to suppress a laugh too. Of course, Reed is a freaking rebel, or at least he finds thrill with it. Now, I realize maybe it has something to do with his build-up resentment towards his dad too. I remember how he once dragged me along to trespass into an abandoned naval watchtower, just to spite his father.
“No seriously, did the four of you do something that… uh, made him really really mad?”
Luca sighs and stares at the great expanse of the sea and into the net that is still empty.
“After we graduated from Silver Hills, he convinced us to enroll in the naval academy,” he explains. “The idea was that we would follow in his footsteps. We climb the ranks, we build influence, and we make sure the Aldair name stays planted in the corps. We make sure the Aldair name stays tied to the Kaelara command. One of us was supposed to take over as the naval commander of Kaelara once he steps down, and the other was meant to inherit the pack.”
“Only two? How did that work? Did he ask for volunteers?”
Jace sneers. “He can only dream.”
“He wanted Jace and me in the navy,” Reed explains while stretching his legs. “Whichever one of us climbed faster would become the next naval commander of Kaelara. At the same time, he wanted Evren and Luca to compete for the role of Crystal Ridge’s Alpha.”
What? I can’t imagine what it must feel like to grow up knowing your father turned your future into a contest. I mean, seriously, what kind of father would pit his sons against each other in the name of ‘legacy’? That’s just not right! And what happens if his sons actually follow the path he laid out for them? Does he discard the other two once his perfect successors are in place, cast them aside like mistakes that no longer serve a purpose? The thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. A father, no, parents’ affection should never be transactional. Children need guidance, not the fear of being discarded or the pressure of competing for a parent’s approval!
“That’s messed up,” I say, shaking my head.
“It is.” Luca nods. “And what pissed him off the most was that none of us did what he wanted. Reed and Jace didn’t want to join the navy, and I was never desperate enough to chase a title he was obsessed with.”
I look at Evren then. He stays quiet, but I can feel the resentment radiating from him. It sits behind his eyes, just like it does with his brothers.
Jace exhales. “After that, he just stayed angry all the time.”
Reed snickers under his breath.
“But he doesn’t have a choice. He is stuck with us. We are his only children. His only heirs,” Jace adds almost smugly.