Chapter 3 Conflicts Between Father And Son

In the novel, Eric treated Alaina really well. If she hadn't been so unreasonable in the stories, Eric would've given the Xu Group to her to manage.

"Alaina! You're finally out of the hospital. I'm glad you're all right!" Eric exclaimed, raising his arms up in the air. "Did Sheffield come back?"

The smile on Wendy's face faltered the moment her stepson was brought into the topic once again. Just as she was about to speak, her daughter replied quickly, "He's back. He's probably studying upstairs." She turned to her mother.

"Mom, I'm really hungry. Are you hungry? How about you and Dad rest for a bit, and then we can have dinner, okay?" The way Alina spoke was similar to that of a young girl. Her eyes glistened at the thought of finally eating after a long day.

As she grew older, she began to look more and more like Wendy. Wendy was a beautiful woman. It was one of the reasons why Eric had chosen her, despite the fact that she had a child.

Alina was afraid that her mother would start speaking ill of the hero, so she veered the topic away.

"You're always hungry. You shouldn't always think about food," Wendy scolded, but she still couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's adorable looks.

Eric patted Wendy's hand. "A good appetite is a blessing. Alaina just survived a disaster, so she must be really blessed. Since you're hungry, let's have dinner."

Peter, their butler, treated that as a signal as he rushed to the kitchen to ask the staff to prepare their food.

Seeing that his son still hadn't come down the stairs, Eric motioned to Alaina. "Go and ask your brother to come down," he said gruffly. "It's bad to stay in the room all day."

"Okay, Dad. I'll call him." Without hesitation, Alina ran up the staircase.

Sitting in front of his desk, Sheffield could hear their laughter ringing up the second floor from time to time. He couldn't help but sneer at the sound.

He couldn't see what his father had seen in them. They were just a pair of social climbers – nice when you were in front of them and completely vicious when your back was turned. His father, however, treated them like treasures!

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" There was a polite knock coming from the door.

Sheffield quickly shifted back into the frail boy they thought he was and called, "Come in."

With a click, the door opened. His eyes darkened when he saw who it was.

"Why are you here?" he snapped. It wasn't the butler, but his stepsister.

Before the accident, when his stepsister would come to find him, she'd usually open the door as loud as possible to irritate him. However, this time, she actually knocked.

Ignoring his cold demeanor, Alina smiled kindly. "Brother, Dad asked me to call you. It's almost time for dinner."

Brother, brother... If she called him brother often, maybe then he'd change his mind about her.

Hearing her call him brother, his eyes darkened further. He wanted to scream and shake her. Who the hell did she think she was to call him 'brother'? However, he could only reply with an "Okay".

"Come down, brother." After that, Alina closed the door and left.

Sheffield stared at the door with mixed feelings. He couldn't help but wonder what happened when she fell down the staircase. She changed a lot.

As Alina skipped into the living room, she saw that Eric was the only one in the room. He was too busy reading the newspapers for today.

"Where's Mom?"

"She's changing her clothes," he responded.

"Have you had a busy day, Dad? Do you want me to massage your shoulders?" Alina walked towards him. Alina decided to use this opportunity to get close to Eric. 'If he supports me now, he might also put in good words for me with Sheffield, if he wouldn't let me go in the future,' she thought.

"You're growing more and more sensible now that you're a high school student." He chuckled, happy that his daughter wanted to spend more time with him.

"You've worked hard, so I should thank you." She moved to the back of the couch and placed her hands on his shoulders.

Alina spoke so sincerely that Eric couldn't help but smile.

Since he wasn't her biological father, he couldn't help but be estranged from her daughter at first. At the beginning, he wasn't that close to his little stepdaughter. However, he couldn't resist his wife's insistence. Plus, the little girl was adorable. He couldn't help but adore her all the more.

He had wanted to be close to her all this time, so Eric was glad that she was close with him.

When Sheffield walked downstairs, he pursed his lips at the scene. "Dad," he said coldly.

Looking at the boy's thin and pale face, Eric furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't stay in the room all the time, Sheffield," he instructed. "You're not in good health. Get out and do more sports."

"Got it." Sheffield nodded, indifferent to his father's concerns.

Ever since his mother passed away and his father remarried, there had been a gap between them. With Wendy and Alaina always causing mischief every now and then, the gap had grown even bigger. It had been a long time since they had a good chat.

"I don't like your tone, son." His son's coldness agitated him. He knew that his son hated him, but he just couldn't understand why. Eric had done nothing wrong. Was it really a despicable thing to remarry? It wasn't as if he cheated on his mother. Months had passed when he remarried, so he just couldn't understand why his son was still mad at him.

All of a sudden, Sheffield stared at him with sadness in his eyes before it shifted to a more rebellious glare.

Eric had always tried to teach his son a lesson, but Sheffield always ignored him.

As a rich and powerful man, Eric wasn't used to being ignored that easily.

He didn't like that Sheffield wasn't treating him with respect.

Although, Alina had been silently massaging Eric, she'd been secretly watching their exchanges since Sheffield went downstairs. She caught the sadness in his eyes.

Seeing that Eric was about to lose his temper, Alina stopped. "Dad, he's still young," she said smoothly. "Don't be angry, please."

Her words caught Sheffield's attention. His heart softened slightly. This was the first time his stepsister ever stood up for him.

In the past, Alaina never tried to persuade Eric or stood up for Sheffield. Instead, she'd even add salt to the injury.

"Look at your sister! If you're half as obedient as her, then maybe I'd get to live for another twenty years,"

Eric scolded. Sheffield shot her a cold glare.

Alina froze.

She thought that the hero would definitely misunderstand her intentions. If he thought that what she said was adding more salt to the injury, this would be bad for her in the future.

"Dad, Sheffield is a boy. If you ask him to be as obedient as a girl, then that still wouldn't be right for him."

Eric was stunned by Alina's words. She was right.

Sheffield was also stunned by her words. If she had spoken for him just once, he thought that she was just doing this for herself. Now, she continued to speak up for him. It didn't make sense.

Eric felt much better after hearing his stepdaughter's side, but he continued to keep a poker face.

Once Wendy came out in her home clothes, Alina clasped her hands together. "Mom has already changed her clothes. Can we have dinner now, Dad?"

Not wanting to be rude to his only son, Eric decided to back down. "Fine. Peter, it's time for dinner."

Hearing this, Alina ran happily to Wendy. She held her mother's hand and walked towards the dining table.

Staring at her retreating figure, mixed feelings rose in Sheffield's chest.

The dishes were soon placed on the table. The first dish was duck soup. Wendy quickly filled their bowls for each of them.

"The duck soup has been cooked for four hours and it is very nutritious. Honey, Sheffield, Alaina, have the soup first. It can warm your stomach." She was always considerate in front of Eric.

Eric's gaze softened.

"Thank you, Mom. The soup is delicious. It's not greasy at all," Alina smiled.

She glanced at Sheffield, noticing that he didn't seem happy with the soup.

As expected, he sneered at the bowl in front of him, pushing it back.

When Wendy noticed it, her face darkened. She pulled her hand out from Eric's grasp and placed on a worried mask. "Sheffield, don't you like the soup? It's good for you."

Sheffield wanted to vomit at her hypocrisy.

Eric turned to see his son's angry face. He frowned. "Why are you so angry? Your mother cares for you so much. Have you forgotten what to say?"

Sheffield gritted his teeth. This woman had always annoyed him to no end. If this continued, he'd...

Lowering her head, Wendy placed a hand on her chest. "Honey, forget about it. If Sheffield doesn't like it, I'll ask Jane to cook another soup next time."

Eric's male chauvinism surged again. He pounded the table with a loud bang. "If he doesn't want to eat, then he won't eat. You don't have to accommodate for him," he snapped.

Sheffield took that as a final straw. He threw his chopsticks and ran up to his room.

It had happened so fast that Alina couldn't process what was going on. She was just drinking some soup, and suddenly the whole dinner table turned into a battlefield.

She knew that her mother was unforgivable. If Wendy knew that this sensitive teen would be a strong and emotionless businessman, she wouldn't dare stretch the gap between him and his father.

Alina knew for a fact that this had just increased Sheffield's rage towards her and Wendy.

Now, they were one step closer to his death list.

As her mind replayed the tragic scene of Wendy and Alaina, a part of her wanted to jump up and race after him.

"Look at him!" Eric glared at his son's retreating figure, his chest heaving.

Seeing that her goal was reached, Wendy quickly patted her husband's chest to calm him down. "Don't be angry. The boy has a temper," she softly said. "You don't have to discipline him now. Let's have dinner. Have some duck soup, it will cleanse you."

"If that child's mother was still here..." Eric shook his head, his eyes shining with sadness. "Forget it, let's eat."

When his son was still young, he was an obedient boy. When his mother died, he became silent and sensitive. Since Eric had been busy with his growing career, he wasn't able to give Sheffield the attention he needed. When his son became more and more anti-social, he wondered if it was maternal love that his son had been missing.

That was one of the reasons why he remarried to Wendy, a gentle, considerate, and beautiful woman. However, it turned out his son hated his own stepmother.

He didn't know why since the pair were so good to him.

If Alina had known what Eric was thinking, she would've snorted. 'Wendy wouldn't give Sheffield what he needs. She doesn't even love him.'

Seeing Eric's saddened expression, Wendy lowered her eyes and held his hand.

They finished the meal in silence.

After dinner, Alina said her farewells and returned to her room.

She took a bath and lay on her bed, her mind filled with her character's miserable ending.

It was nearly eleven o'clock and she was becoming restless. She just couldn't sleep, still knowing that Sheffield was probably cursing her to her deathbed.

She needed to do something to eliminate that hatred.

At the thought of this, Alina silently opened the door and walked out in her pajamas.

It was eleven in the evening, and the servants had already gone to bed. The villa was quiet, so the girl turned on her flashlight and snuck into the kitchen.

To reduce his hatred, she might as well make some midnight snacks for him.

There were potatoes and carrots in the basket so Alina decided to look in the fridge.

There was a variety of food displayed in front of her, but she could only cook noodles.

Alina decided to make an omelet first. Once the water boiled, she placed the noodles in and took them out once they became malleable. On top of that, she placed some stir-fried vegetables.

Finally, the noodles were ready. However, Alina still felt as if something was missing. She clapped her hands together once she figured it out. It was coriander!

She grabbed and washed a few before sprinkling them over the noodles.

It was perfect. Alina quickly cleaned up the kitchen and walked up to the door of Sheffield's room. With a hand holding the noodles and the other holding the flashlight, Alina tentatively knocked three times on the door.

She hoped he hadn't gone to sleep, or else all her efforts would be futile.