Chapter 57: Eighteen years

"Old Master!’ Butler Thomas gasped and immediately held onto the old man.

"I am fine," Old Maser Hawke spoke as he stabilized himself.

Looking at Callahan, the old man harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, you finally decided to be more obedient to your grandfather. I am telling you, that’s the right way—"

The old man’s words came to a halt when his eyes accidentally shifted and landed on the woman standing behind Callahan, "You... What..."

"Good morning, grandfather," With a gracious as ever smile, Sienna bowed to the man, "I will go make some lotus tea for you."

Sienna had just descended the stairs when Old Master Hawke’s roar shook the entire villa. She lit a candle for Callahan mentally before following Thomas to the kitchen.

In the private study.

Old Master Hawke sat on the couch with a solemn expression on his face. His foot kept tapping on the floor as he sighed twice in every three seconds.

"Here, have some water," Callahan offered a glass to the old man.

Old Master Hawke scoffed, "Have you added some poison in it?"

"I will ask Thomas to get some," Callahan retracted his hand.

Old Master Hawke: "_"

Fuming, the old man grabbed the glass and gulped a few mouthfuls of water before he finally glanced at Callahan, "Do you think I don’t know what you have been up to?"

Getting no response, Old Master Hawke spoke again, "It’s not like you ever sat with me before to have heart-to-heart. But now, you have become even more mysterious."

"The night of that event, I left Olive by your side so she can keep an eye on your actions and handle if any situation got out of hand. That girl is capable but what did you do? You found a way and chased her back to my side!"

"And later... a hundred million?! It’s for that girl again, isn’t it? Money doesn’t matter but your reason behind it is what I care about. You did not do that for our family prestige or reputation but rather, for your meaningless impulse!"

Old Master Hawke frowned, "No matter how much money we have, you can’t just wilfully throw it away."

"I can," Callahan nonchalantly responded, "It’s my money."

Old Master Hawke was enraged, "You are the heir I have carefully trained. But don’t you dare to think that your old man is helpless. If you go against me, I will just train another heir!"

"I will turn in the resignation after breakfast then."

"_"

The old man clutched his chest, "You... You... Are you threatening me?"

He stood up from the couch and paced around the study. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to Callahan, "Fine, I won’t take your words to heart. For now, I will reluctantly give you a chance to set things straight."

"Oh?" Callahan sat on the couch.

Old Master Hawke nodded, "You are all young people and I am not the one to meddle in how you... express your feelings. If you want to live with someone before marriage, that’s understandable too. But it cannot be this Qing girl!"

"Last time, I thought she was stuck here because of the weather. But from the looks of it..." The old man sighed, "Let me tell you, your brother will soon be engaged to her younger sister. And these two... clearly share some history."

Callahan tilted his head.

"For the past few weeks, these things have been all over the news but I don’t care about the opinion of those random wild people. What I care about is... our family," Old Master Hawke said sternly.

"Seth and you are brothers. No matter what misunderstandings or distance you have between you, you will overcome it eventually with time. But for that to happen, you have to cut off this girl. It will be easy for you and the girl if you do it early on."

"She is... Sigh... It doesn’t matter whether she is good or not but she shares a past with your brother," he added, "That would be best for all the people involved in it."

Once he said his piece, Old Master Hawke did not even wait for a response from Callahan. In his eyes, he had already laid his final verdict and his elder grandson was wise enough to handle the situation from there.

Old Master Hawke had just stepped out of the study when he bumped into Sienna in the hallway.

The girl was smiling brightly, holding a tray with lotus tea and snacks in her hand, ’What a pity,’ The old man’s mood soured a little.

Puffing his face like a pufferfish, the old man walked past Sienna.

"Grandfather, lotus tea," Sienna stopped him.

The old man was momentarily startled, ’Ah, how filial. I have two grandsons, which one of them understands filial piety? Instead, granddaughters are much better...’

The old man immediately halted the trail of his thoughts, "Who asked you to call me grandfather?" He grumbled and eyed the lotus tea again.

After giving it a thought, he picked the teacup and sipped on it as he descended the stairs.

"Callahan did," Sienna followed him.

"That brat? It is already blue moon when he decides to call me grandfather properly. Why would he ask you to do so? Aren’t you lying to me?" Old Master Hawke spoke without looking at her.

"He said we are family."

Old Master Hawke looked at her.

Sienna blinked innocently.

"Then, take it as an elder’s advice. You young people shouldn’t act impulsively when it comes to matters of heart. You should always take it slow, know where your heart is, know where the other person’s heart lies and most importantly, you should know if they are right for you."

Sienna nodded slowly.

"My grandson has a terrible temper and he is unpredictable in his ways. You probably haven’t known each other for long so you might not know these things about him but I won’t keep secrets from you..." Old Master Hawke said subtly, "How long have you known him for again?"

"Eighteen years."