Chapter 139 - You Are In Trouble

If there was anyone that interested Marcel amongst his second cousins, that would be Adele. 

It wasn't uncommon for the male in the family to have mistresses while the wives pretended to be oblivious to it, however, they made sure complications aka a child didn't arise from their affairs.

But his uncle Benjamin had failed at that and there came about the birth of Adele. And while he should have sent her away to avoid conflict in the future, Benjamin cared much about the number of his children - that would go up against them. So Adele stayed especially after he lost two of his sons.

It was obvious that Adele went through hell in the hands of Benjamin's wife especially after she gave birth to her long-awaited daughter, Cindy, two years after she arrived in the family. And while others in her situation would break and give up from the maltreatment, Adele stood tall and prevailed. Now she's a core member of the organization.

With a driven, hard-working, and no-nonsense personality, it was obvious that Adele's efforts in the organization were underrated and she was prejudiced on the grounds of being a female and a half-blood. 

But Marcel didn't dare to interrupt, for women as diligent as Adele, they preferred to make it on their own and he wasn't about to divulge into his cousins affairs anyway. It was equivalent to stepping into a hornet's nest.

There was a change in the atmosphere the moment Marcel entered the hall but after a glance or two his way, everyone went back to their conversation. But this time their conversation was measured and careful as if they didn't want to say something that would be detrimental to them later. 

Marcel could feel uncountable eyes on him yet he looked relaxed and showed no fact he was bothered even when he knew the meeting today was all about him. He instead chose the opportunity to scan the hall, trying to see who he was up against. 

After his careful countdown, there were a total of twenty of his family members in attendance today, and out of which, he had two on his side - Victor and his mother. He hoped. 

In this line of work, there was no permanent friend nor enemy and it was better to be prepared for a little backstabbing so it doesn't hurt much when it plays out. Hence Marcel concluded that he was all alone; it was a battle he had to fight by himself. If reinforcement came, glory be to God.

Marcel located his uncles, Benjamin and Robert, the sons of Mattia who murdered Albine and was cast away from the family line. While Benjamin fathered Gabriel, Adele, Cindy (plus his two late sons), Robert was the proud father of Arthur and Lance. Out of the two brothers, Robert was the most confident that he would return the rulership to their side of the family with the help of his son, Arthur. He was proud of him. 

And speaking of Arthur, Marcel's gaze rested on the scene of the young man bullying his younger brother without anyone noticing. It was no secret news to Marcel that Arthur and Lance were in intense competition with one another.

While Arthur effortlessly gained his father's attention and approval, Lance was trapped under his elder brother's shadow. No matter what he did, Arthur does it better or has done it already. It was quite frustrating.

Marcel did not know what they were discussing but he saw the way Arthur suddenly held Lance, his head trapped in his arm. While it might seem like a playful grapple amongst brothers, Marcel very well saw Arthur slap his brother's cheek trice condescendingly. Lance was red in the face with embarrassment and tried to break free but Arthur held tighter while laughing. 

Arthur would have continued with his act if his eyes hadn't traveled across the room and as if he sensed Marcel watching him, their eyes connected and his face broke into a grin; the way a predator animal would when he senses a prey. Except that he was mistaken, because Marcel was sure that no matter the circumstance that he was the predator and Arthur was nothing but a scavenger. 

With one final drumming of his fingers on his brother's head, Arthur finally let go of Lance who was filled with indignation especially after discovering that Marcel had seen what happened. It was obvious that if they weren't in such a public setting, he would have tackled his brother to the ground and begun a fight for all it's worth, since he was going to lose anyway. But it doesn't hurt to try. 

Watching that scene Marcel was thankful that he didn't have a sibling. Well, he did have one he loved - that was taken by his father - and it's a female. Get the point. 

Arthur came over to where he stood with that arrogant smirk playing at the corner of his lips, "I should leave it up to you to always be different from the others," He referred to Marcel looking conversative in his dressing compared to them looking refined in their suits. 

"Ahh…" Marcel breathed, "Sorry, but I tend not to follow the ignorant crowd," He sassed. 

There was a split in Arthur's face at once, annoyance creeping up. Marcel sighed inwardly, when it came to exchanging words, why does the idiot always bother him when he knows he would be defended in the end. 

"Fine, be smug all you want, we all know how today is going to end anyway," He finally came off with his pretense. 

"Yeah, I know," Marcel surprisingly concurred, "I landed in a den of wolves. But we would see who the alpha wolf is in the end." His smugness returned. 

"And I'm his beta," Victor came out of nowhere, draping his hand around Marcel's shoulder, "I suggest you get your ass moving, you lowly omega," He made an act of growling at Arthur in a threatening manner. 

Arthur's nostrils flared, "We'd see!" He promised yet walked with his tail in between his legs. 

Marcel and Victor had smiling faces the entire time Arthur walked away and the minute he was gone, it dropped. 

Victor said at once, "You are in trouble," 

"Yes, I am," Marcel concurred.