Unveiling the Hearts

23. Bound to bring in loads of love

A knock on the door made Lucian look up from the papers sprawled before him.

"Yes?" He asked, wishing desperately it wasn't Amira. He didn't want to face her now. He didn't have enough patience to deal with her yet. He had just cooped himself up into his office to get himself busy with work; to get his anger levels back to low.

Lucian's eyes widened a fraction and he leaned back against his chair when the door opened to reveal Micah Verlice.

"Mr. Verlice?" He asked with a tilt of his head to the side. "Is there a problem?"

Micah nodded and entered the room. Lucian noticed how hard the older man was trying to hide a wince, with every step he took. His ribs must be hurting badly.

Micah took several steps forward until he reached a chair and stood behind it.

"I wanted to talk," he declared, looking Lucian in the eyes. Even though he was a sweet man, his voice did drip authority while he was addressing Lucian.

Lucian blinked and motioned towards the chair he was standing behind.
"Why don't you take a seat first?"

Micah nodded and pulled the chair back. He lowered himself into the chair and placed his elbows on the table. His hands clasped in front of him as he looked at the younger man intently.

"Have you talked to Amira yet?" Micah asked, completely throwing Lucian off-guard.

"No, Mr. Verlice." Lucian shook his head. "Why'd you ask?"

"Because I'm her Uncle," Micah said. The serious tone his voice took and the expressions on his face made Lucian tap his fingers against his knee. "What you're doing to that kid is wrong."

Lucian clenched his jaw, the tapping of his fingers stopped.
"I know how to deal with my kids, Mr. Verlice," he gritted. "I'd like it if you didn't meddle with my parenting."

"I don't mean to meddle, Lucian." Micah shook his head. "That's why I'm here to have a personal chat about your wrong parenting. Privately."

Lucian felt his blood boiling at that. He clenched his jaw so hard, his teeth gritted together.

"A fatherly advice, Lucian," Micah continued, ignoring the anger on the other man's face. "Silent treatment will only harm a child. It will just have negative effects on that kid and you will just push her away further."

"And what to do if that child is not keen on letting go of bad habits? If that child is keen on lying and keeping things from us?" Lucian gritted.

Micah passed him a smile, surprisingly.
"Why don't you try having a heart-to-heart with the child on why they did what they did? Then explain how lying is bad."

"We've done that, Mr. Verlice," Lucian said. He looked away and clenched his jaw. "I don't know what else will work on her."

"Well, have you talked to her about people trying to lure her into such traps? Have you had the talk with her about your job?" Micah asked. He didn't particularly like his job, nor did Elijah and Lily.

Elijah used to think he'd pull these kids out of this generational trap, especially after Lily had told him about how much Lucian was being made to work for his official crowning, to take over as the king.

When Lucian remained silent, Micah shook his head.
"The thing is, Lucian," he said, as he got ready to stand up. He was almost done with this conversation. "You need to make her scared of your disappointment more than she's scared of your anger."

Lucian looked up at the man, watching him stand up from his seat. A small smile was still glued to his face as he looked back at Lucian with a rather gentle look on his face.
"My advice would be to talk to her and make her understand why what she did was wrong. Put healthy consequences in place. Ignoring her will only have negative effects."