Underestimated Heiress

CHAPTER 24 - you deserve it

Emma, Eric, Jess and Ethan rested that afternoon. Jess unpacked after resting and went to the dining room to have dinner with family.

Jess was the first one to arrive, she was reading the newspaper while waiting for others to join. Eric and Emma soon joined her in the dining room. She greeted her parents while they sat on their respective chairs. Eric asked for another part of the newspaper which Jess was not reading. Jess said after passing the remaining newspaper to Eric, "reading the news on a newspaper is fun. I miss this during school."

"This made me realise, you will be starting your year 11 soon. Just a couple of weeks left and you and Ethan will be back to school.", Emma said with a little disappointment. Eric was arranging his part of the newspaper appropriately so that it's easy to read.

"Before they go back to school Jess has a shooting competition in a few days. Start practising and get ready." Eric said seriously.

Jess has been observing her father's mood as he has been a bit upset since the last few days. She didn't know why, initially she thought he was upset because Jess went to the local market without informing. But this was so unlike her dad, if he was upset because of something she or Ethan did he would scold them immediately or worse punish them. In this case, he neither punished them nor did he say anything intact he has been giving silent treatment. Jess hated this the most.

The room fell silent again until Ethan entered, yawning lazily, he sat on the dining table and the helpers served the food.

"I feel so tired, I want to sleep more." Ethan said without reading the atmosphere of the room.

All Jess could do now is feel pity for Ethan. She looked at him and nodded her head in disappointment. Ethan didn't understand what was going on, he still felt sleepy, when suddenly Eric's hoarse voice woke him up completely,"how can you do nothing and still be tired? If you continue to be this lazy things will just get difficult for you. Buckle up before it gets too late. I will be meeting your tutors soon and I hope to see improvements."

Eric knew both his children were different, he made sure of not comparing the two with each other. The training plans he made for them were also different, based more on their strengths and weaknesses. Both Jess and Ethan knew this and trusted their parents. So they followed the plans created by Eric without any hesitation. Ethan acted lazy but everyone knew he takes after Jenna and is sincere like her. He will finish and excel any task given to him within the given time.

Ethan, now reading the room, nodded quietly at his dad and then finished his food without saying another word. After dinner, he sent a text message to Jess,"What's going on? Why is dad so irritated?"

Jess was sitting opposite to him on the couch, she looked at him and then typed, "I don't know, ask mom"

Ethan read the message then looked at Jess and then at their mom, she was sitting next to their dad, reading a book, while their dad was watching sports news on tv. Ethan made a chat group with Jess and Jenna, he sent a text message on it, "mom, what happened? Why does dad look upset? We could feel his dangerous aura."

Jess read the message, she looked at Ethan angrily, she thought,"why does he always insist on waking up the devil? Can't he read the room?"

Then she looked at her mom, her phone was on loud and everyone heard the beep of a message, Eric saw the time and it was late for someone to text his wife. He picked up the phone from the coffee table and gave it to Jenna.

For a second, Ethan stopped breathing, he thought Eric would read the message. When Ethan looked at Jess, she had an expression of 'you deserve it'.

Jenna read the message and looked at Eric, as if Eric had already read it. She then replied back on the group chat, "Ethan, we thought that you have a good IQ. Why do you think that your dad picked up the phone? Don't you know by now that there are no secrets between us?"

Ethan's face was flushed, he was extremely scared and didn't know what to do, so he thought he should escape as fast as he could. So he pretended to yawn and said,"I am sleepy, I will go to bed now. Good night." He got up and turned around when Eric said louder than normal,"wait". He then turned off the TV, and said in a softer tone,"sit down."

Ethan sat down, speechless. Eric relaxed on the couch, put his arm around Jenna's shoulder and spoke in a low voice while looking at Jenna,"I know you warned me but I didn't listen." Ethan and Jess couldn't hear what their parents were talking about. Jenna smiled back at Eric and whispered, "that's fine they will understand."

Eric looked at his children and he spoke softly,"we had a good time during our trip but I feel that you both are growing up too fast, especially Jess. Next year she will finish her school and will leave for her further education." He paused, and continued,"I was just trying to hide my emotions that I will miss you both once you go to school"

Jess and Ethan looked at each other, they never heard such emotional words from their father, they both got up and gave a hug to their father, soon their mother joined them in the family hug.

Next day, Jess started practising for the shooting competition, her coach was impressed with her determination and hard work. One day, after Jess finished practising she noticed that her coach and Eric were talking about something serious. After their chat the coach walked towards Jess and smiled. He said,"you have done well, I am sure your hard work and determination will help you succeed. Give your best. Good luck."

Jess felt inspired, she replied,"thank you coach"