A Perfect Distraction

49. Dinner with Malinov family

'Anger is nothing more than an outward expression of hurt, fear, and frustration.'

"Dave Fernandez Kingston, my dad's stepbrother." I gritted out.

"Woah, I could feel the hatred from your voice," Logan said. I kept an expressionless face, suppressing my anger and sadness within me. Dave was sitting a few tables away from us, talking animatedly with a few men in suit.

Ever since I could remember, I saw Dave as an enemy to my family. He never kept a civilized conversation with my parents or with me. All he did was throw profanities at us or cause trouble which involved cops at times. Dave is the direct descendant of the Kingston family and his parents, a.k.a my paternal grandparents adopted my dad a year before Dave was born. From what I heard from my mother, Dave was a troublesome kid even when he turned twenty-six, always partying and misusing family funds which caused my grandparents to handover Kingston company to my dad and a hotel to Dave.

Under Dave's ownership, the hotel went into loss and had to shut down due to some immoral activities. I felt pity for him even though it was his entire fault for this loss. Then after a few years of doing nothing, he started causing disruptions, claiming he wanted to be CEO of Kingston Inc. When my dad suggested a partnership, he didn't accept as he wanted to merge Kingston Inc. to some other company. My dad protested against it, and hence the sibling war started. But my pity soon turned into anger and hatred at his actions. He made my father cry for innumerable times, and that's something I can't forgive.

"Are you all right, love?" Logan asked, closely scrutinizing my emotionless face.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I said bitterly.

"Uh...Nothing" he shrugged, frowning slightly.

"Let's go," I said, pushing my chair back and standing up.

"You're not going to talk to him?" Logan said, getting up as well.

"No. I don't want to," I started walking, not waiting for Logan as he placed some cash on the table. I had to walk past Dave's table to the door and when I realized there's no other way, I cursed softly and kept walking, my eyes focused on the exit door. I managed to walk past the table, but not from Dave's gaze.

"Uh, Karolia?" his deep voice called out from behind and I froze in my tracks. Logan was standing beside me, analyzing my reaction. I squeezed my eyes shut before turning around to face my Uncle. His face displayed shock and surprise but quickly masked it. He stood up and strode towards us.

"So, you're not dead." was the first thing he stated without any emotion. Logan stiffened beside me and from my peripheral vision, I could see him clenching his fist.

"Yes, I'm not dead," I said calmly, even though my insides were burning. I know I shouldn't expect sweet words from him as it's never going to happen, but there was this slight hope. Now that hope vanished.

"I knew you were alive when the police couldn't find your body. Where were you for a year?" He asked.

"Places," I said, not wanting to start a conversation with him.

"I see," he said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Say Karolia, did you kill your parents so that you can elope with this guy?" He asked, eyeing Logan. I scowled at him, feeling the anger bubble through my veins at his comment. How dare he?

"Watch what you're talking about," Logan hissed. I could feel the anger radiating off from his body but I took no notice as my anger was double than his. I took a threatening step forward and stared straight into Dave's eyes.