At Sy Mansion.

The next morning, the entire family was at the dining area of Sy mansion to eat together at breakfast.

“It’s been a while since we all sat down here to eat together. I thought I would never see our long table with so many filled seats like this again.” Senior Sy commented with a smile.

Miley exchanged a meaningful gaze with Liam. Their father smiling like that after what happened last night was scarier.

“How about we skip work today and go out and have some fun together. It’s been a while. Like let’s play golf…” Miley suggested.

She looked at Lana and added, “That is father’s favorite sport and he really enjoys playing it with us. Do you play golf Lana?”

Lana shook her head and timidly answered, “I honestly thought that playing golf is too easy a sport for me as I preferred extreme sports.”

Jorge laughed and said, “Ah you’re only saying that because you haven’t tried it. I was like you at first until I became a laughing stock for them when I joined them playing it.”

“We’ll see.” Lana answered with a smile.

“We can do it on weekends. Why would you all skip work today huh? Finish breakfast and go to work. Don’t worry about me.” Senior Sy expressed with a reassuring smile.

Liam heaved a sigh then directly responded, “Alright. Father is emotionally stronger now so I also think we don’t need to look after him all round the day. He is soon going to have his grandchildren, so father will surely not do anything to scare us.”

Senior Sy laughed and said, “You brat! Don’t worry about me. Of course like you all I’m still in a daze after what happened last night. It’s indeed not a good feeling and there’s no point in hiding that.”

He looked at each of his children sitting in front of him and heaved a long deep sigh before saying, “The pain is back but you are all my strength and my pillar of support… This pain is nothing when compared to the joy and fulfillment I have for having you guys with me…”

Miley could not help it as tears fell from her eyes. Lana started sniffing as well.

“Father, it’s so early… Why are you making the girls cry.” Jorge complained as he sniffed and wiped her tears.

Senior Sy chuckled and said, “you’re the first to cry Jorge.”

Liam shook his head and chuckled. He was the only one not crying but deep in his heart, he appreciated and adored his father too much.

The breakfast ended with the family bantering and soon everyone left for work but they also decided to stay at Sy mansion for the time being.

Senior Sy heaved a long deep sigh as he watched his children leave. He stood up after making sure they all had left and walked to the bar area and grabbed a bottle of strong brandy. He wanted to get drunk and relax his raging mind since last night but he did not want to worry his children by showing his broken self in front of them.

He then thought that he would drink after they all left for work so that he would even get sober later before dinner. His children would not come to know about his broken state and he also will have collected his shattered heart.

Chelsy creased her forehead when she saw Senior Sy grabbed a bottle in his hand.

“Is he going to drink this early in the morning?” She murmured. She saw him leave and for some reason, Chelsy was worried so she quietly followed behind him.

He picked a bottle of strong brandy and walked alone in the bas.e.m.e.nt. She had never been on that side of the mansion so she wondered why Senior Sy walked there with a bottle. She found it really weird that Senior Sy would drink in that area instead of his room or the bar area.

She carefully and quietly followed him and stopped when he entered the room.

She waited for a while in hesitation and then she too entered there and saw shelves and closets kept in rows. She hid behind one shelf that was tall enough to hide her when she saw him sitting on the couch at the center of the room.

She looked around and saw a lot of books and paintings. By the look of it, the room was the storage area of someone’s personal belongings who was not anymore in their lives, yet everything was clean and tidy.

She quietly stared at one painting of a beautiful flower and noticed the signature in it.

“Claire?” She murmured. She did not know what came to her that she sat there, crunching on the floor while she hugged her legs. Maybe because she was too worried for him so she stayed there.

After some time she heard his sobbing. He was crying…

“What did I do wrong to deserve this cruelty from you?” Senior Sy mumbled followed by a big gulp of brandy directly from his bottle. He did not know whether his numb heart or his pride was the one hurting after so many years… or maybe both.

Claire looked so happy in her new life now. She totally forgot him and all that he did for her, but what hurt him the most was that she also forgot about their children.

He witnessed how loving she was to Brione who was only her stepdaughter when she did not have the time to give the same attention to her own daughter, the little child who lived her entire childhood, her growing up years without a mother…

Did she not ever imagine the pain in the little girl’s heart? Did she have no time to even think of her children born with him?

He felt bad for his children because his dear Liam and Miley did not deserve this from her. She could leave him if she wanted but that did not mean she should also forget her own children, to the extent that she did not turn back even once to see them or meet them.

“Why are you this cruel Claire? Our children didn’t deserve this. Oh God…” he cried out loud to his heart’s content. He kept drinking the alcohol straight from the bottle.

He gulped again… Not pausing as he continued to sob. Soon his face was completely red due to intoxication and he could feel the effect of the alcohol taking over his senses.

He felt so dizzy but he still continued to drink more. He took another gulp and he almost choked that he had to cough several times.

Chelsy got scared hearing that and she hurriedly rushed towards him.

“Sir… Are you alright?” She asked as she gently patted his back.

She heard him chuckle and when he lifted his face to look at him, Chelsy saw how red his face was. He was smiling and obviously so drunk. Then after that he was again crying…

Chelsy could not take seeing him like that so she pulled him so he could rest his head on her belly as he cried and she unconsciously stroked his hair lovingly.

“It’s okay… Everything will be fine. Just cry some more. Later you will feel better Sir.” She whispered.

Senior Sy tilted his head to look at her. His eyes were blurry because of the tears.

Chelsy wiped his tears and cupped his face. She did not know what came to her that she leaned her head down to kiss him on his lips.