"Those are Victor's works."
I snap my body around, only to find Ms. Langston standing before me, a smile on her face. "Luke's elder brother."
I'm stunned for a while before I shift my attention back to the paintings. "Aiden's father?" I echo.
Ms. Langston doesn't give me the answer right away, but as I walk further into the room to inspect his masterpieces, she says, "Yes."
I feel her following behind me as I go through the paintings.
"Aiden likes to come here to spend his free time," she says. "Sometimes, he paints here too."
I see. So that's where he got his talent from. Like father, like son.
One particular painting draws me in. My eyes just can't stop looking at a painting of a beautiful woman sitting on a bench, reading a book. She has long, straight auburn hair that reaches her shoulder and a pair of green eyes.
"It's his wife. Emily," I hear Ms. Langston say behind me.
I gaze at her. She's so pretty, even in painting.
A smile forms on my lips as I look at the woman who gave birth to Aiden. "So, she's Aiden's mother."
Again, Ms. Langston goes silent. It's not a question, though, so she doesn't need to answer anything.
However, after a while, she confirms, "She is."
I sigh and turn to Ms. Langston. My heart sinks as I see the sadness in her eyes. She must be remembering the tragedy that happened to Aiden's parents.
"You've been here since forever, have you not?" I ask.
Ms. Langston nods with a soft smile. "I’ve known Luke and Victor since they were toddlers."
"How did the accident happen?" My voice is small.
It's heartbreaking that Aiden had to go through the pain of losing his parents at such a young age, and Luke too for losing his brother.
Ms. Langston lets out a long sigh.
She looks pressured to answer my question, but then she opens her mouth. "It happened seven years ago. They had a car crash. Emily was in the third trimester of her pregnancy, close to labour. Both she and Victor didn't make it alive, but fortunately, the doctor managed to save her baby."
My mouth drops open. Suddenly, I feel a lump in my throatfrom hearing about that tragic incident. So, Aiden never met his parents? At all? My heart breaks for him even more.
Ms. Langston takes a deep breath before she resumes the story. "Everyone in the family was devastated when it happened, especially Luke," she says. "He was destroyed. At the time, we almost thought that no one could help him. What made it worse was that he blamed everything on their parents."
This information startles me.
"What?" I blurt out. "How come?"
Ms. Langston stares at me, still with the same sad eyes. "Victor was betrothed to another woman, Josephine. Their marriage was planned by both of their parents. It's the kind of arranged marriage between two powerful families. But Victor loved Emily. He never loved Josephine."
I don't say anything, waiting for her to spill more.
"But of course, his parents never approved of his relationship with Emily," Ms. Langston says. "She was just a commoner, a librarian who met Victor in college, but their love was unavoidable. Even though she was lovely, smart and kindhearted, his parents still didn't approve of her. Sadly, they still judged her from her background, which wasn't from a well-bred family."
My heart clenches for them. It must have been horrible to experience such hardship, not being able to be with the one you love.
"Regardless of his parents' disapproval, Victor and Emily were still together, building their relationship behind his parents' backs," Ms. Langston says. "Eventually, his parents found out, and they were furious. The fact that Klein Enterprise was on the verge of bankruptcy made it worse. At that time, an arranged marriage between Victor and Josephine was the only thing that could save the company."
I feel my breath catch in my throat. "What happened?" The question leaves my lips even though I'm starting to figure out where the story is going.
