Shay City, a few thousand kilometers from Quezon City.
In the housing area, the biggest family in the city, the Brii family, gathered.
This was a meeting of the core members and the different heirs of the family. Jayden Brii the first-in-line heir, was also present.
An old man sat at the fridge net of the table.
"Grandmaster, everyone is here," a middle-aged man spoke.
The old man cleared his throat and then started.
"Welcome everyone, Tara, please read the report to everyone for them to understand why they are here.
A stunningly beautiful woman standing behind the old man started speaking.
"Welcome everyone to this emergency gathering. Mr Brii asked me to call you all here for something which couldn't wait." They all looked at each other and looked back at the woman.
From the current data, some individuals in the family have been misusing the family name and, in turn, tarnishing the family reputation."
She paused and then continued. "No family member should be getting into baseless cooperation with small families and companies for our one's personal interests" The old man raised his hand at that moment. The woman stopped.
The old croaky voice continued instead.
"This matter is not light. If we need to gain enough roots in this business world, we need to use our intellect to solve our problems, not following some stupid needs."
He stopped with an ugly expression.
No one spoke until someone broke the silence.
"Father, we have been working for the interest of the company. What do you mean by that?" Sam, Brii's family's first son and father to Jayden Brii, was the one who spoke.
Mr Brii shook his head and shouted, "I can't believe you are as blind as that son of yours. Don't you know what he has been up to?"
Everyone turned and glanced at Jayden Brii. He also looked at the old man and asked, "Grandpa, what did I do wrong?"
"You don't talk to..." The old man shouted angrily slumming his hand on the table. He coughed hard and held his chest. The woman behind him walked ahead and supported him.
"Sam, does your family want to kill me?" he asked his son in a struggling voice.
"Dad, what are you saying?" Sam asked, standing up.
He turned to his son and asked angrily, "Jayden Brii, what did you do?" Jayden lowered his head and answered in a low voice.
"I did nothing Dad, please believe me."
"Are you calling me a liar?" The old man retorted.
At that time, a woman next to Sam shot up and walked to Jayden. She gently touched his shoulder and whispered to him. Jayden smiled. She then turned and glared at her husband and father-in-law and shouted coldly.
"Why are you speaking to him like that? Don't you all dare speak to my Jayden like that," as she said that, she took him into her arms.
The old man was burning in fury. He struggled to stand as he shouted, "You...you stupid woman, that's why I never wanted you in my family. How stupid was my dumb son to choose a fool like you for a wife,"
"Your old hag how..." The woman was about to berate the old man when a sharp cold voice intercepted.
"Shut up, Sally!" The woman glared at her husband in shock.
She looked like she would cry.
Sam then took a deep breath and said, "You are the one who has destroyed that idiot of a son of yours. Why do you always take his side? Even when he is wrong, you damned existence."
Sally broke down when she heard that. "You shouted at me like that, Sam?" She said between sobs. Jayden looked at her remorsefully and then turned to his father.
"Dad, how can you shout to Mum like that in public?" he said between gritted teeth.
"Shut up you bastard, what do you know, except running around wasting money, causing trouble and taking other people's women. You think I don't know?" Jayden was left speechless. Her mother was also stunned. She raised her eyes and met his and then asked gently. "Is that true?"
Jayden did not look into her eyes. He stared away and kept his mouth shut.
"Can't speak now?" his father said coquettishly.
"Dad I..." He was about to speak when his father yelled again.
"Shut tha fuck up, you are an abomination. I regret having a son like you."
Sally couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't just keep quiet when her favorite do was being cursed at. Even if he had committed that much of a grave sin, no one had the right to berate her son.
She let go of him and, rubbing off her tears, shouted at her husband.
"Sam, how can you talk to your son like that?" "Are you even human? Even a dog protects its own. What about you, cursing your son in front of everyone?" She spoke in one breath. She was panting like a deer when she finished. Sam looked at his wife and felt somewhat guilty.
Truly, he should not have talked to his son like that and in public. He wanted to apologize but, knowing his wife's character, thought against it. She was the cause of all this. Any way their son grew up to be was all her fault.
She used to cover for him when he bullied his classmates in high school. He became arrogant as he grew due to her carefree behavior. Sam felt so angry that he wanted to slap this woman. How could she speak to him like that?
He recalled when he married her, an innocent country girl from a small town. At that time, she was lovely and likable. She used to understand him, make-up when they quarreled and, most of all, respected him and not talk back to him like that in public. After they married, she maintained their normal but soon began to change with time. Truly, "A leopard cannot hide its spots."
Sam felt conflicted, he wasn't siding with anyone, but actually teaching his arrogant son a life lesson.
"Listen to me Sally, you have made this brat so selfcentered that he has forgotten his decorum, and now you stand in front of the family patriarch and upbraid everyone. Don't you have any shame, remember your past life and have some humility,"
Sam's voice was calm, but the weight that his words carried was very high. All others in the room, inclusive of his father, were stunned. This was just a normal family gathering, but it had suddenly turned into a personal family matter. Sally opened her mouth to speak. She trailed, but no word really came out. She did not understand even herself whether she should be mad or shameful, or rather, should she feel downrated or something?
Her mental struggle was visible outwardly. She was trembling, her brows furrowed, and she finally mastered some strength and said, "Sam, you are not worthy of being a father and neither a husband. You are so materialistic that everything you care about is your family business and name. You don't care about your family about me."
She was crying again.
Sam answered immediately, "Really Sally, what about her?" He pointed to a teenage girl seated at the table and then continued, "Your own daughter, Ama?"
Sally, this time round, was speechless. Tears rolled down like waterfalls, there were no words said, but she looked like she would pass out almost instantly. She turned and looked at the girl sitting there with her watery eyes. The girl remained emotionless as he watched his mother. Sally's face contorted and she shouted angrily, "That's your daughter. I can't deal with such a thing, she doesn't want me anyway."
The girl's eyes were slowly watering up as she stared at her mother, blatantly rejecting her.
"Oh really, did you ever give her the choice to be with you or enjoy a motherly love? How could she like you when you didn't like her back as a mother? All you do is scold her. What do you expect from a child when you don't want them?" Sam said, fuming.
"You know what, Sam, I don't think there was ever love between the two of us. You just wanted pleasure, right? Well, then I will leave." She said and grabbed Jayden.
The two were about to step outside when they stopped in their tracks. An old croaky voice announced, "You little brat, if you step outside that door, your rights as the first future heir will be revoked, and you will be chased out of the family."
Another voice sounded, "And that applies to you two, Sally. If you dare walk out on me, we are for sure done, so if you feel you have accumulated enough of my money, just walk away with your son and never come back, go back to your little hometown."
Sally felt a shiver run down her body.
She looked at his son and thought, "It's only that he has no Brii blood, or else I wouldn't let any of you trample on him,"