It was a warm sunny day, the trees swayed in the pleasant wind and the birds chased each other in the sky. I really love sunny days, eli's eyes curved as he watered his flowers, after all the sun is my favorite star, it reminds me of my husband's fiery golden eyes, with whom I should never have fallen in love with but this thought was 4 years too late.
4 YEARS AGO
ELI RAN towards the back door, not wanting to be seen by any of the briars, but alas living with a joint family meant that you were never truly alone.
"Elysian Starr, why are you scurrying around like a rat ?" A toneless voice sounded from the end of the corridor, he turned around to face the oldest daughter in law of the briar family and her harsh eyes. The scent of aged roses rushed towards him carrying with them the displeasure Mrs. Mariah Briar felt. well, she did like to make a entrance, especially if it were to chide someone, eli thought as he looked towards the ground not wanting to annoy her further.
"my apologies auntie, i've a meeting scheduled with mr. Hayes", he said truthful, standing straight like a good student, even though it pained him to tell her his itinerary, he had to do so unless he wanted a drone falling him everywhere. She frowns, not bothering to follow the etiquette of pheromones, hers thicken in the air, sickening him even further, he wanted to sink to the floor but instead he bite the inside of his cheek and continued staring at the floor.
" i see....always make sure, your actions don't sully the briar name " she scolded and signals the Butler behind her, "get James to chaperone him" she commands and turns towards him and frowns at his jeans, sweater sports shoes combo, " ...and wear clothes befitting your status"
"My apologies, i was thoughtless, i will make sure to wear appropriate clothing before going out." eli bowed, only to hear a humph and heels clicking away from him.
Eli signed in relief, after being free from the chains of her pheromones and go back to his room feeling defeated to change into a suit and dress shoes, instead of the normal jeans and shirt.
Aunt's harsh attitude was nothing new after all she only ever talked to me to reprimand me, about maintain my image of a proper young master in front of my contracted partner Alexander Hayes, the bright sun of Hayes conglomerate and my contracted husband-to-be eli though as he walked out his room and down the grand staircase of the Briar's mansion.
Even though, eli felt nothing about the othering treatment of the family, after all, he had a reason to be here, so he treated all of them like shitty colleagues he had blood ties with, who he must tolerate because he really needed the job, and listening to scolding was just part of the duties. what is the job you ask ? well of Course, it was being the dutiful and demour omega fiancee of Alexander Hayes, the son of THE Hayes Conglomerate.
Eli only had the 'honour' of achieving this status because oldest son, beloved of the main family, had differentiated into a alpha. How could the Son of Hayes conglomerate marry a alpha who would not give him a heir, right ? But the alliance must be formed, so to maintain the delicate facade, he was bought into the family. The only omega of this generation of briar family.
As soon as Eli step out the house, he heard james say " young master this way, the car is ready." all in his robotic glory perfected by all the staff of the briar household.
EII nodded his way him and walk towards the garage, there was no point in wanting to talk with the staff, it won't surprise eli if someday he sees them plugged to a charging station in the basement, with their eternally straight expressionless faces.
When he first entered this house 5 years ago, he had thought this standoffish attitude was their way of protesting eli's existence, as the omega who stole their young master's perfect marriage solely based on his secondary gender, only to later understand that they were never meant to be human in this mansion. His surprise was immense as his beta mother mina, was the most expressive and gentle person he knew, she had created marvelous pieces admired by people for years.
Everyone here, in the briar household, moved as per expectation, perfect like clockwork keyed in every dawn, no mistakes were tolerated, only perfection was expected. The spouses were selected as per best genetic pedigree and almost all the other children were alpha, but the future can never be truly predicted. Desperation To form a alliance between the briar family and the Hayes family had taken root in the heart of the briar elders but the one child they had thought would be omega turned out to be a alpha. the briar family chose to conceal Irven's differentiation, under the guise of failing health they shipped him off to a foreign lab but instead of turning into a omega his body crashed and lost all and any traces of pheromone, but this tragedy was only the beginning, many business of the briar family started to fail, their desperation grew, as all hopes for a alliance was lost, 3 years later they got to know about Elysian's existence and mina's accident.
The middle child of the briar third generation, Mina Briar, his mother was birthed with the hope that she will be the omega who would finally connect then to the Hayes but alas, the nature is unpredictable, mina differentiated into a beta, tired of the neglected and the sudden harsh treatment , so she decided to run away from the bonds of the rigid briar family as soon as she completed her education, and gave birth to a little omega child five years later, having no contact with her family for more than 20 years, but behold the cruelty of fate - when elysian was 16 years old she got into a heinous accident, the hospital bills started to pill up her studio was sold and Elysian's father turned to drinking and staying out, the old lady at home started to throw temper tantrums everyday.
that's when the old master of Briar family came to their house and into their lives with his youngest son Michael and a lawyer armed with a stack of documents and advantages and precious resources in exchange for giving his custody to them. from this point onwards eli's life had been turned upside down, the challenges he faced before seemed like a kiddie pool compared to the turbulent waters of the high society.