**


    "What are you doing here?" Tracie questioned Selene as soon as she stepped foot into their mansion. "I thought you said you would nevere here again, so what exactly are you doing here?" She added, firing Selene a fierce re.


    Selene sighed, already feeling a weight of tiredness fall on her.


    ’I forgot she was here,’ she thought to herself.


    "I’m here to speak with Father, he said he was home," Selene replied, searching for Jeffrey, but the living room was empty. "Where is father?" She asked.


    Tracie’s lips formed a thin line, refusing to tell Selene where their father was.


    "Selene, you are here."


    Tracie suddenly heard a voice from behind her. She recognized that voice because it belonged to Jeffrey.


    Selene moved past Tracie, who stood rooted on the ground.


    "Good morning, Dad," Selene greeted, giving Jeffrey a brief hug.


    "Good morning dear. Let’s head over to the garden."


    As soon as Jeffrey and Selene turned their backs to Tracie and headed towards the garden, her expression softened, the tension in her features fading away.


    "Stop acting like you hate your sister when you know you don’t, Tracie," Nora’s voice cut through the air from behind, startling Tracie and making her jolt.


    "I don’t hate her, mother. But I also don’t like her," Tracie said.


    A warm smile spread on Nora’s lips as she spatted Tracie’s back gently.


    "Selene has been through a lot with her foster family. You heard all that Ezekiel said the other day. She needs a sister who would be by her side, a sister that will love her and cherish her after all she’d been through." Nora said with a long sigh. "You need to stop regretting everything and forget about the past."


    Nora gave Tracie a few more pats on the back before she trailed behind Jeffrey and Selene.


    "How can I forget about the past when every time I look at her, I can’t stop ming myself for her disappearance?" Tracie mumbled with a soft tone.


    **


    "Before you say anything, I will tell you what I’ve always said, father. I’m not divorcing Xavier," Selene said as soon as she took a seat opposite Jeffrey.


    From the corners of her eyes, she could see her mother walking towards them with a smile on her lips. Selene scooted over to make an extra space for Nora.


    "Selene..."


    "I want to know everything, father. Xavier had already told me how I disappeared years ago, but felt that the family feud between you and his father should be told by you since you were the one that got hurt the most," she interrupted.


    Jeffrey and Nora shared a look, and she nodded for him to go on.


    "A year after you disappeared, Thomas came to me, asking for help. He wanted to borrow my men to fight a mafia boss since he believed there was a mole in his n," said Jeffrey.


    <i>"I think I have a mole in my n. Someone must have tipped Bruce I wanted to take over his n. Now, he sent one of my men back, his head was cut off with a small letter covered in blood sitting at my front door. I’m screwed, Jeffrey," Thomas cried to Jeffrey. </i>


    "Bruce was a mafia gang leader who terrified other mafia gang leaders who didn’t have as much power as him. Despite being from such a wealthy family as the Wace family, Thomas was a greedy person," Jeffrey said as he stared at Selene. "He wanted everything, including Bruce’s gang."


    Selene stared at him,pletely baffled by Thomas Wace, her father-inw had a character trait called greed.


    "Out of kindness, I lent him my men, but when he was caught, he pinned the me on me."


    <i>Jeffrey red at the image disyed on his television. It was a video of Thomas looking battered and beaten up, covered with his blood. </i>


    <i>"Jeffrey was the one who asked me to attack Bruce and his gang with his men. Since we shared a good friendship, I wanted to help my friend. But unfortunately, I didn’t seed. This is all Jeff’s fault. I only wanted to help him, but I only got in trouble."</i>


    <i>A man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties came out and stood behind Thomas as thetter continued to spew lies against his friend, ming him for his condition. His hair was dyed red, tattoos staining his muscly arms and neck. </i>


    "Since you wanted war, Jeff, I will give you war," Bruce said, a smirk stretching on his lips.