[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 772 & 773. (Patreon)

Chapter 772: On making choices (Part 1).

Mr. Knight seemed taken aback. I wasn’t entirely sure, but as far as I understood, Mr. Aliev and Mr. Knight had a fairly good relationship, at least from having worked together a few times. Mila’s dad was also quite younger, but that didn’t seem to prevent the big man from talking to Alice’s dad as an equal.

“The girl made her choice and is ready for the consequences. You can either support her or not, but you can’t change her mind,” Mr. Aliev said.

Mr. Knight frowned, not with hostility, yet in clear disagreement. “I just want what’s best for her. I’ve lived longer, made my mistakes. I don’t want her to make the same ones.”

“We’ve all made mistakes. These kids will, too, no matter how much you try to stop them,” Mr. Aliev argued back.

Mr. West slid into the conversation, nodding in agreement. “Our job as their parents is not to force them down a path we choose, but to help them get up after they fall. Of course, we should try our best to guide them, but towards the path that’s best for them as their own individuals, not who we believe they are.”

“Are you saying I raised my kids wrong?” Mr. Knight asked, scowling, offended.

“Of course not. In fact, that Alice disagrees with what you want for her yet still so considerate of your feelings shows just how much respect she has for you. But she’s a grown woman already, capable of making her own decisions.”

“So we should just let her waste her talents in a subpar university?” Mrs. Knight asked, apparently of the same mind as her husband.

My eye twitched. 

“Excuse me, but… what ARE her talents?” my own mother asked. “Her diligence? Her intelligence? Her passion? I don’t see any of that being wasted.”

“She could be doing so much more, BE so much more!” Mr. Knight said, beginning to raise his voice.

“...” Alice herself had been keeping her head down, embarrassed that her situation had become the topic of conversation for the whole table. But even so, in a quiet voice, she had to ask. “Is my success dependent on how much money I make?”

“Yes!” her father blatantly said. “You can do what you want after you have all your needs covered! Do you think you’d be able to live here with your boyfriend and your friends if it wasn’t for money?”

I bit my lip and tried to swallow the knot in my throat. There was so much I wanted to say, but I was sure that anything I did way would sound like whining and complaining. I hadn’t formed any sound arguments against that, because it still stung that we had what we did because of luck and the generosity of a rich man.

“...” Alice also bit her lip. “So… Is Alex a failure, then?”

Mr. Knight flinched. “That’s…”

“And what’s the point of money if I can’t do what I really want? I’m already here, with the people I want to be, and you’re telling me to leave?”

“Alice, a relationship can break apart in a single night!”

The whole table went cold at that. Dead quiet. And yet I was boiling inside.

“...” Alice took a deep breath, stood up from her seat and walked into the house without saying a word or looking back.

I stood up as well, but not before locking eyes with Mr. Knight. “One day, when you’re older, you’ll wonder why she doesn’t call, why she doesn’t visit, what you did to lose her. You may genuinely not understand.” I shook my head. “This is why.”

I briefly locked eyes with Isabelle. She looked like she wanted to follow, but I shook my head. I was hoping she’d stay here and listen to where the conversation went without us.

I followed Alice into the house, and I wasn’t the only one. Funnily enough, Cake went before me, but Mila, Grace, Sarah, Noelle and Diana were close behind me.

We went into the house, but we’d already lost sight of her.

“Did she go to her bedroom?” Mila asked.

“No,” I said, walking confidently towards the front door, out the house and into the garage. The lights were on, and Alice was sitting inside her car, feet on the seat, knees close to her chest as she held Cake in her arms.

She wasn’t crying, though, nor hiding her face. She was looking forward with steel in her eyes. Her sharp gaze softened when she saw us. She sighed, smiled and lowered her window.

“Sorry,” she said. “I had to leave before I said anything I’d regret,” she explained.

“And that makes you a better person than me,” Sarah said, with Grace nodding in agreement. “I was so damn close to exploding…”

“I had to hold myself back, too,” Grace said. “I was worried I’d make things worse for you. Should I go back?”

Alice shook her head. “I know my dad wants what’s best for me. The problem is he doesn’t understand what that is. And now… It’s clear he believes you all shouldn’t be my priority.”

“Alice…” I swallowed. “If you want to leave the house and study somewhere far from here, do it.” Everyone, even Alice, looked at me like I was insane. But I didn’t stop there. “If you want to stay here with us and continue to study Law at Hyogen as a compromise to your family, do it. And if you want to drop out entirely and do your own thing, do it, whether that be studying something else or working as a mechanic. No matter what you choose to do, we’ll be here, either waiting or supporting you. It’s not just words, either. University isn’t a priority for me. Dropping out to focus on work would hardly be a sacrifice. Hell, it was my original plan.”

“I’m moving in with you all next week, if you’ll have me,” Diana said, suddenly dropping the bomb then and there. “I wanted to talk about it with Oliver later on our way to work, but I better say it here. If you want to drop out and follow your true passion, I’ll also be here to back you up. Add my pay to the pile.”

“I’ll find a part-time job, too,” Mila said. “I’d already been thinking about it, since I have more free time than all of you. It won’t matter if your dad won’t support you with money anymore.”

“I’ve started making more, too,” Noelle said, swallowing. “Alice… between all of us, we can more than take care of ourselves. Like Oliver said, we’re here to help you, like you’ve always helped us. Unless… you d-don’t want us to?”

“...” Alice smiled wryly. She turned her eyes from us to Cake, who was purring in her arms. 

************

Chapter 773: On making choices (Part 2).

“What dad said isn’t wrong,” Alice said. “Maybe it’s because that’s how I was raised, but I do get his points. Money IS important. It’s true that without Luke Allen’s patronage, we wouldn’t be here. Our relationship could’ve ended after summer vacation, with all of us going our own ways. And who knows? Maybe even staying here, all could end after a single fight over something stupid. We could all grow to hate each other, and all the effort we’ve committed to this relationship would be wasted.” Alice then bit her lip hard, and finally her eyes glittered with the threat of tears. “But that idea pisses me off so much! That my dad would think that you, my chosen fucking family, are just a passing fling I can just toss away…! I’m so fucking pissed!” Her voice nearly cracked, but tears still didn’t fall. It was more that her anger was overriding her sadness. “I didn’t get into this thinking I would just walk out the moment it got inconvenient! I… I…!”

We knew. We all knew, but none of us tried to stop her. She needed to vent, to say it and let it out.

Alice hugged Cake closer, and the cat simply rubbed her head against Alice’s cheek. “I’m sorry… I didn’t want to cause trouble.”

“We’ve caused trouble before,” Sarah said. “And we’ll all continue to. Think about this. This could be your chance to get away from us,” Sarah teased, making Alice giggle.

“I’d… rather stay, if you’ll still have me.”

“You’re family. We’d be heartbroken if you left,” I told her. “You don’t need to decide now, but think about what you really want to do. We’re all behind you.”

Alice swallowed. “I don’t want you to quit music.”

“I never said I’d quit music. I’d just drop out of university,” I told her. “It’s something I’ve considered for a while, to be honest. Our parents are still helping us a bit, but we have to be able to fully support ourselves. It’d take away whatever leverage your dad has over you, save for, of course, emotional ties.”

“I agree,” Grace said. “But I also understand that those emotional ties aren’t easy to sever. But to be clear, we’re not saying you should cut ties with your parents or something like that, not if you don’t want to. We want you to have the freedom to do whatever you want to do, without the weight of your parents’ expectations.”

“Should it come to it, I’m in a good position to ask for a loan to pay for your studies,” Diana said.

Alice’s eyes went wide. “N-No! No loans! Not from any of you, at least. I’d take one myself if I had to, but…” She took a deep breath. “I’ll… talk to my dad. I’ve been clear with him, but I’ll put my foot down this time.”

“Think you’d need us there?” I offered.

Alice shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“Want to go back now or wait a bit?” Noelle asked her.

“Could we… wait a bit? I’d like to cool down some more.”

I grabbed my phone and texted Isabelle, asking how things were looking.

-Isabelle: Surprisingly… civil. Mila’s dad keeps telling Alice’s dad how much his daughter has grown with you all and even Noelle’s parents got involved, saying how supportive you’ve been with her. Sarah’s dad said something about how important environment is for development, and that it was possible that Alice wouldn’t reach her full potential away from the people she loves. Oh, shit. He just said something cool. He said ‘sometimes we need to choose the regret we won’t mind living with the most.’ Holy hell, Sarah’s dad is good. That seemed to have hit the hardest for Mr. Knight. How’s Alice doing?”

-Oliver: She’s doing well. She’s pissed, but being level-headed as always. We’ll be back in a while.

-Isabelle: Tell her I love her.

I smiled. “Isabelle says she loves you,” I told Alice. “And your parents seem to be getting through to Mr. Knight, apparently,” I told Mila, Sarah and Noelle.

I felt my chest warm up and the heavy load on my shoulders become lighter.

I’d been telling myself I had to do something for Alice, to convince Mr. Knight that Alice was making the right choices, or at least that those choices were hers to make. I felt that, as the one pulling Alice away from her family’s path, it was my responsibility to do something.

I never expected our parents to back us up like this. I felt… blessed. More so than I did when Luke basically gifted us this huge house. Then I felt lucky and inadequate. Here, though… I felt safe. If we really needed it, our families would have our backs. You can’t put a price on that. But of course, it made it even clearer how much it hurt Alice that it was her parents who needed to be convinced of such.

“Hey, but changing the topic a little bit…” Sarah began. “Someone tried to sneak something past us, but don’t think we didn’t notice.” She smirked and glanced at Diana, who flinched.

“Oh yeah!” Mila and Noelle squealed in unison and ran to hug Diana. “You’re moving in with us?”

Diana sighed and smiled. “Again, if you’ll have me. I’ve… said a lot of things, but haven’t acted on my words as well as I should. I’m committed to this, to Oliver and all of you. So… even if it’ll be a bit weird with our schedules almost switched up, I’d… like to live with you all here.”

Alice opened her car’s door, set Cake on the floor and went to hug Diana, too. “We’d love to have you! But no loans, I’m serious!”

Diana chuckled. “We’ll see.”

And those were more good news. It also made me happy that Diana said it in response to Alice’s struggles. It meant a lot.

After we went back to the backyard, Alice and her parents stepped away, choosing to talk in the library. Yet surprisingly, the mood hadn’t entirely soured. Like Isabelle said, it seems they kept things surprisingly civil…