Chapter 38

"How was the meeting?"

Rufus was sitting in his office chair, staring out of the window and thinking of what had happened earlier on during the meeting. Upon hearing the voice however, he turned around immediately and saw Vincent.

"The discussion about Sousuke Hiou went well… But…" and Rufus paused for a moment, wondering whether he should reveal other details at the moment.

"But what?" questioned Vincent as he proceeded to talk a seat on one of the sofa chairs. "It was just a simple conference wasn't it?"

"Haine was there as well," replied Rufus in a slightly tired voice, which made Vincent look up immediately in surprise.

"Did you ask her about what had happened back then? Did she really…" but before Vincent could continued, Rufus interrupted, "It's just as I expected, Amber was the one who was collaborating with Sosuke Hiou all along. But it's not so much of that I am concerned with at the moment," and as Rufus said so, he took a sip from his cup of tea, "Haine is Hazuki's daughter apparently, she told me during the intermission…" Contrary to Rufus's expectations however, Vincent remain unfazed.

"I always thought she looked like that woman," said Vincent in response to Rufus's questioning look. "After all it's been many years since you had lost contact with that woman, it's not entirely unpredictable that she would go and have a kid with someone else out there…"

"The thing is," said Rufus, who was still hesitating slightly to reveal the truth, "Haine is Hazuki and my child… In other words, she is yours and Sebastian's sister…" And at that, Vincent choked slightly in his cup of tea.

"What?" asked Vincent at once, his current expression in contrast to his usual apathetic and composed self, "You got to be kidding?"

Rufus shook his head, and after a few seconds or so, he continued, "The one thing I am more confused about though is why Hazuki refused to tell me all these years… I would definitely have taken responsibility if she had informed me about our child…"

"She did inform you," a voice called out from behind which made Vincent and Rufus turn around in slight astonishment.

"What do you mean Sebastian?" asked Vincent as the 2 brothers looked at each other. Sebastian had an extremely cold and unfeeling look on his face.

"Back then, when our mother was still lying sick on bed," and as he said so, Sebastian's eyes drifted over to Rufus briefly, "Mr Watson delivered a letter addressed to you by that woman…"

"I don't remember receiving it," replied Rufus, who continued to look at his son with an inquiring look on his face.

"I burned it," replied Sebastian with a monotonous voice, "After I had read its contents…" Without warning however, Rufus stood up from his chair and grabbed Sebastian by the collar, pushing him roughly against the wall. He looked enraged.

"You knew from the very beginning about Hazuki's pregnancy and kept silent about it all along?" said Rufus angrily, to which Sebastian simply nodded and replied nonchalently, "So what if I did? A woman like that can just rot in a faraway place on her own… Or did you forget that it was all because of her and your unfaithfulness which caused my mother's early death in the first place?"

Before Rufus could respond however, Vincent had come forth and placed a hand on Rufus and said, "Forgive Sebastian, both of us were still children back then… Even I can somewhat understand his feelings… If I had been the one who had received the letter I may have done the same thing as well…" and with that, Rufus finally released Sebastian.

After a minute of silence, just when Sebastian proceeded to walk away, Rufus suddenly called out, "Did you know about Haine from the beginning then?" Stopping abruptly in his footsteps, Sebastian turned around and stared at Rufus intently for a moment or so before replying, "Not from the beginning, but from Amber, right after Haine had left the mansion…"

"Amber knew?" asked Vincent in bewilderment. "How did she…"

"From Sousuke Hiou," answered Sebastian as he looked around at Vincent, "She tried to convince me to go over to her side to exact revenge for our mother…"

"What was your answer then?" asked Rufus, having finally regained his composure and looked at Sebastian sternly.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Sebastian quietly as he proceeded towards the door, "Mother would never forgive me if I actually did something to hurt you… and besides, I hate being made used of..." and with that, he turned around a corner and disappeared.

"Even till now," and Vincent turned around immediately at Rufus and to his utmost astonishment, a tear drop was trickling down Rufus's face, "I am still a failure at being a father and a husband… What have I been doing honestly, these past few years…"

"Rufus…" said Vincent quietly as he continued to stare at his father in shock.

"Do me a favour please, Vincent…" said Rufus as he struggled to compose himself, "Track down Hazuki immediately… The one who has suffered the most till now is Haine… It is only fair that she gets to meet her real mother…"

"I understand," replied Vincent and he left the room at once.

Lifting up Elena's photo from his desk, he proceeded to caress it gently before finally putting it down and saying softly, "Fate really has a hand in playing with people doesn't it Elena… Just what are we anyway…" and he proceeded to stare out of the window at the starry sky and onto the biggest star which shone the brightest, God's eye.

"Hey Sebastian! Sebastian!" called out Vincent as he went after his brother whom was walking hurriedly down the corridor. After a minute or so, Sebastian finally slowed down and turned backwards and faced Vincent.

"What is it?" asked Sebastian.

"Who else have you told about Amber?" said Vincent.

"I haven't told Zachary if that's what you are trying to ask," replied Sebastian, "Partly not to jeopardize Rufus's plans and also, it would be best for him to remain hidden from the truth about his sister's death for now… What's with that look?"

"Nothing," said Vincent whom was now trying to rearrange his features from that of a surprised look to a more of his usual stern and expressionless one. "It's just that you have truly changed… In the past you used to be insensitive to everyone's feelings but now, you actually factored in Zachary's feelings…"

"Whatever," replied Sebastian seemingly unconcerned, "But anyways, I am heading out to Canada tonight so we won't be seeing each other in a while… In the meantime though…" and as he said so, he walked towards Vincent and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Take care of Rufus…" And after receiving a nod from Vincent, Sebastian started to head downstairs out of the mansion.

"Now then, time to get back to work," Vincent told himself as he started to head back to his own office, intending to find out the whereabouts of Hazuki Kamiya.