Here's chapter 109, everyone.
"Are you sure you want to go back there? It's late, and the moron may give you shit, unless you'd want me to go in with you." Raven offered, as she and Willow were looking over at the manor in the distance.
Willow sighed. "I'm not about to let him intimidate me. Besides, if I rely on you for everything, I won't be able to ever face him when you're not around."
Raven knew she was right on that, so she simply nodded. "Remember something. Just because of what happened tonight, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you with training. Be prepared."
"I know, and thank you, Raven." Willow chose to offer her a handshake for the time being, as their relationship couldn't be official until Willow dealt with Jacques.
The black haired huntress shook her hand in response, while thinking to herself on whether she'll tell Lazuria about what happened. "Don't thank me till you actually get that moron out of your life."
Willow let out a smile, knowing Raven wouldn't directly say she was worried about her. "Right. You should get going too. Just because you're a huntress, doesn't mean you can't freeze out here."
Raven shrugged. "I'll be fine. Oh, and don't tell Summer about this. I don't need her bombarding me with a thousand questions."
The white haired woman chuckled a little. "Don't over exaggerate. It would only be about one hundred questions."
"Ugh, just don't tell her." Raven pleaded, and Willow agreed, both going their separate ways that night, as Willow returned to the manor, and Raven began making her way back to the warehouse where Qrow and Lazuria were.
As Willow got into the manor, she noticed that while it was late, the dining room light was on, so she walked over and saw that her son was sitting at the dining table. "Whitley?" The boy didn't hear her, as he was in his own little world at the moment, so she walked over to her son. "Honey, what are you doing in the dining room this late?"
Being much closer, Whitley was able to hear his Mother as he looked over his shoulder. "Mother… Where were you? Father wasn't very happy when he noticed you were still out."
Willow wanted to roll her eyes, but she wasn't talking to her husband, so she wanted to avoid worrying her son. "I was out eating dinner, honey. I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier."
Whitley hummed in response. "I don't believe that dinner takes this long to eat, Mother. Why is it that you can talk to Weiss and Winter about what you do, but not me…"
"W-What? Honey, what would make you think that?" Willow asked in shock of what her son said.
"Forget it." Whitley got up from his chair. "I'm going to bed… I simply just wanted to know when you'd come back. If you'll excuse me-."
Before he could take another step, his Mother gently grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel neglected, Whitley… If you want to know, I was out training with Raven. After that, we went to eat and it was much later than I expected."
She couldn't ignore her son, she wouldn't ignore her son. "Training? Oh, right… I tend to forget you do that…" He sighed a bit. "Mother, you and Father don't care much for each other… Do you?"
That got Willow to tense up. Of course her son would notice how she and Jacques' relationship had slowly crumbled throughout the years. "It's not… I don't know. Your Father is a very," She thought of a word that was appropriate to say in front of her son. "Difficult man, but you don't-."
"Don't say I don't need to worry." Whitley bit his lip. "You're my parents…"
Willow's eyes widened. She didn't think even once about how her children may be affected by her choice to divorce her husband. "Whitley… I didn't mean it that way. Yes, you are allowed to be worried, but I just don't want you to become overly stressed over something your Father and I can talk about with each other."
"But you never talk. You both ignore each other, and sometimes I see how you both look at each other… What's talking going to do at this point when all I ever hear is how he thinks you act foolish, or how you call him difficult…" Whitley was tired of staying quiet. "You're both married! I thought… I thought you'd fix it one day."
Ever since Weiss' birthday dinner that Jacques almost completely ruined years ago, Whitley was always afraid of the confrontations his parents would have, and he wasn't dumb. He noticed it all, and how they truly didn't love each other.
Without a second thought, Willow kneeled down and hugged her son, biting her lip as well as she felt terrible. "Honey, I am so sorry, so very sorry. I was so busy thinking about how unhappy I've been with your Father, that I didn't think about how much you were being hurt by it." She almost teared up. "I don't want you thinking that our family will fall apart. I swear I'll-."
"Don't make promises." Whitley outright said, making Willow stay silent as he slowly wrapped his arms around his Mother. "You don't love Father… And he doesn't love you… Right?"
Willow lowered her head in shame. "Yes."
"Was it because of me? Because he only focuses on me…" Whitley, again, wasn't dumb. He noticed how much his Father would groom him to be his 'perfect' heir, and how Jacques almost never really acknowledged Weiss and Winter, so he truly believed he was at fault on how his Father behaved.
His Mother pulled away and looked straight at him. "Don't you say that, honey. You were never the cause of that. This is between your Father and I." She kissed his forehead.
Whitley wasn't completely convinced by the immediate answer, as he always felt he played a part in his parent's falling out. "But, it would be better if he showed interest in Weiss and Winter… If I wasn't-."
"Stop it!" Willow raised her voice, knowing exactly where her son was about to go with that sentence, and she was shaking a bit, as she felt that she messed up horribly by not getting her son away from Jacques' influence sooner, so she took his hands in her own. "I love you, I love your sisters, and I will never, not once, not even for a second regret having you. You are so much more than the heir to the company, my sweet baby boy."
Hearing that made Whitley freeze, and his Mother squeezed his hands.
"You can do anything with your life, and I will support you, I will be there to help you. So please, stop thinking that you are a problem, because you are not… I'm the one who has made mistakes, I'm the one who didn't realize sooner, that you kids are affected much more by how your Father and I have behaved…" Willow felt a few tears fall, and Whitley gasped when noticed.
"M-Mother?" Whitley didn't like the sight of his Mother crying, so she sniffled and wiped a few tears away, letting out a somber smile to show she was going to be okay.
"Shh, I'm okay, I just… I don't want you to feel neglected anymore. I want to take you out to meet people I've met in my life, and show you there's more to life than the company. Okay? Would you like that?" Willow wanted to bond with her son, show him that she would never abandon him, even if she and Jacques split up.
The offer was something Whitley needed to hear, as he always wanted to do more than what his Father made him do, so he didn't hesitate. "I think… I would like that, yes."
Willow was so happy he was accepting her offer, as she sniffled and let go of his hands. "Good. Anywhere you want to start, I'll happily take you. Whether it be meeting my instructor, or just going into town."
"I think… I'd like it if we met this woman who is training you. You said her name was Raven, correct?" Willow nodded, and he thought about the name. "Oh… She's on Mrs. Rose's team… I remember now."
"That's right." Willow was actually glad her son remembered those details. "Huntresses, both of them, and they have two others on their team as well. You can meet them too. They're all good friends of mine." She left out the arguments she's had with Qrow in the past about drinking habits that he had, and how she could only imagine herself in some other alternate reality being a drunk like he was.
Whitley nodded and looked over his shoulder. "Okay... I think I'd like to return to my room for the night, Mother."
"I can walk you back." Willow offered, but before she could, she heard footsteps and turned to see Jacques was standing at the arch of dining room entrance. "Jacques… Honey, go on to your room. And don't forget what we talked about."
He knew they were more than likely about to argue, so he didn't want to be there when it happened. Still, with his Father finally there, he chose to hug his Mother, wanting to show his Father that he wasn't afraid to show how he feels.
Willow smiled and hugged him back, and she glanced over at her husband, seeing his unhappy, and outright annoyed look. As she released her son, he walked out and passed his Father, who chose not to even acknowledge him.
"So… Coming home late into the night I see." Jacques started.
"I'm not going to yell tonight, Jacques. Our son is hurt by this, and… And I blame more than just you. I blame myself. So if you want to speak like adults, I can happily do that." Willow said as she took a seat on one of the dining room chairs.
Jacques was still in his suit, as he was waiting most of the night to see what his wife was doing. "You clearly still act like a rebellious teenager for someone who wishes to have an 'adult' conversation." He walked over to the head of the table, with his holier than thou attitude. As he took a seat, he folded his hands and looked directly at his wife. "What is your play?"
"There is no play, Jacques. If you want the truth, I was out training with a friend of mine, a woman, so don't get any ideas." She was doing her best to throw him off. "After that I chose to have dinner, seeing as it was late."
"Training…" Jacques rolled his eyes. "Such a waste of time, and all for a barbaric use of these so called semblances. This manor is protected, and yet you choose to waste energy and time on-."
"It's my time and energy, so what's the problem with what I want to do?" Willow asked outright.
Jacques sighed. "I have given you more than enough to stay happy, ever since your Father made the right choice to hand the company over to me. Money, a roof over your head, and kids you put over others… What more do you want?"
Willow was disgusted with how he spoke, as he made it seem like he was doing more than just running a company. "You neglect your children, you insult me, you married into the family just for the company… And you still think you're a good person?" She stood up and glared at him. "You never loved me… How do you think that makes me feel?"
"Love is just a measurement, and if you can't handle that-." Jacques stopped when he noticed she was tearing up.
"What is wrong with you?!" Willow hated that she broke her promise to not yell. "We had kids together! A family! Why can't you love your family like a Father and husband should?! Are we just pawns to you?!"
Jacques sat there, stunned by how she yelled the truth at him, but he got up and fixed up his tie. "If you can't speak without raising your voice, then-."
Willow walked over and grabbed his arm, looking directly at him. "Kiss me and say exactly what it means to you… Do it right now."
"Excuse me?" Jacques was taken aback, and Willow growled, choosing to kiss him right then and there. The kiss meant nothing to Willow, as she had found someone who actually loved her.
It was a short kiss, and while it meant nothing to Willow, Jacques began remembering the days when he first met Willow, and how he did want to marry into the company, but even if it was a spark, back then, he did care for her.
After pulling away from the kiss, Willow wiped her mouth. "Well? What did that mean to you? Because after the years of being stepped on, that meant nothing to me, Jacques."
Jacques was in stunned silence. His motives were always to be at the top, above everyone else to live the easy life, but as he looked at his wife, he caught a glimpse of her in her younger years when they first met, but before he could say anything, she pushed passed him.
"Goodnight, Jacques." Willow said with venom in her voice, as she left Jacques to contemplate on how he felt.
Sorry if people wanted more on the other characters, but I felt this chapter was something that needed to focus on Willow, Whitley and Jacques overall. Hope that's okay, as the next chapter will get back to the others.
To JJ- To me, in canon and in this story, Klein is Weiss' dad. So yeah, I had to get that in. Olivia won't be happy with having to make detours, but as Winter said, Weiss is her top priority. It all depends on what happens next.
To GoldElite245- Bumbleby is here, but let's see where they both stand on it, as they do still need to talk about what just happened between them. As for Olivia, well you'll see.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 109. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 110.