Irish almost gaped in astonishment as soon as she saw Cassidy with an unfamiliar-looking man.

He is tall, blonde and handsome - one of her type of guys. But then, she immediately expelled the thought the moment she came up with the assumption that she replaced Adrian for this stranger whose looks could not even rival his. He may be cool and attractive, but he is only half of the god-tier that her brother is - or maybe, make it a little more than half.

​​

"Excuse me, who is this dude?" Irish asked right away, acting far from the fine lady of high society that she was supposed to be.

"Well, well~ What a coincidence. It's the princess," Asher quipped all of the sudden, taking both of them aback.

"Princess? What're you on about?"

"Asher?" Cassidy called out to him, looking as puzzled as her sister-in-law.

"It's just that... She's that Millicent girl, right? The one Charlie had been giving a piggyback ride throughout the whole pursuit in the hotel before? She's like a princess - always being carried around and sleeping the entire thing off."

Irish felt her brow twitch at that, flaring up a bit in annoyance.

She also didn't want to be carried around and remain unconscious that entire time. This guy might also be saying that she liked her circumstances back then while her siblings and their other companions were running all around the place to escape the pursuers. That is quite offensive. What's more, the smug look he's giving her now is starting to tick her off.

"Who is he, Cassidy...?" Irish questioned once more, keeping her calm and cool.

"Please, don't tell me it doesn't concern me. If I happen to learn that you are seeing this man as a replacement of my brother, I don't know what I will-"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. We're not seeing each other," Cassidy cut her off with an exasperated sigh.

"Huh? We aren't...?" Asher muttered with a knowing smirk before putting his arm over her shoulders, feigning incredulity and nonplus.

"I thought for sure we are, darling."

"Asher!"

Once again, Irish felt her brow twitch at how cocky Asher was acting.

If Adrian was here, he would definitely punch him square in the jaw once he touched Cassidy like that. It was obvious that he was flirting with her. While she knew that her meddling in their affairs should only be to an extent, she could not help but see this whole thing as shady and concerning.

'Knowing my brother, it will only be a matter of time before he hires detectives to trail after and spy over his wife. If he happens to learn that she is with this dude, he might do something worse than drinking and moping around all day...' Irish pondered, suddenly feeling an internal panic.

'No, Cassidy said that they're not dating. What if this Asher is just trying to force himself on her or something? She isn't pushing him away, which means that they're close at the very least. Then, will it not be a matter of time before she falls for him as well?!'

At that moment, she is already keeping herself from slapping that arm of his away from her shoulders and giving him a piece of her mind.

But before she knows it, he has turned her around and began leading her out of the building. All the while, his meaningful gaze and mocking simper never left her - he was riling her up on purpose.

"Hey, wait! Where are you taking her?!" Irish exclaimed in a haste.

"Well, duh... To our date, of course. Why? Wanna come? Too bad, though. I'm not in for some threesome," Asher teased a bit more, peeving her to the point she wanted to stomp towards him and show him the dire consequences of getting to her nerves.

"Like hell I want to go! Especially with a guy like you! And no, you're not taking her to no dates-"

"Oh? But Cassie here doesn't seem to be against it, no~?"

That's when she looks back to her sister-in-law and finds her merely sighing in exhaustion. It is as he said. She is not protesting or anything, and she is only letting him lead her away. At that point, she doesn't know what to retort anymore - or more like, she has ran out of ideas to avoid the probable aftermath of her supposedly two-timing.

"Goodbye then, princess~!" Asher bid for the last time, chuckling at how she seemed to still out of nowhere.

With that, Irish is left on her own and in her clutter of thoughts, wondering if she should already prepare a psychiatrist for Adrian.

---

"Irish, you've been awfully silent for a while now. What's wrong?"

Hearing Olivia talk, Irish finally snaps out of that flashback and focuses on reality once more.

Together with Edward, they are still hiding behind a wall and eavesdropping on Adrian. Their elder brother could have already gone in there and announce his presence to him, considering that he is probably the only one he has not written down on his hit list. Both of the twins are still too afraid to converse with him, which is why they only settle with watching over him from a distance.

Apparently, Cassidy already confessed how they had been treating her for the previous years, which was why they felt extremely ashamed and guilty - to the point they couldn't face him even if they badly wanted to.

'I really should have apologized to Cassidy earlier too, but there is a bigger matter at hand. I also know that she is not going to forgive me, anyway. In this kind of situation, everyone just really needs a time to be apart...' Irish brooded with heaviness.

'Though I still could have apologized even if she would not accept it.'

At that moment, they are all taken aback to find Adrian crying all of the sudden.

He has his head stooped low with his face buried in his hands. His faint sobs can only be barely heard, but they know what they are about right away. The entire picture itself is the last straw for the three of them - it is not as dramatic as any melodrama scene out there, but because they have always known their brother to be the impassive and reserved one, it is more than enough to stir their emotions.

Adrian appears really miserable and grief-stricken to the point it is pitifully pathetic - which was everything that they had never imagined him to be.

"Alright. That's it..." Irish huffed and straightened herself up, trying to keep her own tears from falling by getting angry and starting to make her way towards him.

"This needs to stop. No more drinking. No more moping."

"Irish, what are you going to do...?" Edward hastily called for her, alarmed by how she erupted so out of the blue.

"You can't be insensitively shooting off your big mouth now. Adrian is in a delicate state-"

"And what happened when you tried to talk to him like he was still in kindergarten, big brother?"

"Uhhhh... He did not listen?"

"Exactly! He needs to man up! I know that everyone is allowed to feel down from time to time, but in his case, we should not let it reach to the point where he becomes a suicidal maniac-"

"What are you three doing here?"

Then, they stiffened.

Adrian finally noticed them.

But then again, with how loud Irish was rambling all those things, they were bound to be busted out. Going by that deep, raspy and vehement voice of his alone, they knew that he was not at all pleased by their visit. He is still sitting on his chair with his head low and facing their direction - in quite a menacing manner, that is. That sharp, narrowed gaze of his is malevolent enough to get anyone running for their life.

Now, Adrian appears like the demon lord that he is claimed to be all along.

And Irish is suddenly torn between proceeding with the confrontation that she is planning to do or fleeing at once.

'Yikessss... He suddenly looks more intimidating than Grandfather... This is bad, this is bad, this is bad..."

In the end, she has only settled with thinking of her last will in case she has actually triggered a death wish here.

Edward got it a little better than Irish and Olivia at least. Unlike them, he did not turn as frozen as ice, though he did feel the bite of his cold. Anyone else would probably piss their pants from fear and terror if they were in their position.

"Calm down, Adrian. I know you don't want any guest. But we came because we were worried about you," Edward started and walked closer to Adrian despite how he only kept glaring at them.

While he went and handle the first part of the conversation, the twins were left to think of a strategy. There is no use backing out now. In the first place, they didn't have the right to do so after everything they did. The couple's separation was partly their fault, after all.

"I do think you still have to be gentle with him," Olivia whispered to Irish, much to her firm disapproval.

"No. We have to settle this before we end up needing a psychiatrist."

"A what?"