Chapter 177 - Thrilling Start of the Much-awaited Day

Looking a little tense, Hugo sits on the bench at the waiting area alongside Damien and Joshua. 

At long last, the much-awaited annual family day of their school has arrived. While the other students are ecstatic to experience the exhilarating adventures that they will find, the three of them are torn between different emotions. Although the thrill is there, so are the anxiety and the edginess, considering their circ.u.mstances.

For this family day is on the same date of the academe's founding anniversary, it is celebrated in a way that is similar to a field trip - they will be doing it outside of campus. 

Complementing the prestige and reputation of this particular institution, they will be riding on a cruise ship to get to their destination. The event will be held in the most frequented campsite in the country, which is being ran by one of the Millicent's biggest business partners. Not only is it a famous tourist spot with its mountain view and nature's park resort, it is also known for its tight security for private gatherings.

"Well, that's great and all, but..." Joshua thought out loud before looking at his brothers back and forth.

"Are we certain about this? They will be here any minute now."

"Nothing is certain here, Joshua. Even I don't know what I'll do once they see each other again..." Damien muttered and sighed out loud.

"If Hugo only told us earlier on, we could have done something to at least prevent chaos-"

"Don't say it like, big brother! It's not like Aunty hates Uncle Bossman, right...?!" Hugo bolted out all of the sudden, cutting him off.

"Besides, I can also keep a secret if I want to! I really didn't want to tell you that I invited her! I wanted to surprise you!"

"Yes, indeed, we were surprised. Shocked even."

"Again, don't say it like that! You yourself hid your secrets for a long time. Why can't I have mine too? This is unfair." 

From that point on, Hugo only continues to throw a mini tantrum, not liking how his elder brothers keep looking at him as if he is some sort of mistake. That is until the conversation suddenly points the spotlight on their uncle and aunt's present relationship, which is inevitable since that is the main mystery in all of this.

"Okay, we know that Aunt Cassidy left because she obviously didn't want anything to do with Uncle Bossman anymore, but why exactly...?" Damien trailed off in all seriousness, thrown into deep thought.

"I don't believe that it's only a coincidence that it happened before Grandfather got arrested and Millicent Inc. confronted a lot of issues. It most probably had something to do with those."

"Well, if it indeed had, we couldn't do anything about it. Even now, I can barely understand what kind of mess happened two years ago. I'm dumb..." Joshua said and shrugged. 

"Why not just focus on helping them make up or something? Anything to keep our connection with Aunt Cassidy." 

"That's hard if we don't even know what the true problem is, big brother..." Hugo chimed in before looking all engrossed at the idea he came up with out of nowhere.

"Oh, but if we're just going to keep our relation with Aunt Cassidy, why not just have big brother Damien marry big sister Aira instead?"

"Yeah, well... Wait, what?!"

Hearing Hugo say that while looking and sounding all innocent is as comical as the entire idea itself - at least to Damien, that is. Joshua can't help but erupt in a fit of laughter at his flabbergasted reaction. It's unusual to see him this thrown off guard and embarrassed, especially since he always seems calm and cool like Adrian. 

"If Damien were to marry Aira, Aunt Cassidy could be our sister-in-law too!" Joshua enthused while laughing, entertaining the idea just for the heck of it.

"Right, right?! That would be fun!" Hugo seconded with a huge, ear-splitting grin.

"Shut up, guys! What if Aira hears you...?!" Damien exclaimed, combusting on the spot.

"I-I don't even see her that way-"

"See me what way?"

At that, the three of them froze.

Thunderstruck by that sudden arrival, they turn their heads slowly as if shocked by static electricity. That's when they find Aira looking at them with a quizzical look, waiting for a response. They're supposed to remain so stunned that they're speechless until they realized a particular detail.

Dressed in an airy-looking semi-casual clothing, she's carrying but only one backpack with her that also doesn't seem to be that big. 

"Ummm... Aira, you do know that this is a three-day trip, right?" Damien, serving as the first to react, pointed out. 

"Huh?! It is...?!" Aira blurted out loud, having already forgotten their previous topic and taking her turn to be thunderstruck this time. 

"A-Are you sure?! We thought we're gonna return tomorrow! Big sis only has one suitcase with her!"

"What's all the commotion about, Aira?" 

At that moment, Cassidy appears and walks up to the four of them, confused to find Aira shouting first thing since they arrived at that waiting area.

The boys took a look at her right then, reacting appalled to see that what they were told was right. Nobody can probably last long in this kind of trip with only one mere suitcase with them. Not to mention, they are bound to get filthy and sweaty with all the sports games and team-building activities that await them. 

"Big sis! Did you know that we're gonna be there for three days...?!" Aira cried out and grasped her by her arms before shaking her back and forth. 

"Three days, big sis! Three long days!"

"Huh?! What?!" Cassidy screeched in nonplus, paling at the discovery.

"Hugo...!" Damien bolted out exasperatedly, joining the Shouting Fest™. 

"Did you not inform Aunt Cassidy?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I don't remember I did! I'm really, really sorry!" Hugo began to wail and tear up, recalling that he only told their aunt that they were going to sleep there and everything. 

"Oh, boy..." Joshua could only sigh from the side, unsure of what to do.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's dumb in this family."

At that point, they are starting to gather attention from the other students, parents and faculty staff.

In the middle of their moment of distress, one certain someone finally steps in. Even when they are making an uproar, he does not fail to catch attention for himself - everyone who sees him will either gawk or gape. But as usual, he doesn't mind the spectators. He only strides there in all calmness, not anticipating the scene that will greet him.

He just returned from dealing with their suitcases and other belongings - he had their attendants bring them in the luggage deposit. Now, he suddenly gets to find this startling, dumbfounding commotion that almost made him stagger. Although he did manage to keep his balance, he could not help but be knocked out of breath.

And for a moment, Adrian doesn't know what to do.

"Cassidy...?" he breathed out with his eyes bulging wide in silent surprise and his mouth hanging open for a bit. 

"W-What...? What is she doing here?"

It was Damien who caught sigh of his uncle first.

He is now standing right behind his aunt, looking like he is seeing a wraith - nothing but an illusion. There are shock and disbelief in his incomprehensible reaction, but just when he thought he was going to have troubles recovering from that, he suddenly appeared composed again.

Damien witnessed how Adrian schooled his features in only a matter of seconds - cool, calm and enigmatic.

"Huh?"

That's when he feels like he has seen wrong. It is almost as if he is never shocked. He is back to being poised and collected.

"Excuse me, ladies..." Adrian then started as he approached Cassidy and Aira, grabbing their attention.

"This is such a surprise. I'd never thought that I'd see you here."

While he only smiles his dazzling smile, his wife is immediately thrown in a world of thunderbolts and lightnings that strike her speechless and unmoving. 

Cassidy feels like her heart stopped for a second there - or perhaps, it's still not working, considering that her whole body remains shell-shocked for the next seconds to come. Aira, on the other hand, is more spellbound and captivated rather than surprised and confused. Then again, this is her first time seeing this remarkable gentleman in personal.

'W-Woah...! Talk about hot and handsome!' she could not help but muse, silenced by his unparalleled charms and looks.

"Uhhh... I apologize, Uncle Bossman..." Hugo cut in a bit hesitantly, feeling like he had to take responsibility for this.

"And to you too, Aunty. I didn't tell both of you about this."

No further elaboration needed. They already get what this nephew of theirs is trying to say.

Now, Cassidy can't quite imagine how this whole thing will turn out from this point on or what she's supposed to do at the moment - perhaps, she is just going to start by wondering why Adrian reacted the way he did.