Chapter 575 - Sophia's Fate

Alaric brought Aleksis to his castle in Targu Mures and showed her the main building. This was the castle he built decades ago, and he had put his mother's grave here. Ten years ago, he brought the  fake Aleksis here and told all his secrets, which ended in him being shot and injured so badly that he only had a 1% chance of recovery.

He was very grateful that his foster children were very loyal and continued to care for him until Ned and Portia took over.

"I really like this place," Aleksis commented. "I like all your houses... I told you, your taste is better than mine when it comes to houses."

Alaric nodded. "I also like my mother's house in Yorkshire... I've never taken you there yet. The palace is very old-fashioned, but it's very beautiful."

Aleksis remembered that Sophia was Alaric's cousin on her mother's side. She wanted to know what Alaric's decision was regarding Sophia, as she always tried to do harm to them.

"I don't want to see Sophia at all. Even though she's your cousin, she's not welcome in our house," Aleksis said half sulkily.

"I agree. If I were the clan leader, I would've sentenced her to death," Alaric replied. "Unfortunately, your father was still merciful. I don't think your father did anything to her."

"RMI is the merging of Meier Group and Rhionen Industries, right? How could you merge your corporation?"

"At that time, I didn't know Sophia was so mean to you. I agreed to take over her family business and take on my new identity, while she went to enjoy life. She should be back in 16 years to take her share. Alaric's eyes glittered as he smiled faintly. "But given what she did to you, I don't think her company will be enough to make up for it."

"You... won't return her family business?" Aleksis widened her eyes in disbelief. "She'll fall into poverty!"

"That's none of my business." Alaric shrugged. He casually walked to the large window stretching from the floor to the ceiling and commented on the autumn leaves hovering in the wind. "The view outside is great. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Aleksis approached Alaric and hugged his waist. She was glad that Sophia would get what she deserved. Being poor would be a more painful punishment for the evil girl. Aleksis was determined to never discuss Sophia in their home ever again. To her, Sophia Meier was dead.

"I want to go out with you," she whispered affectionately.

Alaric turned around. They were now facing each other. He kissed Aleksis' lips for a long time before taking her hand and walking out to enjoy the autumn scenery around his castle. It looked so beautiful as though it came out from a painting.

***

After spending three days at Targu Mures, Alaric invited Aleksis to visit RMI's headquarters in Bucharest. That tallest building in Bucharest has a residence on the top floor, which was once called the most expensive building in the world because of its security, which was considered to be tighter than the White House. This was because in the past, Rhionen Industries, was part of the Rhionen Assassins, which had many enemies.

From the penthouse on the top of the building, they could look around the city of Bucharest with a 360-degree view. Aleksis was comfortably sitting in front of the large window that was showing the beautiful view.

"You've visited three of my houses. In London, in Targu Mures, and here in Bucharest," Alaric approached Aleksis, who was admiring the view through the window while carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses, then sat beside her. "Which one do you like the most?"

He poured wine into their glass and handed one to Aleksis. The girl accepted it, and after taking a sip, she seemed to think. "Hmm... They're all really beautiful. Your taste is always good. But even until now, I still can't forget your mansion in Singapore."

"Hmm... Is that so? We can stay there in winter."

"I like it..."

"Oh, by the way... I invited Mischa to have dinner here. He must be happy to meet you," Alaric said afterward.

"Ah, yeah... How is he now?" asked Aleksis interested.

"He manages RMI in the head office here. The office is below," Alaric answered.

"Oh... I still remember him. You used to ask Mischa and Takeshi to take care of me while you were away." Aleksis smiled as she felt the nostalgia.

"Takeshi is now in Singapore. You can also meet him if we go there."

"I'll be happy to."

Alaric planned to return the control of his businesses to his four foster children because he wanted to reduce his busy schedule to spend more time with Aleksis and their children.

That was also one of the reasons he invited Mischa to dinner, and later, he would also invite others to discuss the same thing. He would only supervise remotely and make important decisions once a year.

After seeing how peaceful and pleasant Caspar's life with Finland was because his business affairs were handled by Terry and London, Alaric felt that the lifestyle like that of his father-in-law's wasn't bad and was worth emulating.

Mischa arrived precisely at six in the afternoon., bringing the best wine from his personal collection. His appearance didn't change much after the ten years Aleksis didn't see him. It was just that now, he liked to wear black clothes. He was no longer as flamboyant as he was before - when he often wore bright-colored clothes like pink and light blue.

For a moment, Aleksis was stunned to see Mischa, now 36, in front of her. Mischa looked older than his foster father, but his good looks were still the same as before.

"You... You look different now..." Aleksis commented while hugging Mischa warmly. "You don't look like a gigolo anymore..."

"Eh, what did you say?" Mischa wanted to protest, but he didn't dare when he saw his foster father raising an eyebrow. In the end, he just shook his head. "My taste has changed, that's all."

"Actually, Mischa wore black clothes as a sign of him mourning for my 'death'. Mischa was always the closest to me. After six years of constantly wearing everything in black, he became used to it and couldn't return to his old self," Alaric commented.

"Oh..." Aleksis was stunned to hear that. She only realized now how much Alaric's foster children loved him and were loyal to him.

"Thank you," Aleksis whispered to Mischa in an emotional voice, almost crying. "If you hadn't desperately taken care of him... I wouldn't have been able to reunite with my husband. Thank you..."

Mischa nodded while smiling. He was happy seeing how Aleksis brought happiness back into Alaric's life.

When he heard that they also had children, Mischa looked emotional and congratulated the two many times. He knew their two children would have a happy life because he experienced first-hand how Alaric was a good father figure.

"I hope I can one day meet your two children, Sir," he voiced, raising his glass. "A toast for Altair and Vega."

The three of them toasted and drank happily. The dinner was warm and only ended two hours later.