" I finally found him, Vicky " , Frank exclaimed.
" Who ? Who did you find ? " , Victoria snorted.
" My son" , Frank told her joyfully.
" Your ... your ... sss...son ??!! " , Victoria repeated after him but with a frozen look and his left eye that kept blinking awkwardly.
" Yeah, isn't that great ? He is already suiting himself upstair " , Frank exclaimed happily.
" How ?? When ??", Victoria was confused before saying " I mean that's great honey but why didn't you tell me about this ? I would have prepared a welcome party for him or at least cooked for him, well, I don't actually cook but at least I would have asked the head chef to prepare something for him " , with a slightly shrill voice.
" Always caring about everyone. Thank you my love but that won't be necessary", Frank replied.
"How about his mother ? Did she agree to let you bring her son here ? Or … did you brought her here too ?", Victoria said trying to hide her frustration.
"Unfortunately, she died yesterday and Blake has nobody to turn to, as his father I had to help him and bring him back home", Frank told her.
"Aww! What an awful news!", Victoria replied trying to hide her joy now.
"Don't worry too much though. Everything will be fine, our family is growing. Miles please tell the head chef to add one plate to our table tonight " , Frank replied with a smile.
" Right away Sir", the butler said and left the office.
" I need a warmer shower now, will you join me ? " , Frank suggested.
" Go ahead ! I will join you in a minute, darling " , she relied.
"I'll be waiting for you", Frank kissed her forehead before leaving the office too.
Victoria was now alone in Frank's office.
" How dare you, Frank, to invite this little bastard to my house ? It won't let this little prick ruin my plans. Just you wait and see, he will leave by himself or he will follow his dear mother too" , Victoria muttered to herself.
After a hot shower, Blake didn't want to be alone in his huge bedroom and decided to explore the mansion a little bit, that's when he came across Sofia, his 14-year-old half-sister. Victoria and Frank had difficulty having a child but they still managed to have one 3 years after the unexpected departure of Melanie, Frank's mistress, who was pregnant with Blake.
Unfortunately, Sofia was born with a heart problem. Her heart does not pump blood as efficiently as it should. So, she has been implanted with a pacemaker and she often goes to the hospital for medical examinations. Due to her condition, she was homeschooled and Victoria forbids her to stay out of the mansion too long or to leave the mansion at all unsupervised. They also had medical professionals staying in the mansion 24/7 to look over her.
Blake was lost in his thoughts aiming randomly in the huge hallway when a little girl voice started him from behind "Hi ! Who are you?"
Blake turned around and saw a girl about 5'3" with dark blonde hair, wearing a light pink floral dress.
" Hey ! My name is Blake. I decided to look around a little bit but got lost on my way as all the doors look the same here " , Blake replied as the little girl eyed him from head to toes.
" Nice to meet you Blake, my name is Sofia. I've never seen you around here. Are you a new hire? The staff's quarter are in a different area if that's what you are looking for unless you are a guest of my dad" , she replied with a big smile and scrutinized him again.
" Oh no, I don't work here. I recently learned that Frank Campbell was my dad and brought me here. What about you? Who's your dad again?" , Blake asked.
" Wait ?! We have the same dad?! Does that mean your my brother?" , Sofia asked very confused.
" Uh… yeah, I guess that makes us brother and sister " , Blake muttered.
But before Sofia could say anything asked a loud voice called her name " Sofia ! Sofia ! Where are you again ? "
" It was really nice to meet you Blake but I have to go. If you want to go to the living room it's on this side and the dining room will be just behind " , she said while pointing to the right.
" I was glad to meet you too Sofia and thank you for your help " , Blake told her and then she left giving a soft smile.
" Oh, finally you are here. Where were you again ? I already told you to not walk around alone " , Victoria said in relief and hugged her daughter.
" But I'm fine mom. I was going to the library when I met this weird boy, he was lost and I helped him to find his way " , Sofia explained herself. She hated the fact that everyone in the mansion was treating her like some porcelain dolls that would break anytime.
" What weird boy ? " , Victoria asked, irritated.
" He must be Frank's bastard for sure " , she said to herself and then warned Sofia : " listen to me carefully Fifi ! Don't talk and don't come near that weird boy anymore. He is dangerous, he wants to hurt us. Promise me that you won't talk to him anymore "
" He didn't seem dangerous " , Sofia said to herself and then answered : " alright mom ! "
" Good ! Now go wash your hands, we're going to eat soon " , Victoria said and Sofia obeyed.
Blake managed to find the living room where he met Mr. Miles again who told him to go to the dining room as dinner will be served very soon.
Blake went to the dining room, a long already settled white marble table greeted him.
" Blake !! " , Frank called him, "I'm glad you are here, let me introduce you to my wife Victoria and our daughter Sofia. Sofia ! Let me introduce you to your brother Blake. "
" I already met him earlier " , Sofia said with a smile.
" It's a pleasure to meet you Blake " , Victoria exclaimed with a fake smile on her botoxed face.
" Nice to meet you too madam " , Blake stuttered.
" Now that the presentation is done, let's eat " , Frank exclaimed and seated in his usual chair, Victoria on his right and Sofia on his left and then Blake next to her.
" First of all, we are all here as a family. And what do we do when we are a family? We support each other, we help our family and we protect it no matter what, we don't abandon a family member " , Frank explained them and patted Sofia's hair gently.
" Yes, Daddy " , Sofia replied cheerfully and Blake just nodded, unsure of how he should react or behave around his new family.
" Well said, darling " , Victoria said, still with a fake smile and gave a cold look at Blake throughout dinner which made him a bit uncomfortable. Blake hardly said anything during dinner and Victoria too, it was mostly Frank and Sofia talking. Some maids then cleared the table after they finished dinner and everybody went to their room silently.
The left wing of the mansion was reserved for the family while the right wing was entirely for guests. Blake's room was the first in the hall across from there was Sofia's room and Frank and Victoria's room was at the end of the Hall.
As Sofia was sitting in front of a mirror in her room while her mother was brushing her hair from behind. It was their little mother-daughter ritual.
" Mom ?! " , Sofia called as her mother was lost in her thoughts and had stopped brushing her hair.
" Yes, love " , Victoria replied looking at her daughter's reflection.
" Why did you say that Blake wanted to hurt us ? He seems very nice to me, and he is my big brother now" , the 14 years-old girl asked told her.
" Blake's mother, a very hateful woman, hurt me and I suffered a lot. But luckily, I took care of her as she deserved it and she will never hurt me or you ever again. I'm afraid that Blake may become like his mother too " , Victoria replied with soft sad tone.
" So, you are going to take care of him too ? " , Sofia asked.
" Yes, but everything has its time, sweetie and we have to be patient if we want things to go well " , Victoria answered and then gave a good night kiss to her daughter and then left.
In Frank and Victoria's room,
" Tell me something, Frank " , Victoria said.
" What is it !? " , Frank answered while sitting on the bed and reading a file.
" How did you manage to find out where Blake and his mother were ? " , Victoria asked while putting some cream in her hands and sitting in front of her vanity table.
Frank stopped reading his file while taking off his glasses and then said : " Actually, it was the embassy who wanted to repatriate her body when she was declared dead. A friend of mine work at the embassy and warned me immediately when it happened. But you don't need to concern herself with her or Blake's presence here. He won't threaten Sofia's position in the company nor yours"
" Oh! Is that so ? I'm really sorry to hear that Melanie left us already" , Victoria said with a sad look on her face but in her mind she is very happy with hear death.