Henry's face turned red due to embarrassment. He opened his mouth to say something—anything that could soothe the burn to his self-respect—when the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallways and everyone turned to look at the man who had walked inside the house.
Because Mia was standing by the pillar, she didn't see the face of the man as he walked past her. But she did notice that the man was rather comfortable, even though he was being glared at by a very angry Allegra and just as pissed Henry.
His body did not show any signs of anger, tension, or any other emotions. No, the man was perfectly cool and seemed to be in control. However, something about him made Mia wary of him.
"I am sorry," the man apologised as he lightly glanced around the main hall. "Did I miss something?"
"Who are you?" Henry asked.
At first Mia thought that he was trying to establish his authority but when she raised her head and glanced at Henry, she realized that the man truly had no clue whatsoever about who this man was.
The man turned to look at Henry before saying, "I—"
"I don't care who you are but how dare you enter someone's private property without permission?" Without letting the man finish, Henry chastised him. "You need to leave, mister; once we are done handling our private matters, we will invite you for a chat."
"What are you talking about?" Benjamin turned to look at Henry and stated coldly, "This is your eldest brother, Lucas Fuller, or should I call him Lucas Holman?"
"You can call me whatever you want, dad," the man said as he subtly turned his body sideways, causing Mia to stiffen. She looked at the man as if she had been petrified.
Her hands reached out and covered her mouth because she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
However, soon she realised that her actions were a bit too big of a giveaway, so she immediately dropped her hands to her sides. Though she was trying her best to pretend that everything was fine, Mia felt her lips tremble and had to bite the lower lips harshly to stop it.
How could this be?
This man —
The one who slept with her that night.
He—he was actually Henry's brother.
When Mia left that room, she thought that she would never have to see or meet this man again. And yet he was standing in front of her?
How could this happen?
She swallowed and stepped back to avoid the limelight. She didn't want the man to notice her and say anything rude. And yet, though her body was functioning just fine, her entire brain seemed to have gone blank.
Of all the people, why him?
"What did you say?" If there was someone who was just as shocked as Mia, it was Henry. He looked at Lucas and then turned to look at his parents. "What do you mean by elder brother?"
He looked at his father and questioned, "How can this be possible? I never heard about this elder brother before. When did—how could this be possible?"
"If you had spent even an hour in the house then you would have known what was going on," Benjamin coldly glanced at his son and stated, "But as we can see, you were too busy with someone else who is more important to you than your family; since that is the case then you can hardly blame me for not giving you a heads up."
"Uncle Ben—"
"It's Mister Holman or Mister Benjamin to you, young lady," Benjamin interrupted Jamie. His voice slick with a threat.
His words caused Jamie to blush in humiliation while Henry stepped forward and stated,
"Why are you nitpicking so much? Mia calls you Uncle Ben all the time."
Hearing his son's response, Benjamin curled his lips and bared his teeth before stating, "Can she even amount to the shoes that Mia wears? That girl alone helped you manage the entire Holman Corporation. Can this girl with whom you are obsessed do the same?"
"Dad—"
Benjamin ignored Henry and turned to look at Lucas with a calm look. "I am glad that you were able to make it, Lucas. Though I already told you everything about the family, I will still introduce them to you again."
He turned to look at his wife, whose face was twisted in such a way that she resembled someone who ate an entire lemon.
"This is Allegra, my wife and this is Henry—"
"Dad, don't tell me that you are really going to let this illegitimate son enter the holman house?!" Henry shouted, feeling unjust and upset. He was the sole heir of the Holman family but now his father was telling him that there was someone else who would one day fight for the shares of his family.
Henry turned to look at his silent mother and asked, "Mom, why are you being so quiet!? Why don't you say anything?"
"Henry, shut up!" Benjamin roared.
However, it only dissatisfied Henry even more. It was bad enough that his father had created multiple obstructions when he told him that he wanted to divorce Mia.
Because of this, he had stopped coming home and stayed at his apartment in the city. That rift was not even closed and now his father was telling him that he had an illegitimate son whom he wanted to enter the family?
How could Henry suffer this grievance in silence?
"You are telling me to shut up because of him? Dad, have you lost your mind? If the fact that you have sired a son with an unknown woman goes public, do you even know what kind of impact it will cause on our shares? You have to be fucking delusional to think that it's alright."
He then turned to look at Lucas and snarled. "And you! Do you think you are worthy of entering the Holman family? Why don't you crawl back to where your whore of a mother is hiding?!"