Always Been Yours (Tessa and Nicholas) novel Chapter 63

Chapter 63
Nicholas’ gaze turned grim. He hated waiting, but when he caught sight of the steely look on Gregory’s face, he took a deep breath and bit out, “Fine. Let’s just wait then.”
Meanwhile, Tessa had rushed over to the Reinhart Residence. It had been years since she stepped foot here and that was enough to make her cringe in disgust. Were she not doing this for Timothy, she would have stayed away from this house forever.
She walked up to the front gates of the villa and saw that there was a guard standing next to them. Ignoring him, she marched toward the house purposefully, only for the guard to stop her in her tracks. “Hey, who are you? No outsiders allowed!”
“Move!” Tessa roared as she shoved the guard aside, not at all bothered about refraining from violence. The guard tried to stop her again, but she moved with such obvious rage that not even a handful of guards could get in her way.
While Tessa was barging across the front yard, Silas, Lauren and Sophia were happily having dinner inside the house, seemingly content as they exchanged pleasant conversation. They then heard faint noises of argument coming from the outside and he asked one of the household staff, “What’s going on out there?”
Before the member of staff could answer, Tessa barreled into the dining room, looking grim as she demanded thunderously, “Where’s my brother, Silas? Give him back to me right now!”
The cheerful atmosphere instantly shattered, replaced by a suffocating tension.
Silas was stunned at first when he saw her, but he quickly scoffed and went on to eat dinner nonchalantly. Having swallowed a mouthful of soup, he drawled, “It’s been years since we last saw each other and you’ve only become more savage! What are you yelling and making a fuss about in my home? Where are your manners?”
Tessa was on the verge of exploding with rage. “Manners?” she snorted, “Why should I mind my manners when I’m talking to a low-life scum like you after you kidnapped my brother and betrayed our
family? I’ll only say this one more time: Give my brother back to me right now!”
He turned red with anger as he slammed his spoon down on the table, which rattled the crockery. Gritting his teeth, he bit out, “Why should I? Don’t forget that your brother is still a Reinhart, and as long as he bears my name, he will be a part of my family even in his death! It’s only right that I bring him back home, seeing as he is my son, and you don’t get to have a say in this!”
The scorn and disgust welled up in Tessa when she heard this, and she felt the distinct urge to retch the contents of her stomach onto the dining table. Raising her voice, she retorted, “How shameless of you to be spouting such nonsense, Silas! Did you forget how you refused to lend us money for
Timothy’s surgery back in the day? He couldn’t even walk! And now that his legs are working again, you decided to claim him back as your son!” She scoffed. “You’re disgusting. What’s so great about being a Reinhart? In fact, my biggest regret in this lifetime is to have been born as your child and to have your blood flowing in my veins! I feel filthy!”
Silas was burning with rage as he shouted, “How dare you, Tessa!”
She shot him a withering look and snapped, “Shut up and release Timothy at once, or I’ll call the police and press kidnapping charges on you!”
“You useless piece of trash!” He did not hesitate to show his anger as he slammed a palm hard against the table. “Is this the way for you to speak to your father?”.
As she watched the tension unfold, Lauren seized the chance to add fuel to fire. “That’s right, Tessa, you’ve crossed the line here! You wretched girl; you ought to show respect to your father no matter what! How dare you go around behaving like a savage?” Grimacing, she added, “Need I remind you that
blood runs thicker than water? You can try to deny it, but you are a Reinhart through and through! You and Timothy are still your father’s children, and there’s no way for either of you to escape that!”
Tessa’s blood boiled at this, and she felt as if someone was setting her alight. She couldn’t believe the audacity of these people to act all high-and-mighty in front of her.
Not at all backing down, she was about to retort when Lauren cut her off with an icy chuckle. “And to think you have the nerve to bring up that idiot brother of yours. Don’t you know what he’s done? Reinhart Group is hanging by a thread as it is, and your brother not only refused to help us out of his own goodwill, but he has even made outrageous demands, too! He wants us to cough up a whopping twenty million for that lousy project of his, did you know that? Let me make one thing clear, Tessa: for us to bring that heartless brother of yours here is already a huge act of charity, and we’re only feeding him because he’s a Reinhart. So, don’t you dare throw a fit here and call us names! You deserve a good beating, that’s what!”