Chapter 441: I’ve been taught to treat myself better than this
Andrew sat down carefully, cautiously, taking his time. The chair creaked under him, clearly as old as the rest of the house. It was ornate, with hand carved designs in the arms and legs of the chair, with nice upholstery done to make it semi comfortable.
Andrew had a feeling that they thought it was an uncomfortable chair, but Andrew, as they should have known, didn’t start his life in the lap of luxury. If they had watched his interview, they would know that.
Andrew wasn’t sure if they had fully watched it. His gut feeling was that they hadn’t.
The two who looked like Kim adjusted in their spots next to the matriarch while the not quite a brunette man settled down on the couch across from who he was assuming was his grandparents. Now that Andrew had a chance to look at him, he did vaguely look like him. He let off some smell, so maybe he was an alpha of some kind.
Andrew wouldn’t delude himself and believe that an omega would be given a seat at this table if they weren’t marked. There was a reason Maxwell wasn’t brought here, and look at who was presumably Kim’s other parents? Andrew wouldn’t want Maxwell here on principle.
"Is there a reason you asked me to come here?" Andrew asked when no one else would say anything. That brought a stir around the room. His time was precious, and it seemed that they didn’t realise that. Andrew respected those that were older than him, when it mattered.
He was tipping towards the side of the scale that told him these fools didn’t matter to him in the slightest. What they had been trying to teach Alyssa burned in the back of his mind.
The matriarch shifted slightly, staring at Andrew. She hadn’t stopped staring at him since he sat down. She scanned him, taking in his expression, the way he was seated in his chair, the calm demeanor he had.
"You’re arrogant." She said into the air. Her voice sounded about as old as she looked, and the rest of the group reacted like she’d said something scandalous. Andrew just smirked.
"Of course I am. I was raised away from all of this," Andrew made a general gesture to the whole room before putting his hands back into his lap. "Why would I treat you the same way that everyone else would? I was told that I had no living family outside of my Mom and my father, and honestly, I was fine with that." Andrew told them, meaning every word.
He’d spoken about that in therapy before he’d even gotten the invitation. It was a safe topic. He really didn’t care that he had more blood family since he had such an overflow of chosen family.
That seemed to make everyone else uncomfortable, but Andrew just smiled softly. He wasn’t going to speak anything but the truth, even if it was clear that most people sugar coated how they handled this family.
Andrew had given his father a middle finger on television. He didn’t care.
"So you admit that you are arrogant." She confirmed, before she sighed heavily. "The outside world has tainted you." Andrew stood up in a swift motion. He was still smiling.
"If you aren’t going to treat me like an adult, and instead treat me like a misbehaving child, I’m going to leave. It is far too late to act like that with me, since I don’t recall seeing any of you at the funeral for my Mother, who I will remind you, was a part of this family whether you liked it or not. The fact that you are profiting from her company in any capacity, and have for years is not lost on me. So, don’t speak down to me, don’t belittle me, and understand. I’m coming because you asked me to. I’m not going to do this weird power play that you are expecting everyone else to play along with. I don’t need to." Andrew scanned the room, not even hesitating on the people that had raised his Mom. "I know you need more far more than I need you." Andrew told them coldly.
The tension in the room shot up, and Andrew waited. He stood there for a moment longer, and when no one would get over their own pride enough to speak to him like a fucking human, he sighed, shook his head, and turned.
Kim was right. He really shouldn’t have come. At least this way, they couldn’t say that he hadn’t. They had just fucked it up.
"W-Wait! A-Andrew, we just want to talk!" Andrew paused, his back to the rest of the room. He had a feeling he knew who spoke, but honestly, at this point, he wasn’t feeling very generous. These fools waited until he was nearly out the door to call him back? He had no doubt this was part of the power play as well.
"If you just wanted to talk, you wouldn’t have led me to that horrible room, intentional or otherwise, and you wouldn’t have been waiting in this tiny room like meeting me was some kind of shame. You’re right that it is, but I don’t think that we are in agreement about what kind of shame it is." Andrew turned slowly, scanning the room again. This time, they flinched under his gaze.
Andrew had a feeling it had to do with the fact that he wasn’t smiling anymore.
"You do understand who I’ve become, right? Who I’m marrying? Do you think these grabs at power are going to mean anything to me? I get that you might not know how else to interact with others, but honestly, don’t expect me to be like others. I manifested late. I wasn’t raised in the family, on either true alpha side. I don’t get these subtle rules, nor do I want to." Andrew narrowed his gaze as he stared at the matriarch. "If you want to claim me as yours, you’re going to have to make the deal sweet enough for me to forgive the people who threw out my Mom at a time when she really needed support." Andrew told her.
He knew he wasn’t really speaking to the others. Only her.
She stared at him for a long, long moment before she sighed, closing her eyes.
"Stubborn, arrogant, and bold." She started, and Andrew felt his gut twist. He could feel himself getting angry, for his own sake. Maybe a bit of it was for his Mom and the others too. This was who they had to deal with? Or worse? Awful. "I should have known. Kim is your aunt, and your Mother raised you. While you may look like an Abraham, you are a Proctor through and through." Andrew wasn’t sure if that was a compliment at this point.
He didn’t really feel like he wanted to be a Proctor. Sorry Kim.
He also didn’t like how she said that he looked like he was an Abraham. Was it because of his skin tone? That was a pretty fucked up statement to make. Were they also racist? Great. Add it to the list of reasons why he didn’t want to get to know them.
God, he was excited to just sniff Mehar after this. A good palate cleanser.
"Is that a compliment? Because when you say it like that, it doesn’t feel like one." Andrew told her, and she let out a short laugh.
"This is why I normally say that true alphas need to be raised under the strict watch of others. Otherwise, they get bold and lippy. Cocky. If you don’t-" Andrew shook his head, sighing loud enough to cut her off.
"You just wanted to talk, hmm? It sounds like you just want to belittle me and put me in my place, but in a round about way. I’m done here. Don’t call me back, don’t speak to me. We aren’t related as far as I’m concerned, and you have not shown me anything that interests me in rejoining the family. I am under no pretense that you kept my Mom in the family after she gotten marked against her will. She never brought you up." Andrew said, making a pointed look towards the people who looked like her.
The woman at least had the heart to flinch. From Andrew’s look, or how painful that truth was? Andrew would never know.
He had no plans to stick around and find out.
"I will say, Kim was right. She told me not to come, but I always tend to give others the benefit of the doubt, to Maxwell’s chagrin. He knows I am setting myself up for failure and just doesn’t want me to hurt myself. I keep doing it though, consider me a bit weaker than my Mom." Andrew said with a bitter smile.
The look on his grandparent’s face was priceless. It was like they were seeing a ghost, and there was a small part of Andrew that was ecstatic about that. They had turned their backs to his Mom, and now they were facing the consequences of it.
Good. Andrew was glad.
It was actually a blessing to them that they even got to see Andrew. He was sure if his Mom was still alive, she would have not let him step foot here.
That was a lie. She would have, but she would have warned him more extensively than Kim had. She would have given him every reason to say no, but told him that she would back him up even if she did speak to them. Very similar to what Maxwell had done.
Andrew smiled softly, more to himself than anything else before he turned to the door again.
"Well, don’t call me. Don’t send a letter to Kim demanding my presence again. I won’t be coming. You did a piss poor job of changing my opinion of true alpha houses. Good luck realising what you let slip through your fingers, and how you’re going to let more of us do so until you change your way of thinking. Much like how this house needs to be updated, so does your way of thinking." Andrew told them, and this time, it was like they had all seen a ghost.
Andrew didn’t linger to realise that as he opened the door and headed down the hallway. He didn’t need an escort, and Barnes wasn’t there.
No one followed him, but they were probably too embarrassed to do so. Andrew didn’t care. He knew the way out, he didn’t want to see them, and it was ridiculous that they thought he was just going to sit there and let them berate him.
Maybe if they had tried to sink their claws into him when he was deep in grief, but he had no value to them then, so of course they had overlooked him.
Andrew smirked to himself as he got to the landing relatively quickly, and noticed that Barnes was lingering by the door. He looked up, sensing Andrew was there, gave him a slight nod and opened the door for him as he left. Andrew nodded to him as he left.
He hoped that he was able to retire soon, for his sake.