"So… You really don't mind it?" Kevin saw the look of deep thoughts on his friend's face. "Won't regret it later, would you?"
Luther snapped out of his train of thoughts at his question. It was not the first time Kevin had brought up this question. He had jokingly said it a lot of times over the years.
'What if she no longer likes you later? Will you regret it?'
And his answer was always.
"She's Tyler's sister."
Luther was about to answer the same once again when someone beat him to it.
"Why would Brother Luther feel regret for someone like Maevie?"
The person who spoke was Andrew Wilson, a son of a former minister. Andrew went to the same school where Luther, Tyler and Kevin went. They were not particularly close during their school days and Andrew went abroad after he caused a mess at school. He only returned two years ago and built up his own business. He had been making connections with his former classmates who had become successful in the field to have a strong foothold in the industry.
"I'm sure some as handsome and talented as Brother Luther have girls like her line up from here to Country F."
Kevin almost couldn't hold himself from rolling his eyes at the person. There were more than ten people in the room. But the rest didn't try to butt into other's business.
"Brother Luther even has ministers' daughters falling for him. Why stop for someone lower when there are plenty better options in the sea?"
Anderw turned and looked at everyone as if to ask for this opinion.
"YES"
"That's right."
"There are plenty of better options."
"Anyone is better than Maevie."
One after another, those who wanted to please him commented, thinking that Luther would like to hear these from them too. But unknown to them, each comment was making him get more and more irritated.
"Hey!" It was Kevin who didn't want to listen to these parrots any longer and warned.
"She's Tyler's sister. Be mindful about what you say."
This warning silenced most of the men. But Andrew was not one of them.
"His sister? She's his cousin at most. Nothing like the Cacia girl who's returned. The girl is so brainless, stubborn and hungry for attention."
"And with that ego of hers, if not for pretty face and connections, nobody would have wanted to be friends with her." One of Andrew's followers added.
"Exactly!" Andrew clapped.
"And not to mention the jealousy. Even if I had become her boyfriend, I'd immediately break up with her after witnessing how violent she is when she's jealous." Another person said.
"You say 'if' because you know you'll never get a chance to be her boyfriend."
Kevin barked back at the man which made everyone, but Luther chuckle. He thought that his interruption would disrupt the topic of discussion. But to his dismay, it remained in the conversation.
"Didn't she push someone down the stairs just because the girl gave Luther a letter?"
"Really? But I heard that it was the girl who got scared by her yelling and slipped her foot."
"Is it like that?"
"…"
The room was filled with discussions about Maevie's past actions. Kevin was glad that the Cacia brothers were busy at the hall because they would not have tolerated any of this nonsense. Even Abel who disliked Maevie the most in the family would not sit quietly if openly disrespected.
But then again, nobody with a working brain would talk about a girl in front of her brothers. Maybe Luther had heard enough as he talked for the first time since Andrew decided to get everyone's attention.
"Maevie is not a violent girl. Most of what you heard is just a variation of the actual events."
He then looked at everyone. Slowly turning his head from left to right, making sure to meet every single pair of eyes with his smiling face.
"Please don't cultivate the habit of gossiping without knowing the facts of the events."
"Oh… It's like that…"
"So it was just a made up story…"
"I've been fooled…"
Everyone saw the smile on Luther's face, but they couldn't feel a single warmness in his soft-spoken words. Instead, they felt as if a block of ice were being placed on their spine.
Clap… Clap… Clap…
It was Andrew once again.
"Wow… Everyone. If any of you want to learn to be generous, make Brother Luther as your idol. Who else would be magnanimous enough to forgive a person who has been tormenting him for more than ten years? No one but Luther Zeev Greyson."
Kevin didn't know whether Andrew was too sure that they disliked Maevie or that both him and Luther would not talk about this to Tyler, but he was openly disrespecting Maevie, who was under Cacia's protection in front of them.
"Seriously though Brother Luther. Why are you defending her so much? It can't be that you've caught some feelings for her, can it?" Andrew teased the idol as he placed his hand on his shoulder.
Luther did not appreciate the intimacy and pushed away the hand as he replied.
"She is the sister of my friend. And I see her as a sister too."
And with a mocking tone, Andrew questioned.
"A sister who's obsessed with becoming the wife of her brother's friend? Ehh? Could it be that Miss Oz is into some kinky stuff?"
"Mind your words, Wilson!" Kevin warned once again.
"Chill chill man. It's just a joke." Andrew put up both his hands.
"I don't find your joke funny a bit." Kevin continued.
Andrew looked at the expressions of both Kevin and Luther that were not very good and knew that he had over played his games. He picked up a glass and filled it with alcohol.
"It seems that I've said a little too much under intoxication. I'll finish this glass as an apology." Saying that he downed the glass in one go.
Neither Kevin nor Luther cared about his careless apology. But they couldn't openly antagonize the man in front of the rest of the guest for various reasons.
Anderw as though he had not caused enough headache for the two decided to pour them a glass each as he said besides them.
"Leaving all jokes aside, I've heard that Mavie has not been seen near you for quite a long time. You don't believe that she gave up on you, did you?"
Andrew asked Luther. But it was Kevin who responded with a question of his own.
"If not that, then what could possibly be the reason?"
Andrew chuckled at this as he looked at Luther.
"She must be playing it cool, ya know. Pretending to ignore you, that she gave up on you to get your attention."
"…"
But the man to whom he was speaking, wasn't even looking in his direction. In fact, he looked as though he was not even paying attention to what he was saying.
"You can't seriously believe that she'd changed. A girl who has been following you for ten years like a shadow, making things difficult for you at every section of your life since you met her. How could she just suddenly change one day after waking up one day from getting into a road accident?"
"….."
Kevin watched his friend become more and more expressionless.
"She even hurt the real Cacia daughter several times because of her jealousy and attention seeking nature. How can she change from being a vicious scheming girl to an understanding one?"
"…"
"She's pretending to change to make you lower your guard. It's a common trick played by girls like her. And from your actions, it seems like her trick worked."
Luther, who had been mostly quiet for the whole night, placed down the glass in his hand as he turned to meet eyes with the person who had been degrading Maevie.
"People make mistakes during their young age, Mr. Wilson." His address immediately distanced himself from the man.
"But that doesn't make one a bad person for a lifetime. People change, Mr. Wilson."
Andrew nodded understandingly at Luther's argument. Yet he said,
"But some people don't change, Mr. Greyson. Evil is deep in their core."
Kevin who was watching the awkward formal exchange of names saw a smirk on Luther's face. One that rarely appeared on the man's face. And whenever it did, it meant danger.
"Mr. Wilson. You do remember that we went to the same high school, right?"
"…"
Andrew gave Luther a confused look, not knowing what it had anything to do with their conversation.
"I know of more than a few mistakes you've made during our school days. For example, the one that made you go abroad."
Andrew felt the hair on the back of his head stand up. He wanted to stop Luther from speaking. But it was already too late.
"I thought that Mr. Wilson had improved a lot, changed for a better person when you came back. It couldn't be that you are just one of those evil to the core persons, could you? That you're just pretending to change?"