The Grand Mistress

"The ties of blood can never be cut," The old man replied without much of an expression. Dressed in a black armani suit and with his hair combed back neatly, showing off his good features that didn't much abate with his wrinkled skin, the man walked with great pride and calmness as if Cat's father wasn't then so tensed up in front of him.  "But if I don't want to acknowledge our son and father relationship, I don't give much of a damn. But things with me and that girl of yours is different and you cannot stop me from getting close to her,"

"You don't have the right!" Cat's father exclaimed through his lungs, almost wanting to grope the man only if he wasn't his father. "She was mine and mine alone!"

"Mr. Han! Mr. Han please, do not anger your father anymore," The old man's companion was pleading already and had his body get in between the two. He was all afraid this argument would affect Don Benedicto's already weak body and would cause more trouble in his health, but his son wasn't listening. He was then too angry and pissed to even listen.

"You know I do," The man replied and the way he said it felt like he had the last card on. No matter what protest his son will do, he will always win this game against him. "She is heiress and therefore she'll be treated as one. Sending her to that cheap ballet school won't help her much. She's a talented girl. Are you gonna bury her talents down the rock?"

"The cheap school you are referring to was the only school she wanted to be at. Besides, she worked so hard to be accepted to that school! You can't just withdraw her application like that!"

"She liked that school because she had seen no other," The older man replied as he turned to look at his angry son. "You had been keeping that girl here away from the place where she belongs. Look what your stupidity brought her? She's growing up an idiot, making much effort for a school that do not suit her,"

"And what? You are going to bring her to the city and make her like you? She doesn't need such a cursed lifestyle!" The conversation continued and Hawk understood right away that his father was trying to hold off Cat's grandfather from exposing her to the elite world. Was she like him being kept hidden from the city? Was Mauro Han keeping her daughter away from everyone's eyes?

"You can't make her leave this place! She'll stay here and that's final"

"You don't get to have the final call on this!" The older man dismissed his words, not wanting to bend on it. "The Mara ballet company is the best in this country. She had been accepted with a full scholarship. Do you know how rigid the application process is there? Only the best of the best can go. Besides, that ballet company was the only ballet company that can recommend ballerina's to Voltaire Ballet in London. How could you withhold her from such a great opportunity?"

"Because she doesn't like it!"

"She will come to like it when she's there," The old man was already pissed. Definitely giving Cat's father the same tone he was giving him, "The problem with you is that you are treating her like she was you when clearly, she had more ambitions than you!"

"Besides, whether you like it or not, she's a Han. She has my blood and she had to leave this place and you cannot prevent that!" The old man added and when he exclaimed those words, Cat who was then sitting idly beside Hawk covered her ears, not wanting to hear any more of the adults fight. She had enough of it. Every time Don Benedicto comes and visits, her father and him always end up fighting with so many things and this time, they had been arguing about her for many days already.

Don Benedicto wanted Cat to live in the capital and trained as an heiress because for him, she was growing up improper and a bit wild for a girl. She had no grace to speak of and even her table manners were inappropriate. Aside from that he was afraid that her father would greatly influence her to live the life he chose—a simple one, one that the commoner lived and this worried and displeased him. He was then afraid that if he left Cat at his son's care, it would be hard for her to become a proper heiress as she was.

Cat's father however didn't much hate the life of an elite but he was deeply concerned and hated the life his father chose. He had done shameless things in the name of money and ruined their perfect family all for the sake of it. He even went as far as hurting his wife—his mother so he could get to live the luxury he had and continued hurting her even at her last breath. For this, he developed a deep hate for his father and vowed to not let Cat follow his shameless deeds.

Right then, they were all arguing about Cat as Don Benidicto was greatly determined to get the girl out of his son's custody but of course Cat's father wouldn't give her up without a fight and so the white mansion was all in chaos. The girl had been hearing this type of conversation for the last few days and she was already suffocated by it. Right then, she chose not to hear more of it by covering her eyes as her tears started falling endlessly. She was then upset, not only because of the way her grandfather was intervening with their lives but also by the fact that she wanted her family to get along with each other but things always got so out of hand that it seemed impossible for them to live in harmony. Their resentments and hate toward each other had long been there, already rooted in their hearts and no matter what they do, they'll always end up arguing and hating each other. When will such an ordeal stop?

"I will not allow you to take my daughter anywhere away from me!" The girl's father's last word ringed within the whole garden like a solid threat that for once, not even the old man countered it. He then left, ending the conversation with the old man and went somewhere else to look for her daughter. Soon the once tense garden became peaceful and the old man and his companion left.

Hawk was left with the girl who right then was crying miserably. Not knowing what to do, Hawk reached out for her shoulder and tapped it lightly hoping it was enough to give her comfort.

"Don't cry Cat, it will be okay," Hawk awkwardly told her, clueless on how to make the girl feel better. 

"Shut up, I want to cry!" She ignored the fact that she was wailing gracelessly. If Don Benedicto saw her that way, he'd outright tell her how she was acting like a wild child and would become more mad about it. 

Previously Cat's life wasn't as complicated and chaotic like the one they had then. She used to live with her father peacefully in another village and only comes to the white mansion to visit her grandmother. Her memory about the white mansion was always good, especially that her grandmother was also a sweet old lady. She was the one who taught her ballet and the one who had ignited the ballerina dreams in her. 

However when her grandmother started getting sick, her father decided to care for her in the white mansion and so they packed up all their things to go and live with her. Only at this time did Cat realize they weren't the only family her grandmother had and had soon met Don Benedicto, whom she knew was her grandfather and his grandmother's husband. His presence of course shocked the hell out of the little girl because no one had mentioned the old man to her before and from what she knew, her grandmother had lived in solitude in the white mansion for many years. 

Now fast forward, her grandmother had died two years ago and her father and his grandfather had been in constant argument because of her. She didn't know why but she always found herself being the topic of intense conversations and this upset her, emotionally. She felt like she was the reason for their family's predicament and that she was already becoming a burden to everyone.

Soon, Cat's tears dried up voluntarily and when she felt a little okay, she wiped her tearstained face and looked at Hawk.

"What?" Hawk asked as Cat's gaze was becoming intense.

"You won't tell the boys right?"

"About what?"

"About what you…..what you saw here?"

Hawk heaved a sigh at her question. Was she afraid he would go and tell the  boys how she cried helplessly?

"I won't tell them that you cried," He assured and saw how  her expression brightened up a little, "And that you dressed up like that,"

"Promise?" She pressed on and Hawk helplessly nodded at it.