Once the hall emptied out and it was just the two of them, the old lady let out a long sigh. “The Head Elder—he’s actually your uncle, your father’s older brother. Hardly anyone knows this, but he and your father never got along. Actually, it was pretty awful between them. They cut ties years ago. If it weren’t for you, your uncle probably would’ve ignored the Ferguson family here in Country Z forever. There are just too many branches of the family. Do you even know why your father married me?”
Dylan glanced up, caught off guard. He honestly didn’t know. No one ever talked about the previous generation—it all felt too far away.
The old lady’s expression darkened. “At your father’s eightieth birthday, your uncles told you and Colin not to turn against each other over a woman. They weren’t just talking for the sake of it. Your father and his own brother ruined their relationship over a woman. He was never supposed to marry me. The Ferguson and Chester families overseas have kept their distance for years, never working together. And the current matriarch of the Chester family? She was your father’s first love. The two of them were torn apart.”
She hesitated then, her face clouding with old secrets she’d never wanted to say out loud—but she pressed on, needing Dylan to understand.
“Back then, your father and Sydney were in love. As for me… Have you ever heard me talk about my own family in all these years I’ve been in the Ferguson family?”
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