"But I think there's a way for me to accept"
Both Nora's and Elda's eyes opened wide as they heard Grace's words, the two of them were still in the shock that Grace didn't shout or reprimand them, they were expecting for her to try her best to separate them from Austin but their fears were shattered, deep within both of their heart they sighed, as long as there was a way they were willing to try,
"Both you know right? this path only had one end"
Grace spoke breaking the two out of their thoughts, looking at both her daughters she spoke with a hardened voice,
"You will never be able to hold Austin and say that he's your man, you will never be able to kiss him in public, you will never be able to stop other women from reaching him and you will never be able to publicly marry him"
Each word Grace spoke hit Nora and Elda hard, they knew all this but when someone ruthlessly ripped apart the cover and spoke the truth they couldn't help but have their heart tremble, and feelings of sadness and hate-filled them, just because of some stupid rule of society they couldn't be with the one they love and this hurt them deeply.
Grace felt her heartache when she saw the pale faces of her daughters but she didn't budge, right now she needed to give them the truth directly, otherwise, this would only hurt them in the long run, in the end, they were all children the true horrors of fate had still not hit them, silence filled the room as the heavy breathing of Nora and Elda was heard.
But it didn't last for long, soon the two of them took deep breaths as they regained their bearing, looking at Grace both of them spoke at the same time,
Grace's nodded her head feeling a bit relieved from their words, she sighed as she leaned into the sofa, looking at her daughters she spoke with a tired face,
"You know I really never thought that thing would become , this is not right but in the end, I don't want to hurt the two of you, I can tell that the two of you truly love Austin, and me saying no will only destroy our family, I don't want that to happen a second time....."
Seeing the tired face of Grace both Nora and Elda felt shame and sadness fill their heart, they couldn't even begin to feel the pain that Grace must be feeling, for her to even think of agreeing to this, Grace must have gone through a long journey of pain and confusion, both Nora and Elda rose from the sofa as they rushed to Grace and hugged her tightly.
Grace hugged them back, a hint of guilt passing through her eyes, she had to act , otherwise, both Nora and Elda would definitely be suspicious, plus this was required for her future plans too, Grace too was a bit of a schemer, it would seem that manipulation truly runs in the family...
"Alright enough mopping, both of you now listen to my words"
Grace spoke patting her daughter's back, both Nora and Elda nodded their heads as they rose, wiping away the tears from their eyes, Grace smiled as she help wipe her daughter's eyes,
"I only have one condition for this, it's that Austin must feel the same, otherwise don't even think about it"
Both Nora and Elda nodded their head, Nora confident that she would not give up and would make Austin feel the same way, while the latter had a veiled smile, hiding the fact that she and Austin were already a couple, Austin had told her that it would be best to speak about it after a period of time, so as to not make Nora angry and Grace distrustful,
"Mother then how do we deal with the rest of the woman that is interested in Austin?"
Elda spoke with a hidden glint in her eyes, hearing her question both Nora and Grace trend serious, Grace looked at both of her daughters as she spoke,
"The main problem would be Scarlet"
Nora looked confused as she alternated her eyes between Grace and Elda, Elda already knew about it while Grace too was told about it, she was livid and jealous but she couldn't do anything now, not in the open anyway, in the end, scarlet was still a dragon and messing with one was never good, seeing the confused look of Nora Elda soon filled her in,
Nora screamed with hate, feeling absolutely livid, of course when Austin had told the story to the girls he made sure to portray Scarlet as the villain who was unwilling to take no for an answer and he was the poor soul making sacrifices so that a dragon's rage won't fall upon his family, this story was more than enough to make Grace and Elda fall much less Nora,
"I will kill that bitch!"
Nora's eyes seemed to spit out fire, just the thought of Austin going around with Scarlet on a date holding her hands was making her sick, her whole body felt anger and surprisingly she wasn't the only one, both Grace and Elda had dark face's, of course, Grace made sure to control herself so as to not give herself up.
Yet interestingly all three of them seemed to have dark eyes, almost becoming lifeless, just the thought of Austin with Scarlet was making their blood boil, another interesting fact was that it didn't affect them when it was with each other, just as they say good things must be only shared in the family!
"Stop it, Nora, shouting about it won't change, if you don't want to lose him, find ways to make it so that you have a chance"
Grace spoking perfectly playing the part of a mother helping her daughter while hiding the deep feelings in her heart, hearing Grace's words Nora snapped out of her thoughts, her mother was right she first needed to win Austin's heart, then could only she slowly kill off the leeches that were trying to get close to her brother
"You know Scarlet might not be the only one aiming for him, right now I am sure that several girls in his faction love him and are aiming for him, I don't need to tell you about Mika and Rika right?"
Elda spoke her eyes peering at Nora, meanwhile, Grace smirked nodding her head inwardly, this was what she wanted, to make them more aware, she didn't want Austin falling into anyone outside the family, she herself was a greedy woman,
"That's right! there are those bitches too!"
Nora replied back her face turning dark, while bloodlust filled her but Grace intervened before things got worse,
"If you want to keep him yourself then you would have to work for it"
"Mother, you mean like an alliance?"
Grace concluded, her ways completely showed a mother just helping her child, while deep down the plans she lay were birthing, she knew Austin would definitely get many more girls after him and she can't handle it alone, it was best to have a helping hand, an alliance made with her children where she would just be 'helping' them.
Slowly but surely an alliance was forming one among the many that would be formed in the future, alliances that would work to fight each other or kill each other to gain Austin for just themselves.