Decision II

Morning came so fast.

Arthur didn't know exactly when he fell asleep last night and woke up only to find Livy by his side. Livy's head was right on his chest, his arms wrapped around the girl's waist.

He slept well last night; his sleep was so peaceful and he had countless beautiful dreams with the figure of Livy present in the dream.

The dream started from how they met twelve years ago. Livy dove from above and Arthur caught her small waist in a nice move. In dreams, he didn't let her go, they spend their youth together until they grow up.

Dreams are sleeping flowers. Not everything in it is real, but they say dreams are a reflection of what we want in our hearts.

In this case, he really wants to spend his days alone with her.

Maybe the wish will come true?

Smiling, his hand moved to caress her hair which was in his arms. Deliberately pulled the slender body and hugged it tighter.

***

"Are ... you serious this time?" Evander answered in a daze on the other end after hearing Arthur's statement.

"Why can't I?" Arthur asked back.

There was a tired sigh on the other end. "You know how hard it was to persuade you over the years. I was so surprised to hear you suddenly wanted to do it."

Arthur was also surprised by this decision. His determination to do eyes surgery has been made up since Livy said a few things to him last night. Livy said she was worried for him and wished he could see again. During this time, Evander and Dave also always said the same thing, but he never wanted to listen to those words.

What does recovering mean?

In the past, Arthur did not find a goal that he would achieve if he recovered. Now, he has that goal. He wanted to see and protect Livy with his own strength.

"I just said my plan. I'm not in a hurry. Let's do it in a few months," Arthur finally said.

"What are you waiting for?"

The reason why he waited was because he wasn't really done with his business yet. Also, Livy has just entered university in a few months. The girl still had to wait for her exams, then she would get a day off.

Arthur really wanted Livy to accompany him abroad, but he didn't want to interfere with her studies.

"There's just a few things I need to take care of." Arthur glanced at the clock and motioned to the nearest maid to pick up his little wife.

"If it's about work, I can handle it."

Evander was very dedicated to his job and a man he could really count on. Arthur said, "It's not about work. Besides, you've been too busy lately because I haven't been around. I can do it myself."

"You didn't do anything dangerous, did you?" Evander's voice sharpened.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Your stepmother has started to act since you got rid of Livy's aunt. I know you must be thinking of ways to get rid of her too."

Besides being competent at work, Evander also has a keen instinct. Arthur was not surprised, the man knew even without him giving any clues. But he has absolutely no intention of getting rid of his stepmother, because he himself did not want to build good relations with his father anymore.

"Matthew will be joining the company soon," Arthur said quietly.

"Damnit!"

"I intend to give him a good position. After all, the company is not mine."

“You really are serious …” Evander didn't believe this, and continued, “You're going to give up all your effort? Have you forgotten, it was you who revived this company when it was on the brink of collapse. Mr. Finnegan still harbors hatred for you."

His father wasn't like this before. He was only influenced by his stepmother's bad persuasion, so always saw Arthur as a useless parasite.

However, he didn't care now.

"In his eyes I'm not his biological child and I don't want to prove anything to the people who hurt my mother."

Evander sighed. "Fine, if that's what you want. Me and Dave talked you out of the family a long time ago anyway. If this is the start of your plans, I can only agree," he said, "So when exactly is your half brother going to start work?"

"Next month."

Evander finally understands why Arthur was still delaying going for surgery. He really wanted to break away from these family ties before taking care of himself in peace.

"Fine, next month. I'll give him some good training. It's up to him to hold on or not."

Arthur muttered under his breath, not wanting to bring this up again, he then said, "Take your time tonight. Take Dave at the usual place."

After saying that, he hung up the call.

This was absolutely the right decision. He will solve one problem after another before breaking away from the family forever. He already has Livy now and he will think about his life with her in the future. The dark past he slowly had to let go.

Even though he knew that there were rocks that would get in his way, he had prepared himself.

***

"Boss, are you serious?" Dave was very excited. "I've heard it from Evan, but I want to hear it from you in person."

At the restaurant table, the food has just arrived and the waiter was arranging them one by one. Arthur picked up his cup filled with wine and shook it lightly.

"Exactly what he said," Arthur replied calmly.

Dave did not know how to say that he was very happy. He looked at Livy. "Sister-in-law, that's true, right? Boss will be ready to do the surgery, right?"

Livy nodded. "Um, yeah. Arthur told me yesterday."

"My gosh, finally! Boss, so this means you want to make a new start. Jeez, remember how you resisted my advice on this for years? Evan, you remember how boss was so stubborn, right?" Dave let out a 'tsk tsk tsk' while shaking his head.

"Then you should thank Livy." Evander crossed his arms.

"Me?" Livy pointed at herself before glancing at Arthur and Evander. "I don't—"

"Sister-in-law," Dave interrupted while holding her hand, "... you are the goddess of salvation. You must have been sent by God from the sky to help us! You are so blessed! Thank you, Sister-in-law. Thank you."

Evander laughed softly, and Arthur looked at Dave and tapped Dave's hand twice to warn him.

Dave chuckled. "Sister-in-law, I must not touch you. Someone will be angry."

Livy withdrew her hand and blushed.

"Yeah, it's decided now. I'll arrange things and get in touch with someone I know to help with the process. Sister-in-law, consider this your second honeymoon, ok? And Evan, you have to help me!"

Evander shrugged.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Don't bring that up yet. Start eating or I'll kick you out of here."

Dave laughed with satisfaction.

***

Livy looked nervously at Arthur's gripped hand. In the other hand, she just checked her phone and saw that all the texts sent to both her aunt and Brenda, were all undelivered.

A few days ago, Brenda came asking for help. Livy had prepared her savings to send to her aunt, but they suddenly disappeared.

She was a little worried.

Did the loan shark do something to them? Or is their disappearance to do with Arthur?

Livy kept glancing sideways, she wanted to ask him, but don't know where to ask.

Until they finally arrived at the house, she still did not dare to ask. As she helped him down and they started walking in, she couldn't hold back anymore and squeezed his hand.

Realizing Livy had stopped, Arthur turned his head. "What is it?"

"Arthur, I ... I can't reach my aunt nor Brenda." Her eyes quivered restlessly. "Do you know what happened? I mean, they had trouble with the loan shark back then. Did they get bullied again, or is there something else I may not know about?"

Livy lowered her head deeply.

"I told you I'm going to give your uncle a job," Arthur answered without any intonation in his voice.

Livy looked up. "So you mean ...?

Arthur nodded. "He and his family have to move because of the job. This is also so they won't be bothered by the loan sharks again."

"But you said that you wouldn't help them with money."

"I don't."

"Then, the debt has not been paid off and that means they ran away to avoid it?" Livy became worried.

After a moment of silence, Arthur knew what Livy was worried about.

"The company he works for has paid him in full, it will be deducted from his salary every month."

—It was a lie. Of course.

Arthur knew that Livy didn't want to involve him in her family's debt matters, but the reason he helped Travis Hare was to make the family stay away from Livy so they won't cause trouble for her. Also to keep Camile from conspiring with his stepmother.

Arthur couldn't tell her this reason.

"B-But that debt is huge, isn't it? If uncle's wages are deducted every month ... Arthur, I've saved some of my money, I want to give it to them. You know how to contact them, right?"

Even though Livy really wants to stay away from the family and hates them, the hidden feelings of gratitude always make her soft.

Livy should have known, if Arthur had taken care of everything, it really was everything. The matter is completely finished.

"The salary that the company offers is quite good. Besides, it's a guarantee that your uncle won't be lazy at work, meaning he has attachments to the company. If he runs away, the police will chase him."

What Arthur said made perfect sense. But Livy still wasn't convinced. Moreover, Brenda will soon be entering college.

"If you're still unsure, you can send the money you saved to them."

"Really?"

Arthur stared at her. "Leave the money to me. Let me take care of it."

This time Livy's face brightened again. “Mn. I will give it to you.”

Livy pulled Arthur into the house when she was satisfied. But Arthur finally asked, "Why do you want to help them? Don't you want to sue them for the rights they took from you in the past?"

Livy's feet stopped immediately, she looked at him and the smile on her face disappeared.

"Arthur, I really don't know, but do you think revenge is still necessary? Do we need to get back at those who hurt us? Are we going to be satisfied with our revenge?"

... to be continued ...