Chapter 360 The Poor Gael
"Honestly, I sympathize with you. I also loved my mother dearly, but business decisions must remain separate from personal emotions. Allowing feelings to influence these decisions could be detrimental to the Avery family’s interests," the manager said, glancing briefly at Hera, who was silently sipping her coffee.
"Manager, why not review his plan? Since he’s already presented one, if it doesn’t measure up, you’ll have done everything you could for him and won’t have any regrets," Hera suggested, setting her cup down. She crossed her fingers, clasped her hands on her right knee, which rested atop her left leg, and directed a focused gaze at Gael.
As Gael recounted his sob story and with his current appearance, something clicked in Hera’s mind about who he was. She recalled Sienna’s earlier mention of him being the fifth son of the Harrison family. If her memory served her correctly, the fifth son of the Harrisons was widely regarded as a useless clown.
Not only was his sense of dress disastrous, but he was also underachieving academically. He frequently skipped classes to be with his mother, who had been in a coma since his elementary school years. Additionally, he rebelled against his father for his lack of concern for his bedridden wife, focusing instead on his children from his mistress, who had now become his legal wife.
Gael’s father only disclosed to the outside world that Gael’s mother had leukemia to obscure the true circumstances of their family’s situation. They wanted to conceal the fact that she had fallen down the stairs and hit her head on the corner after being pushed by the mistress.
By claiming that his wife had leukemia and would not be seen in public, Gael’s father ensured that no one would question the validity of his statements. This allowed him to act without scrutiny or challenge, doing whatever he pleased without fear of being questioned.
Additionally, Gael discovered that his father had been unfaithful to his wife even before she became pregnant with him. This was why his father’s first child was older than Gael and was favored to inherit all of his father’s assets in the future, leaving Gael and his mother with nothing.
What shifted Gael’s rebellious streak and motivated him to achieve something was the new understanding he gained. However, Hera’s knowledge of this transformation came as a revelation from the novel. Unlike typical cannon fodder characters like Hera, Gael was actually a business genius who would receive assistance from Alice—and more precisely, from Rafael—to claim what rightfully belonged to him.
It’s likely that he recently discovered that what happened to his mother was no accident but a scheme orchestrated by the mistress. The plan was to displace Gael’s mother, secure a title for her own children, and enable herself and her husband to seize the power and wealth that Gael’s mother would have left behind.