"Grandma? Who is Sidney Price?" Serena asked, her voice tinged with curiosity and hesitation.
Mabel Hawk raised an eyebrow, her sharp eyes studying Serena’s expression carefully. "You want to know about Sidney?" She paused, her tone becoming more inquisitive as she tried to read Serena. "Did Aiden say something to you about him?"
Serena shifted in her seat, glancing down for a moment before replying. "Not Aiden, actually. I just... well, the gift that Sidney Price gave for the wedding—it was really beautiful. I thought it would be nice to thank him, but then Nathan mentioned something..." She trailed off, unsure how to phrase it delicately. "Something about Sidney being Aiden’s enemy."
Of course she didn’t mention the matter about Charles Hawk being linked to this.
Hearing this, Grandma let out a dry laugh, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "Nathan doesn’t know the half of it. Enemy? Ha! No, dear, Sidney and Aiden aren’t enemies—far from it." She leaned in a little closer, her voice softening with a knowing edge. "Those boys have always been competitive, yes, but that’s only because they’re more alike than either of them would care to admit."
Serena frowned, trying to piece it together. "So... they’re not enemies? But Nathan seemed pretty certain. And Aiden refused to talk about it."
Mabel Hawk sighed," Actually, they can be each others’ nemesis but calling them enemies would be going too far. Sidney has been my student you know so he is as special to me as Aiden. Both the boys..."
Mabel hesitated before sending a considering look at Serena. "Sidney and Aiden might butt heads from time to time, but it’s because they approach life the same way—both stubborn, both determined to win at everything they do. That competition has always been there, but it’s more of a rivalry than a true enmity. In fact, they could have been the best of friends if the circumstances had been in their favour."
"Circumstances?"
"Hmmm. Let me tell you a secret." Mabel looked around the room, making sure that no one was evesdropping. Then, in a low voice, she leaned in toward Serena and whispered, "I suppose it’s time someone told you the truth. Sidney and Aiden... they’re half-brothers."
. "Half-brothers?" she choked out, disbelief creeping into her voice.
Serena coughed at this and choked on her own spit as she repeated, "Half-brothers?"
Seeing her expression, the older woman continued, "Yes. They share the same mother. Sidney was born first, older than Aiden by a mere eleven months. My daughter-in-law, Aiden’s mother, had Sidney with another man before she met Charles, then abandoned the baby when she got pregnant with Aiden. She married Charles soon after. That woman was a gold digger through and through. Anyway, she miscalculated when she thought she was marrying the heir of the Hawk family. She then tried to use Sidney to get back at Charles but failed."
"Because by then, the old man Price had already declared Sidney to be a motherless child but taken him in. Later, when Sideny was around seventeen, he started to show potential but his father’s new wife was not happy with her step son joining the family business when her own children were too small to compete with him. So, Sidney’s father asked me to mentor him. Truthfully, he was very satisfied with Sidney and planned to hand him the business but to pacify his wife and shield his young son, Price bent his will and sent him to me."
"By then, Aiden had already started stepping into his own role in the family business, showing real potential. I decided to teach them together, hoping it might somehow bring them closer, even though they didn’t know the truth. Truthfully, when I met Sidney, I somehow thought he was much like my Aiden. Knowing they were related, I thought maybe they could become friends and then brothers."
Mabel sighed regretfully then. "Maybe I should have been truthful to the boys beforehand. Because as per my expectations, the two boys really did hit well. Within a week of joining the office, they were almost inseparable working like a well oilder machine. They drove each other to be better and somehow even confided in each other. But that changed..."
Mabel paused and Serena leaned forward. The entire thing sounced like something of a drama. She could imagine Aiden and this Sidney person having a bromance and then becoming enemies... but yearnign for more...
If Aiden had been able to hear Serena’s thoughts, he definitely would have stopped feeding her food but she was safe for now as Mabel Hawk continued," It’s still something of a mystery. All I know is that something happened—something that turned their friendship into bitter rivalry. It happened quickly, almost overnight. One day they were close, almost like brothers without knowing it. And within a month, they were barely speaking. Aiden became colder, more distant, and Sidney... well, Sidney started pulling away too. Finally, things went from bad to worst and I had to teach the two boys separately."
"But I still harbour hope that these two will reconcile some day. In fact, last time Sidney was in the office, he was so eager to meet you, the woman Aiden had chosen. Meanwhile, Aiden has been keeping tabs on Sidney as well. I recently learned that Sidney is looking for someone. It was through Aiden’s sources. So, I am hoping that these two will be able to solve things between themselves someday.."
As Serena heard this, the arlier feelings returned. Sidney was looking for someone? Who? She wanted to ask but before she could, there was a knock on the door and Aunt Vera mentioned that the car was ready for grandma to leave.
With a smile, Mabel Hawk nodded and then sent a glance towards Serena," Your dragon boss is leaving for work so you need to hurry up..."
Serena widened her eyes as she realized she was almost late and quickly rushed out, calling after the older woman, " Wait, my dear grandma! How can you leave your dear granddaughter behind!"