I was cast out by my blood familly but returned back powerful for revenge - Grandfather's Poisonous Fangs and the Serpent's Smile

The cold morning light seeped through the grimy walls. On the bed, Aria stared up at the ceiling. The dark circles under her eyes were deeper than before, and the light had vanished from her hazel eyes. Ever since her children had been taken from her the night before, she hadn't slept a wink. The room was deathly silent. At this hour, it should have been filled with the laughter and footsteps of four children echoing through the apartment. "...Emma, Sofia, Luca, Leo." Just saying their names felt like her heart was being torn apart. Aria sat up and picked up her smartphone with trembling fingers. The screen was still shattered into a spiderweb pattern from when she had hurled it against the wall last night. But it could still make calls. She pulled out a single business card. *Alexei Volkov.* A man like ice. The father of the quadruplets. The absolute authority who had saved this town from redevelopment. Aria made the call. The dial tone felt agonizingly long. " Volkov Group, Office of the CEO." A cold woman's voice. " Um, my name is Aria Greyson. Could you please connect me to Mr. Alexei Volkov?" " Do you have an appointment?" " No, but it's an emergency... my children, they've been taken away." " Alexei is on an urgent business trip to Europe and will not return for several days. Regardless of the nature of your business, I cannot connect you." " But... but my children are in danger! Please, just for a moment, please!" " In that case, I will take a message. I will forward it to the appropriate department." " No, that's not what I...!" *Click.* The call ended. The smartphone slipped from Aria's hand. " Why... why won't anyone help me...!" She collapsed on the spot. The strength drained from her knees, and she put her hands on the cold floor. Her shoulders trembled, her teeth chattered. Her breathing grew shallow, and her vision warped. Help. Someone. Please. " Aria, pull yourself together!" It was Margaret. She lifted Aria by the shoulders, desperately supporting her with her small frame. As always, her hands were dusted with flour, and she smelled of warm tea. " Margaret... everything is ruined. I can't reach Alexei, and I don't even know where the children are. I'm their mother, but I can't do anything..." " You've got this old lady with you, don't you? Life has a way of working out. Here, first, have some warm tea and calm down." She pressed a mug into Aria's trembling hands. But Aria's eyes were hollow. She couldn't trust anyone anymore. She couldn't rely on anyone. That was when it happened. *Knock, knock.* The apartment door was quietly rapped upon. Margaret frowned and peered through the peephole. " ...Who are you? What business do you have in a rundown apartment like this?" From the other side of the door, a low, raspy voice replied. " I am Dmitri Volkov. Grandfather to... Alexei. I have business with Aria Greyson." Margaret gasped and looked back at Aria. The color drained from Aria's face. The former head of the Volkov family. A master strategist who had survived the collapse of the Soviet Union. " ...How do you know about this place?" She rose on unsteady legs and opened the door. Standing there was a tall old man with pure white hair slicked back. A face etched with deep wrinkles. His steel-gray eyes were clouded with age, yet they had lost none of their knife-like sharpness. On the ring finger of his left hand was a massive ruby ring. The grip of his cane was a silver wolf's skull. A faint scent of old libraries and cigars drifted in. Dmitri Volkov stared intently at Aria's face, then slowly opened his mouth. " I merely came to investigate the reason my grandson suddenly froze the redevelopment project. I was curious if it was a political calculation, or if someone had leverage over him." As he spoke, he stepped into the room uninvited. Then, he looked at the wall. On the shabby wall were numerous crayon scribbles drawn by the children. A sun. The sea. Four small handprints. Dmitri stared intently at one of them. Silence. " ...Who drew these scribbles?" His voice dropped slightly lower. Aria couldn't answer. Dmitri pulled an old photograph from his breast pocket. The faded photo showed a younger version of himself and a small boy with the same steel-gray eyes. On the boy's forehead was a faint scar. " This child is Alexei. When he was four, he hit his head on the corner of a fireplace. A small scar remains from the stitches." Aria felt her breath stop. That same scar was on Emma's forehead, and Sofia's, and Luca's, and Leo's— " I investigated. Including who you slept with that night at the Grand Elysian six years ago." Aria's knees buckled. Looking down at her as she sat collapsed on the floor, Dmitri spoke coldly. " Your children carry the blood of the Volkov family. In other words, they are my great-grandchildren. Family is everything. I will not stand idly by and hand over those who share my blood to Child Protective Services." " Then... you'll give them back...? My children...!" Aria looked up at the old man with pleading eyes. Dmitri slowly shook his head. " It is not that simple. The Greyson family has filed a formal child abuse report. To overturn that false report requires vast sums of money and enough political power to bend the law." " Isn't that something the Volkov family can do!? You people are powerful enough to get anything you want, aren't you!?" " Of course we can. But not for free." Dmitri's clouded eyes narrowed like a hawk hunting its prey. " A deal, Aria Greyson. With my power and money, I will get the quadruplets back for you. I will also let you seize the evidence of the Greyson family's false report. I will even give you the opportunity for revenge, to cast your sister and stepmother, who cornered you, into hell." " ...And in exchange, what do you want me to do?" " For the next six months, you will live in Winterhaven—our family's villa—and become my pawn. You will move as I say, answer when I question, and hide what I tell you to hide." " A pawn... I'm a human being." " I know. That is precisely why you are useful. You are the woman who intrigued Alexei enough to stop the redevelopment himself. My grandson is thought to be a heartless ice machine, but he reacted differently to you. You have utility." The old man struck the floor twice with his cane. " Family is everything. I have committed any number of atrocities to ensure our bloodline does not die out. The fact that you and Alexei met six years ago was also because I had him drugged." Aria's entire body froze. " ...What?" " My grandson was twenty-nine at the time. Under the 'Bloodline Succession Decree,' if he did not produce an heir by thirty, his uncle would seize the position of family head. I drugged Alexei and tried to make him sleep with any woman. The result was quadruplets. A resounding success. Thanks to me, you became a fine mother. If you had stayed with the Greyson family, you would have broken down mentally long ago." " Don't screw with me...! It was you who drugged him!? You're telling me it wasn't just Lisa who ruined my life, but you too!?" Aria screamed with enough force to lunge at him. " As a result, you gained four treasures. Am I wrong?" Aria was at a loss for words. He was right. Emma. Sofia. Luca. Leo. Those four were the only irreplaceable light in her life. " If you accept this deal, you can get your children back. If you refuse, they will be sent to an institution, and you will never see them again. Which do you choose?" Aria, still on her hands and knees, bit her lip. She tasted blood. " ...I'll do it. I'll do it. For my children, I'll do anything." " A good answer. However, there is one condition. Do not tell Alexei the truth yet. Hide everything—about the quadruplets, and about my contacting you. Until the time is right." " ...Why?" " Alexei has lost his memory. A side effect of the drug. He remembers neither that night nor your face. That is precisely why he took an interest in you. If he learns the truth now, he will act impulsively and ruin the plan. I am aiming for much larger prey." Dmitri's eyes glinted sharply for just a moment. (*Larger prey...?*) Aria felt a chill run down her spine. This old man was no kindly grandfather. He was a man who had seized control of energy interests amidst the chaos of the Soviet collapse, taking thousands of lives in the process. But, for now. To get her children back, she would even make a deal with the devil. " I understand. I will be your pawn. So... please, you must return my children." " Understood. I will send a car for you tomorrow morning. Be ready." Leaving those words behind, Dmitri placed a single black business card in front of Aria. Then, without a sound, he left the room. ―――――――――――――――――――― A few hours later. Aria was at the café "Tidal" with Margaret. Trying to distract herself even a little, she had been helping with the opening preparations. But. *Jingle-jangle.* The doorbell rang, and a woman entered. Large platinum blonde ringlets. Jade-green eyes. Perfect nail art. Lisa Greyson. " Oh my, so this is the café everyone's talking about. What a lovely atmosphere." With a lovely smile on her face, she looked around the shop. The cup slipped from Aria's hand. *Crash.* " Oh my... Big sister? Don't tell me it's you? No way, what a coincidence!" Lisa put a hand to her mouth in an exaggerated show of surprise. Then, her eyes narrowed smoothly. " Big sister... I've been looking for you all this time. You went missing six whole years ago, I was so worried. The whole family, we all..." " ...You've got some nerve, spouting lies like that so easily." " They're not lies. I really was worried. After all, you ran away from home and never contacted us. Father was heartbroken, too." " You're the ones who drove me out!!" Aria shouted. In that instant, the few customers in the café all turned to look at her. Lisa took out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. " How cruel... you don't have to say it like that. I just wanted to see my sister. I heard rumors that you ran away from home, tricked a celebrity into getting you pregnant, and then disappeared. I was so, so worried..." The customers began to stir. " What's that? That Aria did?" " Tricked a celebrity... is that true?" " That girl, she's a single mother, but she absolutely refuses to talk about the father. I knew there had to be something shady." Lisa's lies spread through the shop in the blink of an eye. " Big sister, come back home. I'm sure Father will forgive you. We won't do anything bad to you." Wiping her tears, Lisa approached Aria and tried to hug her. " Don't touch me!!" Aria shoved Lisa away with all her might. Lisa fell to the floor with theatrical flair. " That hurt...! Big sister, why would you do this...! I just wanted to make up...!" Sitting on the floor, she let large teardrops fall. The customers in the shop were completely fooled by her performance. " Aria! How dare you do that to your own sister!" " So the rumors were true after all. Having four kids and not even naming the father—I always thought she wasn't a decent woman." " She was clinging to that distinguished old gentleman earlier, too. Definitely after his money." Aria couldn't find the words. It wasn't true. It was all lies. Lisa was the root of everything. " Everyone, please don't blame my sister. She's always been a little... unstable, ever since we were young. She's a pitiful person." Lisa stood up, brushing the dust from her skirt as she spoke. Then, in a voice only Aria could hear, she whispered softly. " Serves you right. That's what you get for defying me, you piece of trash. There's nowhere left for you now. I'll drive you out of this town, too." " ...Why. Why go this far? I just wanted to live quietly." " It's all mine. Everything in the Greyson family i

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Episode 5

Name: I was cast out by my blood familly but returned back powerful for revenge
Author: Novelia

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