"What are you doing here, Anderson?!" said the woman standing to Henry's right, her arms crossed, and her face contorted with unmistakable disgust.
"Jessica", Miss Anderson said as she stared at the woman.
In response, Jessica clicked her tongue in contempt, the tension between them so thick it could be sliced with a knife.
While the stare-down continued, Benjamin made a couple of observations.
First, he realized that Miss Anderson's name was actually Anderson and not something else. Until now, everyone he'd heard addressing her called her "Miss Anderson," leading him to assume it was her surname—after all, Anderson was typically a man's name. But it looked like he had been wrong.
Now, that made him wonder why a beautiful woman like her answered a typically masculine name.
He pondered over it for a moment and concluded that her parents must have wanted a boy but ended up having a girl instead. This also led him to theorize that she was likely her parents' first child as only that would explain the name.
Building on his observations, Benjamin concluded that the people blocking their path to the mansion had to be Miss Anderson's family members—her siblings, to be exact. Their behavior made it obvious, as no one else would dare to address such an important woman in the manner they had since they appeared.
What further reinforced Benjamin's conclusion that they were all siblings was the striking resemblance between the three in front of him and Miss Anderson beside him.
While the three shared mostly similar hair colors—Henry and Jessica both being blonde, while the younger-looking guy to Henry's left had a lighter shade of brown—Miss Anderson stood apart with her raven-black hair. However, what undeniably marked them as siblings were their facial features, most notably their eye color.
They all had emerald-green eyes, which was uncommon for people with their respective hair colors. However, the fact that they all shared this distinct trait suggested a common ancestry—most likely the same father.
All of that contributed to Benjamin's theory, but unless he asked, he wouldn't know for sure—and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask. After all, his plan was to keep to himself and simply focus on what he was there to do.
Suddenly, Benjamin noticed something rather odd—or more accurately, intriguing.
The young man to Henry's left was looking at Miss Anderson with a demeanor that was, at the very least, suspicious.
It was like he was shocked to see her, which was a contrast from the other two who were angry and disgusted by her presence.
'What's that about?' Benjamin thought.
He decided to focus more on that guy, trying to figure out why he seemed so... for lack of a better word, suspicious.
"W-what are you doing h-here, Anderson?" The light brown-haired man asked, smiling awkwardly.
"Dennison. Well, I'm here to see our father. Is that a problem?" Miss Anderson asked.
"O-of course not. But you should have called first to let us know that—" Dennison said, but Henry cut him off.
"Who gives a shit about receiving a heads-up from this bastard?" Henry said, glaring at Miss Anderson. "You are not welcome here, so take yourself and—"
Henry finally noticed Benjamin, focusing on his hands which were cuffed.
"What's going on here?" He asked, sneering at Benjamin, who instantly became nervous.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Henry asked as he and his siblings looked at Benjamin from head to toe.
"Don't tell me this is another one of your bastard siblings from your whore of a mother. Looks slightly older than the last one, so the question now is whether it's the same father?" Henry asked as he sneered at Benjamin.
Benjamin had black hair just like Miss Anderson, and he was considerably handsome, so Henry wasn't wrong to think that he and Miss Anderson were related— granted he did so as an insult and out of spite.
"Whatever," Henry scoffed, quickly losing interest in Benjamin before turning to Miss Anderson. "Get out of here and take whatever this thing is that you brought with you. You've been warned."
Benjamin looked at Miss Anderson and wondered what they were to do because it looked like Henry was hellbent on not letting them through.
To his surprise, Miss Anderson sighed exasperatedly and her entire demeanor changed.
She looked more assertive.
"In case you've forgotten, this estate and everything Dad owns is under my care until he gets well, so I can go in there and see him if I want and there's nothing any of you can do to stop me. Now, get out of my way before I do something as dramatic as make the rest of the board vote you out of your position in the company", Miss Anderson said to Henry.
She then looked at Jessica and said "Or stop your monthly allowance and see how you cope."
Jessica jolted and became embarrassed.
Miss Anderson looked at Denison and said nothing before returning her gaze to Henry, who was pissed that she had just threatened him.
"I left this estate and let the three of you do whatever you wanted, because I knew we would never see eye to eye. I didn't even enforce my authority over any of you, even though it's well within my right as Dad's heir. But we had an understanding that I could come here to see Dad whenever I wanted. So, unless you want me to reconsider our agreement, I suggest you uphold your end and get the hell out of my way," Miss Anderson threatened.
Staring at the beautiful and fiercely intimidating woman with awe, Benjamin thought, "She must really like making deals, seeing as how she made one with me too."
Without meaning to, he chuckled and drew the attention of the three siblings in front of him.
Their eyes were all he needed to know he had fucked up.
"So, are you going to get out of my way or do I have to make you?" Miss Anderson said and they all returned their gaze to her.
Just then, Denison stepped forward.
"Of course. Henry and Jessica are just angry that Dad hasn't gotten well yet, so without meaning to, they took their frustration out on you, but don't be angry. You can come in", Denison said, smiling as widely and nervously as he could.
"Denison, what do you think you're doing?" Henry asked, pissed off that his younger brother was sucking up to their older half-sister.