Middle Child Syndrome - Chapter 274

Chapter 274: Ch 274: Not your problem
“So, Rika, what do you say? Would you like to be my partner for the upcoming-”

“No, I don’t want to. I already have someone taking me to the Union Conference, and I have already said ‘yes’ to them. I am afraid I cannot go with you, Mark.”

Mark’s expression went stiff instantly, and even her mother looked uncomfortable hearing what Rika had to say about her decision to go to the union conference.

Rika had to admit that it felt nice to see her mother and her brother look this stunned after what they had heard.

Her brother moved, but Rika saw it too late.

By the time she realized what had happened, Mark had grabbed her shoulder and spun Rika around so that she faced him.

His grip felt bruising, and Rika cringed as soon as she felt those hands gripping her arm. She lacked the strength to break free from her brother’s grasp.

“Who is the bastard? Who asked you for the union conference? I know neither Emily nor Damian since they will also come together this year. You better tell me all about the low-life who asked you out.”

Mark sounded like a broken record as he continued to ask the same question again and again.

Rika kept trying to break his hold on her shoulder, but it was useless. Mark was just too powerful for Rika to break her grip easily.

“Hey, idiot! Let my shoulder go! It is beginning to hurt! You’ll bruise it if you continue pressing it so hard.”

Rika was not joking when she said this to her brother. She could feel her shoulder burning from all the pressure on it.

But Mark looked too out of it to notice what he was doing. He continued to press even harder, and Rika finally had enough.

She grabbed Mark’s offending arm and twisted it around to make the alpha let go of her.

It made Mark flinch, but he was quick to suppress his expression. He looked at Rika with annoyed eyes but let go of her.

As soon as her shoulder was freed, Rika breathed a sigh of relief. The pain finally lessened enough for her to move her shoulder properly and not cry out in pain.

“Mark, you should not be so harsh with Rika. You know her situation, so be nice to her.”

Natasha finally spoke up, but it was too late for her to interfere. The damage Rika had suffered had already left her shoulder throbbing.

After hearing his mother’s warning, the younger alpha looked sick and looked at his hand with a betrayed look.

“Tsk, sorry! I don’t know what came over me to make such a decision. I promise this will not happen again, Rika! Please forgive me, Rika.”

Mark looked sick as he lowered his head to apologize to Rika. But Rika only sighed and quickly decided to look away.

She did not say it was okay for Mark to treat her like this, but she did not criticize his actions. That was as good of a truce as he would get from her.

“Alright, this is enough! Both of you need to calm down and not let your emotions control you.”

Natasha quickly established control over the situation and looked at Rika disappointedly. It made Rika feel small, but she did not let her mother’s expectations get to her.

Rika’s lack of response did not deter her mother from looking at her curiously and asking her questions.

“I don’t want to interfere in your life more than necessary, but I need to know the identity of the person you will be attending the Union Conference with, Rika. It is a matter of family security and pride. You do know where I am coming from, right?”

“Mom! That is no way to ask Rika about her partner. Can’t you be a little gentle with her?”

Mark yelled at the same time his mother finished speaking.

Rika blinked a few times as the two alphas’ gazes clashed, and they seized each other up.

‘This is ridiculous! It won’t matter much if I tell my mother about my partner’s identity this time. From what I remember, she did seem to like Andrew Tweten.’

“My partner for this conference is Alpha Andrew Tweten. He asked me to accompany him last night because he had no partner. I decided to take his offer because this will be my first time attending.

Having someone familiar but not too close to me would be a good idea.”

Rika was not about to explain her whole thought process about why she took Andrew’s offer, but she felt her mother understood what Rika did not say.

Mark, on the other hand, looked stunned by Rika’s words.

“Last night! I got rejected because I was a little late. How is this fair? Rika, I am your brother! It would be best to put me first instead of a stranger you don’t know well. You will break my heart if you continue to be this cold to me.”

Mark cried out in fake tears, trying to gain Rika’s sympathy.

Neither Rika nor their mother looked impressed with Mark’s display of fake emotions, and he soon realized that.

“Tsk, so this did not trick either of you, huh? But anyway! Rika, you broke up what that man is now. I will not allow you to be together with him as long as I am alive.”

Mark was too much. Even their mother looked disappointed in his antics, much less support him.

“Dear Brother, (Mark looked at Rika with huge, expecting eyes), you can drop dead now. I don’t need your permission to go out with anyone…not that I wish to go out with Andrew B Tweten or have any plans with him.

But if you do not stop annoying me, I will have no choice but to force you to back down. Did you understand what I said?”

Rika asked calmly, enough to make Mark back away with an awkward look.

“Yeah! I get it! I will back away now. I won’t do anything weird to you, I promise…I think.”