"You were a coward."

Tristan clenched his jaw, realizing how much of a coward he was back then that he even resorted to something like that. True enough that there were other options aside from begging his father for his approval, but he didn't dare to do any of those because his opposition would mean that his father might make Justin's life harder.

Before any of them could speak again, a loud scream was suddenly heard.

"Stop saying bad things to my daddy!" a little girl screamed as she went out of a room and ran towards Tristan. She hugged the alpha's leg as she glared at Ben, who was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of the little girl.

"You should say sorry!" Chesca yelled again.

There was a moment of silence.

No one could really speak because they were l shocked by what the little girl did.. She defended her father from an unfamiliar man who might pose a threat to her.

Suddenly, a loud burst of laughter came out from the old man's mouth, finding it amusing how a little girl like her would dare do something like that to him.

"What's your name, little one?" Ben asked as he smiled at Chesca. She was still glaring at him and before she could respond to his question, Chester went out of the room and stepped in front of Chesca as if he was trying to protect her.

"D... Don't worry. Your older brother is here. I'll p... protect Chesca and daddy," he said as his voice trembled, scared of the man who was standing before him.

Justin smiled from seeing how the twins acted when Ben said some words that were rather harsh to Tristan.

Tristan covered his face with his hands as he held his breath, his face turning bright red in the process.

The negative feeling he felt earlier was replaced with adoration for his children. He found them so cute that he wanted to hug them tightly and shower them with kisses.

"Won't you please let me talk to them?" Ben said as he looked at Tristan, asking him to let the children lower their guards and let him talk to them for a while.

The twins seemed so scared and Tristan thought it wasn't exactly a good thing to make them feel that way even if his father did him wrong.

"My babies, he's your Grandpa Benedict. Don't be scared of your grandpa," Tristan said as he placed his hand on their shoulders, finally recovering from their cuteness. The twins looked at him in synch and observed his face for a while.

They then decided to follow what their daddy said, seeing how Tristan really wanted them to get along."My name is Chesca, and he's Chester. We're twins," Chesca said as she lowered her head, finding it uncomfortable to maintain eye contact with Ben.

Even though Chester thought that it was fine for them to do that earlier, he now thought that he still doesn't like his 'grandpa'.

He hid behind Tristan and just peeked from there, still wanting to see what that his grandpa would do.

Ben noticed how Chester was looking at him and he couldn't help but chuckle upon seeing the look in the little boy's eyes.

"I guess the little ones don't want me here. I just wanted to take a look at them for a while. I'll be taking my leave now," Ben said as he smiled.

Strangely, he wasn't showing his stone-cold face. He's smiling a lot today, which Tristan found very weird.

He passed by Tristan and said in a low voice, "Let's talk for while."

Ben proceeded to walk to the door, passing Justin on his way there.

He went out while Tristan was still debating whether he should follow him out or not.

He didn't want to hear more of his father's insults, but he still wanted to know what his father wanted to tell him.

"I'll be back quickly," Tristan said as he faced Justin and smiled. "Okay," Justin smiled back at him, arriving at the conclusion that Tristan wants to talk to his father, too.

"Daddy will be back soon, hmm?" Tristan said as he placed his hand on top of the twins' heads and ruffled their hair.

He went out quickly and found his father standing at the end of the hallway, waiting for him.

He proceeded to walk towards him, and as he walked, he started thinking of what he should tell his father so he could keep his omega and his children by his side.

"You came," his father said as he looked at him with a blank face. "I thought you wouldn't," he continued.

Tristan clenched his jaw as he took a deep breath to calm himself down from feeling nervous and angry at the same time.

Who wouldn't feel angry?

His father whom he hates so much suddenly appears before his family and says those awful things to him out of nowhere.

He did not think that his father would make his move so early when he and Justin just got back together.

Back then, the only thing he could do was get on his knees and beg. But now, things are already different.

He already has a position with so much power and authority, and he knew that he can already fight back with what he has right now. He doesn't have any plans of giving up now that things have gotten back to the way they were before.

What's more, is that Justin isn't the only one he wants to protect now. He also wants and has to protect his children who are very dear to his heart.

"What did you want to talk about?" Tristan said straightforwardly, wanting to jump right into the details. "About what I said earlier," his father replied as he looked at him.

"Please drop it already. What's in the past is already in the..." Tristan was cut off from speaking when his father spoke over him.

"I haven't finished talking earlier because the little ones suddenly came. Let me finish," his father said with a dark look on his face, a bit angry that Tristan wouldn't even let him speak.

"Yeah. Fine. I'm a coward. I'm the biggest coward and disappointment in the world who can't do anything but chicken out and get on his knees," Tristan said, as he gritted his teeth.

"However," his father said in a firm voice. "... during these past few years that the two of you have gotten separated, I realized that you are a person with so much pride and that it's almost impossible for you to get on your knees and beg. I didn't know you much when you were still younger because we rarely see each other, but I'm glad that I do now," Benedict said as he looked at Tristan without any facial expression.

"You weren't a disappointment. You weren't a coward. In fact, I found it brave of you to give up something you value to keep the person you love the most. It was brave of you to lower your pride and even let someone step on it for the sake of your beloved," he continued.

"What are you trying to say?" Tristan asked as his ears perked from hearing what his father said.

That was the first time he's ever told him something like that in his entire life. His father wasn't the type of person who would compliment someone easily, but when he does, everything he says is genuine.

"What I'm saying is..." his father cleared his throat and looked away. "I'm sorry for doing something so unnecessary before. You weren't exactly the type of person who would actually fall in love with someone so deeply that I thought once you marry Justin, you'd just get tired of him and ask him for a divorce. Your mother was like that before, you see," Ben said as he looked down, trying to hide his eyes from Tristan.

However, even if Tristan couldn't see his father's eyes, he knew he was sad.

'She was the one who kept chasing me because she loved me. A while after we got married, she wanted to get divorced from me right away and I... was hurt by that. I don't want my son to do that to someone else,' Ben thought as he pursed his lips.

"I just... didn't want you to hurt a person who loves you so dearly," he continued and let out a deep breath. "I found out that you were actually different from what I expected you to be. I'm not gonna say more since this is quite an inappropriate place for a talk like this but..." Ben raised his head and looked at Tristan once again.

"I won't touch your family anymore. Do whatever makes you happy. Let me ask you this instead," Ben said as he smiled a little.

"Will you let me see my grandchildren again?" he continued.

Tristan felt like his heart was being squeezed so tightly from the happiness that he felt. Tears started forming in his eyes, feeling immense happiness now that no one is in the way of their relationship anymore and that his future life with his family is now guaranteed.

"Yeah. Sure," Tristan said as he smiled at his father. "Thank you," Ben said as he patted Tristan's shoulder.

"I'll be leaving now, then. Tell them my goodbyes for me," he said before leaving the alpha in the hallway.

Tristan still couldn't process what just happened, but he knew that the heavy feeling on his chest that he has been carrying for so long was finally lifted.