Chapter 24 #3
“My dad trusted you, and you used that to drain everything he had spent his life building. Every cent. Everything. You turned it to dust while giving me your scraps to survive. Just when I thought I’d be free of you, you blackmailed me once more.”
“Not here,” Everett interrupts me, grabbing Adrianna by the arm and storming across the floor.
I understand that he doesn’t want to do this in public, but if he thinks I’m done, he is sorely mistaken.
Dean, Asher, and I follow hastily behind them, security at our backs. We reach Everett’s office, not stopping until we’re all sealed inside.
“Look, I understand—” Everett tries to speak, but I cut him off.
“You don’t. But you will. Because the woman at your side is a fraud.
Isn’t that right, Stepmother?” That's all I give him before turning back to Adrianna, repeating her own words back to her. “Cirella, do what I say, or I’ll destroy what’s left of your parents’ possessions.
And you did, breaking my mom’s glass and crystal collectibles and burning photos every time you claimed I’d acted out.
” I laugh humorlessly. “But your plan failed because I’m done.
Take the house. Take whatever money remains. I don’t need it. I’m done.”
Tears pool in her eyes, and I have no ounce of sympathy for the monster standing before me. She’s unredeemable, but I think the man standing beside her, carefully watching me with wet eyes, may be saved after all.
I turn to Everett, continuing my rampage, unabashedly and proud.
Someone has to put this man in his place.
“And you? You have spent the last few months driving a wedge so far between yourself and your incredible sons that your relationship may never be the same. You don’t want to accept that Elizabeth is truly gone.
I get it. You want to move on, focus on new things, and pretend it’s all fine.
But that’s not how it works, Mr. Kensington. ”
The dam breaks, tears trickling down his cheeks, and I feel like his true self is surfacing for the first time since I’ve known him. I’m not going to quit now, not when he’s finally cracking.
“You can’t wish the pain away or pretend it doesn’t exist. But grief isn’t an emotion at all.
It’s a force of nature. It’s a storm you have to weather, no matter if you want to or not.
But the damage wrought during the havoc of evading it is only making it worse for you and everyone around you, especially Dean and Asher.
You might have lost your wife, but they lost their mother, and honestly, with the way you’ve been acting, I’m sure they feel like they lost their father that day too.
“I’m sorry to make it worse by telling you the truth about Adrianna, but I refuse to let her do to your family what she did to mine,” I declare to both of them, flicking my gaze at her long enough to see her fuming, smoke coming out of her ears.
Everett’s eyes close, tears streaming down his face. No one moves or dares to breathe as his walls break, tumbling down.
A sob tears not only through him, but through the deafening silence in the room. His hand covers his face as he lets it out, probably for the first time in a long while.
I feel bad for doing this at the party, but he did it to himself. Dean and Asher had tried talking to him, and before they could ever really get a word in, Everett ended the conversation.
He drags his hand down his face, opens his reddened eyes, and quickly finds mine. “A-are you really … Patrick’s kid?” His voice cracks on my dad’s name, his face contorting with anguish.
In this moment, he’s not only grieving his wife, but one of his good friends.
My chest tightens, my heart rising into my throat. “Yeah, I am.”
He studies my face, searching for glimpses of my dad, and if he looks closely enough, he’ll find his eyes in mine and the same Cupid’s bow on my lips.
Biting the inside of his cheek, he nods in acceptance and then does something I never expected. Reaching forward, he pulls me into his arms, wrapping me up with his hand cradling the back of my head.
For a moment, my body is stiff, and I’m unsure of what to do, but as his arms tighten around me like my dad’s always did, I fucking melt.
I throw my arms around him, and he rests his chin on my head, lightly rubbing my back as tears streak down my face, bleeding into his suit.
He holds me for a moment, clinging to me like I’m the only thing holding him together, and for a second, he’s the same for me.
Planting a sweet kiss on the top of my head, he slowly pulls back and sobs, “I’m so glad to meet you, Cirella. It’s an honor.”
Dean’s hand snakes around my waist, and I step back, letting him guide me between him and Asher as they hold me protectively. Dean has his face buried in his phone, reading something rapidly, and I’m dying to know what it could possibly be.
But I look back at Everett and grin. “It’s nice to meet you too,” I tell him, and a smile breaks across his lips.
“Why are you smiling?” Asher asks hesitantly.
Everett’s smile shifts to a frown before returning, lighting up his eyes. “You just reminded me a little bit of Elizabeth.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologize, not wanting to have made this any worse for him. “If I overstepped.”
Everett waves at the security behind us, gesturing them over.
He shakes his head, and his eyes are haunted, but with happiness, not sorrow. “Not at all. I think she may have sent you to put me in my place.”
Adrianna steps back nervously, probably hoping to somehow make an escape.
But Everett turns to her, addressing the monster for the first time. His voice is deep, booming, and intimidating, a stark contrast from the way he was just speaking to me. “You are going nowhere.”
“Everett, please,” she begs, her hands together.
“How dare you treat Patrick’s daughter with such disrespect?! You are lucky I didn’t find out about it sooner.”
Security strolls over, and with a nod from Everett, they are at her side, grabbing her arms and keeping her in place.
Everett sneers, looking at her with pure disgust, “I knew Patrick very well. We still had our secrets, but he was one of my truest friends.” His voice lowers, scarily deep. “And I know damn well he didn’t leave everything to you, now did he?”
“Yes. Yes, he did,” she stutters. “He left it all to me to take care of Cirella with.”
Hearing her admit to the truth that she’s my stepmother relaxes something in my shoulders. She’s not denying her lies.
Everett clicks his tongue. “I find that very hard to believe. And I intend to prove that you’re lying. Are you prepared for that battle, Adrianna? Because you are heavily outnumbered.”
Her lips open and close over and over, as if she’s going to say something, and if she’s being honest, why wouldn’t she just speak the truth and tell them about the will?
But each time she starts to speak and fails, my own reality tears apart.
She couldn’t have lied about the will … the lawyer read it and presented it to us … you can’t fake that, right? Those documents are legally binding.
Oh God, was I naive to believe it all?
Dean leans down, turning my head and whispering into my ear, “Trust us, okay? I only just found out minutes ago.”
He brushes my side, offering comfort, and I nod, letting him do whatever he needs.
Dean pulls me tighter into his side. “We know the truth, Adrianna.”
What? My neck nearly breaks when I look up at him.
Asher intertwines his fingers with mine, stepping closer to me, and I can’t help but to wonder if they’re trying to hold me up or hold me back.
Dean continues, and my world starts to spin with each admission, “Tyler Quinn, the one you and Cirella dealt with, is a lawyer—that is true. One you bribed to lie and falsify legal documents in order to take everything from Cirella, who Patrick Chamberlain had left every single dime, possession, and asset to. Tyler just confessed.” Dean is fuming by the time he finishes accosting Adrianna.
Deep inside, I feel the same way. But more than anything, I feel … somehow whole. My dad didn’t leave everything to a stranger. He left it to … me.
Anger. Grief. Sadness. Disappointment. It all courses through me, fighting for the spot in the forefront of my mind. But I’m stuck, riding through the roller coaster as I wait for Adrianna to say anything. To deny it. To admit it.
She slams her eyes shut. “Look …”
One word.
One word is all I need to know the truth. To know that on top of abusing me, berating me, and tearing me down all of these years, she also stole everything from me.
She is more of a fraud, of a monster, of an abuser than I ever thought possible.
“How could you?” I scoff, anger winning the war.
Asher’s and Dean’s hold tightens around me as I pull forward.
“How could you?”
“Detain her. I’ll call the captain of the Evermore Police Department,” Everett orders, and security starts dragging Adrianna out of the office.
“Everett, wait. No! We can talk about this!” she pleads, and he ignores her, not even looking in her direction. “Babe, please! I love you!”
Another lie. She doesn’t love anyone but herself.
Everett walks around his desk, planting his fists on the surface to hold himself up. His shoulders rise and fall, quickening with each breath.
“Hey,” Asher tries to talk, but Everett lifts his hand, stopping him without a glance.
“I can’t believe …” He trails off, and I can practically feel the emotion building inside of him. Like a ticking time bomb.
I don’t know if he’s talking to himself or us.
“How could I have been so stupid? So reckless?”
“Dad, it’s okay,” Dean assures, trying to comfort him, but Everett shakes his head, a sob tearing through him.
“Back up.” Two words—the only warning we have before Everett Kensington fully snaps.
Grabbing a golden statue from his desk, he cries out, and in one fell swoop, he turns and smashes it through the massive stained-glass window.
Dean and Asher immediately turn in toward me, shielding me with their bodies as the window shatters into a million pieces, flying in every direction with a deafening blast.
“Oh my God!” I shout into Asher’s chest, struggling to believe what really happened.
As the clinking sounds of fractured glass colliding slowly fades, we separate from each other, all looking toward Everett, who thankfully protected his head and face from the raining shards.
His hands are shaking at his sides as he turns to face us, his bottom lip quivering. A broken man stands before us, finally facing the feelings he’s been hiding from for so long.
“I’m so, so sorry,” he whimpers, and my heart breaks.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I assure him, wanting to reach out and hug him.
But this isn’t my moment with him. It’s theirs.
Looking up at them, I find Dean’s and Asher’s faces slowly falling apart, fracturing and revealing the little boys who just want their father’s love.
Dean looks down at me, his brows twitching as he cups my face. He plants a kiss on my forehead and murmurs, “Can you give us just a small moment?”
Grabbing his wrists, I nod. “Of course. Take all the time you need, please. I’ll be in your room.”
Nodding, he nervously bites down on his bottom lip. “I love you.”
I think I’ve known it for a little while, but hearing the words leave his lips feels like so much more.
“I love you too.” I smile, kissing him before he pulls away.
I turn to Asher, and he nods, and I know without a word that he feels the same way about me. We can say it later or never. It won’t change a thing between us. I’m theirs undoubtedly, and they’re mine.
Stepping back, I stride toward the door security shut, twisting the knob and pulling it open. I take one last glance behind me, and my heart explodes.
Dean and Asher are wrapped around their father in a messy, chaotic hug, all three of them crying and healing together.
Quietly, I close the door behind me, giving them as much time and space as they need to become a family again. Feeling lighter than I ever have, I slowly make my way through the house, back toward the grand foyer, the size of a massive ballroom, which is now empty of any and all guests.
If I had to guess, I imagine the assistants or security or some other staff member of the family ended the party.
“Ciri!” Jules shouts from the top of the staircase, Gus in her pouch and Myra at her side. She hastily hands Gus to Myra and takes off down the steps.
My legs are moving, racing toward the stairs and up them as a gasp tears through me. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to see her. But I feel it deeply as the distance between us fades away.
“Thank goodness!” Jules cries out as we slam into one another.
We’re an emotional, crying mess.
I guess the Kensingtons aren’t the only family coming together and healing tonight. My new one is too. Myra joins us, carefully wrapping both of us up in her arms, and Gus immediately finds his place on my shoulder, the fabric of his mint green sweater brushing my neck.
I don’t really know how long we stay there, embracing one another. Telling each other how proud we are and how much we love each other, happy the Adrianna chaos is now over.
But I know when Gus and I go our separate ways, heading upstairs to wait for Dean and Asher, I’ve never felt more loved or sure that right where I am is exactly where I was always meant to be.
Changing from my gown into an oversize shirt I find in Dean’s clothes, I slide into bed with Gus beside me.
“We did it, buddy.” I kiss his little nose, and he nestles into my neck on the pillow.
The biggest sigh I’ve ever had leaves me, and I close my eyes, relief like I’ve never experienced lifting thousands of pounds off of my shoulders, knowing we’re going to be okay.