63. Omniscient
Chapter sixty-three
Omniscient
A Few Weeks Later
D elilah looked around the room as Killian guided her, Ivory, and Zachary into the ballroom. It was a special dinner that she didn’t care to ask about, and she’d only attended to keep her mother home and stress-free.
After all, the first words coming from Killian after their fight and Brielle’s pregnancy scare were nothing but a command to attend the event. Her brother was still angry at her decision to continue being with Archer, and her father even more so. Despite that, she did her best to ignore the silent treatment, although it was slightly killing her.
Speaking of the devil, she locked eyes with Archer sitting at his father’s table, looking uninterested in anything but her. She rolled her eyes, taking notice of his pocket square that was the same emerald green as her dress. It could’ve been a coincidence, but he helped her pick out the satin dress himself, so it definitely wasn’t.
“Blaine and Shin should be around here somewhere,” Killian muttered as they arrived at their table.
Delilah remained silent and kept her eyes trained on her shoes as he spoke again.
“Zachary and I are going to greet some of my business partners,” he stated, already noticing a few wanting to speak to him. He excused himself, his eyes lingering on Delilah as he left with his son.
“I wish Mom were here,” Ivory muttered.
Delilah sighed. “Only she would know how to keep us together even in the middle of an ongoing war,” she mumbled, and Ivory simply nodded.
Noticing Jin by his father, Delilah shooed Ivory away as she tried not to make it obvious she wanted to go over to him. She took a seat at the table and jumped when the seat beside her was pulled abruptly.
“How could they leave you here all by yourself?” Kimiko snarled as she crossed her arms.
Delilah gave a sad smile as Sterling took a seat beside Kimiko as well.
“It’s okay, Kimi, really. I was even thinking about getting some fresh air in a bit. I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do,” Sterling chimed in, and Kimiko rolled her eyes. “This place is fucking dry, the food won’t be served for another hour, and my father-in-law keeps yapping about how he’s beaten me in not only mahjong but chess too, dammit!” he snapped.
Kimi simply rubbed her eyebrows in frustration as Delilah held in a laugh. Kimiko turned to him, exhausted, as Delilah locked eyes with Archer again. He was keeping a very safe distance, which was expected, my father being only a few feet away, but I felt sad for a moment; sad that this would probably be my fate forever, torn between my father and soon-to-be husband, as Archer stated.
She knew she was exaggerating just a bit, but it was beginning to feel a bit suffocating.
She stood up slowly and excused herself from the bickering couple as she walked to the back of the building, which held a garden and fountain. She gazed down into the fountain at the water and sighed at her reflection. She felt as if the night couldn’t get any worse.
“My, my, doll… things just seem to be falling into place relatively smoothly for me, aren’t they,” Luca muttered, approaching her as he appeared in the reflection as well.
Delilah sighed. She wanted to fight back and stand up for herself, but more than ever, she wanted to experience what she’d been feeling: she just wanted to be alone .
She wordlessly turned away from him as she sat silently on the platform ledge. Her thoughts filled her mind with endless what-ifs or unfavorable scenarios between her father and Archer.
Luca stepped over to continue speaking, but stopped once he saw something in her eyes... unshed tears. They sparkled in the moonlight, and she looked as beautiful as ever, but he couldn’t tell her that. No… she was with Archer, and as much as Luca wanted to see her happy, he wanted to see her cry. He leaned down to face her eye to eye, and she looked down, wanting to be as far away from him as possible.
“Just go away,” she muttered, and he gave a small chuckle.
“Gladly. I just wanted to get a bit of joy out of my long-awaited accomplishment in tearing your family apart.”
She continued to ignore him as she listened to his footsteps fade away. She laid her head on her arm, and soon, she heard another set of footsteps.
He stood behind her for a moment, and she already knew who it was.
“Princess…” he muttered, and she shook her head, silencing him.
“Can you just hold me, please?” she whispered.
Archer took a seat beside her and embraced her in his arms without question. She let out a sigh she’d been holding in and felt at peace.
“I love you,” he whispered in her ear, placing a warm kiss on her head, and she smiled internally as she hugged him tighter.
“I love you too.”
Meanwhile, Killian stood by the bar, taking a sip of his drink as he watched his little girl outside with the boy he wanted to strangle. He did manage to hold himself back as he knew she was upset with both him and their current situation.
He knew ignoring her wasn’t making it better, but that was all he could do at the moment without lashing out again. After all, she was still his little girl, but she was growing up. And by the way Archer took care of her, he knew they both cared for one another deeply—maybe even loved one another.
He debated whether he could really step back and let Delilah be loved by another man—or rather boy —but that’s a discussion for another day.
His eyes lingered on the two of them for a moment, still contemplating whether or not he should intervene before he looked away with his answer. He’d let them be for the time being. He would need to grow to accept it soon, which would be much easier said than done, but he would do it. Only if it meant his little girl would be happy with him once again.
He walked away to approach Blaine and Shin when something stopped him in his path. He looked over at the hand on his shoulder of the man who’d stopped him. Eugene? What was he doing here?
Eugene didn’t say anything for a moment, but as if he knew what Killian was thinking about and what he would agree to soon, he whispered, “Fifteen years.”
Killian watched as he exited the building, almost as if he’d only come to tell Killian those two words… Or rather warn me… of what? Killian thought to himself.
Fifteen years? What could have possibly taken fifteen years? Thinking back for a moment, Killian’s eyes widened slightly as he reminisced back to his wedding day with Brielle when she told him something rather interesting.
“I don’t know how comfortable I am with Archer being so close to Delilah. The boy clearly knows a little too much and treats her like she belongs to him.”
Ever since they were younger, Killian did notice Archer’s closeness to Delilah, but he’d never let it get too far; at least, he didn’t think it would go too far.
As if noticing someone was looking at him, Killian looked up slowly to see Calvin laughing with a few of his associates, but his eyes had lingered on Killian for a moment. Maybe it was the several glasses of chardonnay and the shot of whiskey… but Killian noticed a glint in the man’s eye.
Fifteen years… Fifteen years.
“Something’s going to happen, Killy… I don’t know when. I don’t know how… But Calvin is playing a game of chess with all of us, and in his game, he wins.”
As it finally dawned on him, Killian glared at the man and whipped his head around to find his daughter now walking in from the garden. The daughter he’d been raising to inherit part of his business was in love with Archer, the boy who’d inherit his father’s business— and this was no coincidence.
Killian walked over to his daughter, and she looked up at him, doing her best to mask the crying she’d done in Archer’s arms just a few moments ago. Nonetheless, Killian spoke in a tone that she didn’t want to hear, but at the moment, he couldn’t care. He would later, but now he was livid.
“Get the boy and your siblings and bring them into the room in the back. Tell him to bring his father too,” he growled.
Delilah simply nodded, doing her best not to anger her father even more.
Killian’s heart constricted slightly, but he had to get to the bottom of the bomb Eugene had just dropped on him.
“Let’s go,” Killian said, grabbing Blaine by the arm, who in return whined while Shin followed in slight confusion. Soon, they’d reached the office room in the back, and Killian did his best to ignore Andrew and his son.
Calvin sighed heavily. “Do tell, Killian: why have you dragged us all into this room?” he asked, and Killian crossed his arms as he gazed around the room briefly.
“Calvin, I have my reasons for not wanting Delilah to be with your son; however, I forgot to honestly evaluate the pros and cons of whether or not it would be acceptable to let her be with him. I don’t find it surprising how you are somehow the middleman in this relationship,” he muttered.
The room was silent.
Killian then looked over to Delilah. “You see… I am giving Delilah a choice to be with someone she loves. Sure, I may be fucking livid, but it’s her choice.” He spoke sincerely, and for the first time in the last few weeks, Delilah looked happy, and he was sad to see it was going to change.
“But Archer... doesn’t seem to have a choice in this relationship, does he?” he asked, looking over to Archer, who only remained silent.
Shin tilted his head. “What do you mean he doesn’t have a choice?” he asked.
Calvin smiled. “Yes, please, Killian… elaborate for those in the room who may not be catching on. Porter, I’m looking at you. Keep up,” he muttered.
Blaine looked over at him furiously. “I am keeping up!”
“Enough! Delilah… Archer was practically groomed to fall in love with you, and he is basically being forced to marry you. It began when you both were younger, and Calvin’s plan has been to find a way to enter into the business... through any means necessary,” he said in one breath.
Delilah was taken aback. She gazed over at Archer, who was going through his own epiphany, but his eyes held the truth as Delilah walked over to him slowly.
“Is it true?” she asked him sadly.
Archer shook his head. “Delilah, I love you with everything in me. You know that. I have never stopped loving you from the moment we met,” he said sincerely.
Delilah nodded as she rubbed the back of his hand. “I know, but is it true? Did you know you had to marry me?” she asked him.
He remained silent for a moment before letting out a breathless response.
“Yes,” was all he said, causing Delilah to nod. She slowly pulled away from him and made her way out of the room, with Kimiko following behind her.
Luca smiled, standing by Archer. “Well, this evening has just gone wonderfully, wouldn’t you agree?” he asked.
Archer ignored him as he walked out of the room as well.
Killian looked over to Calvin. “It’s over, Calvin,” he muttered.
Calvin laughed. “On the contrary, Killian. It has just begun... Technically , I can’t lose, because you know what they say: in the end, love always prevails.”