18. Ivy #3
Like a thousand armor piercing arrows have just been shot straight to my heart, I plop in the chair, bleeding and left for dead.
“Why are you telling me this?” I whisper brokenly.
Grandpa Armando shakes his head with pity and then he produces a weathered, old but crispy-edged letter and places it on the table between us before he gestures for me to take it.
I stare at the letter, not daring to touch it, because I immediately recognize the handwriting on top.
My heart starts pounding like a galloping racehorse at a high-stakes derby.
“Go on, Ivy,” the old man encourages, this time his voice sounding almost like a caring grandfather, coaxing me to take my first step. Into what, though? Oblivion? Hell? I don’t know.
I glare at him. “What game are you playing at?” I demand.
I expect him to be offended but instead, he chuckles. “I have to admit, I am playing a game. I just have a deep dislike for people who pretend in front of me.”
I laugh, humorless and irked.
He knows.
“Upending someone’s entire life is a game to you, huh?”
He’s silent for a while, watching me lose it in front of him.
“Would you believe me if I said I’ve put everything on the line and hope it goes well for everyone involved with the minimum amount of casualties?”
“No,” I state immediately. “I wouldn’t believe you. I have never believed you!”
“Good. Don’t believe anyone,” he replies. “It’s a lesson you should’ve learned by now, no?”
My hands are trembling in my lap and I’m a second away from screaming with frustration.
“What do you want from me?” I ask, choosing to be blunt.
“I already told you. To celebrate your birthday, marriage, and for you to tell me my grandson’s secret.”
Shocked, I stare at him, the letter on the table practically burning a hole into the glass.
He’s planning on having me marry today…
Emmett is nowhere to be seen and from what I gleaned earlier, something must’ve happened to him.
Even Ty doesn’t know where Emmett is… which only leaves Vaughn.
“You just said Senator Hughes is not my real father, so why am I getting married today?”
“Because that was the deal,” he answers sincerely. “I don’t care about that imbecile politician. I just wanted you.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re old friends, you and I.” He smiles briefly. “Besides, I’ve noticed how peculiar and special you are. In fact, I think you’re the deciding factor, as evidenced by the pressure and movement that has been happening around here these past few weeks. It’s really amusing!
“Oh, and I promised to look after you, and what better way of doing so than making you an Easton?”
I feel sick to my stomach.
“But don’t get it mixed up, young one. You will be getting married today, regardless of whether you tell me my grandson’s secret or not. We’ll have plenty of opportunities later. I’m just hoping you and I make this easier for each other.”
I’m seated, but my body feels like a stone that weighs a thousand tons, with weak knees and sweaty palms.
It takes everything in me not to react, so I school my facial features into impassivity, just like when Emmett when he doesn’t care about a thing.
This old man wants to know his grandson’s secret.
“Since you know everything about my life, why ask me about your own grandson?” I seethe, beyond the acts of civility with this man as my chest aches so much, I might pass out. “And, to be clear, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes,” I croak. “Isn’t Vaughn your preferred lackey? You likely know him inside out. Besides, he and I just met. We’re not that close to know each other’s secrets.”
The old man tilts his head to the left, calmly studying me, not at all bothered as much as I am. “And yet you were about to choose him earlier.”
I almost cough a lung out.
Gone is the man who was just recounting fond memories of his wife. In his place is the real head of the prestigious and powerful Easton Family.
“And you want to make him heir instead of the rightful one,” I fire back.
Grandpa Armando chuckles. “Is this how you’ve misled yourself into believing fairy tales? By acting like you’re unaware of what’s really going on?”
I gasp.
“Vaughn is nothing like the grandson I’m actually talking about.”
“Then who are you talking about?” I ask, acting nonchalant and blasé.
“I’m talking about the one that has never ever asked for my permission to do anything, including wiping out every rogue act of aggression and violence targeted at someone for these past several years.”
A sharp pain shoots in my chest.
“He does whatever he wants with the power, resources, and influence this family has amassed in generations of growth, dominion, and success with no regard for protocol. Granted, his brilliance is extremely rare. He has managed to triple branches that have been deemed unprofitable by experts. But why when I send for him, does he refuse to leave that damned town of Westbrook Blues as long as someone is there?”
The old man stares at me with a withering, fierce glare.
“This same grandson has a level of ruthlessness that even I struggle to get a hold of. He’s focused. Never wavers from his goals, no matter what you throw at him. His disrespect for elders in his own family has given me grief, and I have just about had it.”
Fear, unbridled and in waves, hits me square in the chest.
“Vaughn told me that Emmett lost all his power,” I accuse. “You did that, didn’t you?”
The old man doesn’t even bat an eye when he admits to it.
“Not only did I demote him severely, I sent him away knowing damn well he likely won’t make it back.”
I clench the sides of my dress as tightly as I can, I think my nails might poke through the fabric.
“You see, Ivy Marie,” The old man leans back.
“My grandson is nothing like these simple idiots running around here, flexing the power afforded to them only by the name I gave them! Alessio is different. Strip away his last name, he’s still much more formidable and powerful than anyone that has been in my position for generations. But you know what irks me the most?”
I shake my head, to which he smiles tightly before his face transforms into one of absolute rage.
“That little shit doesn’t care!” he snaps.
I almost jump in my seat, but I hold on tight, Scar’s words from before echoing in my ear.
“That brilliant grandson of mine doesn’t care one bit for this family!” he seethes. “In today’s world, he has more power, wealth, and influence than his own mother! There’s nothing he can’t do. His intellect alone is enough to topple over our one enemy, but at look what he did, that little weasel…”
I’m pretty sure he’s talking about Astraea and George’s family, but I dare not disturb his rant.
“No matter how much I have punished him, tried to whittle away his indifference, make him feel something… he remains completely detached from me. Always stoic, obscure, rebellious, and disrespectful!” He bangs his fist on the armchair.
“What kind of grandson ignores his own grandfather, leaving me to fend for myself as if he dumped me in some disgusting, funky-smelling decrepit people’s home? ”
For the first time since we started talking, I can tell this is Grandpa Armando’s vulnerable, sore spot.
“That’s your issue? Emmett’s coldness toward you?” I scoff, shaking my head. “Do you blame him?”
“Yes,” he says simply and truthfully. “Because I know for a fact that you have kept our encounter secret from everyone, including my dear grandson.”
“Seeing as this is the first time we’re having a discussion—albeit, absurd and candid, it’s still my first time meeting you, sir.”
“Really? This is the game you want to keep playing?” he mocks.
“It’s been days since I took your brother and had him roughened up to unconsciousness, and yet you, who has the power to free him, sits idly there, lying to my face?
You’re really something, Ivy Marie. I don’t know whether to be disappointed or impressed. ”
“You have my brother?” I gasp, blood rushing in my veins.
“Yes, and because of that one move, I’ve found out just how out of my control Alessio is. He has forces that work for him that even I don’t know about and they’re out there, searching the earth for Samuel Jr., and yet I have him.”
Oh my God.
The hellish morning when Samuel called me… I believed Emmett had my brother taken, only to learn now…
“Release my brother!” I demand, rising to my feet in a rush. I feel faint for a second. “Give him back!”
“I want to, of course, but, well…”
He wants to know Emmett’s secret.
With as much confidence as I can—or stupidity, depends on what will happen next—I hold the old man’s stare and slowly take my seat again, pretending to be poised and collected.
“The value of the secret you want to know and what you’re offering are nowhere near enough,” I state, voice level and cold.
The old man stares at me in disbelief for a second before his facial features school into sick enjoyment.
“You’re indeed Marie’s granddaughter,” he praises. “Fine. Let’s haggle. What do you want?”
I take a deep breath, fully aware that I’m about to toss my life away with my next move.
“Tell me who killed my grandfather.”
Almost immediately, the smile on Grandpa Armando’s face is wiped clear just as Ripley enters the room once more and whispers something in the old man’s ear.
“He says it’s urgent,” Ripley answers. “Apparently, he wants a word concerning the young miss.”
The frost on Emmett’s grandfather’s eyes makes my own blood run cold.
The entire time we’ve been talking, he hasn’t looked like that.
“Tell him I’ll see him when I’m done here,” the old man orders in a voice so deadly, I almost jump out of my skin.
Ripley bows and leaves the room. When he opens the door, I hear a faint commotion, before I hear a now familiar voice.
“Father, that girl is an imposter!” Giovanni shouts “She’s a liar! Don’t believe h?—”
His rant is cut off by a door being closed shut.
No other sounds can be heard anymore, but I’m bewildered.