Chapter 14 #3
“I won’t,” I promised. “So…”
He put his arms on his knees and leaned forward, his head low as he began.
“Our families have been business rivals for years. It started back when both our grandfathers set up their pharmaceutical companies. The LaFleurs have always taken issue with us. They would poach our employees or sabotage our research. If they knew my grandfather intended to buy a warehouse, they would buy it before him, or if they knew my grandfather was making a deal with a third party, they’d swoop in and steal the contract.
It was constant and petty. They did anything they could to make his life difficult.
For years, they buried my grandfather in litigation just to be a pain. ”
I shook my head, trying to understand. “Why would they do all of that?”
“They’re just not good people.” He glanced down at his hands, like he couldn’t stand to look me in the eyes. “Our grandfathers were once colleagues, but William said your grandfather was always jealous of his success and that’s why he targeted us.”
My brow scrunched in response. I didn’t know how to react to what he’d just said. I’d never met my grandfather, so I could hardly defend him. But Noah still hadn’t explained why he thought Matthew was such a villain.
“But you said this was both our grandfathers, right?” I asked. “So, why are you so angry with Matthew?”
“Matthew is just like your grandfather, if not worse,” Noah said. There was little emotion in his voice, and I got the feeling he was trying his best to sound calm, so as not to upset me.
“What did Matthew do?”
“A couple of years ago, the patent ended on the main drug my family’s company makes.
Matthew immediately started manufacturing a generic version of it and practically gave it away.
Our sales tanked, and Hastings Laboratories has barely been able to stay afloat since.
He knew exactly what he was doing and how it would impact us. ”
“Oh,” I murmured. I’d only just met Matthew, and I didn’t know him all that well, but I was surprised he would be so malicious.
“My family’s company is in pieces, and my grandfather has sunk his entire personal fortune into trying to buoy it back to life,” Noah continued. “No one knows just how much trouble we’re in…”
“That’s terrible.”
He nodded, but he was still struggling to look at me.
Talking about this had to be hard for him, especially if his grandfather’s company was struggling as much as it was.
I still wasn’t sure I understood why my family hated his so much.
Why had my father deliberately tried to sabotage them?
And had my grandfather really started years of fighting simply because he was jealous?
I wouldn’t put it past him considering he’d hidden my existence from my father. Still, it seemed remarkably petty.
As I considered Noah’s explanation, I felt like I was missing something.
If my grandfather had acted out of jealousy, then why did my father hate his family?
And why had William and Matthew reacted so strongly when they found out we were in a relationship?
I felt like there had to be more to the feud than the business rivalry Noah had described.
“So, is that it then?” I asked.
A flash of emotion crossed Noah’s eyes, and I knew he hadn’t told me the whole story.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He shook his head. “I think I’ve said enough for one night.”
I sat up in bed. “You can’t just give me half the story.”
“The rest is... It’s personal,” Noah muttered. “It goes beyond just business.”
He stood and started pacing around the room. There was a deep frown line furrowing his brow, and it was clear he was really struggling with what to say. Whatever was next in the story seemed even harder for him to talk about, so I waited silently to see if he would explain.
“Okay.” He held up his hands in defeat. “I’ve told you this much, I might as well tell you the rest.” He finally stopped pacing and sank back onto the bed across from me.
“I don’t really know how to tell you this. But my father was having an affair with Matthew’s sister, Georgina.”
My eyes went wide, and I stared at him for several long seconds as I tried to compute what he’d just said. I definitely hadn’t been expecting him to say that and didn’t know how to respond.
“My aunt?” I whispered the words almost to myself.
Noah nodded at the shock he saw in my gaze. “I still don’t believe it myself some days. It was so unlike my dad, and with everything that’s happened between our families... Well, at the time it was unthinkable to imagine a LaFleur and a Hastings getting mixed up like that.”
“Are you sure then?” I asked. “That they were having an affair?”
“I’m sure.” His eyes were fixed on the ground.
“They were together in one of our labs one night.” His voice had gone so quiet I could barely hear him as he breathed the words, and my heart ached for him as he spoke.
“There was a fire. Some faulty wiring. With all the chemicals in there, the place went up in seconds. Neither of them survived.”
My body went cold. All I wanted was to go to him and hold him. I could see how much he was struggling to recount the story, and I felt awful for pushing him to explain. It was no wonder Noah had been avoiding telling me what happened.
“God, Noah, I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head. “It’s hardly your fault,” he said. “It was an accident. But I think a part of me will always wish that my father had never gotten caught up with a LaFleur. That maybe he wouldn’t have been at the lab so late that night. That maybe he’d still be alive...”
I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like for Noah to bear that weight on his shoulders. It made sense he couldn’t stand my father’s family. That his grandfather wanted him away from me and Matthew.
We both sat in silence, the enormity of his confession hanging over us.
Matthew had said my aunt died before her time, but I’d had no idea of the circumstances surrounding it.
It was tragic and heartbreaking for both Noah and my father.
Perhaps this was why Matthew hated the Hastings so much too?
Why he had warned me away from Noah in the first place.
“You can’t tell anyone what I’ve told you tonight,” Noah said, finally looking my way. “About my father and your aunt, about the financial trouble our company is in. No one knows any of it. Not even Cress.”
“They really don’t know?” Things had to be pretty bad if Noah hadn’t even told his cousin his family was in financial trouble.
And I had to wonder how no one knew about his dad and my aunt.
Affairs were secretive in nature, but once it had been discovered, I imagined it would have been hard to keep quiet.
“If people knew about the state of the company, it could ruin us completely,” he said. “And the affair? My grandfather managed to keep it secret to protect my father’s legacy. I don’t want him to be remembered for that.”
“No, of course,” I said. “I won’t tell anyone. Not even Cress.”
He released a breath and relaxed a little. “I know it’s a lot to ask, given everything, but my grandfather would freak if anyone found out.”
“I won’t say a word,” I reassured him.
“Thank you.”
We sat there staring silently at one another as I allowed everything he’d told me to sink in. There was a lot to digest, but it meant so much to me that Noah had trusted me enough to share the truth.
“Thank you for telling me,” I finally said. “I’m surprised you can even stand to be in the same room as me after all that’s happened.”
“You’re not the problem,” Noah said. “You never were. I’d look past all that in a heartbeat for you, but...”
“Your grandfather,” I murmured.
“My grandfather.” He nodded. “He didn’t give me any choice. If I stayed with you, he’d see it as the worst betrayal, and…” His voice trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say.
“You can’t lose him too, I get it.” Neither of Noah’s parents were around anymore, and his grandfather was all he had. If being with Noah meant losing my mom, I would have made the same choice too. “It doesn’t make it any easier though.”
“No.” He shared a sad smile with me. “How do you feel? Now that you know.”
“It’s a lot to take in,” I said. “I can’t believe our families have been through so much. I know we can’t change the past, but I just wish there was a way we could mend the pain and hurt we’ve caused each other.”
Noah’s brow furrowed as he looked at me. “That’s impossible.”
“But what about your dad and my aunt? If they were together, it means they put the rivalry and the fighting and the history aside. How did that happen if it’s impossible? How did we happen?”
Noah’s frown deepened, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He probably thought I was silly for wishing our families could change. They had hated each other since before either of us were born, and hostility like that wasn’t easily forgotten.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced at it to see a text from Cress asking how I was. The play was over, and she wanted to know if I needed her to pick anything up on their way back to the hotel.
I sent her a quick text back saying I was fine and didn’t need anything before I lifted my eyes to Noah.
“Everyone’s coming back now,” I said. “You should probably leave. If a teacher catches you in here, we’ll both get in trouble.”
“I’m not leaving you when you’re sick.”
“I’m okay,” I quickly replied. “I’m feeling much better. I just need to try and get some sleep.”
He nodded and started to stand. “If you’re sure…”
“I am. Thanks for looking after me.”
“It was no problem.”
“And thanks for talking to me. I know it can’t have been easy.
” Having everything out in the open felt cathartic.
But it also felt like the end of something.
Now I knew the truth about why he had to break up with me, what more was there left for us to say?
Any slim hope I’d retained that maybe this was all some big misunderstanding had been thoroughly crushed.
He came to the bed and lightly brushed a hand over my hair. The gesture was gentle and surprisingly intimate. He seemed to realize that at the same time as me because he quickly stole his hand away. “Text me if you need me, and I’ll be here.”
“I know.”
He smiled down at me, and it struck something deep in my soul. Noah and I might not be together, but I felt like he would always be there for me despite that.
“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard,” he whispered before he turned and walked from the room.
It was only once the door closed behind him that I realized he’d quoted me Winnie-the-Pooh.