Chapter 28 Eternal Dilemma
Eternal Dilemma
“I recently began the process of transferring Gryphon Tech to my son, Harvey. As of tomorrow, it will be official.”
The room is awash with gasps and murmurs.
Even my mouth falls open; how is this legal?
Marlowe looks like she’s been hit by a truck.
I didn’t know it was possible for her rich skin to pale so much, but her face is ashen under the bright lighting.
Vee looks confused, eyes drilling holes into the floor as he tries to figure out what this means.
Amused, Gryphon pats the air, gesturing for silence.
“By the terms of the trust I set up, he won’t manage the company for a long time to come, so don’t worry. I have years to mentor Harvey, and he’ll get to know every inch of the family business. How does that sound, huh?” Gryphon winks at Vee.
Vee manages a smile. His gaze darts towards Marlowe, but she only has eyes for Gryphon. If looks could kill...
Everyone’s busy discussing the news, but I see how Gryphon’s hand tightens on her waist—how, when he dips his head to whisper in her ear, she forces her body to relax and her expression to soften.
More threats, perhaps. My hands curl into fists by my side, and I have to take several deep breaths before I can unfurl them.
With everyone around me loose lipped and sloppy, I stand out otherwise.
The happy couple turn back to the crowd and, whilst Gryphon’s beaming, Marlowe looks blank. Vee clearly wants to be anywhere but here.
“Tonight’s a celebration,” Gryphon says, releasing Marlowe to snag two flutes of champagne. He hands one to her and one to Vee. Marlowe opens her mouth, but Gryphon intercepts her. “He can have a little, Lowe, it won’t kill him.”
Fury tightens her facial muscles, but she doesn’t say a word. Vee stares at the champagne with curiosity but when Gryphon raises his own glass, doesn’t so much as sip it. I feel oddly proud.
“To family!”
The ballroom echoes the sentiment.
Immediately, the music starts up again. Gryphon jerks his head towards the garden terrace, but Marlowe, though expressionless, is pissed.
She stalks off towards the entryway instead.
Unperturbed, he ushers Vee ahead and follows her.
I follow behind, slowed down enough by the crowds that I’m inconspicuous.
The trio disappear into the neighbouring room, and the doors are shut; a guard then takes up a wide-legged stance in front of them.
I’d really like to know what’s being said in there.
I push back into the ballroom, out onto the terrace and follow the sharp curve of the mansion.
It leads me to identical floor-to-ceiling windows in about the right place.
Confirmation comes when Marlowe’s aggrieved face moves into sight.
When I crouch to the side of an open window, I can just about hear over the music drifting through the garden.
“—just a boy. You did not do this for him.”
“Why else?” Gryphon demands.
“More manipulation: what you’re best at. I want to see the terms of the trust. You’ll need my signature, and I won’t sign until I’ve read through it with a lawyer.”
“Why can’t you see that I meant it? I want us to be a family. This is me proving it. Harvey and I will get to spend more time with each other. If you accompany us while I show him the ropes, we’ll all spend time together. We can rebuild—”
“If you really cared, you wouldn’t have sprung this on us tonight.”
“When was I supposed to tell you, Lowe? When you locked yourself in your bedroom last night? When you spent all of today in your office?”
There’s a pause, and I can practically hear Marlowe itching to punch him. Gryphon barrels on, and I can only hope Vee is waiting in a separate room—no one should have to watch their father try and gaslight their mother.
“Look, I know it’s going to take you time to trust me. That’s why you have your own suite, your own study. I know you need space while we work this out. I’m trying, okay?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You blackmailed me.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” he roars, that smooth charm of his cracking at the edges. “You are mine, both of you.”
Marlowe snorts.
I can’t see their faces. Gryphon’s voice could strip paint, but she’s not bowed. She can’t help herself, even though she was so adamant about toeing the line. She won’t be able to withstand this for a decade; if I have anything to do with it, it’ll never reach that point.
“You’re pathetic, Dominik.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Don’t—”
“I keep trying to move on, and it never works. You’re the only person I’ve ever loved, and I might not go about it the right way, but I’ll keep showing you. I bought this fucking house for you, Lowe, because you told me one time, a decade ago, that you liked it.”
“Wh—What?”
My gut clenches. I don’t like the way Marlowe’s voice tripped. I take a risk by leaning in and peering through, just to see Gryphon approach Marlowe like she’s a wild animal. He stops a foot away from the window, and I duck out of sight again.
“You don’t recognise it?” he asks.
“The mansion in—”
“Yes.” He sounds pleased with himself. “I bought it, had it broken down and shipped here in parts for you. You showed me a picture before Harvey was even born, and I put it aside because I knew one day I was going to be able to buy this house for you. If you don’t know that I would do anything for you by now—”
“Stop. What about your son? You can go on and on about me, but what about him? Do you know Vee thinks you don’t even like him?”
Gryphon scoffs, but Marlowe keeps talking.
“If you really wanted us to be a healthy, happy and functional family, you wouldn’t have signed over a multi-billion-cred company to a ten-year-old.
You wouldn’t have abducted him and put him on a ship with strangers.
You know what I think? I think you just want us to look like a family from the outside, and that’s really fucking sad.
In case it wasn’t clear, I don’t want anything to do with you.
We’re forced to be here, so I’ll make it work because I have to.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking I give a shit about you.
I despise you. I’ll smile in public, hold your hand, maybe even extol your virtues; behind closed doors, don’t even breathe in my direction. ”
“We’ll see.”
The words force a finger of ice down my spine.
There’s the sound of a door being wrenched open, and then Marlowe calling Vee’s name. I scramble away from the window. Once I have enough distance, I sink onto an ornate bench and review what I heard.
A groan slips from my throat, and I shove my hands through my hair. The solution is clear now: I have to go through Gryphon before Marlowe and Vee will be safe. But no ideas are forthcoming as I replay Marlowe’s savage words.
‘I think you just want us to look like a family from the outside.’
My bench sits at an angle to the expansive lawn, running on a downslope and ending at a shimmering fence. The properties of it look familiar; somehow, Gryphon has surrounded his compound with the same material our skylight domes are made of.
Mae chooses now to slide onto the bench. My sigh is heavy. “I don’t have the energy to fight off your advances right now.”
She snorts. “That might sting, if only I were stupid enough to try again. Just wanted to check in, see how your grand romantic gesture was going.”
“That’s not why—” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Can I help?”
She sounded almost genuine. I shoot her a scrutinising look. “Why?”
“As a Black, Trans woman, do I need a reason to want to screw over a rich, cishet white man?”
It takes me an embarrassingly long time to parse that sentence.
“No,” I concede. “Fine.”
Mae suddenly grins. “Mostly though, my shift is over, I’ve already been paid, and I’m a little bored.”
“You are chaotic.”
“Oh, you’re not wrong.”
Despite myself, I laugh. She’s mad, and I’m surprised to find I like her. And maybe—as a flimsy idea starts to take form—I could use her help after all.
Maximus had warned me his kind get rowdy at parties, but I underestimated what I’d see tonight.
When I head back in, it’s been at least an hour and the ballroom has halfway descended into debauchery.
Amazingly, the string quartet still plays away in the background, even as people run around giggling, talking at the top of their lungs and pawing at each other in corners.
My tolerance for the drunk is exceptionally low on the best of days; I can’t get out of there fast enough. With my back to the staircase, I let my mind drift for a second. I hope Marlowe and Vee went somewhere quiet after that shitshow.
Mae appears at my side and makes a performance of leaning in and pressing her mouth to the shell of my ear.
“You’re enjoying this too much,” I grumble.
“Oh, please. Dominik’s in his library upstairs, West wing. Head up there now.”
She doesn’t have to tell me twice; I’m ready for this night to be over.
I let myself into the library, closing the door gently behind me.
Gryphon’s nowhere to be seen as I scour the leather-bound books that pack out the dark bookshelves, the hand-carved fireplace and the deep, emerald chaise by the window. There’s no—
Gryphon appears from a doorway tucked between two shelves.
He stops, his mouth tensing. At some point, he’d shrugged out of the suit jacket and the top button of his shirt is undone, tie dangling over his chest. He could be mistaken for a man with his guard down, except his eyes are like chips of jade.
His fingers tighten around the tumbler of golden liquid in his hand, but he sways enough that I don’t think it’s his first, even second glass.
“Do I know you?”
“Yes.”
“Hm,” he grunts and makes his way to the chaise. With a sigh, he settles himself and takes a gulp of his drink. “This is my private study.”