54. Henry
54
HENRY
Margot Benoit is standing by my father, looking at me like I should’ve expected this.
“Explain,” I say, staring at Margot and my dad. “Right now.”
They give each other a sideways glance as if they’re communicating silently. I have no idea what’s going on. Nothing that I’m seeing makes sense to me.
“Where’s Amelie?” I ask when they don’t respond. “What did you do to her?”
Margot’s face falls, and she turns to my dad. “You said she wouldn’t be here.”
“She wasn’t meant to be,” he mumbles.
“ Dad .” My voice is shaking. “You have to tell me what’s going on. I can’t just?—”
“You must know why I did it,” he says, sounding much too calm. “You know I didn’t do this out of the blue.”
“What do you mean by this ?”
“All of it.” He frowns. “Henry, when I found out Amelie was back, I had to do something. Her parents would’ve taken your work, or she would’ve?—”
“Her parents wouldn’t have,” I say, giving him the last part, because it’s technically true. Amelie did take one of my pieces, but in the end, Dad had a hand in that, too. “They don’t care about this anymore. But how does that tie into anything? It doesn’t explain why you took my pieces or why she—” I motion vaguely to Margot. “—is standing next to you.”
“Yes, it does,” he says flatly. “If I had them, there was no chance of anyone else taking them.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I can’t just keep saving you.”
I’m shocked enough to forget about my second question. “In what ways have you saved me?”
“I support you. I pay for your housing, and?—”
“No.” I shake my head. “Absolutely not. I’ve told you multiple times that I’m grateful, but I don’t want you to.”
He tries again. “I display your work?—”
“ No. I want other offers, and you know that. But you turn them down.”
“Because I can’t afford to have you gone !” His voice is loud now, and I take what I hope is a discreet step backward. “I can’t afford to have your work somewhere else, Henry. Do you know why? Have you truly not caught on?”
He pauses, waiting for my answer. For my contradiction. But I stay silent.
“Without the money you bring in,” he says, “The Gallery closes.”
I exhale. I knew this was coming in the near future. It isn’t a shock, but him finally voicing it makes it real.
“So close it,” I say flatly. “Sell the buildings and the stocks. There are so many solutions to your problem, rather than stealing my work and framing others. I don’t even see how this benefits you. If you’d just let me finish my Ophelia, you still would’ve gotten the money.”
“I wanted her caught,” he says, shifting the conversation right back to Amelie. “Is that so wrong? I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. To get your paintings for the auction and get her behind bars.”
A laugh of disbelief escapes me. I’m vaguely aware of Margot observing this entire conversation, seemingly unbothered, but I’m too worked up to care. “You’re so paranoid. The Benoits beat you out years ago, and you’re still scared of their daughter. The only reason I even got her help was because you wouldn’t let me get any other.”
“And look where it’s gotten me.” His voice is drained. “You’re in love with her again, is that it? You trust a criminal over your family.”
“No, but I trust her over you.”
He snaps his mouth shut after that. Whatever he was about to say is apparently void now, and I’m thankful. I note light footsteps passing in the hall, but they don’t seem to stop, so I start talking again.
“You have to give it up. Just let it go . Go finish out the auction with the other pieces, and I’ll leave.”
He shakes his head, just as stubborn as I am. “No. I’m selling your work, Henry. You bring in the most money. You. Nobody else drags in over a couple grand in tickets.”
I shrug, and his face shifts into anger. “I don’t know what you want me to do. You aren’t selling my pieces.”
“Oh, why?” He stands a little straighter. “They’re right behind you. Actually, they might be onstage already, waiting to be bid on.” The smile on his face looks more like a grimace. “This night ends with me winning, Henry.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and exhale. “I just want you to admit it. Tell me the truth. You know I can’t stand being lied to, so please, enlighten me. Just lay it out for me. I don’t want to wonder.”
He sighs. Clasps his hands together. “That’s all you want?”
I nod stiffly and hope my face is normal.
“Fine.” He starts pacing, like he can’t contain his energy any longer. “I took your Ophelia. Set up a fake meeting to snag Lover of Mine and Nautical Abyss . Your little friends never suspected a thing.”
“You lost money with the meetings,” I say, wondering if he’ll deny the counterfeit cash. “They don’t do all of that for free.”
“Fake,” he says, shocking me with the admission. “Wasn’t a problem. Another thing that was easy to sneak past your friends. ”
He says the word with such venom that I don’t bother with a retort.
“What about Amelie?” I ask quietly. “You never told me how you cut our contact.”
He laughs, so intensely that it startles me. “ That ?! Henry, I put a call blocker on your phone. It was the simplest thing. Do you remember the time your mother and I brought your brushes to your dormitory? It was child’s play. I never expected you to find out, but I also never expected you to care this much about her.” He exhales like he’s disappointed. “Do you truly believe what she tells you? Does she even care about you?”
I swallow. Exhale sharply, then peek right over his shoulder into the seemingly empty hallway. “I don’t know. Amelie, do you care about me?”
Both his and Margot’s faces pale at my words. Dad whips around just in time to see Amelie stride into the room, holding a phone at her side. “I do,” she says, giving me an overexaggerated smile before turning to my dad. “Roman, I don’t know why you question such things.”
“But—you—you can’t—” He stutters. “What are you doing ?”
“I’m helping,” she says, her voice lethally soft. “Henry, anyways. Not you.”
She doesn’t look at her sister. Not once.
Margot, on the other hand, looks like she might throw up.
“You’re here, though,” my dad says, eyes widening. “You’re here. You’ve entered the assembly uninvited?—”
“As my date,” I counter. “And I was invited.”
Dad shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“No, it really does.” Amelie sighs. “And anyways, you don’t have proof.”
Her voice catches on the last word, like she isn’t sure if that’s the truth. I notice her eyes slide over to Margot, as if she’s waiting for a contradiction. It never comes.
My dad exhales sharply. “That’s not…”
“Well, no matter what it is or isn’t, I do have something for you.” Amelie doesn’t seem to regard the slight tremor in her voice. She spins on her heel and presses a button on her screen, and seconds later, a voice starts playing back at us.
Mine.
“ You know I can’t stand being lied to, so please, enlighten me.” My voice is airy through the phone. “ Just lay it out for me. I don’t want to wonder.”
Amelie grins at my dad. She puts a finger to her lips, signaling for him to stay quiet. “This is where it gets good.”
“ That’s all you want?” Dad’s voice is stiffer than I remember it being only moments ago. “Fine. I took your Ophelia . Set up a fake meeting to snag Lover of Mine and Nautical Abyss . Your little friends never suspected a thing. ”
Amelie pauses the recording and looks at my dad. What little color was left on his face is gone as he stares at her phone. “What are you going to do with that?” He asks, his voice weak. “You can’t turn that in without getting yourself caught.”
“I can,” she says simply. “As I’ve said, I’m here as Henry’s date. That’s entirely legal, as far as I’m concerned.”
“But—but you have my money.” His tone shifts from dry to enthusiastic in seconds. “You must’ve?—”
“I’m not stupid. I know counterfeit money when I see it.”
His smile drops again, but Amelie’s shifts into something brighter. She’s practically glowing while tormenting my father. “You were completely fine with doling out fake cash—albeit poorly made—because you thought you’d outsmart me. But you couldn’t. So now, we need to find a new solution. One where you admit that I win.”
“No,” he says simply.
Amelie nods. “Okay. Fine. I’ll just send this recording to my team?—”
“ No. ” Dad’s voice is firm, though I can hear it. I can hear how desperate he is. “No. Just— fine . You win.”
“I know.” Amelie’s face breaks into a catlike grin. “And in this little deal, I will keep this recording to myself.”
“You’ll delete it,” Dad counters.
She shakes her head. “I won’t. But you will release all of Henry’s displayed pieces in return. You’ll give him the contacts for the offers that I know you’ve kept from him.”
“That’s it ?” My dad asks skeptically, eyes darting between the two of us.
“Unless Henry has more.” Amelie looks at me. “Anything else?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, because despite all things, I haven’t thought of much. I know that I want the best for Mom and Lizzy, but I can take care of myself. I want to take care of myself. I want to be left alone by him.
“Sell what you have to in order to get out of debt.”
He blinks at me. “That’s not?—”
“It’s not a part of this deal,” I clarify. “It’s not something I’m going to hold over you. It’s a request.” I look at the wall. “I don’t care about you, but I do care about Mom and Lizzy. I want you to put your family ahead of yourself for once. And from now on, I’ll take care of myself. I’ll pay my rent and handle my own jobs. Just get the money, fix your family, and leave me out of it.”
Dad just nods. He looks defeated now, and I think that should hurt me, but it doesn’t. It makes me feel bad that I don’t feel bad. But this is the man that took the joy out of things for me. That put money and status over his wife and kids. I don’t hate him, but that doesn’t mean I respect him. That doesn’t mean I’m okay with this any longer.
“And Mom doesn’t need to know about this,” I say quietly. “Keep her out of it, and I will too.”
Dad lifts his eyes and looks at me, then gives one stiff, frustrated nod. “Okay.”
I nod in return, waiting for more words to come to mind. They don’t. But the room doesn’t stay silent for more than three seconds, because Amelie turns right to Margot with flaming eyes. “Now. You.”