Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
JULIETTE
B enny? In Manhattan? Why would he be in Manhattan? Why would my mother send him here when I told her we’d talk when I returned home? It makes no sense at all. Hudson watches me as he pulls into the parking lot. He seems to be enjoying this.
“You think he’s here to win you back from me?” he asks with a big grin.
“You’ll not tease Benny when we get in there,” I tell him, and my countenance tells him I mean it because he quits messing around immediately. We get out of the car and walk into the ranch house. While it was just last night that we were here, it feels like ages ago. A lot has happened in that short time. Hudson and I spent time at the lighthouse, spending such a memorable time together, a time that I didn’t want to end, filled with bliss, desire, and joy. I was the happiest I had been up there watching the sea. It seems I get to be the happiest I have ever been with Hudson, yet at the same time, he finds a way to make me so sad and angry. How can one man be able to pull me to the end of both spectrums of emotions? It’s always a roller coaster ride with him. I’ve been with him for barely five days, but I’ve gone through a wild ride of emotions, ten years’ worth.
“Why do you think he’s here?” Hudson asks.
I’m just as clueless as he is. Benny has no reason to come find me in Manhattan. We haven’t talked in years, even though I know he’s been in communication with my mother.
When we walk in, we find just Elizabeth and Phillipa waiting for us, and Benny sits in a chair, not looking entirely proud of himself. He looks a little shy, and with Elizabeth and Phillipa on either side of him, he looks out of place.
“Hey, Benny,” I say, ignoring the others and walking over to him, but Phillipa gets in my way. She stands between me and Hudson, hands at akimbo and ready to fight.
“Get out of my way,” I tell her.
“Or what?” now she threatens. “I know what you are, you fucking leech.”
What the hell is she talking about?
“Yes, your secret is out, and I know what you’ve caused Hudson to do. We found out about everything, the fake engagement. You two were only here to fool us. And it's you. It’s all because of you. You got your claws into him. Now, you’ll extract those claws.”
She wags her finger at me so dangerously that I have to duck to avoid getting my eyes poked.
She really is crazy. Jasmine was right. I can see the craziness in her eyes, the way they dart around, wide and wild, daring me to make a move. This is her home, and this is her family. There is nothing I can do here.
“What is this?” Hudson says, stepping towards me. He moves to get me out of Phillipa’s way, but Phillipa stops him, reaching up to him and rubbing his jaws with her finger.
“You don’t have to play her game anymore. Her secret is out. You don’t have to protect her anymore. I know she’s the reason we can’t be together, and I’ll rectify that now. It will all be okay, trust me. No one will come between us anymore once we take care of her. It will be me and you, forever.”
“You’re an even bigger fool than I thought if you think I’ll let anyone use me or pull me into a game. I don’t know what you’ve heard or who you have been speaking to, but the answer remains the same. This can’t happen. Never.”
Phillipa looks shocked, but she recovers quickly and smiles.
“You’ll change your mind, Hudson. You’ll have no choice but to marry me. You’ll see. I promise you.”
She looks chagrined. The sweet Phillipa I saw the first night at the party is gone and in its place is the devil. Or maybe she’s always been like this, and I didn’t pick up on it. She moves back, chuckling cynically, and finally, I walk over to meet Benny, who won’t even meet my eyes.
“What did you tell them, Benny?” I asked.
“The truth,” Elizabeth answers. “I have to say, I had my suspicions, but I could never prove them, so I let them lie.”
“What are you all talking about?”
I can tell our ruse is broken, but there seems to be something else going on, something they are hinting at that beats me. First, Phillipa, and now, Elizabeth. They are talking like I orchestrated all of this, like I made Hudson agree to this fake engagement, and it wasn’t his idea all along.
“The ring,” Elizabeth says and stands up. “The ring was what caught my eye. It’s expensive, not something Hudson will just cough up for any random person. She must be someone special, and if she is that special, how come I never heard of her? How has he kept her a secret for so long?”
“I would have found out!” Phillipa declares. “I know everything that goes on in Hudson’s life. I make sure I do so I can be there for him should he need me, but I never saw any evidence that he had someone.”
“He would have at least mentioned you in passing. If he loved you so much to give you that ring, he wouldn’t be ashamed of you or keep you a secret for so long. Something wasn’t right. Imagine our shock when Benny showed up at the door this morning.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That you owe money and all of this with Hudson is a ruse.”
I look at Benny, but he won’t look into my eyes. He made a good effort to avert his eyes.
“Then it made sense,” Elizabeth continued. “You two came to a deal, and you are posing to be lovers, so my father won’t ask you to marry Phillipa.”
“He loved me,” Phillipa chips in. “He loved me before he went away, and I knew he would come back to propose to me. I knew it was happening, but then you came in with your devilish scheme and you destroyed it all. You used your employment with the agency to gain access to Hudson and then you played on his doubt, you told him lies and told him you’d play his fiancée if he paid you.”
What the hell are they talking about? That isn’t even what happened. Yes, the engagement was a ruse, but none of this was my idea—none at all.
“You’re wrong,” Hudson chips in. “Yes, this is a ruse. There is no engagement between Juliette and me, and it is all a lie. But you’re the reason for the lie.” He points at Phillipa. “It was my idea. I didn’t want to come to Manhattan and still have you being delusional that there’d be anything between us. I’ve told you countless times that it won’t work, but you can’t seem to understand that. I knew if I had a fiancée you’d back away. But that still didn’t seem enough for you because you’re sick.”
“You don’t have to lie for her, Hudson. It’s okay. I understand. It’s the kind of man you are. You can’t help it. You saw she was troubled, and you offered to help her. But it’s fine now. She doesn’t need your help. I’ll pay off her debt. You can let go of the ruse.”
“Don’t you understand,” Hudson says and moves closer to Phillipa so he can speak right into her face. He looks frustrated with the lady who is so adamant about believing only what is in her head. No matter how many time he has tried to convince her, she just won’t accept that Hudson doesn’t love her. “All of this wasn’t for you. It was because of your father. I got closer to you because I knew your father was eyeing my company and you were one of the possible solutions to make him back off. I heard he was desperate to marry you off, so I thought if I offered to do that, he’d abandon his want for my company, but I have since learned that isn’t the case. Your father will simply be killing two birds with one stone if I marry you. He’ll now even fight for the company more and use our conjugal bond to his benefit.”
“You don’t love me?” Phillipa asks, tears falling down her eyes.
“No,” Hudson says, very curt and direct. “I never did. You’re a good girl, Phillipa, a beautiful one, and there will be men who will raze down cities for you, but unfortunately, I am not that man, and I will be doing a disservice pretending to be that man. You’ll find a man for you out there, I believe it.”
Phillipa stares at him for a long time and I watch the light go off in her eyes. She turns around and walks out of the house, dragging her feet along, I see the tears falling as she walks away and I’m feeling sorry for her. But at least, that is done. She has no reason to hang on to delusion anymore. She shuts the door behind us and spins all of us back into action. Elizabeth looks from me to Hudson.
“I’d never guessed it was a ruse. You two played it very well. Very well.”
Elizabeth was playing along with Phillipa all along. I understand now.
“Excuse me,” I say to that and leave the room with Benny as Hudson moves closer to Elizabeth, no doubt to discuss the embargo her father has placed on his company.
I know no other place within the house to lead Benny to, so I walk him to the bedroom.
“Did I do well? Did they buy it? Are you free now?” he asks when we’re alone.
“What?” confused I ask him.
“The lady who came to see me told me I just had to expose the secret. I have to tell you, Juliette, I was very hurt when I saw it. You and me, I thought we had a chance.”
“We had that chance, Benny. See how it turned out? We’re not meant to be together. But what are you talking about? What lady came to see you?”
“Why are you asking me that? Didn’t you send her?”
“No! I didn’t send anyone to you!”
Now, he looks confused and walks to the nearest chair to him so he can sit. “But she told me she was from you and that the engagement was a ruse. She said I just need to come to the house and tell the truth,”
“What truth is that?”
“She said you owed money, and this is your way of paying it. She told me how to say it, how to paint it all like it’s your fault. She says that way, you’ll be free faster. If the family finds out it’s all a charade, Hudson will have no choice but to let you go. I agreed to do it because I thought I was helping you. Oh my god, I have been so foolish.”
“It’s fine. It’s fine. Just go on. What else did she tell you?” I ask him.
“She said you’ll deny it all, but it’s all part of the script. She asked me not to meet your face, so it feels like I’m intimidated by you. She told me all I was supposed to. Down to the letter.”
“This person, what else did they tell you? Did they tell you their name?”
“Yes,” he says. “It was why I believed them. I googled her and saw she worked for him. For Hudson.”
“What’s her name?” I ask even though I know the name already.
“Alison.”