Chapter 54 #2
“Why not?” My mother—or rather Mrs. Fairchild— threw her head back and laughed like the villain she was.
“Why not ruin my daughter’s life in the same manner she ruined mine?
I don’t know how the prenup came about, but I hope you have one in place for this,” She threw her hand in my face.
“She will wring you dry because she was even a golddigger to my husband, her own father. You never wondered why you weren’t named with a J name, but everyone else was?
Because I didn’t birth you. A whore did. ”
They both spun on their heels as if they’d gotten the upper hand, but all I did was smile through it. It didn’t matter what they had to say; tonight was never about them. It was about me and how I was going to win.
The floor felt like it had tilted thirty degrees—but my face didn’t show it. I kept the same poised, lethal smile glued in place as more people mulled forward, even more intrigued than before.
The bastard child of James Fairchild. I could hear their thoughts screaming at me. How had she managed to snag all of his fortune? How did she manage to also snag a Madden?
The first whisper hit me like a freight train. It was a man sipping a whiskey by the bar. “What is her pussy? Gold?”
“Good thing you’ll never find out,” I snapped. As I turned away with my drink in hand. Just a club soda with a splash of cranberry and lime. I couldn’t risk the alcohol after everything I’d been through. I took a sip and closed my eyes. I wanted and needed alcohol desperately.
“Is it true?” Donovan’s voice was low as he tucked himself beside me.
I shrugged. “I have no idea, though I suppose it makes sense, though I don’t know why he would leave everything to me.”
Donovan’s lips twisted. “Maybe he really loved his mistress.”
“I don’t think this is the time or the place to unpack my parents’ issues.” I let out a breath. I really needed therapy. Why hadn’t I set that up yet?
He reached for my arm, smoothing a hand over the cape draped across my shoulder, thumb brushing my skin in a gesture that was supposed to be soothing. It wasn’t.
“Poppy… if your mother sent men after you, we will handle it.”
A chill slid through me. I didn’t want her harmed, even though she wanted me gone from this world. The best revenge I could serve was pretending like she didn’t exist because if I knew my mother—obviously not as much as I thought I did— I knew this would bother her more than anything.
“What can I do?”
The question was so far left field, I didn’t even know how to react to it. Was it the outfit signaling this kind of reaction from him or something else entirely?
“When do I get to meet your family?”
Donovan’s face pinched slightly. “I was wondering when you would notice their absence.”
Ah, so his comforting wasn’t because he cared about me and the drama my family brought in, no, it was because his family still wasn’t here, and my drama happened to overshadow that.
Interesting.
“Are they usually late?”
He made a face that told me this was certainly the norm. “Yes and no. They are always on time for my brothers and sisters.”
“So what have you done to warrant such a reaction?”
I didn’t really care, though I was curious. Donovan Madden hadn’t been human to me in a while. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for his humanity to come back or not. I knew it would make killing him more difficult, but I was a glutton for punishment, it seemed.
“I spent all of my inheritance on traveling, women, and booze. I didn’t contribute to the family’s massive fortune and instead, worried about myself and getting my dick wet in every country possible.”
“And how many would that be?” I was disgusted and also intrigued. I hadn’t expected him to reply, much less be so honest about it all.
“Eighty-nine, I was almost to ninety when I got the phone call that my grandfather was sick, and I was being cut off.”
Something wasn’t adding up. “Cut off?”
“Yes, I am as good as broke, my bride-to-be.”
It really wasn’t adding up, but I pretended to be stupid and play along.
How he managed to pay for his security, this party, all of our dates, and the various other things was beyond me.
I needed to find a copy of the contract.
I needed to know how he was paying for all of this.
Was he an employee through my brothers’ company?
“So,” he continued as his eyes skipped along the room, probably looking for his family that wouldn’t show up. “When they cut me off, they said I could find my own way in the world, and until I did that, I was as good as dead to them.”
“I guess you and I have a lot more in common than I originally thought. Your family doesn’t want anything to do with you because of money, and my family wants nothing to do with me because of money.”
“Do you think your mother had your brothers and your father killed?”
I knew Ivan wouldn’t work for my mother, so that was out. They were unrelated, though I didn’t know why. Ivan said it was all because my father was a bad man. I knew it was also because my brothers were bad men.
My thoughts were cut off, and there was no time to reply as a beautiful couple swept into the room. Beautiful wasn’t even the right word. They were regal.
They entered like the party had been waiting for them—like the lighting shifted to accommodate their presence. Conversations stuttered. The musicians faltered for half a beat before correcting.
Donovan inhaled sharply beside me, posture snapping straight.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “They actually came.”
The man was tall, silver at his temples, wearing a tailored onyx suit that probably cost more than the car that drove me here.
His eyes were a polished steel. The woman on his arm wore emerald silk that draped off her bones like it had been designed solely for her.
A string of diamonds glimmered at her throat.
They looked every bit old money, but I knew they weren’t.
I’d never considered looking up their net worth, but now I was curious if I had more money than they did.
Not because I cared, but because I wanted to know if that was why they finally showed up.
A slow smile curled across the woman’s face as her gaze drifted over the room and landed squarely on me. It wasn’t a kind smile.
It was a curious one.
An interested one.
A calculating one.
“Donovan,” she said as she reached us—her voice soft velvet with razor blades underneath. “You didn’t tell us your fiancée was… stunning.”
Her eyes dragged over my dress, my red heels, my slicked hair, my crimson lips. Everything she saw was measured and catalogued. I had the distinct sense she was adding up numbers in her head—not of worth, but of utility.
Donovan swallowed, nervousness flickering in his expression. “Mother, Father… this is Poppy.”
His father nodded once. A precise, clipped gesture. “Poppy.” His voice was low, unimpressed but watchful. “We’ve heard very little about you.”
“Then I suppose you aren’t listening very carefully,” I replied, smiling softly.
Donovan stiffened. His mother’s brows shot up in delighted surprise. And his father? His father’s lips twitched a fraction—as if he hadn’t expected me to bite back.
Now I’d wished I’d done more research. I wanted to know if I had more than them because I couldn’t handle a pissing contest like this. When it came to these people, my dick had to be bigger.
“Walk with me, dear,” Donovan’s mother said, slipping her arm through mine before Donovan could respond. “We have much to discuss.”
I nodded as she swept me away from the men. She leaned in close and whispered so only I could hear. “You are aware that he has peculiar tastes, yes?”
I needed to be careful around this woman. “Yes, Donovan and I have a mutual understanding of each other’s needs.”
There was no way I was going to be on Donovan’s side.
I would never make him look good for anyone, but I knew if I wasn’t careful with this woman, she would destroy me when I killed her son.
She could act nonchalant all she wanted to, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have some kind of maternal love for her child, right?
“I’m aware that your arrangement with my son is only an arrangement.”
“Ah, yes, because he needs money. He’s run out, correct?”
“Poppy,” she said my name as if she was tasting it, testing it, trying it out. “What an interesting name for a viper.”
I couldn’t have kept the smile off of my face even if I’d tried.
“Of all the things I’d heard about you… fierce wasn’t one of them.”
“We can’t all stay innocent playthings forever.”