Chapter 34 #3
I guessed that meant William knew where I came from. Noah sounded far more outraged than I felt. I was no longer ashamed of my past, but I didn’t particularly want to hang around while William Hastings continued to look down his nose at me.
I gently let go of Noah’s hand. “I should go so you can talk with your grandfather,” I murmured.
“You don’t have to leave,” Noah replied.
But I was already taking steps away. There was no way I wanted to get caught between these two. I’d already had more than my fair share of family drama tonight.
“Isobel, there you are.” I turned to see my father walking from the ballroom. “I have to leave and was looking for you to—” He stopped suddenly when he caught sight of Noah’s grandfather, and he seemed to push his shoulders back as he came to stand at my side.
“William,” my father said in greeting.
“Matthew?” William’s expression darkened. “What are you doing here?”
The tension between the two of them was palpable, and it wasn’t hard to work out they not only knew each other but they also weren’t on friendly terms. I shot Noah a confused look, but he appeared just as lost as I was.
Matthew rested a hand on my shoulder. “My daughter attends Weybridge Academy.”
“Your daughter …” William looked at me properly for the first time, and his gaze turned my veins to ice. He quickly spun to face Noah. “You’re telling me that you’ve been dating a LaFleur?”
Noah’s skin seemed to pale, and his expression shifted from confusion to shock as his eyes darted in my direction. “He’s your father?” He took a step back from me. “Matthew LaFleur is your father?”
I slowly nodded, but I was completely lost as to why that seemed to be a problem. I didn’t get a chance to ask because William Hastings kept talking, his voice quaking with emotion.
“That family …” he hissed at Noah. “I will not have you associating with them.”
“I-I didn’t know,” Noah faltered, his eyes darting between me, Matthew, and his grandfather as though he was looking for someone, anyone, to help him understand.
“I don’t care,” his grandfather snapped back. “Your relationship with this girl ends now.”
The man’s words sent a jolt of fear straight to my heart. He wanted Noah to end things with me? Surely, I’d misheard.
“Noah, he can’t be serious.” I reached out to him, but Noah recoiled and refused to meet my gaze.
“Believe me, girl, I am deadly serious.” William Hastings’ eyes sparked with anger as he glared at me. His whole body was tense, and his fists were clenched at his sides. I could practically feel his disdain radiating from him.
“Come, Noah. We’re leaving.” William snapped his fingers and started back toward the ballroom.
“Wait …” Noah started to speak but paused when his grandfather stopped and turned.
“Noah,” he snarled. “I said we’re leaving.”
Noah seemed frozen in place, watching as his grandfather ordered him to follow. His face was still covered in confusion, disbelief and pain, but slowly the anguish seemed to fade, his shoulders sagged in apparent defeat, and he started to nod.
“Okay,” Noah murmured. “Just give me a minute.”
My heart sank at Noah’s response, but William looked satisfied and gave his grandson a brief nod, folding his arms as he waited near the large ballroom doors.
My father cleared his throat, pulling his attention from Noah to look at me. “Isobel, I did warn you,” he said.
“But why?” My voice broke as I spoke. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m afraid it just cannot work.” Matthew slowly shook his head, and there was a hint of sympathy in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I think this might be the one thing William Hastings and I agree upon.”
I was stunned into silence. Was I the only person who didn’t know what he was talking about? Noah certainly did. His shoulders seemed to slump even further at my father’s words. His head was low, his eyes fixed on the ground, as though he was trying to hide himself from what was happening.
Matthew rested a hand on my shoulder. “This is for the best.”
I shrugged him off and glared at him. “I don’t really care what you think is best for me.”
“Isobel …”
“Weren’t you leaving?”
Matthew hesitated. He looked like he didn’t feel comfortable walking away, but my expression was firm, leaving him no choice. Matthew and Noah’s grandfather might not want us to be together, but this wasn’t up to them. This wasn’t their decision.
“Please, just go,” I said.
Slowly, Matthew released a breath. “Okay, I’ll let you two talk.
” He still didn’t seem certain about leaving me with Noah, but he turned and walked back to the ballroom.
Thankfully, he didn’t loiter by the open door like Noah’s grandfather who was still watching from a distance.
I might not have been happy with Matthew right now, but at least he was willing to afford Noah and I some privacy.
I turned my focus to Noah. The silence that stretched between us felt cold.
I was so confused by what had just happened, and the fact Noah still refused to look directly at me only worried me more.
His gaze remained on the floor, and I knew he was trying to think, but I didn’t want him processing all this without talking to me.
Not when I was so thoroughly in the dark.
“Noah, I don’t understand. Why do your grandfather and my father want us to end things? You’re not going to listen to them, are you?”
“I’m sorry, Isobel,” he whispered, still unable to meet my gaze. “This is just how it has to be.”
“But, why? Noah, if you could just explain …”
His grandfather cleared his throat in the distance, an obvious indication he wanted us to hurry up. I tried to ignore the old man as best I could, but it was almost impossible to pretend he wasn’t there when I could feel his lethal scowl tracing across my skin.
Noah glanced at his grandfather briefly and his shoulders squared as their eyes met. For a moment I thought he might be about to tell his grandfather to go to hell, but then he took a deep breath and turned his hard gaze upon me.
“Explain?” His eyes flashed with anger. “I think you’re the one that owes an explanation. Why did you keep this a secret from me?”
I shook my head, taken aback by his outburst. “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you.”
“Really? How come you never spoke about your father with me? I asked you who it was that warned you to stay away from me, and you wouldn’t say. It was him, wasn’t it?”
I opened and closed my mouth several times as I tried to figure out how to respond.
I’d spent so long worrying about what Noah and my friends would think when they learned about my life back in Rapid Bay, but I never deliberately tried to hide the truth about my father.
Now it appeared to Noah as though I’d lied about both.
Even if that was the case, I still couldn’t understand why he was so angry with me.
His grandfather and my father were the one’s trying to break us up, but all his frustration suddenly seemed directed at me.
I looked toward the ballroom and saw William Hastings still glaring down at us.
“You can’t honestly expect me to believe you were oblivious to the feud between our families,” Noah continued, his voice growing louder.
“Feud? What feud? Noah, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Yes, Matthew warned me about you, but I just assumed it was because you had a bad reputation with girls. I didn’t know about any of this!”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Don’t play dumb with me. So, why’d you do it? Why’d you lure me in? Was it just a sick joke? Or was your family trying to ruin mine more than it already has?”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. I didn’t try to lure you in, and I wasn’t trying to ruin you. I had no idea there was some tension between your family and my father.”
“Some tension?” Noah scoffed as though my comment was utterly ridiculous. “That’s the understatement of the century.”
I ignored him and continued. “I thought you trusted me.”
“If we could trust each other, you would have told me who you really are.”
“You know who I really am,” I said. “You’ve met my mom. You’ve been to my home. That’s who I am.”
“And yet, the one thing you kept from me is the one thing about you that means we can never be together.”
His words almost struck my legs out from under me.
We could never be together? It didn’t sound possible.
It was clear Noah must have reasons to dislike Matthew, but I couldn’t understand why it mattered so much to him that I was his daughter.
I hadn’t done anything wrong. “This is all because of my father? Noah, I barely know that man.”
“But he is your father.”
“Yes, we’ve established that.” Now I was the one growing angry. “And I’ve only met him twice before tonight. I told you I didn’t know him growing up. Matthew LaFleur was just a name to me until a month ago. You have to believe me.”
As Noah stared at me, I thought I could see the anger briefly dissipating from his eyes, like he was realizing I was telling the truth and the fight was draining from him.
I thought that might mean we were reaching a turning point, but the feeling didn’t last long.
From the look on his face, I could tell that it didn’t matter what I said.
As far as Noah was concerned, we were over.
He hadn’t moved a muscle, and yet I could see he was drawing away from me.
“Noah …”
He flinched as he heard his name. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t know. It doesn’t change the fact we can’t be together.”
“But why?”
Anger flared across Noah’s face once more and he took two powerful steps forward so he was standing right in front of me, towering over me, his green eyes staring straight into mine.
“Because your family is the reason the Hastings empire is in tatters,” he growled.
“The reason my father’s legacy is hanging by a thread, and the reason my grandfather and I must do all that we can to save it.
My family has lost everything, and it is all because of your father. ”
My heart started racing. I knew I only had moments to convince him to reconsider, just seconds to make him realize none of this was my fault, that I was nothing like my father.
But how could I argue with someone who had already made up their mind?
His eyes were empty now, and I could see he was shutting down on me—distancing himself in a way there was no coming back from.
He turned toward the ballroom, and my stomach dropped with the movement. He was really breaking up with me.
“Noah, please, don’t do this. You said we had the power to choose our own fate. You promised our differences wouldn’t tear us apart.”
He turned his head just slightly, but he kept his eyes from meeting mine.
“Like I said, Isobel. This is just how it has to be.” Without another word, he walked across the courtyard toward the ballroom doors, where his grandfather was waiting.
William Hastings nodded at his grandson, a stern but satisfied look on his face, and then led him back inside the building, leaving me alone with nothing but the cold night’s empty embrace and tearstained cheeks.
I stood there, shaking as I watched Noah leave.
Each step he took was like a dagger straight to my chest. Even after he was gone, I couldn’t seem to move, and I stood in the deep shadows of the courtyard slowly turning numb from the cold that chilled my bones and seeped into my heart.
I had no idea how long I stood there. I didn’t really care.
“Isobel?”
I heard a voice in the distance and the crunch of gravel as someone ran up behind me.
“Isobel!”
Strong hands grasped my shoulders, and I slowly peered up into Wes’s gentle eyes. I must have looked even more wrecked than I felt because he immediately pulled me into his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he murmured.
I shook my head, unable to respond. I couldn’t seem to form the words to explain that Noah and I were over. Every time I opened my mouth to try, my brain turned to mush. I’d trusted Noah with my heart, and all he’d done was tear it to shreds.
Wes pulled out of our hug and looked me in the eyes. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Yes.” I managed to croak the one word.
He pulled his jacket off and laid it over my shoulders as he led me away from the ballroom. I was grateful he didn’t ask any questions. I wasn’t even sure what I would say.
I’d known Noah and I were too different.
I’d predicted things with him would only end in pain.
I’d hoped that perhaps the risk was worth it.
But there was nothing sweet about having your heart destroyed when the shattered pieces left behind were too broken to put together again.