Chapter 3

Chapter 3

have any

idea what you’ve done?” My father’s fury was something I was used to but never before had I seen him

this angry.

As soon as Damon and I walked through the front door of my house, it was like we’d walked into a

warzone. My stepmother sat beside Corinna at the dinner table, as she held her hand and glared

daggers at me. On Corinna’s other side was Ashton, who I took particular care not to look at.

I’d lose my cool if I saw that “sshole’s face now,

“I can’t believe you ruined Corinna’s engagement party with this nonsense!” red-faced with a receding

hairline.

my father shouted,

“I’m sure Addie didn’t ruin my engagement on purpose, Father,” Corinna said bravely, hands clutched

on her chest as she smiled tearfully at me.

“I’m so sorry we didn’t invite you or Damon. I couldn’t bear to make Damon watch my engagement after

our horrid split,” she said with a pitying look at Damon.

I eyed Damon’s reaction. He paid her no mind, only picked up his steak knife and began slicing into

his steak.

Corinna turned to me with teary eyes, “And I knew you had an important meeting with. your sponsor,

Addie. I didn’t want to make you miss it just for me.”

She looked away, hand on her mouth like she’d suppressed a sob,

“You’re such a good sister, Corinna,” my stepmother, Tabitha, patted her hand with a kind smile. She

turned to me with a nasty look, “so unlike Adelaide.”

“Good sister, my *ss-” I retorted before I stopped myself.

“Adelaide!” my father slammed his fist on the table, rattling the dishes and spilling his third glass of red

wine. “Don’t talk to your sister that way! I should’ve known you would’ve caused trouble!”

Corinna peeked beneath her hand, a tiny smirk on her face only I saw. I clenched my fists under the

table.

I knew better than to take her provocation, but I still wanted to reach across the table and smack her.

“Don’t blame Adelaide,” Ashton’s smooth voice said. “I doubt this was her fault.”

“Not her fault?” my father raged, “the press is having a field day with us! They think there’s a fight for

the inheritance of our families because of what she and that illegitimate child did!”

I peeked over at Damon, but he was unaffected by the accusation. Despite being true, it was rude and

callous of my father to point this out,

“Here

you are,” Damon smirked as he laid down his knife and switched our plates so I had the steak he’d

meticulously cut up.

Don’t treat me like a child! I can cut my own steak! I glowered at him as he leaned back in his seat

satisfied.

“Adelaide is too simple-minded to plan something like this,” Ashton said to my father with a placating

smile.

Excuse me? The anger I’d been holding back reared its ugly head, ready to tear him apart.

Chapter 3

“I’m positive this must be Damon’s doing. He must’ve taken advantage of her. I’m so sorry about this.

Please forgive Adelaide, Father.” Despite the trash flowing from Ashton’s mouth, my father believed it

wholeheartedly as his glare turned to Damon.

“He must have seduced her to craft this plan,” Ashton accused his half-brother.

I nearly choked on my water.

Seduced? By this “sshole?

I eyed Ashton’s wine glass, bewildered and infuriated by the accusations that came out of his stupid

mouth. His glass was still full so he wasn’t drunk..

Being around Corinna must’ve infected him with her stupidity.

“He probably thought he was playing a prank, never considering our family’s reputation,” Ashton said

coldly to my father. “Father and I are politicians. This could influence the votes in the next election.”

Are you insane? I wanted to yell at my ex.

“That’s right,” my father nodded, his anger dying down, “Adelaide would never do this on her own. She

would never disobey me.”

Oh, wow, so stupidity is contagious.

“Luckily,” my father said to me coldly, “you have not held a ceremony yet. This mistake can easily be

reversed. You will annul the license and marry the man I have chosen for you.”

“What?” I gasped.

“Luther Bradshaw is willing to take you as his third wife,” my father said, with no room for negotiation in

his voice.

Even Corinna looked shocked at my father’s sudden declaration.

I was stunned into silence at my father’s words. I couldn’t retort or say a single thing back as the room

spun around me. Thoughts rushed through my brain in a whirlwind but only one came back.

over and over.

Did my father hate me that much?

Luther Bradshaw was sixty years old and a notorious “sshole. Though successful, he was renowned to

have a horrid temper and often visited brothels even when he had his wives.

I was never my father’s favorite child, but I always assumed he had to care for me a little. Corinna was

always his golden child, but me? Nothing I did was good enough for him.

I’d stopped trying to appease my cold-hearted father years ago.

Still, this was beyond cold. It was downright cruel.

Before I could realize what was happening, tears sprang to my eyes. But I couldn’t. I mustn’t. I must not

cry. For years, I’d been telling myself to be strong, to be tough, to be –

A hand wrapped around mine. Stunned, I turned to him.

Damon gripped my fingers tightly under the table, cold and confident like everything was still in his

control.

“Hold it back,” Damon whispered for only me to hear. “I won’t let that happen.”

He smiled with all the sincerity of Corinna’s tears and looked my father dead in the eye as he said,

Chapter 3

“You have nothing to worry about, future father-in-law. She has me now.”

Corinna’s smile faltered, glaring at us furiously before Father looked her way and returned to her gentle

smile.

“You dare-” my father sputtered.

“Sir,” Piers, our family’s butler, interrupted him formally. Silent as a ghost as always, I hadn’t even

noticed he had come in.

“What is it?” my father snapped. Most of the servants would’ve cowered, but Piers had dealt with my

father’s temper for a long time.

“The madam is on her way.”

“Mother is?” My father paled.

Tabitha gasped, “Mother-in-law is coming? Why?”

“To congratulate me, obviously,” Corinna said, pridefully. “Right, Ashton?”

I ignored his low response as I watched the room enfold into chaos. Father cleared his throat, and

Tabitha brought out her compact make-up kit to do touch-ups. Even Corinna and Ashton fixed up

their attire.

Piers bowed, and before the rest of the guests were ready, the door opened, and in stepped my

grandmother.

With graying hair pulled into a tight bun, and holding onto a fancy white cane with a carved golden.

swan on the handle, she scanned the room until her eyes landed on me. Her wrinkled face pulled up

into her signature cute smile.

“Grandma!” I jumped out of my seat, letting go of Damon’s hand to gently pull her into a hug.

“Oh, my Addie,” Grandma chuckled, patting me on the back with her wrinkled hand.

“Congratulations on your engagement, dear.”

I beamed at her as she grasped my hands in her own.

“I do wish you had warned my old heart before this,” she said as she smiled at me. “But I always knew

this day would come. Even these old eyes could see how much that boy cares for

you.”

A pang of guilt shot through my chest at her adorable bright smile.

Sorry, Grandma but you’ve been fooled. The one he loves is across the table.

“Mother!” my father stood up nervously, “What on earth are you doing here?”

Grandma frowned at him as she pulled away, but as she did, a small weight landed in my hand. I

opened it to find my favorite strawberry candy. She winked at me, and I chuckled, popping the candy

into my mouth.

As I sat back down in my seat, Grandma stared down at him like a hawk. “Did you think your father and

I would just stand still when the press has turned our family into a zoo?”

My father swallowed, “This mess is all Adelaide’s-”

“Hush, Fletcher,” she snapped, as one of the servants quickly pushed another seat up to the table. She

nodded at him as she sat down in the simple wicker seat like it was a throne.

“Your father and Ferdinand found all this out from the news station. Everybody’s got an opinion on it,”

my grandmother said firmly. “They’re dragging our families through the mud. Making

Chapter 3

accusations about us using marriage as a stepping stone for money and power. As if we don’t respect

the marital union.

“Ashton and I got engaged first, Grandmother,” Corinna said haughtily. “It was Adelaide and Damon

who-”

“Don’t think you can pin the blame on somebody else, missy,” Grandma said coldly, “and don’t think I

don’t know what this is about. I may be old, but I’m not blind. You four will be taking responsibility

for this.”

I gulped, sliding down into my seat. While Damon looked uncaring, I knew Grandma wouldn’t let us off

easy.

“Delia and Ferdinand left the decision up to Archibald and me while they’re still abroad, though I have

discussed it with your grandparents, boys.” She looked at Ashton and Damon harshly before

continuing. “Your Grandfather Archibald agreed to stay out of it, so I will be speaking for all of us. when

I say this,” Grandma eyed down Corinna, Ashton, Damon and me before she made the

announcement.

“Whichever couple gives birth first will get our combined inheritances.”

*Adelaide