Chapter 26: The silence

The " Silence, Scar remarked, voice sharper now, is a plague in this house. "One that infects everything it comes across." Magnolia paused for a protracted period. She turned her gaze toward Scarlett then gently laid her teacup down. "I warned you once," she murmured, voice as brittle leaves. Still, you arrived nonetheless. "You said Tucker isn't the one I need worry about," Scar replied. And now I would like to know who is. „ Magnolia's eye stayed fixed. As you already know. "Wyatt," He is capable of things; you cannot imagine. Scarlet's heart hammermed. "Why did he object so strongly to my parents? Why did he wish me out of Tucker's life? ''' Magnolia turned her back on us. "Because you deviated from the plan." "What scheme?" "" Magnolia stood, gliding slowly toward the bookcase. Her motions were refined, understated, as though she had taught herself to be only a shadow in her own house.

She remarked quickly, "You remind me of her." Scarlet Blinked. Of who? {{{ Magnolia felt her fingers glide over book's spine. "Your mother." Scarlet frozen. "You knew her? '' Magnolia nodded just once. Not good. But enough. "What kind of person she was? { "Silent." Intelligent. Too mild for the world we live in. Scarlet ingested. And Wyatt. ." The hand of Magnolia tightened on the book. "He became completely fixated on her." The words hit like a flashbulb. Scarlet felt the floor turn under her.

Magnolia removed the tattered leather journal book. She held it for a second then turned to Scarlet. "Your mother handed this to me, the last time I visited her," she remarked softly. "She told me it was meant for you, when the time was right." Breath stopped in her throat as Scarlet gently moved forward. Magnolia gave her the journal with its leather cover cracked with age, edges curled from years of secret life. Magnolia pointed out, "She wrote everything in here." Even the things she was reluctant to speak out loud. Scarlet grabbed it in both hands, the weight of it like a storm cloud slamming against her. "Why right now? "She questioned," "Why now should I give it to you? "Because I've seen the way Tucker treats you," Magnolia remarked.

And I have seen Wyatt observing from the shadows. The voice of Scarlet quipped shook. "Do you believe he would harm me? ''' The expression of Magnolia became more rigid. "He already does." One heard a blast of wind striking the windows. The flames sounded more like cracking. Scarlet fixed her gaze downward at the diary she held. Though one reality stood louder than all the others, a thousand questions raged beneath her eyes. This house had always been deliberate quiet. An wall. a barrier. One of a weapon. And today, that wall started to fall apart. She once more turned toward Magnolia. "Thanks.". Magnolia did not grin. "Be cautious, Scarlet." There are things buried in that diary that destroy rather than only improve lives. Scarlet gripped the diary more tightly. "I'm not scared of truth," she remarked. "No," Magnolia answered, once more staring into the fire.

But you should be as well. Scarlet left the room carrying the journal firmly to her chest, her pulse pounding and her head flying. She saw no shadow hovering at the velvet drape at the corridor corner. She failed to hear the breath catch behind her. Still, another person had heard every word. They also lacked readiness for the break in the stillness. By the time Scar reached her chamber, the storm had increased. The chandelier lights shook gently as thunder swept across the estate like the voice of a buried god. The corridor flicked in and out of shade. With a force that made even the massive walls appear delicate, rain crashed against the glass. She gently closed the door behind her and leaned against it, the tattered journal held like something holy against her chest. Her fingertips slid over the leather once more, as though she were learning the texture and would center herself with its weight.

The handwork of her mother. Her Secrets. Her truth nestled between pages waiting years to be turned over. Scarlet went to the room's corner where a velvet recliner was close to the fireplace. She set the fire herself, shaking hands to strike the match. The flame grew, then crackled to send flickering gold across the walls and her face. Curling into the chair, she opened the diary. The first page ran rather straightforward. Elena Langston is the delicate script name of her mother.

One finds a date below it. around twenty years ago. Scarlet turned the page very gently. "If your daughter is reading this, I have already betrayed the vow I made to keep you separate from all of this. Though I hope my words can shield you, I have failed you in more ways than I could ever describe. The breath of Scarlet stopped. The ink was faintly faded, and the loops of every letter both familiar and eerie. Her mother had written long before the accident. Long before any of them were aware of the extent Wyatt Lockwood's influence covered. Stories of the Beaumont family will be told here.

There will be some that sound romantic. Strong. Grand is the name. Not all kingdoms, though, are established with moral clarity. Some have bartered souls and are sewed with threats. I participated in one of such barters. Scarlet flipped the next page with slightly shaking palms. " Wyatt Beaumont first saw me seventeen years old. He seemed to me to be another individual from the corporate circuit your father negotiated. Still, he wasn't He monitored me for weeks, went to every gathering we invited, coordinated meetings we never knew were scheduled. Until the first letter showed up at our house, I assumed I was dreaming of it. Scarlet sat straight-forward. The flames crackled with greater intensity. "He was fixated." It started with gently pleasing comments, beautiful flowers, gifts your father always made me return. But then there were the threats. initially silent ones. On my car, a flat tire.

The client of your father withdrawing under unexplained circumstances. Your father discounted them, considering it to be coincidence. Until Wyatt arrived at our front door, grinning and posing as a worried friend. Scarlet raised a palm to her lips. "He insisted on my leaving your father. Said he could present me with a life I was due. That in a "small" existence I wasted my beauty. I declined. He wasn't very receptive to it. Scarlet turned page after page, her eyes widening with every fresh addition.

Her mother's once- beautiful language became jagged flashes of terror. "Wyatt made it abundantly plain that he would destroy your father's company should I refuse. He began cautiously. Contractualism vanished. Investors started to drop out. Our records were checked over night. Still, we didn't waver. We took great pride in it. overly proud. The fire burst. "He ended at last, exactly as abruptly as he had started. I felt that it was finished. But right now I know better.

I saw him once more, about town. He beams too quickly. His eyes track me like a hunter merely stopped in his quest. Scarlet flipped yet another page. "He sent a bouquet when I told him I was carrying you. No card here. only lilies. They are funeral flowers, according to my mother. I preserved the petals. They lie sandwiched between pages in another journal you will never come upon. Her skin felt as though it crawled. Her mother had not been insane. She had been targeted for hunting. "Your father lacked evidence even though he wanted to pursue charges. Wyatt was circumspect. Always wary. I asked him not to press it. I only wanted tranquility; I was already showing. He assured me he would defend us nevertheless. But worry started to show up in our life as an unsung guest at every Christmas meal. Scarlet thought she was drowning, every syllable another stone in her chest.

Wyatt showed up once more when you were five. Still, this time it was not about me. It revolved around you. He presented trust money, a private education, possibilities. All suited in charity. We turned him down. He stepped back one more. Till you turned seventeen. Scarves froze. The year. The year Tucker had initially invited her out. "I watched his attitude toward you. Not in love. using tactics. You were a pawn in a conflict we could not fully understand yet. I wanted you away from all of that. Still, you were already in love with his son. The flames in Scarlet's eyes blazed. I knew he would act when he learned of you and Tucker. Still, I had not anticipated what followed. Turning the following page, Scarlet discovered something nestled between them.

Pictures. Her parents seated formally for a supper. Wyatt in the backdrop observing Elena. Scarlet's fingers encircled the picture securely. She turned back toward the diary. "He paid me a discreet visit. Instructed me to call off your marriage. Said otherwise, he would ruin us. I laughed as his son was supposed to "marry beneath their status." Said to him, Tucker adored you. Grinning, he remarked that the weakest money was love. Then the dangers came back. One of your father's client filed for bankruptcy. A fire in our storage space. minor damage done at your institution. It was all he did. An under pressure game. When I confronted him once more, he at last said clearly that he wanted you out of Tucker's life. He aimed for total control over everything. The hand of Scarlet shook. I kept this from you. I considered myself able to shield you. Still, one morning you came upon a letter. You took off after reading it. I never saw you quite broken. We both knew why you left him without a word. We never did, though, discuss it. We cannot.

Scarlet's throat closed tightly. "And you have returned into that world once again if you are reading this now. Wyatt will show up for you. not candidly. But gently. discreetly. He demolishes from the shadows. Take care, my darling. The last entry was from one week before the accident. "I've copied all I know. Should something happen to either your father or myself, it is him. Keep in mind. And once Wyatt learns you have read this Scarlet won't be safe. Scarlet still in the armchair, her breath shallow, the journal open on her lap. Outside the storm screamed. Inside, a chilly storm had only started to gather strength.

A creak tore through the quiet. She ascended. Her room's door was half opened. She had closed it. Scarlet stood slowly, each step deliberate as she moved to the door. She grabbed at the doorknob and yanked it open. There was nothing in the corridor. Still, the air smelled faintly of Wyatt's cologne. Not in Tucker's name. Not what Estelle is referring to. Wyatt,. He had been at this place. observed. Attaching. Scarlet's pulse thrashed. The journal ceased to be a remnant. It was an instrument of warfare. And someone knew she possessed it as well now. She locked the door this time when she closed it. Since whatever storm Wyatt had scheduled... Had already started to slink under the walls.