Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-three
ARA
Tension splintered the air, a sharp arrow that pierced through the peaceful atmosphere that had previously settled in the ward.
Liliana immediately went to the window, hiding behind the beige curtains as though she feared Thayne's father would hurt her.
It reminded me of Thayne's nightmare, of how he'd been repeating the words: “Don't hurt mummy! Don't hurt mummy! Don't touch her!”
“Get out." Madison ordered the nurses who fled without wasting a second longer.
“I must admit, you're smarter than I gave you credit for. I underestimated you, a grave mistake." Thayne's father was like ice. There was a harsh, uncaring quality to him that made me wonder how Madison could possibly stand him.
Meanwhile, Liliana had wrapped the curtain around herself until she was barely visible.
She kept saying, ‘He has come to hurt me. He will hurt me,’ over and over again.
I was right. Thayne's father had hurt her in the past. He was also the one who'd inflicted those scars on Thayne's back.
“Why are you here, father? Haven't you done enough?" Thayne asked, glowering at his father whose eyes were focused on me.
"I hear you are wedding tomorrow. You really think marrying her will give you an upper hand over me?" He sneered, a taunting smile tugging his lips sideways.
“You are not welcome here, father. You are not unhealthy for her. She hasn't seen you in years. Why are you really here? Why did you come with Madison?”
Madison clicked her tongue haughtily, eyeing me up and down as if I was the intruder in the room.
We glared at each other, and I refused to back down first.
She looked away first.
"I came to let you know that I want to run a DNA test." His father said, smiling conspiratorially with Madison who nodded.
A DNA test? Was that supposed to be a joke?
“I beg your pardon?” Thayne asked, a look of disbelief mingling with the frown on his face.
“You heard him right." Madison said, cocking her hip.
"He has come to take my boy. Somebody help my boy! Lola, don't let him take my boy.” Thayne's mother was still murmuring, and now she was rocking on her heels, body completely wrapped in the curtain.
“Pathetic." Madison muttered.
“You're the only pathetic thing in here, Madison." I retorted.
She opened her mouth to speak but Thayne beat her to it.
“What do you mean by a DNA test? I see you've run out of options and now you're scraping at everything and anything you can lay your hands on. I'm your son, father. You must accept it.”
"I won't accept it until I see a DNA test result that proves it is true.” Thayne's father shot back.
"Lola, make him go away.” Thayne's mother said, pointing to me.
Thayne's father lifted his brow. “Now this is interesting. Lola. I've heard that name in the past. Lola Sanderson. Yes, it was through her I was able to track your mother down.” He was gazing at both Thayne and I now, waiting for one of us to speak.
"What do you mean through her?” I asked him, already fearing what his answer would be.
“Oh? I gave her some money and promised I would take care of her baby if she gave me Liliana's location. It's such a pity that she broke so easily. A few wads of cash and she spilled everything like a leaking faucet."
Thayne's head swiveled my way. Thayne's father had come to cause chaos, no doubt.
“She would never do that." I finally said, desperate to call his bluff, to let him know that I knew he was lying.
Mr. Slade Senior stepped closer, recognition flashing in his eyes. He knew now my mother was Lola.
“You're her daughter. How did I miss that? I must say, like mother like daughter. Ambitious and greedy like your mother had been. This is who you want to wed, Thayne.” He mocked his son.
“You didn't know my mother." I refused to believe anything he said. My mother wouldn't have done such a thing.
From everything I'd heard Liliana say about my mother, they'd been best friends. For a long time. All the way from high school.
Why would my mother then betray her like Thayne's father was claiming?
"What are you getting at? The deal we made years ago stated that once I got married, I would claim full control over Slade Corps.” Thayne said, his voice vibrating with restrained fury.
"What proof do you have that we had a deal?” His father taunted.
Thayne blinked. Okay, now what was happening? Thayne mentioned that he'd had to sign a deal with his father. There had to be copies of the signed deal on both ends, right?
“What did you do?" Thayne seethed, his hands curling into fists.
“Me? What makes you think I did anything? You can ask my lawyer for full details, but here's a summary…" His father paused for full effect, his eyes darting in Liliana's direction.
He didn't care one bit about her. He'd probably been the major reason her mental health had worsened overtime.
“Start talking, father." Thayne snapped.
“Or what?"
“Or-"
“Save it. Your marriage to her will be pointless, an absolute waste of time. My lawyer reported that the signed copy of the deal is missing, so we have no proof that such a deal ever happened.”
No. He couldn't possibly be doing this. Wedding Thayne would be pointless?
"You initiated the deal. You asked me to sign it, and you added your signature after.” Thayne sounded like he was one second away from punching his fist through something.
"Well, there are two options.” His father said flatly. "You find the proof, or you present an accurate DNA test result proving that you're my son.”
“Those are ridiculous options. You have several copies of the signed deal. You made sure to duplicate them that day." Thayne insisted, barely containing the fury boiling in his veins.
"Oh, did I?” His father said with an air of indifference. "You can go ahead with the wedding, Thayne. But here's the real deal, until you present a copy of the signed deal before the wedding, I remain Head of Slade Corps.”
Thayne's eyes burned a fierce green, but his father was not finished.
“And, if I take Madison to the altar before you present either of the two options, consider your claim to the family legacy gone.”