Chapter 73
Chapter 73
~Arlo Frantz~
“Sir,” Pierce stepped inside my office after a knock, and immediately showed a confused face, possibly wondering why I chose to lock myself in my dimly lit office instead of entertaining the guests.
The answer?
I feel much better here when everything in this room remains orderly and untouched by the chaos Kerri’s parents brought into my home. The dark shelves, the floor to ceiling windows and the fur carpets brought a sense of calm to me, it soothed the parts that needed control — most especially, my anger.
“Is it done?” I spoke after turning around to face the window.
“Yes, sir.” Pierce softly shuts the door behind him before walking across the room to approach my desk.
Putting one hand in my pocket, I stared down at the freshly manicured lawn below. From this angle, I could see everything in the garden, the perfectly trimmed hedges, the bricked pathways, and the pristine water fountain at the center of the courtyard.
Exactly as I wanted.
Perfect.
Everything in this place, I redesigned to reflect power.
That if someone drives by the gates and tall fences, and upon closer look sees the mansion perched up on top of the hill, they would immediately think ‘someone powerful lives there’.
And now, two parasites had stepped foot in my home, roaming it freely.
“The government will not return to their house unless the taxes have been paid fully,”
Very good.
That news pleases me, knowing that there is no way Kiera nor Ben could pay their 40,000 dollar debt, not to mention the interest rates, administrative costs and the penalty fee for failing to pay for almost twenty years.
They don’t have a house anymore, and that is only the beginning. Once I set things into motion, the chances of failing are nearly zero percent.
The corner of my mouth lifted as I turned from the window to face Pierce.
“And what are they doing now?” I asked as I moved toward my desk at an unhurried pace.
“They are in their room, waiting to be called for dinner, I suppose,” Pierce answered quickly. “The debts tied to their house were too extensive, I doubt it could be reversed.”
I threw my head back as a quiet chuckle escaped my lips. My chair creaked the more I leaned back, brushing my fingers against my hair.
The act of dismantling a person’s life piece by piece fills me with joy. I won’t destroy what they have all at once. That is what a brute would do, but not me.
I value artistry, so misery is always best served bit by bit. Slow enough to make them understand how powerless they are, how helpless they are from stopping their downfall.
First their house.
Then turn everyone against them.
Then their sense of security.
I would take more from them.
So much more that they would wish that they had just dropped dead.
Pierce just watched me quietly as my mind reeled with my dark thoughts, but I know he understands why I do this.
After all, he was the one who reported to me what he discovered many years ago.
Even remembering that day makes my blood boil to an impossible level, they don’t even deserve to speak to my wife nor breathe the same air as her after what they did.
A knock came from the door and our gazes immediately shifted towards it, “Who is it?” Pierce called with his neutral voice.
“It’s me!” It was Lucien’s voice.
My smile flattened instantly, I had forgotten that I had another problem roaming around in my home.
“Since when did you learn how to knock?” I said as soon as I saw his head poking in through the gap of the door and the door frame, an irritating smirk plastered on his face.
“Since your wife scolded me,” he fully stepped inside and almost immediately, the vibe in the room changed. “I heard her parents came to visit, soooo… why the long face?”
Somehow it felt like I was in a circus, and a jester was prancing around filling the room with his annoying laughter.
I didn’t acknowledge him, pretending that his voice was just passing through me like a ghost, but it only made Lucien more annoying as he began speaking nonstop.
First, he talked about what kind of grand party we would have to welcome our grandfather. Then he talked about his adventures in the Mongolian mountains, and then proceeded to invite me and my wife to accompany him when I am certain he had already seen the news about Kerri’s accident while filming her film, saying that was just to spite me.
Of course, everything he said, I showed no reaction… not until he mentioned:
“On my way here, I saw your wife being dragged around by her mother.” He finally plopped down on the lounging chair, exhausted from walking around the room.
Pierce, observant as ever, saw my curious face and took it upon himself to ask Lucien.
“How are you sure that was her mother?”
Lucien shot a ‘duh’ look in Pierce’s direction.
“Their resemblance is striking. Have you not seen them together side by side?”
Pierce didn’t say anything else since Lucien began speaking nonstop once again that it was impossible to interject.
“Funny woman she is… I have a feeling that she treats your wife less like a daughter and more like a vault. She kept on saying ‘buy this’, ‘give us that’, ‘you’re a Frantz now’. I don’t know about you, but I suggest kicking her out of the house before grandfather comes. You know he hates the gold digger type.” Lucien was speaking coherent words now, but it still felt like he was making fun of everything.
My jaw tightened.
I had hoped they would remain locked in their rooms, but no, they decided to drag my wife around and give them a tour around my home, using Kerri as if her existence had only become important now that the name ‘Frantz’ is attached to her name.
Kiera Roth, at this very moment, is already measuring my wealth with greed, already imagining herself draped in luxuries she didn’t work hard for. Ben Roth feels comfortable with each passing hour, believing this arrangement will become permanent. That they would either live here with us or have Kerri get them a nice villa somewhere close.
And I know somewhere in this mansion, Kerri is probably enduring her mother’s spiteful words directed at her, listening to her mother’s unrealistic demands.
The thought irritated me more than the fact that Lucien was in the same room as me.
Kerri Frantz has this habit of softening her guard. Even after the cruel things her parents had done to her, there is still a foolish side of her believing that they had changed.
I should start teaching her my ways. To let her understand from my perspective, that being vulnerable will invite predators who would take advantage of her kindness.
“Prepare the basement room,”
As soon as I said that, the office was still.
Even Lucien suddenly quietened down.
Both of them did not react, but I heard a subtle shift in their breathing because they knew what was down there, and they knew what I meant for ordering that.
It was not a room for storing wine, or a place to stuff old furniture.
It was a room several floors below, hidden with reinforced steel and silence, a room built for confessions, for screams, and for teaching people a valuable lesson.
“Yes sir,” Pierce answered, then proceeded to walk out the room, with Lucien quickly trailing behind him as if in a hurry to not get left alone with me.
I turned back towards the window, watching the sun finally set and replace the golden light with cool silver from the moon. My reflection stared coldly back at me.
For Kerri’s sake, I will remain kind.
I would let her parents sit at my table, drink my tea, sleep beneath my roof… and once the time came — I would drag them into the dark myself.
A knocking sound brought me back to my senses, and I heard that familiar voice that instantly made all my dark thoughts disappear.
“Arlo,” she opened the door, her head peeking.
I turned around, and a smile had already grown on my face.
“Darling,” I called back, finding myself already rushing in her direction.
I wrapped my arms around her delicate figure, letting her scent envelop me like a warm blanket.
“What brings you here to my office?”
She looked up at me with a small smile, speaking in that soft voice.
“Dinner is ready,”
Oh, yes.
Dinner.
Of course… let the night begin.