Chapter 61
Seeing Cedric enter, David's expression softened slightly. "What brings you back?"
"I heard there was some trouble at home. Thought I'd check in."
Cedric walked straight in, not sparing Dwayne or Sylvia a single glance as he approached David. Whether intentional or not, his position blocked Josephine from view.
"I don't think your proposed solution is fair, Grandfather."
"How is it unfair?"
David seemed genuinely curious. Rather than growing angry, he pressed for more.
But Josephine's heart only sank deeper. David losing his temper wasn't the real danger—that would only mean a scolding and some punishment. No, it was when he displayed this kind of patience that you knew a storm was brewing.
Dwayne and his wife fell silent.
Only Cedric remained composed. "You've always governed the Getty family with strict impartiality. But now, without any evidence, you're ready to confine someone to the memorial hall? If word gets out, people will assume you're playing favorites with your own grandson."
David snorted. "Do I look like someone who cares what others think?"
"You might not care, but I'd prefer people didn't gossip about you. You represent the Getty family's image. Criticizing you means disrespecting the entire family. Don't you agree?"
Cedric didn't argue forcefully. He simply invoked the family's reputation—something David valued above all else.
David glanced toward Josephine, but Cedric's frame blocked his view. He could only see the top of her head. "Come with me to the study."
The words were directed at Cedric.
Just like that, the crisis defused with a few carefully chosen sentences.
Watching grandfather and grandson head upstairs, Dwayne couldn't hide his bitterness. "I knew it. Father's always favored Cedric most. Nothing the rest of us sons or grandsons say makes any difference."
Sylvia had nothing to add to that—it was simply true. She could only offer hollow comfort. "What's done is done. Nothing we say will change it now. We should go check on Aaron."
"Check on him? This whole mess is his own damn fault!"
Dwayne shot Josephine a furious glare. "Don't think this is over. You just wait."
Josephine couldn't be bothered with him. Her gaze drifted toward the second floor.
She wondered if David would make things difficult for Cedric...
---
The study.
David regarded the grandson standing before him—the one he valued most, the one he'd always favored, the future heir to the Getty empire.
Which meant he wouldn't tolerate any blemishes on Cedric's record.
"Kneel."
Cedric didn't move.
David's voice dropped. "What, you don't take orders from me anymore?"
"I'll kneel if you want. But I'd like to know what I'm being punished for."
"Defending Josephine. That's your crime."
In David's view, that action alone was wrong. Fundamentally wrong.
Cedric's response came as a question. "You think the proper response for a future leader is to stand by coldly while Josephine gets falsely accused and punished?"
"She's Gideon's wife. If anyone's going to defend her, it should be him, not you."
Cedric held his grandfather's stare. Neither spoke, but something heavy crystallized in the air between them.
After a long moment, Cedric's eyes lowered slightly.
"You're right. I was impulsive. I should have investigated first and brought you evidence instead."
David's expression eased fractionally. "I know you've brought Josephine into the company. I haven't objected because she does have genuine talent. As an employee, she's qualified. But that's all she is—an employee."
The warning couldn't have been clearer.
Gideon had always been the illegitimate son. David had never thought much of him, even after his marriage to Josephine. That didn't matter.
But Cedric was different. Cedric mattered.
"Understood," Cedric said.
"I'm aware you and Gideon are competing over the project." David's tone was measured. "Cedric, I've taught you this before: Getty men are only allowed to win. Losing isn't an option."
Cedric paused fractionally. "Yes, sir."
As he left the study and closed the door behind him, his peripheral vision caught movement in the corridor.
"Eavesdropping out here—aren't you worried Grandfather might catch you?"
Josephine stood frozen mid-step, one foot on the next stair, the other still hovering. "I wasn't eavesdropping. I just happened to be coming upstairs."
Cedric didn't call out her obvious lie. "Feel better now?"
Josephine blinked. "I'm just glad he didn't give you a hard time."
That was why she'd been worried enough to linger.
As they headed out, a subtle smile played at the corners of her mouth.
Cedric glanced at her. "That pleased with yourself?"
Josephine didn't bother hiding it. "Of course. Anything that makes Gideon miserable makes me happy."
If Gideon had heard David's words, he'd probably combust on the spot.
He'd been fighting desperately to prove himself worthy of David's recognition. But the truth was, in David's eyes, Gideon barely qualified as a real Getty at all.
When it came to the rivalry between Cedric and Gideon, David had made his expectations crystal clear: Cedric could only win.
Which meant there was only one person who could lose.
---
By the time Gideon rushed back to the Getty Manor after hearing the news, he found Josephine and Cedric standing together near the entrance. She tilted her face up slightly, smiling.
Cedric looked down at her, his expression unreadable.
But maybe... affectionate? Indulgent?
Gideon recognized the ugly twist in his gut for what it was—jealousy fed by his own imagination. Still, it propelled him forward. He seized Josephine's hand and pulled her behind him like a shield.
"You came back to the manor and didn't think to tell me, Cedric?"
"Grandfather didn't call for you. Why would I notify you?"
Cedric tossed the reply over his shoulder as he turned to enter the house.
The words struck like an arrow straight through Gideon's chest. David had summoned Cedric. He'd summoned Josephine. But he'd deliberately excluded Gideon. What did that say?
Frustration made his tone sharper than intended when he turned on Josephine. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"The butler called out of the blue. There wasn't time to let you know."
The excuse sounded half-hearted even to her own ears.
Gideon wasn't satisfied. "You knew I—"
"Knew what?"
Josephine looked at him as if she could see straight through to the desperation churning inside. "Gideon, Grandfather called me back here today to make trouble for me. This wasn't some happy family reunion."
"Why would he make trouble for you?"
The question was so absurd that Josephine actually laughed.
A wife in crisis. A husband completely in the dark.
Gideon frowned. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
Josephine moved to go inside but found herself face-to-face with Sylvia, who appeared to be on her way out. She stepped aside.
Sylvia glanced between Gideon and Josephine, clearly putting two and two together.
"Marital spat?"
Sylvia was a chaos agent dressed up in pleasantries—she lived for stirring the pot. Josephine decided further engagement was pointless and prepared to leave.
But Sylvia's mouth ran faster. "Don't tell me this is about my Aaron? Gideon, honey, not to criticize, but as the man in this relationship, you should be the bigger person. Don't pick fights with your wife all the time. You're supposed to dote on her."
With that parting shot, she swept past them.
Gideon blocked the doorway, addressing Josephine. "How the hell did you get tangled up with Aaron again?"
Josephine hadn't planned on explaining, but since he'd asked directly, there was no point hiding it. "He kidnapped me and tried to force himself on me. I knocked him out."
Gideon froze. His lips moved, but no sound emerged.
"Gideon, where were you when I was being dragged off?"
He couldn't answer. The silence stretched between them.
Josephine's smile held no warmth. "You don't need to answer. You know exactly where you were. Just remember—you have no right to interrogate me."
Of course, Gideon couldn't answer.
At the time, he'd gotten a call from Lorelei saying her stomach hurt. He'd dropped everything to rush her to the hospital.
And then he'd stayed by her side.