Chapter 89 Breaking point
Max's POV:
I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with my baby brother for real.
Ever since this whole triangle situation had begun, I'd avoided this exact discussion as much as possible. Pushed it away, told myself we had time, that Veronica would eventually choose, and we'd deal with the fallout then.
But now it seemed like we'd reached a breaking point... and there was no more avoiding it.
"What do you even mean by this?" Theo asked. "That we both make the choice for her?"
"Of course we should," I said. "This way she won't feel guilty for rejecting one of us. Don't you see? That's why she's stuck with us. She cares about both of us too much to hurt either one."
Theo ran his hand through his blonde hair, that gesture he always made when he was stressed. "But what if we make the choice and she starts resenting it? We can't just decide something this important without knowing her heart fully. What if we choose wrong?"
He stiffened at that.
"You're right, brother," he said quietly. "We're really stuck in this, aren't we? We can't keep going like this... it's destroying her. But we can't make the choice for her without risking her hating us for it. And she can't make the choice herself without the guilt eating her alive."
I opened my mouth to respond, to try to find some solution to this impossible situation we'd created, when...
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
We both spun around to find Veronica standing in the hallway, still in her hospital gown, her face flushed with anger and tears streaming down her cheeks. She must have left her mother in the room and come looking for us.
"Veronica..." Theo started, reaching toward her.
"Don't," she snapped, stepping back. "Don't you dare 'Veronica' me right now. I just woke up from a stress-induced blackout that erased part of my memory, and the first thing you two decide to do is have a secret conversation about making my choices for me?"
I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. "We were trying to help..."
"Help?" Her laugh was bitter, and she was really broken. "You were trying to control the situation. Just like everyone else in my life. My father decides who I should marry. Chase decides he has a right to me. And now you two... the two people I thought actually saw me as capable of making my own decisions... you're going to decide between yourselves which one of you I get to be with?"
"That's not what we meant," Theo said. "We were trying to take the pressure off you..."
"By putting it on yourselves instead?" Veronica shook her head, more tears falling. "By reducing me to a prize you two can negotiate over like some business deal? God, how is that any different from what our fathers do?"
The comparison hit like a slap. Because she was right... we'd been about to make a choice about her life, her future, her heart, without even consulting her. Just like our father had done to our mother. Just like her father was trying to do to her.
Oh boy... we'd fucked this up.
"I'm sorry," I said roughly. "You're right. We had no right to even discuss that."
"But we were worried," Theo added quickly. "Veronica, you're falling apart. We just wanted to make it easier for you."
"We're sorry," I said again, moving toward her slowly. "We weren't thinking clearly. We just... seeing you in that hospital bed, knowing you'd been pushed to a breaking point..."
"Please don't come to such conclusions again..." Veronica said, still looking like she was breaking. "I need both of you right now..."
I didn't know why it brought me such a relief to know that I wasn't getting kicked out anytime soon.
She stopped, taking a shaky breath. "And there is something else I need to tell you..."
"We have far greater issues to deal with right now than our guilt about this triangle," she said, her voice dropping to something calmer but no less intense. "My father said something when I confronted him. I remember this part alone... something about Ashfords and Whitmores never being able to marry. That it's impossible, that it can never happen."
I exchanged a glance with Theo. "What exactly did he say?"
"That there's history between the families," Veronica said. " That things happened before I was born that make any alliance impossible. He wouldn't explain what, just kept insisting that what we have is a fling and nothing more. That it could never be anything more. "
"That's ridiculous," I said immediately. "Whatever happened between our fathers..."
"Is it ridiculous?" Veronica challenged. "Because your father apparently feels the same way. He sent that message expecting you both at the Debutante Ball, expecting me there too. What if he's planning something? What if there's actually a real reason they're both so adamant about keeping us apart?"
Theo was quiet, looking in that way, which meant he was processing multiple angles at once.
"Do you know anything about this?" Veronica asked, looking between us. "Any old feud? Business deal gone wrong? Something that would make them both react this strongly?"
"I don't," I admitted. "Our father never talked about your family specifically. He would just say something like 'social climbers' and 'money-suckers' types, but nothing directed at the Whitmores in particular."
"Same," Theo said slowly. "Though now that you mention it... there were times when your father's name would come up and Dad would get this look. Like he was swallowing something bitter. I always assumed it was just business rivalry."
"Well, it's clearly more than that," Veronica said. "And I need to know what. Because if there's actually a legitimate reason... something beyond just their control issues... then I need to understand what I'm up against before I make any choices about my future."
She looked at both of us, her eyes still red from crying but her expression determined.
"So here's what we're going to do," she continued. "We're all going to that Debutante Ball together. And we're going to find out what this secret is. Because I'm done being controlled by mysteries and half-truths and decisions made for me."
"The Debutante Ball," Theo said thoughtfully. "That's actually a smart move. All of our father's elite society friends will be there... people who knew both families back when whatever happened actually happened. People who might be willing to talk after enough champagne."