Chapter 95 A SHAM OF AN ENGAGEMENT
SLOANE’S POINT OF VIEW.
My throat bobbed from the force of my harsh swallow. It felt like my ears were bleeding, like I wasn’t in a real place, like my father….the man I thought had raised me from the moment I was born up till now, was speaking such words to me, and in such a tone. Especially when he had never spoken like this to me.
Ever.
“And now that your pathetic little family has reunited, just know this, I’m coming for what’s rightfully mine, even if I have to fucking snuff you out by finally finishing what I started years ago, I’ll fucking do it. And no one, not Valerian, not Genevieve, not your fucking Ravenscroft boyfriend, who I have had to fucking work for all this time, will save you from me. All that fortune, it will be mine! And a spoiled brat like you will never take it away from me.
“But why….why did you do all this?
“
“You already know why… as the right questions, Sloane.”
“What could have possibly made this the best movie? How did starting a fire, almost killing three people, serve as a good idea in any way? I’m sure if you had tried another legitimate way, all this wouldn’t have happened. Why did you make me think you were my father for years, only for it to be revealed that you’re the mastermind behind all of my nightmares? You know how much that crack head woman tormented me!
I couldn’t eat for days at times….hell, I still have an eating disorder because of it, and you caused all of that!
Why were you so evil?
You caused me pain, and placed salve on it whenever it hurt too much. What sort of sick movie is that?
“Blame your fucking mother, you brat!” He snapped into the phone. “If she had agreed to marry me instead of Valerian, this would never have happened. You would have been my daughter! My fucking flesh and blood, not Valerian’s!
I saw her first. I asked her out first. I wanted her first. I planned a full-on dinner for her, and waited in the fucking rain thinking she would get my secret letter and come over, but imagine my surprise when I found her giggling and drinking with my fucking brother, while I stood in the rain, a few fucking meters from the restaurant they dined at!
So, you really ask why I did this?
Blame your damn mommy! If she had given us a chance, we would not be here right now. But thanks to her, we will have to suffer now, won’t we, dear Sloane?”
“You won’t fucking touch her!” Lucien and my father scream into the phone before Lucien snatches it from my hands, preventing my father from taking it instead.
“You crazy fucker. To think I got you a job in London because I thought I was protecting you from my father, but here you are making plans against my girl. You think I’ll ever let you come so close that you’ll fucking touch her.”
“Ah, Ravenscroft. You sound exactly like your mother.” My F….Uncle Reginald hisses into the phone, before humming like an insane person.
I notice how Lucien’s shoulders stiffen immediately, as his grip tightens on my phone. “Don’t speak about my mother. Don’t even utter her name.”
“What,…you mean Alicia, or as I fondly called her, Hayes’ Bitch.” I inhale sharply at his comment, my eyes widening in fear.
Lucien hasn’t told me much about his mother, but I know he cares very deeply about her. He always had a pendant on him; something I think his mother owned. So hearing Uncle…Reginald talks about her like this….I couldn’t tell of its consequences.
Lucien doesn’t say a word for a moment; the silence stretches uncomfortably around us, forcing me to sit up straighter and hold my breath out of fear for his outburst. But surprisingly, Lucien doesn’t scream, yell, or even hiss… he just chuckles, like he just heard the most amusing thing ever.
“You must not know who the hell you’re messing with, Reginald.”
“Oh please, at least find out what really happened to your mother before playing lion before someone like me, while you’re actually still a fucking cub.
And Valerian? If he’s still there, let him know that I said this.
‘I will finish what I started years ago, but this time, no one will save you from the fires I will unleash on your entire fucking family.”
With that, the line cuts dead with three beeping sounds, making me lean back into the couch to try and process what the fuck just happened. Hell, what the damn fuck just happened in the space of a few fucking hours?
Suddenly, even though the backstage area was bigger than my…..Uncle Reginald’s house suddenly felt much smaller, like the walls were closing in on me with every moment that passed.
“How do you feel, Sloane?” I heard Ms….well, my mother asked, but all I could focus on was the feelings of sadness mixed with anger coursing through me. I couldn’t believe that this just fucking happened.
“How am I supposed to feel? I don’t even fucking know.” I let out a dry chuckle before taking in a shaky breath.
I pictured the man who had lifted me onto his shoulders whenever we played in the small garden out back, who read me Barbie stories before putting me to sleep, who always made sure to get me some chocolate chip ice cream whenever he had to go for a long work trip.
“I know this is hard, Sloane.”
“Yeah, you think.” I scoffed before staring at my feet. Now I have to mourn the father I thought I had, while trying to accept the one I just discovered.
“I grew up with that man. He was always so… fatherly to me….I can’t fucking believe….how am I supposed to go on from here? Hmm.” I asked, staring at them. Valerian, Ms Vale, Seraphina, and Ace, but it seemed even they could not provide answers, because all they did was fucking stare.
“You’re telling me I’d been dealing with the direct cause of my problems, eating, drinking, and fucking waiting up for him whenever he would be back from work trips because I always thought it was just him and me, but he was the direct cause of my nightmares and eating disorder???
I was hospitalized for that at sixteen, you know….the fucking doctor who checked me said I needed to be free of any triggers for as long as possible if I was ever to heal.
And you know what happened after that?
That crack head, whom I thought was my mother, broke into the house the night I’d been discharged, and tried to fucking kill me.
But you’re telling me he was the one who caused all that?
My life is a fucking soap opera at this point.
“Look, I know this is a bad time….But I think it’s safer if you move in with us. Since this man has declared war, it’s better if you’re in a place with security.” Seraphina said.
“Like hell she’s going,” Lucien interjects, walking back to me at a fast pace.
“I need time to fucking think about everything. And Seraphina, I don’t think I need advice from my boyfriend’s possible wife.”
“No, that was….it was a sham.” She chuckles, her cheeks flaming as she stares at the floor.
“What do you mean?”
“Lucien and I…our engagement was a sham to get to you. We needed anything that could trigger the nightmares, and that was one of the ways to do it.”
Oh, just fuck me