Chapter 60 The reason why
CHAPTER 60: The reason why
Silas
The boardroom felt smaller after Lucas left, the silence filled only by the rhythmic tapping of Natalie’s pen against her tablet. Yet, all my mind could think about were the events of the morning. I may have proposed that to Vera to push her, but I had no intention of coercing her to sleep with me in exchange for any kind of favours.
I remembered the way the air had thickened in the bedroom, the fleeting look of desire I saw in her eyes; the answer she had been mere seconds from providing before my idiotic siblings barged in.
“Regarding the guest list for the Ball,” Natalie said, her voice cutting through my thoughts. “I have the primary RSVPs for your inner circle: you and Vera, obviously. Then Chauncey, Vera’s sister?”
My reply was a half nod.
The Founders’ Ball was another opportunity for Vera and I to convince the world and further cement the success of the Rutherford-Luther partnership.
“Okay,” she ticked off something on her tablet. “I guess that's it. Is there anyone else?” she asked, eyes glued to her screen.
“Claudia,” I said flatly, leaning back on my chair.
I watched her expression freeze faster than a lightning bolt. Natalie’s pen stopped dead hovering over her screen.
She looked up, her expression shifting from professional focus to pure, unadulterated unpleasant surprise.
“Claudia? What are you talking about, Silas? What does your sister have to do with this?”
“She returned yesterday,” I informed her casually. “She’s currently staying at the mansion, so naturally, she will be attending the ball.”
Her eyes flashed. “What?” She shot up from her seat. “She’s back?” her voice rose, a sharp edge of resentment bleeding through.
“Yes.”
“And you didn't deem it important or necessary to tell me?”
My gaze sharpened. “Get a grip, Natalie.”
That seemed to set her off.
“After everything that happened, you just let that woman waltz back into our lives without a word of warning?”
I met her gaze with a chilling indifference.
“I don't recall a time where I began reporting to you, Natalie.” Now I was becoming pissed.
“What would you have me do?”
She scoffed. “You should have at least given me a heads up that—”
“I neither answer to you for my movements, nor do I require your permission to accommodate my sister under my roof.”
She took a deep breath to calm herself, and met my gaze head on.
“She doesn’t need to be there,” she said, her low and steady. “Her presence is not needed to project the image we've been working on. You don't need her. She shouldn’t be at the ball.”
I rose slowly from my chair.
“Claudia is my sister. And she is a Rutherford,” I replied, my voice dropping to a low, warning rumble.
“That is not in question, Silas. All i'm—”
I halted her with a raise of my hand.
“More than whatever you think, she has every right to be there,” I said, then with pointed emphasis, “even more so than most.”
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Do not try to play any of your funny ideas. There must be no drama at the event.”
Natalie stepped forward until she was in my space, her eyes flashing with years worth of bitterness.
“You’re asking me to be in the same room with your bitchy, unbearable sister? The woman who caused my marriage to break up? You know exactly what she did to me!”
Natalie and Claudia had bad blood because my sister was the woman that Natalie’s worthless ex husband, Jeff, had had an affair with. After Natalie filed for a divorce and ended their marriage. Claudia eloped with the scumbag against all my warnings to stop seeing him.
Chauncey and I had never seen Claudia for the past five years until recently.
“Then you don't have to be,” I said, picking up my coat from the rack and pulling it on, smoothing it with a dismissive finality.
“What?” she gasped, disappointed.
Apparently Natalie still bore resentments…and rightly so. But I still had to protect my sister's interest. She was family after all.
“You heard me, Nat,” I said heading for the door. “If the prospect of Claudia's presence is so unbearable, you are more than welcome to stay home. You won't have to be in the same room as her... by not attending.”
I left her there without a backward glance, fuming in the glass-walled silence of the office.
By the time I arrived back at the mansion, dusk was setting in. I walked into the living room and found Lily sitting in the room, scrolling through her phone.
She faced the phone downwards when she saw me.
“Good evening, Silas,” she said, offering a polite, small smile.
“Good afternoon, Lily,” I slowed down my stride a little to reply to her.
I headed for the stairs, remembering the request Vera had made earlier for her sake…allegedly. We had a discussion to finish.
After I got to our bedroom, there was no sign of her. I went downstairs to the living room.
“Where is your sister? I can't find her upstairs,” I said in a measured tone.
Lily paused, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her face. “Oh, I have no idea where she is. When I returned this afternoon, I asked the staff and they mentioned that she left with Chauncey earlier.”
The irritation I’d been suppressed all day flared into a cold, sharp anger.
She had flouted my rule. She left the mansion without my permission, and she had done it with my brother.
Where would Chauncey take her without informing me?
I pulled out my phone and dialled Vera’s number, but her phone was switched off. I called Chauncey and it rang till it ended but there was no answer. My jaw tightened and my fists curled tightly.
Lily, sensing the shift in the atmosphere, got up from the couch. “Uhm…If that’s all, I’ll just retire to my—”
“Lily,” I called out, stopping her just as she was about to flee the room, the authority in my voice was absolute. “I want to have a word with you.”