“I can imagine. You’ve worked out quite the system, and with the five of you together, the companies will never see you coming. You’ve become the force, just as I’ve taught you to be. Good job. Just one more thing...”
“Yes?”
“What if they develop feelings for her? They are impressionable young men, after all. You remember what it was like on the cusp of adulthood, all those raging hormones. You couldn’t get your fill of women back then; I can only imagine now.”
Tristan’s dad laughs outright, jovially confessing, “Very true. They have my permission to toy with her a bit if necessary. I told them to play as much as they want, but she’ll never be more than a mistress when it comes down to it. I’ve warned them of what happens to bastard babies as well, just as you taught me at their age. My boys won’t marry for a long while. I want them to enjoy college and women before settling down with lawyers and prenuptial agreements. When the day finally arrives, they’ll choose someone who complements our family; that much I can assure you. Maybe it’ll be a merger of sorts or who knows what, but they’re far too smart than to fall for the nobody daughter from a has-been entrepreneur we choose to destroy.”
The grandfather nods with his approval, taking another healthy sip from his tumbler of dark liquor. The men grow quiet, contemplative, for a moment before the heavy door opens again, and the quads stride into the room. Just seeing their faces has my cheeks flushing and my blood boiling. I can’t believe they’d ever do something like what their father just divulged. I don’t want to believe it. We’ve grown too close; they can’t be completely faking it...right?
“My boys!” their father greets affectionately. “I was just filling your grandfather in on our mutual business plan.”
Tristan enters the room, joining the two older men and leans against the arm of the couch his grandfather sits comfortably on before saying, “What did you think of the party, Grandfather?”
The mature man grins, and it transforms his face to look like an older replica of his son and grandsons. The genes in this family are incredibly overpowering with how much they all resemble each other. I bet when the two men were younger, they both looked the same as the quads do now. “You were perfect, as always, grandson.”
His gaze falls on Axel as well—the boy who had me in a closet earlier, nearly screaming his name out with pleasure.
I’m beyond mortified for being intimate with Axel and letting him do that to me now. I never should’ve allowed him to touch me and lick me like he did earlier. It meant nothing to him; it was just another way for the guys to take advantage of me. I’m such a damn fool and to think he was my real friend or that he wanted me in other ways. I’m so stupid and so fucking blind. The worst part is that Axel’s the de Lacharriere I’ve always felt the closest too. He’s the one I knew that I loved first and yet, he’s also the person who came up with this entire plan to ruin my family and me.
“Axel,” his grandfather beams. “Your mind is absolutely brilliant, my boy. You make your father and me proud. This plan that you’ve concocted seems to be flawless from what your father’s been saying.”
Axel nods, his cheeks tinging with a touch of pink. “Yes, sir, you’re correct. Once I breezed through the background information in the neighbors’ files, I’d remembered an article I’d come across months before. It was touching over Kresley’s father’s company and its many struggles. They were seeking potential investors to help lighten the burden so they could overcome their issues.”
He continues, going in depth with their plans. “The five of us then begun to invest under our individual LLC’s. Throughout the year, we’ll continue to buy up a small portion, enough to dig our fingers into the core information at least. They have a baseline before you’re allowed access to specific files and client information. We should have everything we need by the spring to inflict a takeover completely. Dad will liquidate, and then we move on to the next.”
Silent sobs overtake me at hearing him confess. No doubt it’s only a small portion of the bigger, in-depth plan they have for my father’s company. How could they be so cruel? Everything from day one...from the very beginning was nothing but a cold-hearted lie full of scheming deception, all for the love of money.
Secretly watching them, I can’t help but plead in my mind that one of them stands up. I need them to scream that they won’t do it, that they’ve fallen in love with me. That won’t happen, however. My wishful thinking is only a sad fairy tale from a blind girl. I know it, just by taking their serious expressions. This was nothing but a convenient job for them while they wrap up their high school education. They’ll be unstoppable in college and as adults if they’re this deceiving as teenagers.
Cole and Brent remain quiet, standing still as statues with their arms crossed over their chests as the other four men in the room carry on with their scheming ways. Their conversation moves to rake over the minute details, like when they graduate, what colleges they’ll attend, and other businesses they may acquire. Eventually, they discuss how their grandfather will leave, going back to France and how he expects the quads to visit in the summer. I guess the girls have been asking for the guys, per his excited boasting. Go figure, they have foreign women waiting to comfort them as well. Could this get any worse? My heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest cavity.
I’m numb and cold inside. The excitement and love I’d been so enraptured with earlier is fleeting. My emotions have been completely rubbed raw, and I’m ready to bleed at the first sharp object I come in contact with. There’s nothing I can do in the moment without drawing attention to myself. I have to squat in the snug spot I’d wedged into, while hot, torturous tears track over my cheeks.
After what seems like forever, Mr. de Lacharriere and the senior de Lacharriere finally say their good-byes and make their exit. With them out of the room, I can no longer remain in my torturous hiding place. I can’t be here for another second. I’m ruined, and I refuse for them to have the satisfaction of thinking they’ve won.
With that thought, I stand from my hiding place.
“S
o you found out our original plan,” Tristan murmurs with a nonchalant bounce of his broad shoulders. He seems so cold and detached, cruel even, as he notices me standing here. How could he just turn his emotions on and off like that? He was holding and kissing on me not even an hour ago in front of everyone.
I’m shaking and sobbing; full of grief for the boys I’d hopelessly fallen for and have already lost. Or maybe, just maybe, I never had them in the first place. My heart is nonexistent in the moment. There’s nothing in my chest anymore; the organ is utterly shattered like a thin sheet of glass.
I knew there had to be ulterior motives from the start but was it all fake with him? And his brothers are the same; I was stupid enough to have given up a piece of my now blackened heart to them as well. I can’t understand it, that this entire plot was one big lie for them and nothing more. Or, I should say, it was many little white lies and all at my expense.
I was beginning to fall for them—all four of them. And they’d deceived me.
End of Book 1
The conclusion is in Ugly Dark Truth
Dedicated to
Everyone who enjoys falling down the rabbit hole,
just as much as I do.
“S
o you found out our original plan,” Tristan murmurs with a nonchalant bounce of his broad shoulders. He seems so cold and detached, cruel even, as he notices me standing here. How could he just turn his emotions on and off like that? He was holding and kissing on me not even an hour ago in front of everyone.
I’m shaking and sobbing; full of grief for the boys I’d hopelessly fallen for and have already lost. Or maybe, just maybe, I never had them in the first place. My heart is nonexistent in the moment. There’s nothing in my chest anymore; the organ is utterly shattered like a thin sheet of glass.
I knew there had to be ulterior motives from the
start but was it all fake with him? And his brothers are the same; I was stupid enough to have given up a piece of my now blackened heart to them as well. I can’t understand it, that this entire plot was one big lie for them and nothing more. Or, I should say, it was many little white lies and all at my expense.
I was beginning to fall for them—all four of them. And they’d deceived me.
My bottom lip wobbles; my body quakes as raw emotions swirl through my gut. My mind is trying to catch up, but it’s all so much...the pain...the betrayal.
“Ax-Axel was supposed to be my friend,” I trail off, my tearful gaze landing on the handsome, disheveled boy in question.
He doesn’t look like my Axel anymore—the one I’d been kissing and giggling with earlier. This man is someone I don’t know. In fact, with all that’s come to light, it’s apparent that I never knew him at all.
My gaze stabs at his, wanting Axel to prove me wrong and confess his love for me. “You came up with this bullshit plan? All for your father?” I know they just said it, but I can’t help repeating the cutting words. I want to hear him admit it right here to my face, to own the words.
Axel’s body’s rigid; he’s wound tightly as he just stands there, wordless. His intelligent eyes scan the room before he finally rubs at his temples and nods in resignation. His face remains blank as the tension in the room grows with each passing moment. None of the smiling, friendly boy that I’m used to being around. That person never existed as far as I’m concerned. How am I supposed to know what was an act and what wasn’t?
Brent and Cole cast scowls in my direction as I quietly self-destruct inside. Brent was supposed to be my protector—the moody boy I knew would have my back whenever I needed him. Cole ended up being the thoughtful, troublemaking one, yet he comforted me. His deep Southern drawl fed me compliments and nicknames and allowed me to cry on his shoulder when I needed to. He bought me my car, amongst other things, and made me falsely believe I was special to him. Yet, it was all nothing but lies to get what they wanted. All of the deception was so their cutthroat of a father could make more money off my family’s demise.
The life I was starting to picture, the one I’d begun to plan and prepare for with them, isn’t real. They’re not my future, and they never were. They’re nothing but selfish, deceitful monsters.
It takes every ounce of strength I have in me at the moment to not show them just how broken I am. To not let even the slightest notion slip out that I’m weak and my body physically aches so strongly it wants to bring me to my knees with their admissions. I want to fall to the ground and scream in agony—my chest aching like one big, sliced-open, festering wound.
Curling my fists, I whisper into the silent room. “I hate you.” And then I do the only thing I can...I run.
I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe for them to shout or chase after me. I thought perhaps they’d try to shut me up or even make me feel like I was crazy and say I’d heard it all wrong. None of that happened. There were no pounding footsteps echoing behind as they hunted me down. I wasn’t pulled back into the room and hugged so tightly in their arms that I couldn’t breathe while I sobbed my heartache away. The four of them did the opposite actually...they did absolutely nothing. Brent, Tristan, Axel, and Cole—the guys I’d given my heart to—let me run out on them, and not one of them so much as attempted to stop me.
I find Sam about to step into the woman’s guest bathroom as I’m storming down a never-ending hallway away from the library. “Sam!” I cry brokenly, and she spins in my direction. Her mouth drops open when she takes in my tear-streaked cheeks, ruined makeup, and uncontrollable sobbing.
“Holy shit! What happened, babe? Jesus, you’re a wreck!” She jogs toward me and folds me into her arms as soon as she reaches me.
“G-g-g-get me the fuck out of here. R-right now,” I stammer. I’m so upset I’m nearly choking on my tears. I’m crying hard, my gaze watery to the point I feel like a drunk person trying to walk a straight line. I’ve been hurt by my father numerous times, yet it never once felt like this—like I’m fucking dying inside.
Sam pulls away enough to keep one arm wrapped securely over my shoulders and steers us in another direction. She helps me stumble to a dim, secluded staff entrance with no one around to see me. “Come on, sweetie. I got here early enough they let me park in the staff area away from the valet. My car should be nearby.”
I nod, following her out the door into the starry night. I begin to tremble almost instantly, not only from my wrecked emotions but from being outside in the freezing cold in nothing but a ball gown and heels.
“I can’t believe this. Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Sam curses and unlocks her BMW, flinging the door open. She holds the passenger side door for me and helps stuff my dress into the car before slamming the door shut.
My teeth begin chattering as Sam runs around the front and hops into the driver’s side, closing the door in haste. Our breaths come out in foggy white puffs as she quickly reaches into the back seat to her duffle bag. She digs through it with cold, jerky motions, yanking out her puffer jacket and a sweater.
“Drape the jacket over you, so we don’t get freaking hypothermia! Fuck, it’s cold!” She swears and pulls the sweater over her head. With a flick of her wrist, she fires up the engine, giving the gas a few revs to warm the frozen car. She turns the heat to the hottest setting and takes in my tormented state again. “Wanna talk here?”
Shaking my head, I whisper, “Get us the hell out of here. Just get me away from this damn place!”
She guns the gas while muttering, “I swear when you calm down and give me a name, I’m setting some bitches’ hair on fire for this shit. Or I’ll castrate someone; was it a guy?” Sam suddenly probes and pauses for my reply while pulling out of the quads’ massive gated drive.
I can only nod, teeth chattering as the BMW’s heater hasn’t warmed up yet. I’m too cold and far too upset to communicate much right now. I have to process everything that happened for a bit and beat myself up more by thinking about it a bajillion times. My chest already feels like it was stabbed several times, and I’m bleeding out. I can only imagine how I’ll feel tomorrow and the days following when the information from tonight has a chance to really settle in and take root.
“Talk to me, Kres; you’re freaking me out. Was it the grandfather? I’m not going to lie, I thought he was kinda hot for being an older dude. If he was a creep, I’ll turn around and knee his old, saggy nuts.”
“Oh God,” I croak, my voice choppy from the quick onslaught of tears. I wipe my eyes and then my snotty nose on the sweater; I can’t bring myself to care at the moment that it’s not my shirt. I’m a complete mess right now.
“Babe...” Her frown deepens as her brows furrow. She’s totally worried, I can see it. She keeps driving away from the mansion, and I’m beyond grateful for her getting me out of that fucking hellhole so quickly. She really is the best friend to me, no matter what I may be facing.
With a sob, the story eventually works its way up and comes pouring out of me in a choked confession. I tell her everything, beginning from how close I’ve been getting with the quads to what we did tonight and lastly, the conversation I’d overheard that pretty much shattered every piece of me.
“I’m going to kill those lying bastards.” Sam softly murmurs the threat once she’s heard me out. She was quiet while I spoke, her eyes widening in outrage along with shocked gasps leaving her at times. She had to pull the car over once I got to the library part; she was becoming too frazzled to drive and be a decent listener at the same time. “Brandon will kill them for this too. He would’ve done anything for you, and they came in and just took over your life.”
“Y-you can’t tell anyone, Sam. Not even Brandon, please.”
“What?” she cries, jerking back. “Why the heck not? Everyone should hear what scheming bastards they are!”
I shake my head, tears still leaking. “No one can know about this. It need
s to stay between you, me, and them.”
“That’s not fair, Kres. Not at all. Just because we’re not as rich as they are, it doesn’t mean they can secretly go around ruining other people’s lives...they don’t get to ruin yours.”
“That’s exactly what it means. You have no idea how powerful their family is. I won’t let them tarnish you and your family as well. There’s only one thing I can do.”
She leans over the console, pulling me into a tight hug. She smells like strawberries and vanilla. I never thought that scent could be so comforting, but right now it’s making me feel at home and safe. Her hair tickles my nose as I confess in a whisper, “I have to tell my dad the truth.”
“Oh, Kres,” she sighs sadly. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you of all people. I can be there with you when you decide to break it to him. I think it’d be smart if we have Brandon with us too. He’d never allow anything to happen.”
Shaking my head, a tremble wracks through me. “No, I have to do this alone.”
I know what this means—how my father will react. He’ll figure out a way to blame me for this somehow. Maybe he’ll say I wasn’t good enough or I messed up one way or another. Regardless, I can’t ever let my friends see my dad when he rages. I would never forgive myself if they were caught in the crossfire. Hell, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself from their pity looks alone. They already have their suspicions as they’ve witnessed bits and pieces. I won’t allow them to discover everything that happens behind closed doors.
“When will you be back at school? Break’s been over for a week now, and I miss having my best friend with me.” Sam’s voice has been my lifeline. Her phone calls alone are enough to push the black cloud of my life away for the brief time we speak.
Harvard Academy Elite Page 17