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She nods and sits down as I run back around my car. My mother grins when I lower the roof, and my heart warms. The happiness she’s radiating right now… yeah, there’s no way I’m taking that away from her.
I’m lost in thought the entire way to the restaurant, barely even present as we sit down. It isn’t until my mother calls my name that I snap out of it.
“You’re absentminded, sweetie,” she says. “I guess you heard the news?”
I blink, realization dawning upon me. “Even you knew about Matthew and Jennifer?”
It looks like I was the last one to find out. Looks like everyone has been tiptoeing around me, and I hate that. I hate being pitied.
“Alec,” she says carefully. “Jennifer isn’t like us. It was never going to work.”
I smile wryly. “Not like us? What? Because she isn’t rich?”
Mom nods, and annoyance crawls down my spine.
“Dad wasn’t either,” I snap. “Grandpa made Dad take your surname because he was anobody. Everyone might act like they’ve forgotten, but that doesn’t change the truth. If he was good enough for you, then why are you looking down on people just like him?”
Mom looks hurt, and I regret my words immediately. “Mom, I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “I shouldn’t have said that. I apologize, truly.”
She nods, a tight smile on her face. I can’t help but wonder if she’s so opposed to people outside of our social circle because of Dad. I worry she tries to excuse his behavior by telling herself that all their issues resulted from them being from different worlds, and I don’t think that’s what it is. I don’t have one pleasant memory of my father. Not one.
I look at my mother with a heavy heart. Her hair is perfectly blonde, not a single strand out of place. I don’t even see the tiniest wrinkle on her face. My mother maintains a perfect facade. The perfect wife, the matriarch of the Kennedy family. The mask she wears carefully crafted throughout the years. Each time my father walked out on us, another part of her facade was crafted. Sometimes I wonder what she sees when she looks in the mirror. Does she see the woman she once was, the one my father destroyed? Or has she started to believe her own lies?
Mom grabs a familiar manila folder from her bag, and I swallow down a groan. She opens it and starts to lay out photos on the table. “These girls and their families are all interested in forming an alliance with the Kennedy family. The Vanderbilts are my top pick. They’re offering a merger if you marry their oldest daughter.”
She smiles tightly, a pleading look in her eyes. “Just meet them, Alec. You never know whether you might fall for one of them.”
Fall for one of them? Even after all these years, all the pain she’s been through, all the times my father has abandoned her,us, she still believes in love. She refuses to see it for the curse it is.
“Besides, your grandfather’s deadline is looming. Right now, the battle for his position of chairman is between you and Dylan. If you aren’t married by the end of June, the position is automatically Dylan’s, no matter how much more you deserve it. Do you really want the company falling into your cousin’s hands? Dylan isn’t half as smart as you are, and he hasn’t worked as hard as you have, either.”
I sigh, my eyes dropping to the photos. “Mom,” I say, my voice soft. “Can’t you talk to Grandpa? You’re his only daughter—you know he has a sweet spot for you. Won’t he reconsider? I’ve worked myself to the bone for our company, unlike Dylan. Dylan only ever puts in the bare minimum, and Grandpa knows it.”
Mom shakes her head. “I’ve tried, honey. He won’t budge. He still firmly believes in family virtues above everything else, and he won’t bend the rules for you. Any member of our family that wants to take their seat on the board must be married. That includedme too, sweetie. That has always been the rule, and it always will be. He might have made an exception for you if the position you were after wasn’this. His successormustbe married, Alec. He won’t change his mind.”
My eyes fall to the photos, my entire body numb with resignation. There’s no way I’ll let the company fall into Dylan’s hands. There’s no way I’ll let all my hard work go to waste. I’ve spent my entire life in anticipation of inheriting my grandfather’s role, and I’m not about to give up on my goals now.
I sigh and nod at my mother. “As you wish, Mother,” I murmur. “Go ahead and start arranging meetings with the girls you deem eligible. I’ll choose one of them to marry.”
Chapter 6
Elena
I stare up at the grand mansion in front of me, the gates imposing. I inhale deeply before forcing my feet forward. I press my palm to the scanner, and a sigh of relief escapes my lips when the gates swing open. Part of me expected to be denied entry—I wouldn’t put it past my stepmother to find a way to remove all my biometric data. She’s tried to cut me off from my father and brother the moment she stepped into our lives, and she’s succeeded. I wouldn’t even be here if my mother’s life didn’t depend on it.
I’m nervous as I reach the door, my gaze dropping down to the old clothes I’m wearing and my torn-up shoes. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in this outfit, and now I can’t afford anything better. I hardly ever feel embarrassed for the way I live my life now, but standing here in front of my childhood home, knowing I’ll be judged and found lacking… it hurts.
It kills me that I have to resort to coming here at all, that I’m incapable of caring for my mother on my own. I can’t help but think back to every decision I’ve ever made, every bit of money I could have and should have saved.
I brace myself as I walk into the house, feeling out of place in this cold and foreign mansion, not a single trace of my childhood remaining. I stop by the dresser in the hallway, my fingers tracing over it. There have always been three photos here, one of my parents, one of Matthew and me, and one of the four of us. All three photos have been replaced to remove every trace of my mother and me. It’s like my stepmother recreated every photo that used to be here, replacing only my mom and me. I grimace, a faint pang of hurt twisting my heart. This house used to be filled with love. This is the house my mother turned into a home. Now it’s a place where I’m not even welcome.
“What areyoudoing here?”
I turn, a bittersweet smile on my face. I’d somewhat understand those words coming from Elise, my stepsister, or even from my stepmother, Jade. But no, it’s my own brother.
“Hi, Matthew,” I murmur, masking my aching heart behind a perfectly crafted smile.
He grimaces as he takes in my outfit, his disgust obvious. I tense, bracing myself against the pain I know he’s about to inflict. My eyes drop to the woman next to him, and unease settles in the pit of my stomach.
