Chapter 274 Intrigue & Devastation
Ella
When Logan’s brother questioned me about my mother, I felt a sudden heat rising in my cheeks. The audacity of the question, the way he said it, filled with a disdain I couldn’t understand, ignited my temper.
“Teach this one a lesson,” Ema hissed. “Oh, how I’d love to gnash my teeth on his skull…”
“Enough,” I said. “Not now.”
“Interesting, considering Ella isn’t even the biological daughter of the Golden Wolf Moana, isn’t that right?” Logan’s brother taunted. “She’s the bastard child of her father and… Who is your mother, Ella?”
I gritted my teeth, struggling to keep my anger at bay. My biological mother’s identity was none of his business, and the way he had thrown the question at me was downright offensive.
As far as anyone was concerned, Moana was my real mother. It didn’t matter whether she was my biological mother or not. Before I could answer, Marina, dressed in her oh-so-extravagant red dress, chimed in, her voice dripping with condescension.
“Oh, Ella, it must have been so difficult growing up with such a confusing family. I remember reading that Moana actually started off as your nanny, didn’t she? And weren’t there rumors that your little sister was conceived during a one-night stand?”
I clenched my fists under the table, every word from Marina like a stab in my chest. My family was being dissected and judged by people who knew nothing about us. And to think I was trying to remain civil.
I took a deep breath, working to control my anger.
“My family is just fine, thank you,” I responded, my voice steady but icy. “I’m very happy with the way things are, and people should really stop gossiping about things they know nothing about.”
“Oh, we’re just curious, Logan’s brother, Harry, chimed in once more. “Forgive me for being concerned about my baby brother’s future. We wouldn’t want… bad genes tarnishing our family line.”
“Oh, please, Harry,” Logan said with a wry laugh. “Don’t get me started. How many prostitutes have you knocked up? Six? Seven? Probably more, at this point.”
My eyes widened. I looked to Marina, whose cool face betrayed no emotion. Her eyes met mine, and flashed with something that I couldn’t quite read.
The two brothers continued to bicker. Meanwhile, Logan’s father, Leonard, was sitting at the head of the table, watching the entire spectacle unfold. I looked over at him, hoping that he would step in and stop this nonsense.
But to my surprise, he said nothing, his face wearing a look of amusement. Was this how he watched his sons argue, never intervening, always enjoying the show?
I couldn’t help but wonder if his silence was his way of adding fuel to the fire. Marina was about to continue her tirade when her father stepped in.
“That’s enough, Marina,” he said, his voice firm but not unkind. He paused for a moment, then looked over at me from across the table. “You know, I once met Edrick and Moana at a ball, and I know how much they value Ella. They were both very lovely, too. Let’s not tarnish this evening with idle gossip.”
Marina huffed, clearly unhappy with the interruption but compliant. The room seemed to breathe again as the tension eased slightly.
Under the table, I felt Logan squeeze my hand, an unexpected but reassuring gesture that warmed me for a moment before I gently pulled my hand away. Dinner continued, and despite the undercurrent of hostility, I managed to regain my composure.
After dinner, there was more drinking and mingling, and the atmosphere lightened somewhat. People moved around, engaging in various conversations, and at one point, I found myself alone.
Sinking down onto one of the stools at the small bar with a sigh, I ordered a drink and let my eyes wander across the room.
It was strange to watch the fake smiles, the forced laughter, the way people mingled and preened. It all felt so familiar, yet so foreign. This facade wasn’t all that different from the boring networking events my family had dragged me to when I was growing up.
Boring conversations, idle chit-chat, and lots of backhanded compliments. It all had a wearying sameness to it. I took a sip of my drink, the bitterness a perfect match for my mood.
“Isn’t it ironic how they all have to take part in most of the same things as my dad and his business partners?” I asked my wolf, my lips not moving and my face not betraying a hint of my conversation as my eyes wandered the room.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Ema replied. “Flip sides of the same coin.”
“I couldn’t have put it better myself.”
Ema was right: despite the similarities between powerful business people and the Mafia, the worlds were so different. There was an undercurrent of danger here, a tension that was absent from the staid world of business networking.
I looked around, seeing people wrapped in their own world, their own agendas. The glances, the whispers, the subtle negotiations – it was all a game, a dance of power and ambition.
This whole dinner party was supposed to be an ‘engagement party’ for Marina and Harry, but their union was entirely political. I could tell from the way that they didn’t touch, didn’t even look at each other. That was why Marina didn’t seem to care when she heard that Harry had multiple children with prostitutes.
For all I knew, maybe she had her own real boyfriend or partner in private. And I felt strangely detached from it, an outsider looking in.
My thoughts were interrupted when I saw Marina’s father walking over. His approach was unhurried, his face wearing a benign smile, but his eyes were sharp, taking in everything around him.
There was something about him that demanded respect, an air of authority that was hard to ignore. As he approached me, his expression turned thoughtful.
“Miss Morgan,” he said, his voice gentle, “I just wanted to say that it’s a pleasure to see you here tonight. The last time I saw you, you were no more than this big.”
He held his hand up to the side of his hip, indicating my height. I was a child when he last saw me. I didn’t remember him in the slightest.
I cleared my throat with a smile, then lowered my voice. There was a pressing question on my mind. “I have to ask you something, because you seem…”
“Unlike the rest of them?” he asked, finishing my sentence for me. I nodded, and he sighed. “Yes. Well, you’re new here, but you’ll eventually understand how this whole world works. Not everyone willingly or purposefully joined the ‘dark side’. Sometimes, it just… happens.”
“And Marina and Harry?” I murmured, nodding my head toward them. They were standing over by the fireplace. Harry was having an animated conversation with Leonard and Logan.
Meanwhile, Marina stood nearby. Her posture gave an air of idleness and boredom, but her eyes… they were fixed on all three of them with so much focus. She was absorbing every word they spoke, and they weren’t even seemingly aware of it.
Marina’s father chuckled slightly. “Some things are best left unexplained,” he replied, his face clouding over with a mask of coldness. “They are prepared for their union. That’s all I’ll say tonight.”
I nodded slowly, realizing that it wouldn’t be so easy to get information out of these people. I hated to admit it, but it was incredibly intriguing.
Marina’s father, picking up his drink from the bar, shot me a warm smile and turned to join the others. But before he left, he stopped, and turned back to face me once more.
“Be careful, Ella,” he said. “Your mother and father adore you. If anything were to happen to you, they would be utterly devastated.”
