Chapter 98: What’s Best
Edrick
I was too taken aback by Kelly’s proposition to even speak. Was she the one who paid off the tabloid to keep the photo up, just so she could manipulate me into having a fake relationship with her? Or did someone else put her up to it… Like my father?
“Well?” she said, batting her eyelashes in front of me. “What do you say?”
“I…” I paused, blinking incredulously as my head reeled. “I need a drink.” Without another word, I turned on my heel and headed back toward the door to the banquet hall.
“At least think about it!” Kelly called after me in a sing-song tone of voice. “I’ll be waiting to hear your decision!”
I sighed as I stepped back into the banquet hall, letting the music and the noise of the guests wash over me. Why couldn’t I just enjoy the banquet? Why did it seem as though these sorts of things always had some sort of political connotations behind them?
As I headed over to the bar, I tried to push my conversation with Kelly into the back of my mind. She was already a little drunk, and was clearly just being vindictive because she still couldn’t seem to get over the fact that I was never going to be interested in her romantically.
“Gin and tonic, please,” I told the bartender. I turned around and looked across the room at the party guests as I waited for my drink, and as I did, I saw a familiar head making its way toward me through the crowd.
My father. Great.
“Hello, dad,” I said as he approached. I stuck my hand out, but he didn’t shake it and instead brushed past me to order his drink. So it was going to be one of those nights; my mother really wasn’t lying when she said he was in a mood. With a stifled sigh, I turned back around and took my drink from the bartender. I was sipping it and minding my own business when my father suddenly slapped a folded piece of paper down in front of me.
“What’s this?” I asked, furrowing my brow as I picked it up and opened it. My eyes widened as I saw that it was a chart depicting our stock prices. They seemed to have gone down a little over the past week; it was correlated perfectly with the day that the tabloid incident occurred.
“Your little mistake is already taking an effect on our business,” my father said. He tilted his head back and drank his small glass of whiskey in one go, then slammed the cup back down on the bar with an amount of force that even made the poor bartender jump. “You need to do what’s best for our company. This has gone on for long enough.”
“What’s best?” I asked, folding the paper back up and sliding it over to him. “What are you talking about? What has gone on for long enough?”
My father let out an exasperated sound that was mere centimeters away from a growl. The bartender refilled his glass, and he snatched it away and drank that in one go as well. “I may be old, but I’m not a fool, boy,” my father said. “I was patient enough with your first child. She may be illegitimate, but at least she’s a purebred werewolf. But this…” He turned, gesturing toward Moana as she walked across the ballroom holding Ella’s hand. I watched as Ella excitedly took off toward my mother, who was grinning from ear to ear and showering her with kisses. My father never even once smiled at Ella. My eyes wandered over to Moana then, who looked absolutely stunning in her dress; far better than Kelly looked, and Moana hardly even had to try to look that beautiful. She was a natural beauty, whereas Kelly was too thin and the effects of too much alcohol, too many cigarettes, and not eating enough were already starting to show on her face. I always suspected that she dabbled in other drugs, too, but I could never be sure.
“Dad, do we need to have this conversation right now?” I asked, taking my glass and taking a step away from the bar. “It’s the family banquet. Why can’t you just have a nice time?”
My father scoffed. “How can I seriously have a nice time when you’re running around impregnating human nannies?”
A lump rose in my throat at my father’s words. For the second time that night, I was reminded that Moana was just that: a human nanny. A servant from a lower class. I often forgot that she wasn’t a werewolf socialite because of her beauty and her grace, which made it hurt even more when I was reminded of her true social standing. Of course I couldn’t admit it to anyone, and not even really to myself, but I secretly wished that she was a werewolf socialite. If she was, I might have reconsidered our relationship by now if it weren’t for my overwhelming disdain for love and marriage.
I didn’t know what to say. My father turned then to gesture toward Kelly, who had just walked in through the side door and was now sauntering across the banquet hall. “Why don’t you just marry Kelly already?” he said. “She’s a werewolf from a well-to-do family, and she’s an Alpha. You could say that Ella is the daughter that you had with her and no one will bat an eye.”
I could think of one person who would certainly bat an eye, though: Ella’s mother, Olivia. It was already difficult enough as it was to keep Ella in the dark on the true nature of her mother and to keep her believing that her mother was dead. If I told the public that Ella was Kelly’s daughter, Olivia would find out and would do everything in her power to meddle in one way or another. Not only that, but Ella would resent me forever if she found out. I had always planned on maybe speaking to Ella about it one day when she was grown up and could emotionally understand my reasons behind doing it, but if she found out now at such a young age, I wasn’t sure if she would ever get over it.
Suddenly, I came to the realization that my father must have been the one to put Kelly up to talking to me. They were certainly in cahoots together, and it made my blood boil.
“You put her up to it, didn’t you?” I asked, spinning around to face him as I gripped my glass with so much force that I was certain it would break. “You told Kelly to try to convince me to have a fake relationship with her.”
My father only shrugged and took his third drink off of the bar, this time holding it nonchalantly as he began to make his way toward the dance floor.
“It’s time for you to grow up, Edrick,” he said. “It’s time to do what’s best for the company.”
I stared after him as he disappeared into the crowd without another word. I still hadn’t even finished my drink, and by now I didn’t even want it; I just needed to get out and get some fresh air. Leaving my drink on the bar, I turned and stormed off toward the garden.
I needed to take a walk and get away from all of this.
