Chapter 3


    have any


    idea what you’ve done?” My father’s fury was something I was used to but never before had I seen him


    this angry.


    As soon as Damon and I walked through the front door of my house, it was like we’d walked into a


    warzone. My stepmother sat beside Corinna at the dinner table, as she held her hand and red


    daggers at me. On Corinna’s other side was Ashton, who I took particr care not to look at.


    I’d lose my cool if I saw that “sshole’s face now,


    “I can’t believe you ruined Corinna’s engagement party with this nonsense!” red-faced with a receding


    hairline.


    my father shouted,


    “I’m sure Addie didn’t ruin my engagement on purpose, Father,” Corinna said bravely, hands clutched


    on her chest as she smiled tearfully at me.


    “I’m so sorry we didn’t invite you or Damon. I couldn’t bear to make Damon watch my engagement after


    our horrid split,” she said with a pitying look at Damon.


    I eyed Damon’s reaction. He paid her no mind, only picked up his steak knife and began slicing into


    his steak.


    Corinna turned to me with teary eyes, “And I knew you had an important meeting with. your sponsor,


    Addie. I didn’t want to make you miss it just for me.”


    She looked away, hand on her mouth like she’d suppressed a sob,


    “You’re such a good sister, Corinna,” my stepmother, Tabitha, patted her hand with a kind smile. She


    turned to me with a nasty look, “so unlike Adide.”


    “Good sister, my *ss-” I retorted before I stopped myself.


    “Adide!” my father mmed his fist on the table, rattling the dishes and spilling his third ss of red


    wine. “Don’t talk to your sister that way! I should’ve known you would’ve caused trouble!”


    Corinna peeked beneath her hand, a tiny smirk on her face only I saw. I clenched my fists under the


    table.


    I knew better than to take her provocation, but I still wanted to reach across the table and smack her.


    “Don’t me Adide,” Ashton’s smooth voice said. “I doubt this was her fault.”


    “Not her fault?” my father raged, “the press is having a field day with us! They think there’s a fight for


    the inheritance of our families because of what she and that illegitimate child did!”


    I peeked over at Damon, but he was unaffected by the usation. Despite being true, it was rude and


    callous of my father to point this out,


    “Here


    you are,” Damon smirked as heid down his knife and switched our tes so I had the steak he’d


    meticulously cut up.


    Don’t treat me like a child! I can cut my own steak! I glowered at him as he leaned back in his seat


    satisfied.


    “Adide is too simple-minded to n something like this,” Ashton said to my father with a cating


    smile.


    Excuse me? The anger I’d been holding back reared its ugly head, ready to tear him apart.


    “I’m positive this must be Damon’s doing. He must’ve taken advantage of her. I’m so sorry about this.


    Please forgive Adide, Father.” Despite the trash flowing from Ashton’s mouth, my father believed it


    wholeheartedly as his re turned to Damon.


    “He must have seduced her to craft this n,” Ashton used his half-brother.


    I nearly choked on my water.


    Seduced? By this “sshole?


    All content is ? N0velDrama.Org.


    I eyed Ashton’s wine ss, bewildered and infuriated by the usations that came out of his stupid


    mouth. His ss was still full so he wasn’t drunk..


    Being around Corinna must’ve infected him with her stupidity.


    “He probably thought he was ying a prank, never considering our family’s reputation,” Ashton said


    coldly to my father. “Father and I are politicians. This could influence the votes in the next election.”


    Are you insane? I wanted to yell at my ex.


    “That’s right,” my father nodded, his anger dying down, “Adide would never do this on her own. She


    would never disobey me.”


    Oh, wow, so stupidity is contagious.


    “Luckily,” my father said to me coldly, “you have not held a ceremony yet. This mistake can easily be


    reversed. You will annul the license and marry the man I have chosen for you.”


    “What?” I gasped.


    “Luther Bradshaw is willing to take you as his third wife,” my father said, with no room for negotiation in


    his voice.


    Even Corinna looked shocked at my father’s sudden deration.


    I was stunned into silence at my father’s words. I couldn’t retort or say a single thing back as the room


    spun around me. Thoughts rushed through my brain in a whirlwind but only one came back.


    over and over.


    Did my father hate me that much?


    Luther Bradshaw was sixty years old and a notorious “sshole. Though sessful, he was renowned to


    have a horrid temper and often visited brothels even when he had his wives.


    I was never my father’s favorite child, but I always assumed he had to care for me a little. Corinna was


    always his golden child, but me? Nothing I did was good enough for him.


    I’d stopped trying to appease my cold-hearted father years ago.


    Still, this was beyond cold. It was downright cruel.


    Before I could realize what was happening, tears sprang to my eyes. But I couldn’t. I mustn’t. I must not


    cry. For years, I’d been telling myself to be strong, to be tough, to be –


    A hand wrapped around mine. Stunned, I turned to him.


    Damon gripped my fingers tightly under the table, cold and confident like everything was still in his


    control.


    “Hold it back,” Damon whispered for only me to hear. “I won’t let that happen.”


    He smiled with all the sincerity of Corinna’s tears and looked my father dead in the eye as he said,


    “You have nothing to worry about, future father-inw. She has me now.”


    Corinna’s smile faltered, ring at us furiously before Father looked her way and returned to her gentle


    smile.


    “You dare-” my father sputtered.


    “Sir,” Piers, our family’s butler, interrupted him formally. Silent as a ghost as always, I hadn’t even


    noticed he hade in.


    “What is it?” my father snapped. Most of the servants would’ve cowered, but Piers had dealt with my


    father’s temper for a long time.


    “The madam is on her way.”


    “Mother is?” My father paled.


    Tabitha gasped, “Mother-inw ising? Why?”


    “To congratte me, obviously,” Corinna said, pridefully. “Right, Ashton?”


    I ignored his low response as I watched the room enfold into chaos. Father cleared his throat, and


    Tabitha brought out herpact make-up kit to do touch-ups. Even Corinna and Ashton fixed up


    their attire.


    Piers bowed, and before the rest of the guests were ready, the door opened, and in stepped my


    grandmother.


    With graying hair pulled into a tight bun, and holding onto a fancy white cane with a carved golden.


    swan on the handle, she scanned the room until her eyesnded on me. Her wrinkled face pulled up


    into her signature cute smile.


    “Grandma!” I jumped out of my seat, letting go of Damon’s hand to gently pull her into a hug.


    “Oh, my Addie,” Grandma chuckled, patting me on the back with her wrinkled hand.


    “Congrattions on your engagement, dear.”


    I beamed at her as she grasped my hands in her own.


    “I do wish you had warned my old heart before this,” she said as she smiled at me. “But I always knew


    this day woulde. Even these old eyes could see how much that boy cares for


    you.”


    A pang of guilt shot through my chest at her adorable bright smile.


    Sorry, Grandma but you’ve been fooled. The one he loves is across the table.


    “Mother!” my father stood up nervously, “What on earth are you doing here?”


    Grandma frowned at him as she pulled away, but as she did, a small weightnded in my hand. I


    opened it to find my favorite strawberry candy. She winked at me, and I chuckled, popping the candy


    into my mouth.


    As I sat back down in my seat, Grandma stared down at him like a hawk. “Did you think your father and


    I would just stand still when the press has turned our family into a zoo?”


    My father swallowed, “This mess is all Adide’s-”


    “Hush, Fletcher,” she snapped, as one of the servants quickly pushed another seat up to the table. She


    nodded at him as she sat down in the simple wicker seat like it was a throne.


    “Your father and Ferdinand found all this out from the news station. Everybody’s got an opinion on it,”


    my grandmother said firmly. “They’re dragging our families through the mud. Making


    usations about us using marriage as a stepping stone for money and power. As if we don’t respect


    the marital union.


    “Ashton and I got engaged first, Grandmother,” Corinna said haughtily. “It was Adide and Damon


    who-”


    “Don’t think you can pin the me on somebody else, missy,” Grandma said coldly, “and don’t think I


    don’t know what this is about. I may be old, but I’m not blind. You four will be taking responsibility


    for this.”


    I gulped, sliding down into my seat. While Damon looked uncaring, I knew Grandma wouldn’t let us off


    easy.


    “Delia and Ferdinand left the decision up to Archibald and me while they’re still abroad, though I have


    discussed it with your grandparents, boys.” She looked at Ashton and Damon harshly before


    continuing. “Your Grandfather Archibald agreed to stay out of it, so I will be speaking for all of us. when


    I say this,” Grandma eyed down Corinna, Ashton, Damon and me before she made the


    announcement.


    “Whichever couple gives birth first will get ourbined inheritances.”


    *Adide