Fatal Alliances: Chapter 28
As I opened my eyes from my nap, I felt oddly comfortable. Little did I realize that I had fallen
asleep on Adrian’s shoulder. Donnie and Ricardo were asleep and so was Finny.
Turning his head towards me, he spoke in a raspy voice, “Morning.”
Feeling embarrassed that I had unknowingly used him as my pillow, I forced myself to reply.
“Morning,” I said, in a whisper.
“You drool a lot, Miss Greene,” he chuckled, softly.
Instantly, I touched the edge of my lips. Liar. I had done no such thing. The sunlight pouring through the window seemed to suddenly catch my attention and so did the sight of land.
“Soon we’ll land back in New York. As soon as we do that, get your luggage, we’ll be taking a little trip.” Adrian stated.
“What?” This is unbelievable. He expected me to just jump off a plane and suddenly go somewhere else with him? Couldn’t I even have a day to get myself together after everything that had happened? I wasn’t some robot that he could control.
“Is that a problem?” He asked, arching an eyebrow.
I wanted to tell him that ‘Yes, it actually is’, but I held myself back. Of what use would arguing with this man be? He always gets his way, so why should I waste my time? All I did was sigh deeply.
“Unless, you’d rather leave tomorrow.” He continued.
Snapping my head back up at him, I replied, “Tomorrow. I want to spend some time at home today.”
“You’re going back to that place after what happened?” He questions me.
“It’s safe now. Those men are dead, aren’t they?”
Taking a deep breath he looked out the window. “I guess, but stay at the hotel for the night. I can’t risk losing you right now.”
It’s funny about him saying that though, he didn’t say it because he cared. He said it because he needed me because if I was dead, I wouldn’t be able to sign my part out of the partnership and it would still be valid. I didn’t think Vandermir wanted to be in this mess for the rest of his life. Somehow, I had a feeling he would do whatever it takes to get Rocillie to sign that contract that would end the partnership. Well, at least now I know he really does need me.
“What’s this trip about?” I ask.
“Take a guess.”
“The partnership?”
“It’s just North Carolina and Montana we have to get to. I’ve organized for some people to meet up with us. They’ll bring the papers that you have to sign.” He stated.
“And that’s it?”
“Most likely, yes. After that, I’ll have to see about Rocillie.”
Everything was so different now. After meeting him, after hearing about this partnership, my mother, the Dawnlys and everyone else, everything changed. My whole life did. I thought about the places we had to go. I’ve never been to Montana before but, North Carolina? I knew that place too well. The memories hurt. How could I forget being there? It was my home, once upon a time. It was where I grew up, where I lived…with my parents. After arriving back, Vandermir hired a car to take me back home, to the Dawnly’s house, while he and the others went their separate ways.
Home… How much of a home is it when your family isn’t with you?
Instead of taking me back to the house, I told the driver to stop at the local café on my street. Honestly, I didn’t want to go home and be all by myself again. So, I spent most of my day there. And if I had gone back home, I would have been alone. And I hated feeling lonely. Ordering a mudslide, I sat at the table thinking about Jenna, Nina, and Mrs. Dawnly. It was good that Adrian somehow managed to get Jenna’s flight back here delayed. She had messaged me when she found out and it was better they stayed there than come back here. It was already so dangerous. I couldn’t risk Jenna finding out about any of this and stressing herself out more than she usually does. The less they know, the better. I’ll take this burden on my shoulders. Maybe I should go to the house and make sure everywhere is locked. I wouldn’t want Mrs. Dawnly coming back and finding out that her place had been robbed. And then go to the hotel before it gets dark. Finishing the cake I had ordered, I headed to the house.
Upon arriving, I took the spare key out from the corner pot and was about to turn the lock when I noticed something odd.
The door was already open.
Strange. I thought Finny said that he and Donnie took care of the place and had locked all the doors when they left. Finny wouldn’t have been so careless to leave it open like this. So, why was the front door open? I contemplated on this, it was already beginning to get late. I should just turn around and head back to the hotel now. But why was I feeling so connected to this place right now? It was calling out to me. Was my gut telling me to go in or run away? Taking a deep breath, I cautiously entered the house. Silence swept through the air. Maybe they had forgotten to lock the door. Maybe I should just head back. As I roamed through the hall upstairs, I heard a cough coming from Jenna’s room.
There was definitely someone in there.
Time was rather slow, my surroundings seemed like I was inside a fuzzy dream. Her room door was wide open. Inside, I saw the back of a man. He seemed to be looking through an old album.
“I was waiting for you, Juliet.”
His voice made my heart drop. No, this can’t be.
“Dad?” I said, in a tremble.
My father turned towards me, his eyes a lot dimmer and hair greying a bit. He looked different, different from what I used to see him as. The sweet trademark smile he always wore on his face when I was younger disappeared. He stood there looking quite foreign to me, we stood like strangers.
“It’s been so long Julie, how are you?” he asked, bringing his hand to touch my face but I stepped back.
“Why did you come here?”
Honestly, I didn’t know how I should feel. There were so many questions running through my mind. I wanted to ask him, but I couldn’t. It seemed so hard to ask my father why he left. Why did he lie to me? What about his so-called death, His current family, his old life, his new one?
Why did he do this?
Taking a deep breath, he placed the album on the bed, “I came to see you.”
I scoffed at that and felt my eyes becoming damp, “After so many years? After I’ve grieved so much for you? Did you want to come here, laugh at me and tell me about your new family?”
“No, I came to fix things.”
“Fix?” I asked, “You can’t fix anything. What are you going to fix, huh? Can you fix all the pain my sisters and I went through without you? Can you fix lying to us? Can you, dad? Can you fix the fact that you already have another family? That you deceived us? You even lied when you were with us!”
“I know what happened was unfair to you Julie, but you have to understand, I did things for everyone’s benefit.”
“Benefit!” I shouted, losing my temper, “The only person who benefited from this was you! How could you even say that this benefited us?”
“You and your sisters would have had a better life with the Dawnlys. I didn’t have the finance to take care of all of you, your wants, and your need,” he stated.
“God, it isn’t about the finance dad! It’s about being with the people you love, being with your family. I wouldn’t have cared if you didn’t buy me anything on the way back from work every day like you used to. And I know Jenna wouldn’t have minded stopping her extra-curricular classes. We just wanted you. Jen has been stressing out her whole life. She took on the parental role for us more than the Dawnlys did. Do you think it was right leaving one of your daughters with that kind of responsibility? Didn’t you at least feel a pinch of guilt?”
“I know it must have been difficult but-”
“It was! And what about Nina? She was just an innocent baby! How could a father leave his own child like that? My little sister didn’t deserve that! Tell me, what did she do to deserve that? It wasn’t fair to her.”
“Juliet, would you just listen to me!” My father shouted, shutting me up.
A thin line of silence laced the air. He had never yelled at me before.
“You say I can’t fix things, but I can try. I had my reasons for what I did. Hurting you all was the last thing I wanted. Still, I regret nothing because I had my good intentions. You’ll just have to trust me, Julie. I can try to bring our family back together, but you’ll have to help me.”
“Help you?”
“Yes, I promise you if you do this for me, I will come back in your lives. I’ll give Nina back what she was deprived of, a father. I’ll take all the responsibility off Jenna’s shoulders.” He said in a grieved tone, almost as if he really wanted to meet his children again.
“But…Alexandria…her family. I can’t… You can’t leave them like that. They’re good people.”
“Her mother knows that I had been married before and had children, that’s all she knows about my previous relationship with Julie, yet she had wanted to meet you all. She’s a good woman. She wanted to take you in and have a larger family, but I told her I couldn’t find you. I didn’t know how to face you again, actually. I was waiting for the right time.”
“She’s too good of a woman for you.” I spat.
“I’ve had my reasons for what I did, I can’t change the past. Now I’m asking you to trust me, help me.”
“How do I even do that?” I sighed.
“You’re friends with Vandermir right?”
Upon hearing that, I looked at him in curiosity. What did Adrian have to do with any of this?
“I wouldn’t exactly call us friends. Just associates, maybe.”
“That’s good enough.”
“Wait, what is this about? Why are you bringing him into this?” I asked.
“As you may or may not know, I’m in a bit of a situation with him. I could go bankrupt and if that happened, I wouldn’t be able to take care of my family in the long run. I need the finance, Julie, everyone’s lives depends on it.”
“Well, what do you want me to do about that? I have no business with you two.” I said, turning away.
Taking out a folder from his bag on the bed, he held it in front of me, “I need you to give this to him and make sure he signs it.”
“What?”
Rummaging through the papers inside, I saw it was some ownership of this new hotel in construction called ‘Saint Macbeths’.
“I worked alongside a man named Joe Roberts on this project. Roberts was interested in partnering with Vandermir, so they set up a meeting a while ago. Apparently, Vandermir liked the idea of starting a new chain of hotels rather than his own, but he wasn’t too fond of working with Roberts, so he offered Roberts a very attractive price for the hotel in exchange for the sole ownership and everything associated with the Saint Macbeths hotel. Honestly, a fool wouldn’t refuse the offer Vandermir made for Roberts. After that, Roberts left me in charge of finalizing this deal with Vandermir.”
I was a bit confused now. Why was he telling me this?
“I don’t understand, dad. You want me to get Adrian’s signature on papers that give him the ownership of a new hotel?”
“I’m not going to lie to you Julie, but it’s not just the documents that give him ownership of the hotel. I’ve drafted it in such a way that it would also give me the rights and ownership of his chain of hotels.”
“What!” I exclaimed in shock.
What the hell! He was asking me to trick Vandermir into signing over his hotels to him?
“Are you crazy? I can’t do that! That- it isn’t right! I won’t do that to him!”
“Julie-Julie, listen to me.” He said, holding my shoulders.
Pushing his hands away from me, I stepped back, “No! I don’t want to hear you! You’re insane! Do you know what you’re asking me to do? I can’t do this to Adrian. He- he’ll hate me more than he ever did. He’ll destroy me, dad, I know he would. And no matter how hostile or insensitive he is, he doesn’t deserve to be deceived like that. He worked hard for what he has right now. Who am I to take that away? I –I can’t. He’ll hate me. He’ll leave me. I can’t do this to him.”
“And that’s where your flaw comes in, Juliet!” My father snapped, “You’re more selfish now than you’ve ever been. All your life you’ve only thought about yourself, you’re still childish! Someone came with a proposal to help your family and you only have one chance to set everything right, yet you only think about yourself in the end. Where do you think you’ll get the finance to send Nina to college from? Are you expecting Jenna to be toiling her whole life trying to scrape off money to help Nina? There’s a chance you’re getting to help your sisters, yet you’re refusing. It shows how much you actually care for them. I’m ashamed to even call you my daughter! And as far as Vandermir is concerned, how much money do you think the man needs? He is a multi-billionaire, it would be an insignificant problem for him. Besides, he has his chain of companies to fall back on. I’m sure he makes more on that than the hotel business.”
His words pierced me like dull daggers through the heart. My father never yelled at me. Never. Yet here he was, scolding me. It just hurt so much. Am I really not a good sister? Was I really that selfish? It pained me to realize that I knew I was always a selfish, conceited brat growing up. I really thought I was growing out of it, I was trying to. I was trying to be mature, be independent, and be someone Jenna would be proud of, but maybe I couldn’t be like that. Maybe there’s no hope for me trying to change, even though I really wanted to. Maybe it’s just hopeless for me.
I never thought the day my father would look at me with such detest. He was the one that I knew I could be myself in front of. He loved me endlessly, despite my nasty attitude.
My father was the one that defended me, held my hand. Was I really going to lose him again? I couldn’t think about anything else besides the fear of him leaving again. It was so agonizing the first time he left. Maybe I should trust him? He was my father anyway, my own blood. No, I won’t lose him again. I’ll do this for Jenna, for Nina. I couldn’t be the reason for their pain. I could fix this. I could make our situation pleasant. For once in my life, I can make Jenna happy.
My father gave a sigh, “It’s your decision, Juliet, meet me at eleven o’clock at George’s old warehouse. Just call me if you get it signed. All you have to do is give it to him and tell him a man named Robert sent it in to get it finalized. It isn’t a hard task. He wouldn’t suspect you and even if he does, well, you’ve grown to be a very smart and attractive girl now, Julie. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
With that, he placed a slip of paper with his number and the address of the place he wanted us to meet at, on the desk and walked out.
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