Isabelle
Sterling stormed through the door of the apartment. I could tell just by the look on his face he was pissed off. This clearly wasn't some little matter either.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I got up from the couch and followed him into the kitchen.
He stayed silent for a moment as he grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and a bottle of liquor. He poured some into the glass and placed the bottle down on the counter. He gripped the glass so tightly in his hand I was a little surprised he didn't break it.
He took a sip and set the glass down before finally looking up at me. "Izzy, I think you should have a seat. There's something I need to discuss with you."
I could feel my stomach twist in nervous knots as I took a seat at the stool. "What's going on? Did Elise do something?"
He let out a chuckle but I could tell he was far from amused. "Not Elise, this time it's my grandfather who fucked me over."
That only raised more questions. "What do you mean?"
Whatever this was about had him majorly worked up. I knew in my gut it had to have something to deal with the Tunt's. It seemed like everything that went wrong recently had to have their involvement to some degree.
He took another sip from the glass. I could tell he was thinking for a moment. Like he was contemplating the best way to tell me what he had discovered.
"Apparently, I was arranged to marry Elise, years ago." I could hear in his tone he was angry but he was holding back.
"What?" I asked in disbelief.
How could something like this have happened? It wasn't like the Tipton family to arrange such a thing.
"My grandfather was friends with Wilson Tunt." He began to explain. "They decided to arrange our families together, it was supposed to be Elise's father and my aunt, the one we don't talk about. It didn't pan out so the deal was for their grandchildren to get together."
He took another drink from the glass. I could tell that explaining it had only frustrated him more.
In all honesty I felt frustrated about it myself. Sterling and I were finally getting a shot at being together for real this time but I felt like it was bound to get sabotaged. Elise seemed to be persistent and I'm sure she's standing by, waiting to strike and break us down.
"And your grandfather decided after all this time to hold up his end of the deal?" I raised my brow as I was curious where things stood as of right now.
"No." Sterling shook his head. "He actually forgot about the deal so he wasn't able to go back on it with Wilson before Elise dug her talons into me."
"So what's happening now?" I wanted so badly for this to be over, but it felt like it had only begun. "Is your grandfather going to do something about this?"
"He said he was going to before I walked back to my father's car." I could feel a moment of relief but it quickly faded with his next statement. "My father got into the car and informed me he refused my grandfather's help. He's already felt like my grandfather's done enough and he plans to handle this without him."
"Why would he do that?" I was slightly shocked. It seemed like talking to Wilson would have this situation handled easily.
"I asked him the same thing." Sterling responded as his eyes met mine. "Then he explained it to me in the car and it made sense. He feels like Wilson being spoken to could be bad. It could provoke the Tunt's to go even further than they already have so far. So the plan is to wait it out and get some leverage, that way when we meet with Wilson and tell him the arrangement is off he can't protest."
"How is he sure that'll work?" I didn't doubt Damon, everyone knows that man is a ruthless genius, but I still wanted to know why he was so confident this would work out as planned.
"He didn't say what, but apparently he may have found something on the Tunt's that doesn't add up." Sterling answered.
"And he's not going to tell you?" I sighed.
"Not right now." Sterling seemed a little disappointed. "I trust my father though, he's only ever had my best interest in mind and I know he'd rather die than see me end up with Elise Tunt."
I looked him seriously in the eyes. "I'd rather push the bitch off a cliff than lose you to her."
He let out a small chuckle. "Good to know Sweetheart."
"So what does that mean for our plan if your dad's working on something?" I needed to know what my next move needed to be.
I couldn't stop planning. Thinking ahead was going to be the only way to effectively beat Elise. God knows I wanted nothing more than to take her down and get her to leave us alone once and for all.
"Keep trying to talk with Alexandra." Sterling spoke. "We're all a team here, whatever information we can get against them is beneficial. It'll help build our case against them and maybe get them to back down easier."
"Okay." I nodded.
Sterling took the glass in his hand and finished the liquor inside. He then placed it into the sink and put away the bottle. I could see he seemed a little more relaxed now that we had discussed everything.
"I still think it's garbage he can't atleast give you a little information on what he has on them." I really wanted to know what Damon had discovered.
"It's only because he needs to make it concrete." Sterling explained. "He doesn't act unless he has all the facts. In this case he's also probably doing it so that I, for example, don't act out of anger and spoil the whole thing before he has his evidence.
"I see." I nodded.
Sterling's eyes softened. "You know my family well, you trust him as much as I do, don't you?"
"Yes." I nodded. "How sure is he though that this information against them will stop them?"
"He's pretty sure, at least he says so." Sterling poke confidently. "Besides, he's Damon Tipton. It's not the first time he'd use information to practically dig a grave and bury someone alive."