Vine was sitting facing his grandmother, and he could tell that she was very serious about whatever it was that she had called him for.
"Look at how your life has been going on. I'm talking specifically about Kiara. That beautiful lady came into this family, and she gave you a very lovely son. And along the way, she began to cheat, sneaking out to go and see her ex. When I look at it all, Vine, I would say you are to blame."
"How?" Vine demanded in his usual cold, annoyed tone.
"You must learn to speak to me respectfully, Vine. The girl was here, and you thoroughly ignored her. You gave her enough room to always miss that boyfriend of hers, because you did not fill up the void left by Jeremy."
"Grandma, do we really need to talk about this?" he sounded bored.
"Of course we do, my child. You drove away a nice girl because of your arrogance."
"I did not need to entertain her, grandma! She is my son's mother, but it does not follow that I should love her!"
"For the sake of the family name, Vine, can't you just try and accommodate her? Try and take her into your life. We are the Pinkertons; we don't dessert our own flesh and blood. Vincent Lisandro is your son, and he deserves to grow up in a proper family set up, with a mother and a father." The lady did her best to convince her grandson; but he was not hearing anything of it.
"I grew up without a mum and a dad, but I am still fine." He defended himself.
"You had us, Vine. You had your grandparents. We're as good as parents to you."
Vine did not reply. He was already beginning to get fed up, feeling as if his grandmother was just wasting his time.
"Can you tell me the real reason why you don't want to be with Kiara? Why won't you take her as your wife?"
"I do not love her. Getting married has never been a priority for me. I am happy by myself. I hardly have time to think about another person and try and be their knight in shining armor."
"But Vine, Gareth told me that Kiara is one person who really interested you. He told me about the search, when you were looking for a maid, and that person was Kiara. There is something about her that you like, but you're just too stubborn to admit it."
"She is beautiful and all, but I like her just for fun. She's a lovely girl to look at and spend an evening with, just drinking and chatting, but when it comes to spending the rest of my life with, I don't think so." Vine shook his head.
"Why is that? What does she lack?"
"Nothing. She doesn't lack anything but I am just not in love with her."
"Then why did you have to line up all the maids while searching for her, Vine?" the lady's voice was beginning to rise because she was getting agitated.
"I simply wanted to see the person, I thought it was a maid. I liked the person, grandma, but it does not mean I love her. Kiara might be an attractive girl, but I have no intention of spending the rest of my life with her."
"Why not? Is there someone else in your life?"
"There is no-one. And I don't think there will be anyone in the next many years. The idea of having a wife, asking me a thousand questions and controlling me…I don't want to do that."
"Wives are not there to control their husbands, Vine. You have a very wrong idea of marriage."
"They do control, grandma. Once I agree to marry her, the timid Kiara will disappear and in her place a monster will appear; asking me numerous questions and stopping me from enjoying my life the way I want." Vine was adamant.
"I can never understand you, my grandson. What exactly do you want? Show me the girl that you love and…."
"OK, I will tell you everything! I can never be with her because I know that I will always be second to Jeremy! Did you see her when she came back from the burial? She looked as if she was going to collapse and die; and she is still in depression!"
"It is normal for her to feel that way, my child. The two of them had a very long relationship, thus it cannot be easy to just end it and expect the other person to instantly forget about the other."
"Grandma, are you hearing yourself right now? Need I remind you that Kiara carried Vincent Lisandro for nearly eight months before she came to me? If it wasn't for some waiter from Two-Sons who found her out, she had no intention of ever telling me about my own son. I am Vine Lucas Pinkerton; and many ladies would die to carry my child, yet she would die to do the opposite. She was willing to lie to Jeremy and make him Vincent's father. That girl is madly in love with Jeremy, and from the very first time you called me to speak to me about her, you told me that she did not love me. Why did you have to tell me that? Well, I did not love her too but was it necessary to hear that? Because of that, I can never allow my heart to fall for her. Never!"
Vine stood up from his chair and paced up and down the room. His demeanor remained unchanged, his tone very calm but firm, yet in his heart he could feel as if someone had poured boiling water. He hated that Kiara was the first woman ever to show no interest in him. Why? Who did she think she was? What was so special about her?
"Vine," lady Pinkerton spoke calmly. "I'm sorry to hear what you have just said. You should have told me earlier."
"And then what would you have done? I'm an adult. I can handle my issues."
"Vine, my dear son. I'm sorry that I told you about her not being in love with you. But from what you have just said to me, I can conclude that you can love her, yet your pride blocks you. You feel insulted to have to compete with someone like Jeremy, a person of no important social standing; and yet she is stubbornly in love with her."
"Grandma, I really don't wish to continue with this conversation."
"No my child, we have to talk about it. You are in love with her. You fell for her at Two Sons, and after you had not seen her for so long; when you saw her again here at the mansion on the day that she sneaked in, you had the same feelings for her. She is the woman you love, but you are just too obstinate to admit it."
Vine shook his head and paced back and forth.
"Will you let your life be ruined by self-importance? This girl is the woman that you love, and she carried your first son. What more do you need?"
Vine took a seat and let out a small sigh; showing without any doubt that his grandmother was beginning to irritate him.
"You may think that I am irritating, but I am telling you the truth. Look at it this way, Vine. Kiara and Jeremy grew up together. She became too attached to him. For all you know, she might not even be in love with him, but he was just the available boy. He was the boy next door; the boy who was always there. The poor girl was never exposed to anything else. Her mind is blocked; she believes that Jeremy is the only man for her."
"Whatever her case is, I do not love her, grandma."
"Vine, my dear. Look now, Jeremy is dead. You need to step up and take your wife back to yourself. Jeremy is gone. Show her that she is important and she will love you back. Like now, I gave Gareth an order that Kiara may now be allowed to leave the mansion, but only with at least three bodyguards and a driver. If she chooses to go out with Vincent, then Rosaline will also go with her."
"Ok, so what does that have to do with anything, grandma?" he rudely asked.
"It has everything to do with it, Vine. Once we give her wings to fly, she will realise that she has nowhere to fly to. As long as she is locked in the mansion, she will always fantasize of going out and seeing the world; yet the world, to her, is Jeremy. Now that her world is gone; her sole world is crushed into nothingness; it means she has nothing left. She will realise that there is nowhere to go, and will curl her tail as she apologetically comes back to you. I want you, my child, to be prepared to take her when she comes back. She will surely come back to you sooner than you expect. Vine, my grandchild, for my sake, and yours too, and especially for Vincent Lisandro's sake, please consider what I have just said."
Vine walked towards the door in silence.
"Vine! Will you just walk out on me without uttering a word in response to what I have just said?" unfathomable hurt laced her voice.
Impatient to leave but at the same time feeling sorry for his grandmother, Vine turned to face her.
"I don't want to promise you anything, grandma. The truth is I don't love her. I have no intentions of doing anything to try and draw her close to me. That's not who I am. I don't persuade women to be with me. They do."
And with that, he walked out of the room.