While people stayed behind to celebrate their purchases and connect, Linda was in a car with her grandparents and for the first time in a long time, the car was heavy with tension, which reminded her of the day her parents were buried. It was the same quietness and coldness, which made her even more anxious. Soon the driver pulled up at the driveway and opened the door for them,
"Thank you, Patrick,", Joseph said, patting him on the shoulder.
They soon entered the house, and their hearts were pounding, the final hour was upon them. It was time to reveal a secret that they buried for over 2 decades, all files on the table.
"Take a seat sweety..", Lilly said holding two cups of hot chocolate.
"What's going on gramps, are you dying? Is it your heart? what is it??", Linda asked anxiously,
"First things first - we love you so much and you mean a lot to your grandfather and me...whatever you decide, after this conversation, I want you to know it doesn't affect our love for you..."
Linda's face darkened and her hands began to sweat, she may not know why her grandparents were acting this way, but she understood that something big was about to happen. She sighed, "Please tell me already,", she said in a shaky tone.
"We did something many years ago....out of selfishness..."
Linda's heart sank, 'this is not going where I think is going...', she thought as her hands began to tremble,
Lilly dropped her face full of guilt to her hands that were resting on her lap, "Many years ago, when the plane crash happened, we received a package with evidence that suggested that your uncle was responsible for the crash and out of fear that the police might figure this out, we asked to have the case dropped and we covered the whole thing. First of all, we didn't want John to go to prison, we had already lost one child, and we didn't want to lose another one. Also for the company, we wanted to protect the reputation of Global Tech...so, we buried everything and had the plane crash declared an accident."
Joseph held Lilly's shaking hands, then looked at Linda who appeared to be in a daze, "Sweety, please know that we didn't do it because we loved your mother less or anything like that. She meant everything to us, just like you. In fact, we feel guilty that we couldn't protect her from John's schemes. We knew he hated her but we didn't know that he would go to such an extent. We underestimated his resentment. We are really sorry."
Linda sat quietly, in confusion, her mind pacing, 'My mom's death was covered by my own grandparents...'. She has spent years trying to uncover the truth and this whole time, the truth had been right under her nose. Now that she knew, instead of feeling relieved, she suddenly felt hurt, betrayed and angry. Without saying anything, she put the cup on the table, stood up and said in a voice void of emotions, "I need some air.".
"Sweety...please-"
Ignoring Lilly's plea, Linda ran out of the room, luckily for her, Patrick was still outside preparing to leave, "Please take me to my uncle's house..." At the same time, his phone buzzed with a message from Joseph asking him to take his granddaughter wherever she wanted to go.
He put his phone away and refocused his attention on the distraught young lady in front of him, "Yes, ma'am, let's go."
Unaware of the storm waiting in his seating room, John was over the moon, celebrating his plans with his friend Tony whose acting was enough to convince John that they were on the same page and Jeremy who couldn't wait to leave and go wait for Linda at home. He kept checking his phone in worry, but he knew he had to wait a little, after all, she did say she would contact him, but his heart was too excited to just sit and do nothing.
In his drunken state, John excitedly threw his arm around Tony's shoulders making him flinch, he rambled, "Although I have to go home soon, this night has been the best night of my life....we did it, old friend! We did it! Your nephew is a star, not just the good looks. But he managed to melt the stone-cold heart of my niece and got the blessings of her big protectors. He got them to lower their guards- amazing! So amazing that is almost scary...I mean what else is he capable of..."
Tony awkwardly removed his arm from his neck, "Yeah...but I agree, you have to go. Look at you staggering. You need to sleep the champagne out of you...", he said with a subtle hint of annoyance that only Jeremy could pick up making him raise his eyebrows, 'What was that?', he wondered
John gulped the rest of his drink, "Yes, this is me leaving now.", he took Jeremy's hand, "Thank you so much...you have no idea how much Global Tech means to me and, finally is mine...". His sincerity was something that shocked Jeremy. He really sounded like that's all he wanted and at that moment it became clearer, that the only person with the intention to destroy the Kings was his uncle, Tony. 'Come to think of it, I have never heard John speak about the galleries...'
Tony sighed, "I wanted to do this the hard way but since I am seeing you, I might as well tell you directly. I need you to end this engagement...", Tony growled as soon as John disappeared from his sight, "I don't want you involved with that wench...I will find another way to get the King's fortune."
"King's fortune?", Jeremy asked but his uncle had already left. Very much on-brand. Give orders and leave. He sighed in annoyance, "This is getting exhausting now...It needs to end."
Finally, John made it home, staggering to the door and singing in joy, rejoicing about his accomplishment without a care in the world but his soul almost left his body when he found Linda sitting with a stone expression on his couch. A face he'd never seen his niece wear before. He's heard about it, but for the first time, he's seeing it and it sent goosebumps all over his body, "Wow! Niece...are you trying to kill me?"
"Like you killed my mother?", Linda said sternly causing John to sober up in an instant,
"What did you just say to me??", he asked,
"You killed my mother...I know everything, but I want to hear from you, it had to be more than just for Global Tech. It cannot be for Gl-"
John sighed, "I didn't kill your parents - Someone set me up"