Marcus was sitting in his study, frustrated over the current events. He was angered over the fact that no one other than him was ale to see Dahlia's deception of Chloe. That woman had the audacity to not only slap his, Marcus Grayson's daughter but also manipulate her to apologize to her as if Chloe was wrong and she deserved that slap.
Adding to his frustration was the fact that they had still not been able to find the second driver who had hit Ethan. It's been almost two weeks since that night and even after implementing all of their resources on the search for the other driver they have not been able to find that man yet.
Also, he could not shake off the feeling that both these incidents were somehow connected. Others might think that he was overthinking about this or even that he was being paranoid but with his experience and numerous enemies, Marcus was sure that someone was trying to sabotage his family to get to him.
Only if he had some substantial proof to prove his claims, he wouldn't have to struggle explaining his point to his own children. With a sigh of exasperation, Marcus threw his head backwards and leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes in an effort to calm himself down.
He moment of peace was disturbed a few seconds later when Elijah came knocking at the door to his study, "Dad?" he called out for him before entering.
Marcus looked up at his eldest son but said nothing. He remained silent as Elijah walked inside and sat on the chair opposite Marcus's.
"Hey, Dad." Elijah begin with a deep exhale, "I know that you are concerned about Chloe and I absolutely understand the point that you were trying to make."
Marcus not listened to his son attentively, "I am in agreement with you over the fact that Dahlia's apology to Chloe was fake. It was not even an apology in the first place."
Slamming his hands over the desk, Marcus exclaimed, "That is what I tried to explain to your sister that she is being set up and schemed against but she -"
Nodding his head, Elijah interrupted Marcus to add, "Yes, Dad. But I don't think that Dahlia is trying to scheme against Chloe or that she has some hidden agenda behind doing this. It sounds too farfetched."
Marcus was disappointed and he let it show on his face but Elijah continued, "I mean why would Dahlia do that when we did nothing to her or anybody else as a matter of fact. We have never hurt anybody intentionally so why would anyone try to harm us?"
"You know nothing, Elijah." said Marcus and indeed Elijah knew nothing.
Elijah was not aware of his family's deep and dark secrets that were buried inside hidden closets. He did not know that it was not his father's hard work that brought their company to this peak. He did not know about any of the corrupt practices that his father and his father's friends have been involved in.
Elijah, who had lived most of his life with his grandfather, away from the bad influence of his father, knew not a single thing about the bad deed, crimes, and sins that his father has committed. He was just as oblivious as the rest of the public who did not know the Grayson family closely.
"What are you talking about Dad?" questioned Elijah not able to understand why his father was so fixated on believing that someone was out there trying to harm them, "Why are you so worried about this? I know we haven't been able to find the other driver that caused Ethan's accident, I know that Dahlia's so called apology meant nothing but these are two different incidents."
"There is no connection between them!" Elijah tried to reason with his father but Marcus was adamant.
"I know that we did not cause harm to anybody but that doesn't mean that others won't. We have business rivals Elijah who are ready to do anything that it takes -" Marcus could not tell Elijah about the reality of his business and the truth about himself because Elijah was not like them.
His eldest son was different. He had always been like his grandfather who lived his life following morals and ethics which he instilled in Elijah as well.
If Elijah were ever to know the truth about him, and the crimes that he had committed, he would not hesitate to send his own father behind the bars and get him punished for every crime that he committed.
That is why, Marcus kept everything from Elijah and only let him be involved in the good side of their business.
"Dad," Marcus placed his hand over Marcus's, "I understand what you mean. But you don't have to worry, I am here, okay."
"I promise you that I would not let anything or anyone destroy our family. I would do anything and everything to protect our family and in case anybody tried causing us any harm then they will have to face me first." Elijah's tone was firm and determined. The conviction in his voice made Marcus felt relieved but slightly afraid as well.
'Will his son still protect him even after knowing all that he had done?' the thought troubled Marcus as Elijah continued.
"So far, we know that what happened with Ethan was an accident. But, in case it was not. In case, there is someone with nefarious intentions behind this, then I promise you, I will find that person and put an end to their life on my own."
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"Oh, really?!" chuckled Seraphina while watching the live feed from Marcus's study.
It was laughable to listen to Elijah say that they did not cause anybody harm. Seraphina had almost spat the orange juice that she had been drinking as she burst into laughter listening to Elijah pretend to be a good person.
"Let's see what you are going to do now." she smiled mischievously and picked up her cell phone to dial a phone number.
Turning down the volume of her laptop on which she was watching the live feed, Seraphina called Elijah to see how he would react.
She watched Elijah frown while staring at his cell phone that was ringing because of her call. She hadn't given him her phone number so he did not know that it was her who was calling him.
"Hello, who's this?" he asked as he answered the call.
"The same person you were cursing just now." Seraphina managed to say without giggling.
"What?" Elijah responded. Watching him glance around to check if someone was watching him, Elijah stood up and stepped out of his father's study while Marcus watched his son leave with confusion visible on his face.
"Seraphina?" asked Elijah to confirm. His father had already been upset, especially with Chloe incident so Elijah did not want him to know that he was on call with Chloe's boss and cause Marcus to become overly suspicious of Seraphina as well.
"Yes, it's me." answered Seraphina while switching to the main screen to see in which room Elijah was now, "Actually, I called you to inform that I will be able to accompany you to that gala this weekend."
"Really?" she found him in the kitchen as he poured for himself a glass of milk, "Yeah." she responded.
"What's the theme by the way and is there a color code or something? I meant to ask what should I wear and what are you going to wear. You know, as I am going with you as your plus one so I should look like, right?!" asked Seraphina even though she knew every detail about this gala and the dress code.
She glanced at the mannequin on her right that displayed the formal gown that she had already selected for the gala night. "So?"
"There's no theme. It's a formal charity event so you can wear what you think will be fine for the event. As for me, I am going to be wearing all black. Just another regular black suit." Elijah chuckled before taking a sip of milk.
"Hhhmm, alright." smiled Seraphina while tracing her finger over Elijah's face on her laptop screen, "By the way, how is Chloe now?" she asked.
"She's fine now, but, Seraphina what exactly happened yesterday? Why did Dahlia Starling hit my sister?" questioned Elijah. Seraphina could hear the anger that laced his tone.
Letting out a deep breath, Seraphina explained to Elijah in brief details about what happened between Chloe and Dahlia. She made sure to emphasize over the fact that Dahlia is a short tempered person and she only hit Chloe after getting poked multiple times.
After listening to her explanation, Elijah sighed and shook his head, "I understand." was all that he said in response.
"I am sorry, Elijah. I shouldn't have -" Seraphina said in a low, feeble voice but was interrupted by Elijah.
"You don't have to apologize." he said, "It's not your fault."
Only if he knew.