"Do it then." I kept hearing his words in my head.
"What?" I answered.
"I said do it." he replied coldly.
"Lucas-" I tried to speak.
"You said you're afraid you'll hurt yourself if I don't come see you in the hospital, Lauren. You said I'm the only one who can calm you down. So," he sounded so cruel, "hurt yourself. Show me that being without me will truly drive you insane. That's the only way I'll believe you."
It's been two weeks since we had that call and I still struggle to believe that it actually happened.
That man doesn't care about me. I don't think he's ever cared about me.
He chuckled lowly when I didn't respond to his taunt and then what he said next made me realise that for Lucas Greyson, five years with me will not even amount to a minute with Charlotte. That man could spend a lifetime with me, but he'll throw it all away for a second of affection from Charlotte.
"How did you know that Charlotte is pregnant?" He asked when I stayed quiet. "And when did you become so gutsy, Lauren? In what world do you think I'll let you threaten the woman I love and my unborn child and let you get away with it? No," he chuckled again, "in what world do you say the things you said about Charlotte and I come visit you in hospital?"
I struggled to find my response. He was never meant to hear that. Jona tricked me. Lucas was never supposed to see me like that.
"I'm sorry-" I tried to explain, but the line went dead.
...
I haven't spoken to him since.
...
I think Lucas Greyson hates me.
I don't think he's capable of loving anyone but Charlotte.
She's only been back for like five months and he has pushed me out of his life like I'm some common criminal. The irony of it all is that I understand loving someone that much ... loving someone so much that you'll let them blind you and toss you around, and still beg for them to look your way.
The way he feels about Charlotte, the way he lets her walk all over him ... that's how I feel about him. I let him walk all over me because I truly believe that he and I are soul mates as much as he believes that he and Charlotte are soulmates.
Well, that's how I used to feel until we had that call.
Now, I just want Lucas Greyson to hurt as much as I do. I want him to cry over hugs and kisses that will never happen. I want him to mourn the family he could have had with the person he loved.
I want him to look at Charlotte's picture the way I'm looking at his right now. I want his silent tears to hit that picture, just like my own tears are hitting a picture of him and me right now.
I want him to mourn Charlotte the way I'm mourning him.
I lifted my head to look at dad, Lisa and mom who were still fighting over the mess we're in.
Because of Lucas, at least ten companies filed lawsuits against us after Charlotte brought the Department of Health's lawsuit against us. Then, in just two weeks, all our assets were frozen and we were prohibited from going near a doctor or a hospital or anything related to medicine. Our offshore accounts suddenly got drained of all funds and people we thought were our friends refused to lend us a helping hand because Lucas Greyson made it clear that anyone who helps a Mitchell is an enemy of the Greysons.
And no one wants to be an enemy of the Greysons.
I know Charlotte doesn't have the power to do all the things that have been happening to me and my family. Getting our assets frozen would have taken the courts years to decide on. And no one could know about our offshore accounts except for Lucas because the Greysons know fucking everything.
Lucas is the reason we went from living in the biggest mansions in this country and having dozens of servants at our beck and call to trying to figure out how to make toast for ourselves and wash our own clothes.
We have turned into this country's laughing stock.
"We're at war with the Greysons." Dad slumped in his chair.
He looked defeated and although he tried hard to hide it, his red face and red eyes revealed to us that he was crying when we weren't looking.
"Justin and his family refuse to help us." Lisa said nervously. "No one can help us, dad. Lucas will end them if they try."
"Your husband won't help you because you're a whore, Lisa." Dad seethed through his teeth.
We all looked at dad in utter shock.
He and Lisa are two peas in a pod. They think alike, have the same sinister smile and they have this big picture view of things that mom and I have never seemed to get.
Lisa is dad's favourite. She can never do any wrong. I made peace with that as a child.
He would never call her a whore no matter what she did. And yet, that's what he just did. He called his favourite child a whore.
"I told you, dad." She bit her lip. "He wouldn't touch me. I did as you said. I gave up my career to support the career of a man who resented me. I played house, entertained his friends and played the loving and doting wife. I turned our house into a home and kept loving him despite him hating me without rest. If it weren't for those kids, Justin would have left me a very long time ago."
"I never told you to make that man raise kids that aren't his." He slammed his hand against the table. "Had you come to me, we would have found a way to get you pregnant with Justin's kids, Lisa. There was no need for you to sleep with a man who you say looks like him. Why didn't you come to me?"
Lisa tried to find help from me and mom, but neither of us could offer her any.
I thought she was happy with Justin; we all did. That's what she told us. That's why she wanted me to be with Lucas; so I could also be happy with a man I've always been inlove with.
However, Justin started pushing harder and harder for a paternity test after Sandra's death. When Lisa refused, he went to his family. He told them he suspects their two kids and the twins she's carrying aren't his and that was enough for them to call for a meeting with mom and dad.
Mom and dad almost agreed to the paternity test until Lisa burst into the dinner they were having with Justin's parents and begged to speak to them.
She told them she's been sleeping with Brandon Scott, the co-chair of all the charities she's heading on behalf of our family.
Brian looks a lot like Justin and he had no problem sleeping with the wife of a member of Congress. In fact, I suspect that made Lisa all the more attractive. Little did he know that Lisa poked holes in all the condoms they used.
Brian Scott still doesn't know he's the father of Lisa's kids, and neither does his wife, a very close friend of Lisa who already has three kids with him.
"Because I thought I had it handled!" An unhinged scream left her mouth. "You expect perfection from me, dad! You let Lauren get away with just being the cute girl next door that has others do the dirty work for her, but a single mistake from me is treated like treason!"
She bit her lip more and the most resentful blue eyes stared back at me while a drop of blood stained her lips.
"You would have told me I'm pathetic for not being able to make my own husband sleep with me." She held back angry tears. "Everytime you saw me, you would have brought up the fact that I failed to do the one thing every woman should be able to do for her husband- sleep with them and have kids. So, I decided to handle it myself."
Dad shook his head with eyes that were now so red and filled with tears that none of us knew how to react.
This man never cries, but now he's not even bothering to hide it from us.
"A hundred and fifty years." He smiled to himself as tears dropped on his cheeck. "That's how long our family has been around and that's how long the Mitchells have been standing tall as one of the most powerful families in this country. I'm about to lose everything my family has worked so hard for just because I have a whore for a daughter, a fool for the other daughter and a girl with no parents who happened to spread her legs for Lucas Greyson."
Lisa and I were about to yell back at dad, but one careful glare from mom was all it took for us to swallow our words.
"No." He leaned forward in his chair and chuckled lowly. "Lucas Greyson is not even half my age and Charlotte Ericsson is not even worth my time. This is not how the Mitchells meet their end. This," he stood up and started laughing frantically, "this is how Lucas Greyson meets his end. It may be impossible to end the Greyson name, but Lucas Greyson is a man ... no, a child. And I will not fear a child!"
He snapped his head, still with that frantic smile on his face.
"I'm killing Lucas Greyson, Lauren."
...
They all stared at me, waiting to see if I was okay with choosing my family over the only man I've ever loved.
... a man who has never loved me ... a man who needs to know how it feels to love someone who can never love you back.
Mom and dad were clearly waiting for my answer. However, my sister was looking at me with the most unforgiving dark blue eyes.
I feel like I should be asking her for forgiveness, but I'm not sure what I'd be asking her to forgive.
I never saw the need to study hard or try hard at anything because we have enough money to last us lifetimes. I paid the price for my lack of ambition by being treated like an idiot while dad doted on her. It hurt me, but I made peace with it because I really saw no use in working, unless it was so that I could stay close to Lucas.
Lisa and dad took their quarterly dad and daughter trips without me and I didn't complain. He taught her how the Mitchell Group functions and didn't bother to include me and, again, I didn't complain. I'd gotten used to being the overlooked Mitchell sister, while Lisa got all the attention.
In exchange, I got to lift a finger and whoever I pointed at would be dealt with accordingly by either dad or Lisa.
I was okay with that arrangement; especially because it meant I was free to spend as much time as I wanted with Lucas.
Lisa and I both played our roles. She was the perfect daughter and I was just there, but now our roles are changing. I can feel it. I can see it. Dad and mom are suddenly looking at me the way they usually look at her.
I crumpled the picture of me and Lucas that I was holding and threw it in a bin.
That gesture made dad smile for a split second before turning his attention back to Lisa.
"Has James taken care of our moles?" He asked her.
"Yes." Lisa whispered while looking down. "It was some guy who blamed us for his sister's suicide. James said he infiltrated our group a few years ago and was feeding information to Charlotte all these years. That's why she was able to build such an extensive case against us."
"Good." Dad replied absentmindedly. "From now on, certain things will only be discussed amongst ourselves. We can't trust anyone. So, Lisa, when I tell you to fix this paternity nonsense, I don't want you delegating it. I want you to take care of it yourself."
"How?" Her voice trembled slightly. "We only have one doctor that we're still blackmailing successfully and even that is on shaky grounds. How would I-"
"Tell your lover that if he wishes to protect his family against a scandal as big as this, he will use all the connections our family has let him build over the years to ensure that that paternity test says your kids are Justin's kids."
"He doesn't know yet!" Lisa pleaded, but it fell on dad's deaf and unforgiving ears.
"Then tell him." He practically spat at her. "Tell him that you poked holes in the condoms you two used. Tell him that in addition to the three kids he has with his wife, he also has two kids with you and another two on the way. And remind him that if the truth comes out, he will have to face his wife and kids after sleeping with his wife's best friend."
He sauntered to her, slowly and with nothing but disgust on his face.
"His wife is your best friend, isn't she?" He looked her up and down. "Of all the people to choose Lisa. Why did you choose your best friend's husband?"
"I don't know." She whispered again. "I spent so much time with him because of the work we do. We travelled together and ... it just happened. Before I knew it, it happened again and then we couldn't stop."
"Well it stops now." Dad clenched his fists. "You stop being a whore today and you and Brandon will do everything you can to make sure your dirty little secret is NEVER revealed to the world."
"Okay." She replied while tears fell on her face.
Her due date is almost here. I thought that would make dad more sympathetic towards her and forgive her for what she did, but I guess he truly is furious with his favourite daughter this time.
"Greyson closed the merger a little less than two months ago." He turned his attention to me and mom. "He may be trying to postpone it, but he'll need to go all the states where Greyson Corporation took over and he'll need to visit a few European countries as well."
"What do you have in mind?" Mom asked.
"We have to find out his travel details. He has to leave New York to ensure a smooth transition after the merger; that much I'm certain of. If we find out his schedule, we can ..."
He trailed off.
He was looking at me, still asking me with his eyes whether I'm okay with this - with killing Lucas.
Is this what Lisa has felt like all these years? Has she also felt this rush of excitement whenever dad looked at her with so much respect in his eyes?
"I don't think we have a choice." I said something I never thought I'd say. "If we don't kill him, he'll kill us."
Dad and mom smirked while Lisa still continued giving me her death stare.
I'm pretty sure I'll change my mind at some point, but right now, in this moment, I want the man I love to be killed. But, not before I hurt him as much as he hurt me.
If I can't have him, it's only fair if he doesn't have Charlotte ... right?
I think it's only after losing Charlotte that he'll understand how I've felt all these years - hoping for something that will never happen.
At least he got to be with the person he loves. I didn't even get to be with the person I love. Unlike me, he'll lose her after being with her. I'm going to lose him without ever having been with him.
"I have to find a way to kill Charlotte first." I muttered to myself. "Lucas may have thwarted off my poisoning attempt, but he should bury Charlotte before he dies. I think that's the only way to make all of this stop. If he still continues coming after us after her death, then we should kill him too."
"You look like you already have a plan." Dad smirked.
"I do. Joshua Michaelson is at the centre of every failed attempt to kill Charlotte and Jona. We have to get rid of him."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you like this book, please leave a review encouraging others to read it. Maybe that way I can get readers!!