Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 31

Chapter

Thirty-One

SCARLETT

S hameless, brave, or plain fucking stupid - not sure which of those three words best describes what I’ve just fucking done.

Wesley lowers the blade rushing over to Maxwell still tied to the chair, harshly slicing through the rope that binds his hands together behind his back. He stalks angrily back over to me, grabbing my hand and laying the knife in my palm, forcing my hand closed over it, the blade skillfully pricking the sensitive skin.

“A reminder of what I’m capable of, since you seem to keep forgetting.” He drops my hand and stands up straighter, attempting to show his dominance over Ace as he steps around me. However, for the first time, Ace doesn’t cower down. “You and I will talk, there is much we need to discuss.”

“Leave us!” I yell, looking back at Wesley, surprising everyone, even myself, with my newfound boldness. “This is now a family matter and seeing as you are not,” I say, while he grins approvingly, motioning for Ace to follow him out. I quickly reach out to grab Ace’s arm as he turns to follow his uncle. “He stays,” I add firmly, and his grin hardens.

“I’m not saying anything in front of him,” my mother scoffs, sitting cross-legged and looking awfully bored.

I glare at her, rolling my eyes and raising a brow tauntingly. “Anything you tell me I’m going to tell him anyway, so it doesn’t really matter what you want.” Surprisingly, Wesley nods, walking out the door, and slamming it shut as he exits. Well, that was easier than expected. One point in my favor.

As I turn back to face my mother and newfound father, the words I was ready to spew at both of them are now jammed deep in my throat. So much for being bold. I swallow dryly, as Ace’s hand comes up to grasp mine sensing my unease. Our fingers intertwined with one another, my heartbeat slowly steadying, and he smiles softly at me assuring me he’s by my side.

“I was in love once,” Lilith says, watching our interaction closely, her eyes fixated on Ace’s hand in mine. To our right, Maxwell stands lowering his head, knowing exactly what she’s going to say next. “He was everything I could have ever dreamt of. Smart, handsome, from a great family. But there was only one problem,” she pauses, uncrossing her legs. “He wasn’t mine.”

“Lilith, stop,” Maxwell groans, running his hands desperately through his light brown hair.

She ignores him, standing and walking over to us, her heels loudly tapping against the marble floor beneath them. “So I had to do something because I wasn’t willing to let him go. There was no way I was going to lose him.”

“Don’t,” Maxwell adds this time louder, turning to face my mother who is now at his side, and grabbing her by the elbow. For the first time, other than disgust toward her crosses his face. “If you do this, you will lose whatever last bit of affection she may feel toward her mother. There will be no going back. Are you really capable of doing that to your only daughter?” he asks, but I already know the answer to that .

My mother scoffs, pulling out of his grasp. “She feels nothing for me, Maxwell. I made sure of that long before she found out about you. This next revelation will only solidify her hatred toward me.” She’s right, but I don’t bother answering her as she continues, divulging the horrid details of her tainted love story. “We drugged him, Wesley and I. Slipped some Devil’s Kiss into his drink one night, enough to inebriate him but not enough for him to black out completely. I still needed to keep him lucid, after all, we were to conceive a child.” She turns toward him, but he steps back as she moves forward. Stopping in her tracks, she spins to me, a small nervous chuckle escaping her. “Then I made sure Gianna would come home to see her beloved Maxwell in my arms and at my mercy. It broke her pathetic little heart.”

I’m disgusted by her nonchalance. The way she talks so easily about manipulating someone and hurting another. “Yet Maxwell still didn’t want you, did he?” I ask, my question clearly irritating her further.

“I’m afraid not. He found out what we’d done and then when Gianna––”

“Stop!” Maxwell shouts, interrupting her. “I left when I found out what they’d done. I left,” he repeats once again, trying to convince himself, not me, that’s what happened. “Gianna wanted nothing to do with me anymore. She never believed me when I told her what really happened, so I left. After all, without her, I wanted nothing of this world.” His obvious admiration for Gianna reminds me of my feelings for Ace.

What would my life be if he weren’t part of it? Completely unbearable.

Lilith scowls at him rolling her eyes and now I know for a fact there’s something they’re not telling me, something he stopped her from sharing, but I’m tired of their lies and just want to get as far away from their toxicity as possible.

My body is quaking violently, the rage I feel for her and all her lies eating me up from the inside. “How did you become this vile person, mother? How could you have faked being so distraught over Chaz if you never loved him? You betrayed him, you got him killed!”

“Don’t forget who pulled the trigger, my dear daughter,” she sneers, as Ace stiffens behind me. Oh trust me, mother, I haven’t forgotten. “Besides, you mean to tell me you honestly think I was like that because I missed him?” she asks, laughing hysterically at my insinuation. “You really think, day in and day out, I was getting drunk and would beat the shit out of his brat of a daughter because I missed him? He left me with two little monsters when I already had one of my own! I was pissed, fucking livid because he went and got himself arrested, and I had to sit around and play babysitter to his two ungrateful brats.”

I shake my head, refusing to believe it was all an act. “But when he came back, you two––”

She continues interrupting me. “Did I enjoy having meaningless sex with him? Of course I did. The only thing that bastard knew how to do was fuck, but do you honestly not remember anything? Every day we fought. I couldn’t stand the sight of him, so I’d leave days at a time.”

“Of course I remember, I lived through that fucking torturous nightmare. You’d come here, I know that now, but why put up with him if you already had all of this?” I ask, lifting my hands into the air.

“He was a necessary pawn, and then he wasn’t. So I sold him out to save myself,” her cunning green eyes watch me as she struts closer. “You best remember how disposable people can be in this world. Instead of damning me, you should be thankful. You’re welcome, for not sending his children packing the moment he got arrested.” Her look of vile contentment irks me, and I want to slap the shit out of the fucking bitch. But I don’t.

Instead, now it’s me who laughs uncontrollably. “You want me to thank you for beating us and treating us like shit. You must be clearly psychotic if you think I’d ever thank you for anything. ”

“Let me give you the motherly advice you so desperately crave––”

“I want nothing from you. You were right before; I feel nothing for you. You are dead to me, just like you have been the past four years.” Tears threaten to spill, but I won’t let them spill for her.

“Well, I’m going to give it to you anyway, girl to girl.” She moves toward me stopping right before me, standing about four inches taller than me in her heels, her head tilted slightly as she scowls down at me. Her fingers reach out, gently tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, but I know to her it means nothing. “Stop while you’re ahead. Don’t dig yourself deeper into this mess you’re already drowning in. Stay out of it, stop looking for answers where you will not find them. You want an explanation for all of this, you won’t ever get a straightforward answer. My advice to you however, is to get out of here. This place is toxic, it sucks the life out of you and the worst part is it makes you feel it’s exactly what you want.” At that moment, she looks somewhat solemnly at me, and I almost feel sorry for the young girl that was sucked into this place years ago.

But unlike me, she let it consume her, and her greed and envy turned her into this vile creature. “Unlike you, he won’t let me leave and you know that…”

“Wesley’s impulsive, I’ll give you that. A little obsessive, but he’ll get over it. It’s too late for me, and I know you don’t think I care for you, and I probably don’t or never did for that matter. You were a constant reminder of what I’d lost, but this place, the things it does to you, the way it chews you up and spits you back out over and over. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.”

I shake my head sorrowfully. “You don’t understand, he’ll never let me live in peace.”

Her solemn scowl turns to a wide grin, and all the earlier glimpses of empathy are instantly gone. “So, what do you have to lose?”

“Everything!” I cry out, not able to contain myself any longer .

“Oh please, those worthless kids from that foster home. They don’t care for you. They’d throw you under the bus the first chance they got. Just a brief glimpse of some cash they so desperately crave, and you’re a goner. Not to mention that sister of yours. She’s just as pathetic as her mother was––”

“How can you say that? I thought you never met Jade’s mother. Or was that just another one of your blatant lies?” I ask, interrupting her.

“I didn’t have to meet the God-awful bitch to know what she was like. It’s all Chaz ever talked about. He was pathetic. Couldn’t stand to look at his daughter because she reminded him so much of his precious Amelia.”

“You’re worse than I thought, hating a man for loving his dead wife, a man you couldn’t care less about.”

“You sound surprised, dear,” she says, raising her eyebrow as she tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “Well, I’m bored, so I’m out of here.” My mother walks around me, stepping toward Ace, a small smirk escaping her. “Ace darling, it was nice seeing you again. Careful with this one, she’ll suck the life right out of you. Oh and Maxwell,” she says, turning toward my father, his body immediately stiffening as she approaches him. She reaches a hand to caress his cheek, but he pulls away grabbing her hand before she reaches him. “I will always love you.”

He drops her hand back, and just like that she walks out of the room, leaving my boyfriend, my father, and me.

Terrific.

I look back and forth between the two of them, for a fleeting moment none of us speak. I mean for one, what would we say? Hey, I’m the daughter that psycho bitch forced you to father. I’m the father you never had, you’re the daughter I never knew existed. And Ace, well, there’s nothing he could say to make this any less tragic than it is.

To my surprise, it’s Maxwell who breaks the silence first. “ Scarlett,” he utters quietly, but I stop him before he says something neither one of us means or wants to hear.

“Don’t!” I raise my hand to halt him from coming any closer to me. I close my eyes as I try to calm myself before I fall apart further before him. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. That you wish none of this had happened, that you wish I hadn’t found out this way.” I slowly open my eyes, gazing into the pain written in the depths of his gaze.

How dare he look like he’s the one whose life has just turned inside out?

Maxwell watches me impassively, knowing better than to push me on this, and as I watch his gaze move from mine to Ace’s behind me, I know he’s the one to thank for that.

The air in the room slowly dissipates, none of us wanting to inhale any more of its toxicity than we already have. The guilt I see in my father’s eyes only further proves that my worst fears are true. This isn’t the end. This world, my world, my life, there is so much more darkness to come.

“I know there’s still something you’re all not telling me,” I mutter serenely as I edge in closer to him, his frown hardening as I stop right before him. “I can imagine it has to do with whatever happened to Gianna, or whoever she was. Trust me, I am not expecting you to want to talk to me. I honestly don’t even think I want to talk to you,” I chuckle nervously as I gaze straight into his eyes. For the first time I don’t expect any answers. I don’t need to know the entire story. I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. There is just one thing I need to know in order to think clearly. “Just answer me this one thing.” I pause, not sure if I’m being dramatic or because of the knot lodged in my throat. “Have you known this entire time?”

Without clearly saying what I mean, I know he understands and the frown that appears over his face is the only answer I need. “I only found out about nine months ago. ”

His confession stings, but it’s not as bad as I had expected. “I assume that’s when the blackmailing started?” I ask.

He nods again. “I came home for a weekend, the first time I had since I left over eighteen years ago. I didn’t even come for my father’s funeral four years ago, but I came here to look for a letter I left behind. It was a letter left for me all those years ago. I was hoping it would still be exactly where I left it.”

“But it wasn’t?” I ask, intrigued by what he says.

“No, it wasn’t. So I snuck into my father’s old study to look for it, and that’s when I overheard my brother and Wesley in his office. I heard them mention your mother’s name, and the daughter of mine she had. I heard Wesley tell Malcolm how he was planning on bringing you here.”

“Did you hear why?” I ask eagerly, not surprised to know Wesley brought me here for a reason. I’d always known there was one. I guess I’m just finding out why.

“He said it was to lure out whoever was blackmailing him. He told Malcom he’d received some vague threats about his illicit businesses that implicated them all, the founding four. But the one thing the blackmailer knew, the way you were conceived, only a few others knew about. It’s one thing they’re threatening to expose, which is why Wesley thought of me.”

I stare at him blankly even more confused than before, but as I turn to look at Ace I see for once he’s as clueless as me. “I don’t get it, how would exposing me as your daughter change anything? What is the threat in that?” I ask, my mind reeling with all the perplexing information continuing to unravel.

He reaches out to grab my hand looking down at me, silently asking if he may. I don’t nod or give him the okay, but I also don’t pull away from him when he does. “You, Scarlett, are a Smoak, a legitimate heir to my father’s multibillion-dollar fortune. A fortune my brother and Wesley have had their eyes on for many years. You see, my father put a clause in his will that we discovered only when he died. It stated that his fortune went solely to his three surviving grandchildren. My father knew about you, Scarlett, my brother has only Alek and Drea. You are the third grandchild of Silas Smoak.”

“He knew about me,” I whisper, taking in the new information as he nods in agreement.

“And they murdered him for it.” Silas Smoak was murdered because he knew Wesley’s secret. Because he knew of my existence.

Could he possibly be the one who was threatening to expose it?

My mother’s words from that night, the night they executed Chaz for murdering Silas, ring in my head.

A colleague informed me Silas was selling information about The Gallows to the mayor of Providence. He had a black book of all the clients and was using it to fund his reelection campaign. He knew that the Servites and the Silvers were hoping to get him to step down in order for you to assume his place, but being the arrogant bastard that he was, he refused to step down. So, he needed a little push.

Was that another one of my mother’s lies? I am almost sure it was all an act she put together to place the blame on Chaz and hide what she and Wesley had done. They killed my supposed grandfather because he knew their dirty little secret.

“That’s why you’re back,” Ace mutters from behind, bringing me back to the conversation. It’s then I realize my hand is still in Maxwell’s and I instantly pull away. “That’s why Drea called you. Alek and Drea turn eighteen this month.”

“And Scarlett is eighteen today,” Maxwell says, looking from Ace to me.

“Scarlett’s the eldest Smoak heir,” Ace murmurs under his breath, as if that means something.

“And my brother Malcolm knows,” Maxwell answers as they speak as if I’m no longer in the room.

I’ve just about fucking had it. I don’t have to stay here. I don’t have to deal with any more of this bullshit. “This is too much, I can’t,” I say, feeling faint as I fall back into Ace’s hard chest .

Maxwell steps forward worriedly but doesn’t reach for me. Instead, he speaks to Ace. “Take her home to get some rest. I can’t imagine how she’s feeling given everything she’s endured here today.”

Ace nods, helping me stand, my head pounding with so many thoughts bouncing back and forth before he scoops me up into his arms.

“Soon, if you would like, we can get together and I’ll tell you what I know,” Maxwell says in a more somber tone. I lift my head from its place nuzzled in Ace’s neck to look at him. His blue eyes glazed over with what looks like sorrow or guilt as he looks at me. I’d almost think it was genuine if there was such a thing. “You don’t have to believe a word I say, if I were you, I wouldn’t, but know this, Scarlett. If I had known sooner, I wouldn’t have left you with her. I would have taken you far away from this wretched place. I still can, just bear that in mind.”

Just like it always has been, I’m left wondering what could have been. I’m left with nothing but haunting thoughts of what-if.