Tristan enters the room, joining the two older men and leans against the arm of the couch his grandfather sits comfortably on before saying, “What did you think of the party, Grandfather?”
The mature man grins, and it transforms his face to look like an older replica of his son and grandsons. The genes in this family are incredibly overpowering with how much they all resemble each other. I bet when the two men were younger, they both looked the same as the quads do now. “You were perfect, as always, grandson.”
His gaze falls on Axel as well—the boy who had me in a closet earlier, nearly screaming his name out with pleasure.
I’m beyond mortified for being intimate with Axel and letting him do that to me now. I never should’ve allowed him to touch me and lick me like he did earlier. It meant nothing to him; it was just another way for the guys to take advantage of me. I’m such a damn fool and to think he was my real friend or that he wanted me in other ways. I’m so stupid and so fucking blind. The worst part is that Axel’s the de Lacharriere I’ve always felt the closest too. He’s the one I knew that I loved first and yet, he’s also the person who came up with this entire plan to ruin my family and me.
“Axel,” his grandfather beams. “Your mind is absolutely brilliant, my boy. You make your father and me proud. This plan that you’ve concocted seems to be flawless from what your father’s been saying.”
Axel nods, his cheeks tinging with a touch of pink. “Yes, sir, you’re correct. Once I breezed through the background information in the neighbors’ files, I’d remembered an article I’d come across months before. It was touching over Kresley’s father’s company and its many struggles. They were seeking potential investors to help lighten the burden so they could overcome their issues.”
He continues, going in depth with their plans. “The five of us then begun to invest under our individual LLC’s. Throughout the year, we’ll continue to buy up a small portion, enough to dig our fingers into the core information at least. They have a baseline before you’re allowed access to specific files and client information. We should have everything we need by the spring to inflict a takeover completely. Dad will liquidate, and then we move on to the next.”
Silent sobs overtake me at hearing him confess. No doubt it’s only a small portion of the bigger, in-depth plan they have for my father’s company. How could they be so cruel? Everything from day one...from the very beginning was nothing but a cold-hearted lie full of scheming deception, all for the love of money.
Secretly watching them, I can’t help but plead in my mind that one of them stands up. I need them to scream that they won’t do it, that they’ve fallen in love with me. That won’t happen, however. My wishful thinking is only a sad fairy tale from a blind girl. I know it, just by taking their serious expressions. This was nothing but a convenient job for them while they wrap up their high school education. They’ll be unstoppable in college and as adults if they’re this deceiving as teenagers.
Cole and Brent remain quiet, standing still as statues with their arms crossed over their chests as the other four men in the room carry on with their scheming ways. Their conversation moves to rake over the minute details, like when they graduate, what colleges they’ll attend, and other businesses they may acquire. Eventually, they discuss how their grandfather will leave, going back to France and how he expects the quads to visit in the summer. I guess the girls have been asking for the guys, per his excited boasting. Go figure, they have foreign women waiting to comfort them as well. Could this get any worse? My heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest cavity.
I’m numb and cold inside. The excitement and love I’d been so enraptured with earlier is fleeting. My emotions have been completely rubbed raw, and I’m ready to bleed at the first sharp object I come in contact with. There’s nothing I can do in the moment without drawing attention to myself. I have to squat in the snug spot I’d wedged into, while hot, torturous tears track over my cheeks.
After what seems like forever, Mr. de Lacharriere and the senior de Lacharriere finally say their good-byes and make their exit. With them out of the room, I can no longer remain in my torturous hiding place. I can’t be here for another second. I’m ruined, and I refuse for them to have the satisfaction of thinking they’ve won.
With that thought, I stand from my hiding place.
“So you found out our original plan,” Tristan murmurs with a nonchalant bounce of his broad shoulders. He seems so cold and detached, cruel even, as he notices me standing here. How could he just turn his emotions on and off like that? He was holding and kissing on me not even an hour ago in front of everyone.
I’m shaking and sobbing; full of grief for the boys I’d hopelessly fallen for and have already lost. Or maybe, just maybe, I never had them in the first place. My heart is nonexistent in the moment. There’s nothing in my chest anymore; the organ is utterly shattered like a thin sheet of glass.
I knew there had to be ulterior motives from the start but was it all fake with him? And his brothers are the same; I was stupid enough to have given up a piece of my now blackened heart to them as well. I can’t understand it, that this entire plot was one big lie for them and nothing more. Or, I should say, it was many little white lies and all at my expense.
I was beginning to fall for them—all four of them. And they’d deceived me.
End of Book 1
The conclusion is in Ugly Dark Truth
Keep Up With Sapphire:
Website:
www.authorsapphireknight.com
BookBub:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sapphire-knight
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sapphireknight3
Instagram:
http://instagram.com/authorsapphireknight
Newsletter:
bit.ly/SKnightNewsletter
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSapphireKnight
Little White Lies: Reverse Harem/Bully/High School (Harvard Academy Elite Book 1) Page 17
