"Book me a flight. I want the next one home."
That was where the call ended.
It was late by the time I got home.
Several Rolls-Royces and Maybachs were parked at the gate.
The Gilbert matriarch had come in person.
"Since Marianne is the Henson heir, and since the two of them are already living as husband and wife, then we'll set the old rules aside and let them marry."
Ronald and Marianne were still fingers laced together, wrapped up in each other, kissing like they couldn't be happier.
Everyone watching gave satisfied nods.
"Here. These are all my engagement gifts for Marianne."
"The engagement gown was custom-made by hand with gold thread. The shoes, the jewelry, all of it too."
The moment she finished, the Gilbert matriarch turned to Ronald.
"And the Gilbert family's heirloom jade bracelet? It's time to bring that out for Marianne to wear too."
Her words had barely landed when one of the servants noticed me standing in the doorway.
"Miss, you're back."
Every head turned toward me. My stepmother curled her lip in a cold little smile. Marianne looked smug, though she was careful not to let it show.
Ronald and my father just sat there with clear consciences, watching me.
As I stepped inside, Ronald rose and came toward me.
The look on his face right then was nothing but cold.
Not a word of explanation, not even a greeting. He simply held out his hand and asked me to return the Gilbert heirloom bracelet.
The servants looked at me with pity in their eyes.
In that moment, everything I'd called family, everything I'd called love, turned to ash all at once.
"Before I give it back, there's one thing I want to know."
"If you never loved me, why did you get engaged to me first?"
"Is it true, then, that no heart can hold up under a test?"
Ronald's expression darkened.
"So do you know why I changed my mind and got engaged to Marianne instead?"
How was I supposed to know that? He read my silence as fear of speaking.
"Ha. Don't dare say it out loud in front of everyone, is that it?"
"So you're afraid of people finding out what you did too?"
What I did?
I had never wronged a single person, and I meant to get to the bottom of this.
"You say I did something. Then tell me. What exactly did I do?"
The words had barely left my mouth when Marianne rushed over and threw her arms around Ronald.
"Ronnie, don't say it."
"Sis has her reasons for doing all this. She's afraid I'll steal Dad's love away, that's all."
She was crying again. What did she have to feel so wronged about?
Then she turned to me and dropped straight to her knees.
"Sis, please don't be angry."
"No matter what you've done to me, I won't hold it against you."
"And I won't take Dad from you either. As for control of the company and Ronnie, if you won't give them up, then I won't dare press it any further."
"All I want is for me and my mother to live out our lives here in the Henson house, simply and quietly. That's all!"
With that, she started to kowtow to me. Ronald quickly stopped her.
"Marianne, don't kneel to a woman with a heart as black as hers. And you don't need her permission to have happiness or power."
"As long as I, Ronald Gilbert, am alive, I'll protect you. One day, one lifetime, however long I live."
Those words felt so familiar. He'd once said the very same thing to me, back when he was protecting me.
How things had changed.
"Are you two done with the performance? If you're finished, then tell me. What did I do?"
Ronald started to speak, but Marianne shook her head hard.
On the surface it looked like she was shielding me. In truth, the more pitiful she looked down there on her knees, the more Ronald would do anything for her.
"Marianne, this time I'll interrogate her if it kills me."
He stared at me, his eyes full of fury.
