“Eat, Donna, eat,” Grandfather Vince urged, gesturing with a trembling hand at the spread of roasted lamb and root vegetables. “You look too thin. Pale. Has this grandson of mine been starving you?”
He glared at Anton, his bushy white eyebrows knitting together.
“I’ve been taking excellent care of her, Grandfather,” Anton said, cutting his meat with precise, irritated strokes. “She’s just recovering. It takes time.”
“Recovering,” the old man scoffed. “A miscarriage is a tragedy, not a flu. It requires tenderness. Compassion.” He turned his watery blue eyes to me, and the genuine affection in them made my chest ache. “I am so sorry, my dear. I was so looking forward to meeting him. A little boy, you said?”
“Yes,” I whispered, my throat tight. “A little boy.”
Grandfather Vince reached out and patted my hand. “We will have others. You are young. Strong. You are the best thing that ever happened to this family, Donna. When your parents passed, I promised I would look after you like my own daughter. And I meant it.”
I looked down at my plate, blinking back tears. This was the hardest part. Leaving Anton was easy. Leaving the fortune was easy. But leaving this old man, who had been the only father figure I had known for a decade… that felt like a betrayal.
He didn’t know his grandson was a monster. He didn’t know the rot at the core of his legacy.
“It’s hard to recover,” I said softly, “when the cause is still… around.”
The table went silent.
“What do you mean?” Grandfather asked sharply.
“Donna,” Anton warned, his voice low.
I looked up, feigning innocence, then widened my eyes as if I realized I had spoken out of turn. “Oh! I… nothing. I just meant… the stress. And Beatrice.”
“Beatrice?” Grandfather’s frown deepened. “What does that girl have to do with this?”
“She made the soup,” I blurted out, then clamped a hand over my mouth. “Oh god. I shouldn’t have said that. I mean… she didn’t mean to! It was an accident! We’ve already forgiven her, haven’t we, Anton?”
“The soup?” he repeated, his voice dangerously quiet. “The soup that made you sick? Beatrice made it?”
“It was a mistake!” I stammered, looking frantically at Anton. “She put in the wrong herbs! She didn’t know I was pregnant! Please, Grandfather, don’t be mad. She’s practically family!”
“She is not family!” the old man roared, slamming his fist on the table. The silverware jumped. “She is a leech! A hanger-on who has been sniffing around my grandson since they were children! And now her incompetence has cost me a great-grandson?”
“Grandfather, please,” Anton stood up, his face pale. “It’s not like that. Beatrice is devastated.”
“I don’t care if she’s devastated!” Grandfather pointed a shaking finger at Anton. “I want her gone, Anton. Do you hear me? I don’t want her in your house. I don’t want her near my company. And if I find out you’re still entertaining that… that woman while your wife is grieving, I will write you out of the will so fast your head will spin!”
Anton’s jaw clenched. He looked at me, his eyes burning with fury, but he couldn’t say a word. He was trapped.
“Yes, Grandfather,” he gritted out.
The ride home was silent and suffocating. As soon as we walked through the front door, Anton exploded.
“What the hell was that?” he shouted, throwing his keys onto the console table. “You slipped your tongue? Bullshit! You did that on purpose!”
“I didn’t!” I cried, backing away. “He kept pressing me! I got nervous!”
“You just painted a target on Beatrice’s back!” Anton paced the foyer, running his hands through his hair. “He wants her gone, Donna! Do you know what that means? He controls my trust fund! If he cuts me off…”
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking at the floor. “I’ll fix it. I’ll talk to him when we get back from the honeymoon.”
“The honeymoon,” Anton scoffed. He looked at his phone, which had been buzzing incessantly in his pocket. Beatrice.
He read the message, and his face softened into that sickening look of concern he never showed me.
“She’s having a panic attack,” he muttered. “She heard about what happened. My grandfather called her father and screamed at him. I have to go to her.”
“Now?” I asked. “But… we have a flight tomorrow morning. To the Maldives. For our anniversary.”
“I can’t leave her like this, Donna!” he snapped. “I’ll go calm her down. I’ll be back in the morning before the car comes.”
He didn’t even say goodbye. He just walked out the door, choosing her again. Always her.
The next morning, the sun was bright and mocking. I stood in the foyer, my small carry-on bag at my feet. The house was quiet. Anton hadn’t come home.
My phone rang.
“Donna?” Anton’s voice was rushed, breathless. “Look, I’m so sorry. I can’t make the flight.”
I didn’t blink. “What?”
“It’s Beatrice,” he said, the lie coming easily to him now. “She’s… she’s sick. Really sick. A fever. She’s delirious. I can’t leave her alone right now. There’s no one else to take care of her.”
“Oh,” I said. “I see.”
“Don’t be mad, baby,” he cajoled. “You go ahead. Take David with you so you’re not alone on the flight. I’ll take the next flight out tomorrow morning. I promise. I’ll be there before dinner. We’ll still have our anniversary.”
“It’s okay, Anton,” I said. “I understand.”
“You’re the best,” he sighed with relief. “Hey, by the way… the lawyers just called. They filed the transfer papers this morning. The logistics company will soon be officially under Jones Corp after confirmation. Thank you, Donna. Really. This means the world to me.”
“I’m glad,” I said. “I left a gift for you. In our room. On the bed.”
“A gift? You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to,” I said, looking at the empty space on my ring finger. “It’s… for our anniversary. You deserve it.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” he said.
“I hope you’ll be happy,” I said, my voice steady. “Without me.”
There was a pause on the other end. A flicker of confusion.
“What do you mean, without you—”
I hung up before he could say a word. Then, I throw my phone in the trash bin before heading to the airport.
