Page 77 of Hers To Keep
Fury rises within me at his words. That he’s trying to justifywhat he’s done is just irking me further. He has no idea what he’s talking about, has no fucking clue the shit she’s been through, the amount of threats that my uncle has spewed against her. How could he know if I never confided in him either? Though it was for fear of this exact thing happening.
“I don’t give a fuck what she’s done!” I shout, slamming my hands down on the table between us. Alek flinches at my action, and I know the only way he’d possibly understand is if I come clean and admit to him what I admitted to the others. “I love her, Alek. I fucking love her with every inch of my being, with every part of my heart and soul.” His face flashes with shock before being masked by fury at my words, his rage now matching mine.
I’ve always known Alek to be a classist. The beliefs his grandfather and father instilled in him, that those not of our equal social status are worthless, but this is so much more than her being poor or an orphan from the slums. This is jealousy, envy, resentment. Scarlett came from nothing and is receiving everything—admittance into our prestigious academy, a place at my side on my throne, but most of all, a prominent place in my Uncle Wesley’s empire.
He doesn’t understand what she’s had to go through, the trials and tribulations she’s had to endure in her past and since she’s arrived here. The evil she’s had to overcome. We’ve all had a fucked upbringing. Raised by adults who saw us only as soldiers, as robots not children. Yet Scarlett was completely alone, just her and Jade, until she found a family that we again took away. The only thing worse than never having a family, is to have one and lose them. And she’s lost them more than once at our hand.
He laughs sporadically as he paces the floor. “You can’t love her, don’t be fucking stupid, Ace. Do you want her? Yeah, sure I’ll believe that. I mean, why not, she’s hot, you’d be an idiot to not see it, but she doesn’t belong here. She’s not one of us!” His eyes turn glossy, covered in fury as he restlessly tugs at his long blond hair.
I march up to him, fuming at his insults toward her, as I griphis shirt by the neck, pulling him toward me. If only he knew she was more like him than any of us. “She belongs with us; she is more like us than your feeble mind could ever imagine.” The secret of her parentage hasn’t come out yet. Besides Scarlett, her father, mother, my uncle, Bass, and Jade, nobody else knows. Not Stella, not any of her other friends, not Beckett. I’m not even so sure Malcolm, his own father, knows Scarlett’s learned the truth of who she is. If he did, he would have already tried to get rid of her. She’s standing in the way of his son and daughter’s full inheritance.
What would have been split two ways, is now three. Silas knew, it’s why he put the clause in his will, and I believe it’s why he was killed.
I swore to myself I’d never spill that secret because not only is it not mine to share, and I know Scarlett wouldn’t want Alek to know. I’m sure she likes him as much as he likes her. Telling Bass and Jade was necessary because of their involvement in our plan, but Alek pissed me off. He needs to be put in his place, and that’s exactly what this truth bomb will do. Open his eyes to his idiotic beliefs. Beliefs we all had but must now get rid of.
“Please, because her mother used to live here once upon a time, because she’s your Uncle Wesley’s little plaything, because she now works for him,” he laughs mockingly and that’s when I finally decide I’ve had enough of his fucking narcissistic attitude.
I step forward and grip his shirt by the neck once again. “Because she’s a Smoak.” I tell him, releasing and shoving him back against the wall behind him. His eyes grow wide at my confession. They’re bloodshot, his body practically trembling in anger as he stares blankly at me, not moving, not speaking, completely and utterly stunned.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asks furiously, as he steps into me meeting my shrewd glare with one of his own. We now stand chest to chest. He’s shorter than me and definitely slimmer, but the way he’s staring at me, with a raging fury burning in his eyes, I know he’d probably get in a few good hits.
But I’m not here to fight him, that’s not why I told him.
“Scarlett Steele is, in reality, Scarlett Smoak. She’s your Uncle Maxwell’s daughter, she’s your cousin, Alek,” I state impassively, not giving further explanation.
“That’s fucking bullshit! My uncle Maxwell doesn’t have any children!” he shouts back, but the unease in his eyes makes me believe he knew his uncle had a child, just not that it was her.
“Not any he knew about, but your grandfather did. It’s why he put the clause in your inheritance, the clause your father’s been trying to find a way around for four years. That his three grandchildren wouldn’t get their inheritance till they turned eighteen or were all three reunited, whichever came first. It’s a long story and I won’t get into the gory details, not only because they aren’t mine to share but because it doesn’t change what’s true. Scarlett is the eldest of Silas Smoak’s grandchildren.”
He’s stunned and absolutely exasperated, not knowing where to turn, he drops onto the nearest couch beside us, his elbows resting on his knees, and his face buried desperately in his hands. “This can’t be true,” he mutters, under his breath.
“But it is,” Maxwell says, coming out of his office and walking over to where we stand. Alek lifts his head at the sound of his uncle’s voice. “Scarlett is my daughter, a daughter I didn’t know about until recently.”
Alek’s glare hardens as he stands and watches him approach us. “Wesley knows this?” he asks, his face now solemn instead of irate as he turns looking between the two of us. Like a little boy who just found out his favorite superhero isn’t real, or worse, that he’s the villain not the hero. I guess that’s exactly what has happened.
“He’s always known. Lilith is her mother and has worked for Wesley for years, they’ve known each other for longer. We all knew each other as kids, as teenagers. Wesley knew of Scarlett’s existence as it was their plan, after all, to make me father her child. Like Ace said, it’s a long story, but the point is Wesley and Lilith drugged me. Lilith was in love with me and hoped to tie me downwith a child. Only I wanted nothing to do with her, and after a horrible tragedy occurred, her family was exiled from Hillcrest. She only came back years later to work for Wesley but hid in his club.”
I move to stand beside Alek, turning toward him. “He’s known this whole time, and never once did he tell you. We can’t trust him, Alek, we never should have. He’s a monster, this world we live in is sick and corrupt. His pretense of power he holds is nothing without us, his loyal soldiers, his devoted servants. We need to be the ones to put an end to this madness. To him and the corruption that flows through the streets of this city, our city.”
“I need to talk to him, to my father. I’m sure he has an explanation,” Alek says, moving and pacing frantically around the room.
Frustration is consuming my thoughts as Alek refuses to see this for what it is. “Can’t you see, Alek, what this world has done to us? I’m telling you he’s a vile monster, and you’re hoping to justify everything with an explanation. We’ve been his pawns this whole time. For someone who likes to be the one in charge, you sure are his most loyal puppet.”
“If we destroy this world, our world, what will we be left with, Ace? You think I don’t know that the shit he does is wrong, I’m not a fucking idiot. I’m not made to live a mediocre life. My sister would rather die than be without her luxurious way of life. I’m only looking out for our future. If I turn my back on him, on my father, it’s over for me. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
For the first time tonight, Alek’s solemn gaze is genuine. He fears for what his life holds once this world of ours crumbles away. His loyalty is because of fear, not because he believes in what my uncle does, but because he’s afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t. I get it, I’ve thought about it too. Who will we be after all of this is gone, where will we go? But the matter at hand will be much graver if we stand around and do nothing.
“We will ensure you keep your money, Alek. It’s not about losing everything. It’s about destroying what he built, what ourparents, grandparents, our ancestors built. The depraved empire they’ve created. The inheritance your grandfather left is legit. He was a businessman—his mother’s family came from money. It’s just the blood money of our father’s that needs to be destroyed.”
Alek falls back onto the couch again, shaking his head in disbelief. He wants to believe me, to trust me. I can tell, but something holds him back. “What are we going to do against him, Ace? Be real here for a moment.”
I sit down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Bass and Beckett are already on board. We have Maxwell on our side, and another accomplice who will help us take down Wesley. The only problem is once he helps us, we must also take him down.”
Maxwell moves to sit on the chair to our left as Alek reluctantly watches his uncle who I’m sure he hasn’t seen in years. Although Maxwell left Hillcrest and moved away leaving his place in this world behind, as children, Alek and Drea would vacation with him for the summer, a ploy by their grandfather Silas to lure him back to the family.
“Your grandfather made his fortune separate from this world, Alek. Silas was a part of all of this, but he wanted an out. That's why he was murdered.”
“What?” Alek asks, bewildered by Maxwell’s insinuation. Alek adored his grandfather and looked up to him in so many ways. I remember he was devastated after Silas murder, he didn’t speak for nearly a year.