Elegant Sins - Stasia Black Page 0,79
would never put you through this, no matter what the payout is in the end.” I paused and then asked, “Knowing what you know now, if you got to go back in time, would you have agreed to being a belle?”
“Yes.” Her voice was soft at first but then she spoke with more conviction. “Otherwise, I would have never met you. I don’t think our worlds would have ever overlapped any other way.”
I huffed. “Yeah, welcome to my world. It’s a fucked up web of deceit, corruption, and a twisted view of reality. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, and I can’t wait until you are safe from all this.”
“Even if that isn’t what I want?”
“I don’t think you truly understand my world,” I said sadly. “I don’t even think I understand it anymore.”
“But you aren’t like them.”
“How would you even know? You didn’t know the man I was before we entered the manor.”
I motioned to the room where we stood. “This is my lineage. I was bred for this. I crawled on these floors as a baby. I have the blue blood pumping so thick in my veins that I don’t know how to be anything else. And look at me.”
When she didn’t turn to look at my face, I raised my voice and demanded, “Look at me! I’m my father. He had to go through this Initiation just as his father did. Why would we do this? Why? I’ll tell you why. Because we are all sick bastards.”
“I don’t believe that,” she said calmly. “You aren’t your father.”
“I am. And just like my father, I will someday put my own son through this shit in order to run a business that should rightfully be his. History repeating itself. I’ll be one of these Elders someday. I’ll be casting judgment down on some poor soul and try to break him as they have tried to break me. I’ve tried so hard to resist. You’ve even helped me not lose every good that I held inside. But I’m tired. I’m fucking exhausted.”
As if the Elders could hear us speaking and wanted to arrive on cue, they entered the room in single file. There was a long table in the front of the room, and they each took a seat before us.
Even though their faces were shadowed by the silver hooded cloaks they wore, I was still able to make out the identity of each one. It was an odd relief to see my father’s face among them. He’d listened to me after all and made it out in time. The company was safe.
“Montgomery Kingston. Grace Morgan. You both have made it to the final ceremony. 109 days have come and passed, and you met each Trial of the Initiation successfully,” one of the Elders announced as he stood and struck his cane hard against the floor as a signal that the ceremony had begun.
The Elder sitting on the far right of the table asked, “Montgomery Kingston, please state to us what your desire is now that you have completed the Initiation.”
Finally. It was almost over.
“I choose to take over the family business as the CEO and major stockholder. I also desire to be a full member of The Order of the Silver Ghost. I also would ask the Order to grant Miss Morgan whatever her heart desires. She too has passed the Initiation.”
The Elder who first spoke said, “Is there opposition by any of the Elders why Montgomery Kingston should not be granted his right and his claim?”
“I do,” my father said as he stood from his seat. “Mr. Kingston has broken one of the rules of the Initiation, hence disqualifying him. He has failed on the final day.”
What? If it were possible to be punched in the gut from afar, then it just occurred. I could barely breathe as a shooting pain ran from my heart to my spine.
My father… my own father…
The physical pain caused by betrayal nearly buckled my knees. I’d risked everything to go out to the docks to save him— How could he do this? How?
“He left The Oleander at approximately 3:30 a.m. today. It specifically states in our bylaws that no recruit going through the Initiation may leave the manor for any reason. Due to his breach, he can no longer claim his stake in the business nor join our Order.”
“You asshole!” Grace shouted. “He left to save your stupid ass! If it weren’t for him, you’d be in jail right now. You owe