“You are well aware of why I went to those lengths,” James says, spitting fire from his eyes as he glares at Carter. “Don’t pretend you’re the injured party here.”
“We should have brought popcorn,” Bree whispers.
“It’s no secret there is little love lost between James and I,” Carter replies, speaking to the room and ignoring James’s outburst. “It is also widely known he was opposed to the match between his sister and me. Pamela and I were in love, and it broke my heart when she cheated on me with Douglas Shaw. If you remember, Doug was James’s best friend at LU, and he conspired with him to entice Pamela away from me.” He glances around the room, rubbing a hand across his chest as if he’s in pain. “When I discovered Pamela was pregnant, the first thought I had was that the baby was mine. I was devasted when the medical reports proved otherwise. But they were all fraudulent.” His gaze narrows on my uncle. “James bribed the medical personnel and had fake reports delivered confirming the baby was Doug’s, and you all know the rest.”
“I fail to see where you’re going with this, Carter.” Eric drills him with a look. “Get to the point.”
“James was threatened by my relationship with his sister because he’s in love with her himself. He didn’t want Pamela marrying me because she’d be lost to him, so he set this all up to keep her by his side and under his control. Doug never loved Pamela. Their marriage was a sham. Keeping my daughter from me was another way to stick the knife in my back.”
James scoffs. “You’re reaching, Carter.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Stewart says.
“Perhaps this will change your mind.” He flings more papers down on the desk.
James lifts a page with trembling hands, and a horrified look washes over his face as he reads whatever it says.
“What does he have on him?” Jase murmurs, tapping his knee up and down.
“Julia wasn’t your daughter?” Jase’s dad says, probing Manford’s face as he lifts his head from the paper in his hand. “And you knew?”
“He didn’t know at first,” Carter continues explaining. “His slut of a wife concealed the truth, didn’t she?” He tosses a grin at my uncle.
James is gripping the table with a death grip.
Holy shit. If this is true, Julia wasn’t really my cousin, and if she knew, it was all the motivation she needed to hate me. It makes a lot more sense to me now.
“But Lucille paid the price for it. Isn’t that right?” Carter adds. You can tell he’s really enjoying this, and he has a natural flair for the dramatic.
“You killed her?” Salinger surmises, eyeballing Manford. He licks his lips, slowly nodding as he connects the dots in his head. “You killed your wife and staged it as a skiing accident to hide the truth about Julia instead of coming to us as you should.”
“Fucking hell.” Jase absently presses a kiss to my temple.
“These people are the worst sinners of all,” Ares snaps. “And they have the nerve to punish others for a lot less? Bloody fucking hypocrites.”
“Preach,” I say.
“Oh please.” James composes himself. “As if we haven’t all taken matters into our own hands. As ifyouhaven’t.” He quirks a brow and levels a challenging look at Salinger.
“That is exactly why he did it,” Carter says. “James fully intended for Julia to be his heir, even though she was only a plebeian, because the alternative was admitting he had committed treachery against another Luminary and hidden my daughter out of spite. He knew if we discovered the truth my Ashley would have been instated as the rightful heir of the Sloth Luminary, and he did everything to stop that from happening.”
“MyAshley.” Ares growls, echoing the sentiments in my head perfectly.
How dare that bastard try to claim me as his own when he’s using me and throwing my mother to the wolves despite claiming he would protect her if I went along with his sick plan.
“Is this true?” Stewart asks.
Manford’s jaw clenches, and I can almost see the wheels churning in my uncle’s head as he tries to worm his way out of it.
“It gets worse.” Carter smothers a grin as he reclaims his seat. He’s only short of rubbing his hands in glee. “He suspected I’d discovered the truth after Ashley’s initiation, and he colluded with his daughter to put a hit out on Ashley’s life. My daughter was shot at in the parking lot at LU a week ago. Thankfully, her injuries weren’t serious, but one poor innocent lost her life that day. I know you have all read that report.”
It's hard to believe that was only a week ago because so much has happened in the intervening period.
“Do you think it’s true?” I ask Jase. “Do you think my uncle was behind it? Not Julia?”
He shakes his head. “Carter’s lying to suit his agenda, but I can’t say for sure that James wasn’t also involved. Julia was behind it for sure. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Anita admitted it and the part she played before we took her out.”
I twist around to face him, the leather underneath me squelching with the motion. “Wait. What? You killed Anita? Why is this the first time I’m hearing about it?! I told you I wanted to be involved!”
