Page 164 of Poison Aches

I stare at him.

“It’s a good tactic, isn’t it?” He laughs. “Whoever the girl marries is the one that becomes heir. It’s a little idea that was whispered in my ear by someone who already knows that you are a two-faced monster, but this, exposing your plans, now this is what I’m enjoying.”

“Exposing my plans?”

“You never wanted to get married,” he says simply. “Isn’t that why you did not marry that Beaumont girl?”

We watch each other.

The car has already stopped at the front doors of the mansion, but I only stare at Grandfather.

“You might think you’re clever, and you are,” Grandfather says, “but don’t you ever make the mistake and forget whomadeyou.”

With that, he taps the window and his door is opened.

“Oh, and I will be staying here for your wedding,” he says with a smile. “I’ve also had the room prepared.”

The room?

“What room?”

“Where the new boss and the Hughes girl will be staying when they marry. I want to see the consummated sheets that very night.”

What the hell?

CHAPTER 22

Ivy

This must be a joke.

A big, ugly joke that I can’t stop laughing at.

I don’t even know where I’m going or how far I’ve been going but I can’t even march down this street with dignity.

I stumble on nothing and then fall, but before I hit the ground, a solid pair of arms catches me.

“Oops,” a now familiar voice speaks close to my ear. “Careful.”

After he rights me, I look up into golden brown eyes illuminated by the bright street lamps.

“You okay?” Vaughn asks in his soft voice that makes my mind reel.

“You’re Emmett’s cousin?” I question, unable to believe it.

“Unfortunately, I am.”

“You are truly Emmett’s cousin?”

“His mother and my father were siblings.”

“Were?”

“Daphne Easton passed away several years ago,” Vaughn says, watching me.

I will myself not to react to that. After all, this guy’s poker face is incredible.

“You are Emmett’s cousin,” I finally say, as if accepting it. “You’re both so…”

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