Chapter 24: Meet the Parents

Elena’s P.O.V
It’s only been three years since I left home but when I saw the familiar gates of the mansion approaching from a distance, I was immediately swarmed with memories of my childhood days. And when Landon used a remote to punch in the security code, the gates parted for us and I saw a glimpse of my home after a long time, I felt all my breath rush out of me.
It was just as I’d remembered it, breathtakingly beautiful. The house had belonged to my grandparents on my father’s side, not his own since my father was adopted, but dad did say they were the only family he knew. The mansion however, was made mostly of floor to ceiling glass walls, which is where it got the name glass mansion from. Mom had her own small property a good twenty minutes ride from here, she still has but she prefers the glass manor. My uncle Christian also stops by often, with his wife and daughter. It’s what I’ve grown up with, my family.
And it’s also why I hated Knight’s marriage proposal.
Landon’s car came to a stop in front of the manor and he got off the car first so he could come around the car and help me out. He used his keys to lock his car, but I stopped him with a tug at his hand when he began to walk towards the house.
“Landon…thank you for everything you’re doing for me.” I told him sincerely. “With how everything ended between us, I didn’t think this would be so…”
“Comfortable?” Landon offered. “Look, I could go on and on about what happened three years ago when you broke up with me or what happened after and trust me, I want nothing more than to have a nice long chat with you about all of that, but I’ll wait till we are in private. Today your parents need to see you and your time belongs solely to them. So, let’s not keep them waiting any longer. Shall we?”
I took a deep breath and nodded my head and Landon escorted me up the stairs with a hand on my back. But as soon as I was about to knock on the door, it was opened by a troubled looking Leo.
“Leo?” My smile faded as soon as I saw the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Landon’s arm wrapped around my waist as Leo motioned us both inside. “I’m really sorry Ellie, if I had known earlier I could have prevented this.”
“What happened?” Landon asked Leo as we entered my childhood house. But somehow, there was an underlying tension in the air where I’d hoped there would be at least a little happiness that I’d finally returned home.
“See for yourself.” Leo’s tone was rough, as if he was trying to hold onto his patience and failing. And a few seconds later, I understood why.
As soon as we entered the living room, I stopped dead in my tracks. Because sitting comfortably on the sofas were none other than Knight Blaze Tyson and his parents. They were all smiling and acting like nothing was wrong in the world while my parents sat opposite to them, looking tense and more than a little frustrated.
Knight was the one who noticed me first and instantly, he placed his tea cup back on the coffee table and sprang up from his seat so he could come towards me. There was a smile on his face that said that nothing I’d said to him yesterday had actually mattered and I would’ve been pissed at him showing up at my house unannounced if I wasn’t frozen to the spot from the shock of it all.
“Elain!” He took my hand in his, ignoring the fact that Landon and Leo stepped on either side of me protectively. “What took you so long? I arrived early so I could introduce you to my parents! They’re so excited about our baby!”
I jerked my hands free from his and took a step back, noticing how Leo and Landon instantly stood in front of me so that the next time Knight tried to touch me, he’d have to go through them. “What are you doing here, Knight?” I asked through gritted teeth, trying my hardest to keep my entire body from trembling. I felt sick and even though I didn’t want to, a small tremor shook my body.
I saw Knight’s eyes narrow slightly as he caught the tremor, but it was Landon who snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his body so that I could lean on him. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Knight who gave a lopsided smile and held out his hand for me. “Come now, Elain. Let’s go meet my parents. They would like to meet the mother of my child. I did tell them a lot about you.”
“Yeah? Did you also show them the sex tape you recorded of us?”
It just came out. Without my conscious thought, I’d just confessed, in front of my parents and his that Knight had made a sex tape of us and I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to use it against me to get to my child.
A series of gasps sounded from the entire room and it wasn’t long before I saw my father make his way towards me. Landon instinctively let go of my waist and Knight hastily took a couple steps back as my father came to stand in front of us and hauled me into his arms.
The familiar scent of his cologne was as welcome as the warmth of his embrace. This was what it felt like coming home. This was my safe heaven.
“Daddy…” My voice trembled as I clutched at the back of his shirt for dear life, tears blurring my vision.
“I’m here baby girl.” My dad told me while running his hands soothingly up and down my back. “Tell us what happened. I can’t help you unless you do.”
I didn’t want to tell them. Especially not in front of my mom and dad, I didn’t want to admit that I had made such a stupid mistake. But I knew that dad was right. I had to tell them what had really happened for them to understand the situation I was in. So I took a deep steadying breath and told them everything. From meeting Knight at the club to finding out about the recorder the next morning and then finding out about my pregnancy and everything that followed.
When I was done narrating, I found Knight and his parents with their heads bowed to the floor while my parents along with Leo and Landon looked ready to murder someone.
“Landon,” my father said in a voice so quiet that I knew he was holding on to his temper with teeth gritting control. “Take Elena and go. I’ll contact you soon.”
“Yes.” Landon agreed at once.
“Daddy?” I looked up into my dad’s electric blue eyes and gasped at the tightly controlled anger in them.
“It’s alright, baby girl.” He gave me a tight smile before releasing me with a tender kiss on the forehead. “You go with Landon. I’ll see you soon.”
“Come on Elain, let’s go.” And then Landon was pulling me out of the house and towards his car, leaving everyone else inside.
But just as Landon had settled me in and started the car, we saw Knight run out of the house and get into a black Sedan that I hadn’t noticed was parked outside the house.
“Shit!” Landon cussed. ”The bastard is planning on following us.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked as my heart slammed into my chest. Why? Why doesn’t he understand that I needed time! Why is he following me so relentlessly? I need time to think, to breather!
“This is our home, Elain.” Landon said as he started driving. “Let’s see how long he can keep up.”