Engaged To His Grandfather
Rowan’s POV
I was done pretending.
Davenport’s words still echoed in my head, and no matter how many smiles I faked or hands I shook, I couldn’t let them go. The leash comment. The smugness. The fact that he still dared to show his face like he hadn’t tried to rip my entire life apart.
My grip on the glass tightened until I thought it might crack.
Remi noticed.
She always did.
“Rowan,” she said softly, brushing her fingers against mine, “don’t.”
I didn’t answer.
“Babe.” Her voice was lower now, firmer. “Don’t give him what he wants.”
“I’m not going to punch him,” I muttered. “Just talk.”
Remi gave me a look. One of those skeptical, eyebrow-raised, I-know-you-too-well looks.
“I promise I won’t make it a big deal,” I added, even though my jaw was tight and my patience had already run out.
She sighed. “Then I’m coming with you.”
That surprised me.
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” Her eyes darkened. “He doesn’t get to play games with you. Not tonight.”
So we walked across the ballroom, side by side. Heads turned. Conversations paused. The moment we stopped in front of Lucious Davenport, the air in the room changed. It was quiet—too quiet.
He looked up from his drink slowly, like he wasn’t surprised. Like he’d been waiting.
“Rowan,” he said smoothly. “Remi. You both look stunning.”
I didn’t return the smile.
“Let’s drop the act,” I said calmly. “You and I both know exactly what you’re doing.”
Lucious tilted his head. “You’ll have to be more specific. You’re throwing accusations at a charity gala. Classy.”
Remi stepped closer, her expression unreadable. “You tried to bury my lab.”
Lucious raised a brow. “You’ll have to speak with the board about that.”
“You sent men to my house,” I added, voice low but sharp. “Wearing my face.”
He blinked.
Didn’t flinch.
Didn’t admit it either.
“You have no proof,” he said slowly. “No video. No confession. Just your paranoia.”
My fists curled.
But I kept it in.
Remi squeezed my hand.
Lucious leaned forward slightly. “What I do know is that your little comeback story is starting to look like a soap opera. Surgeon wife. Secret kids. Amnesia. Lovely PR move.”
“Say one more thing—” I started.
But then—
She appeared.
Gigi.
Dressed in red like she’d bathed in someone’s blood before arriving. Lips painted to match. Hair curled to perfection. And that same smug smile she always wore when she thought she was winning.
“Am I interrupting?” she asked sweetly.
Lucious looked almost… relieved.
Remi tensed beside me. I felt her posture shift, like she was about to lunge, but she didn’t.
Yet.
“Perfect timing,” Lucious said, taking Gigi’s hand and brushing his lips over her knuckles. “We were just talking about masks.”
I didn’t look at her.
Not even once.
She didn’t deserve it.
But her presence confirmed everything I’d suspected—Gigi and Davenport weren’t working in shadows anymore. They were stepping into the light, together, smug and coordinated, like they hadn’t just tried to dismantle my entire life.
I stepped forward.
“Did you tamper with the plane?”
Lucious blinked, as if amused. “What plane?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Did you sabotage it?”
“Rowan,” Gigi purred, the corners of her lips twitching. “Is this really the place for that kind of question?”
I ignored her. My eyes stayed locked on Lucious. “And her—were you working with her the entire time? The shell companies, the fake board votes, the hit on Remi. Was it you?”
Lucious looked at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re reaching.”
“You know what I think?” I said, lowering my voice, stepping in closer. “I think you’re so desperate to matter again that you’d risk everything—your name, your reputation—just to watch mine burn.”
Gigi tsked. “That’s dramatic. Even for you.”
“I’m not talking to you.”
“Oh, but you should be,” she said, stepping forward, voice sharp now, almost cutting. “Because you keep thinking I’m the threat. That I’m the manipulator. That I’m the big bad witch who ruined your life.”
She leaned in.
“But you have no idea what’s standing next to you.”
I felt Remi go still beside me. Not tense. Not angry. Still.
Lucious’s eyes glittered. “You really think she’s your biggest problem?”
My jaw clenched.
Then he said it.
“You don’t even know who she is.”
Silence fell like a blade.
My heart thudded in my chest, slow and heavy.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
He didn’t respond.
Instead, one of his assistants—some guy I didn’t recognize—stepped up and handed me a file. Slim. Black. Marked CONFIDENTIAL.
I hesitated.
Remi looked at me, her brow furrowed. “Rowan…?”
I opened it.
The first page was a scanned copy of an old engagement record. Official.
Name: Sebastian Vaughn
Fiancée: Elena Harper Farsworth
Remi’s mother.
And Sebastian Vaughn… my grandfather.
She wasn’t just Remi’s mother.
She was once engaged to him.
As another wife.
She was barely of twenty three.
My throat went dry.
Remi whispered, “What is it?”
But I couldn’t speak. Because nothing in the world had prepared me for this.
That file. That name. That engagement. My grandfather. Her mother. All tied together like the beginning of some cursed novel we never agreed to be part of.
I folded the document slowly, like handling something radioactive, and looked at her. Her eyes searched mine, confused, worried, trusting.
I couldn’t break her here.
“Let’s go,” I said quietly, slipping my hand into hers.
She blinked. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain everything. Just… not here.”
I guided her through the room, ignoring the looks, the murmurs. I could feel the weight of every stare burning into my back. Remi walked with me, gripping my hand tighter like she knew I was about to fall apart and was trying to hold the pieces in place.
We were almost at the doors.
Almost free.
Then—
“First love never dies, Remi,” Gigi called out, her voice loud enough to silence every other sound.
We stopped.
I felt Remi still beside me.
“That’s why he never hurt me,” Gigi added, voice like poison in honey. “You were just a passing storm. I
was the calm.”
Remi turned, slow and steady, but I could see the flicker of heat in her eyes.
I exhaled, jaw tight. “Remi—”
But she was already facing Gigi, head high.
And Gigi was smiling.
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