Chapter 2 - The Secrets of the Manor
The iron gates of the Hail estate groaned as they opened,
admitting the man who had just dismantled a legacy.
The car came to a halt in front of the massive stone stairs.
Garrett stepped out,
not as a groom,
but as a protector.
He reached back into the car and lifted Posie into his arms.
She was light,
almost too light,
telling him stories of a life of hardship he had never permitted.
Mave followed him,
her eyes scanning the grand architecture with a mix of awe and dread.
"I hated this place,"
she whispered as they entered the foyer.
"It always felt like a cage."
"It won't be a cage anymore,"
Garrett promised,
his voice echoing off the marble floors.
He led them to the private wing,
away from the prying eyes of the staff.
He called for his private doctor,
a man who owed his life to the Hail family and knew how to keep a secret.
"Check her,"
Garrett ordered,
pointing to Posie.
"I want to know everything about her health."
While the doctor worked,
Garrett took Mave to the library.
The room was filled with the scent of old paper and expensive tobacco.
He poured two glasses of whiskey,
but Mave didn't touch hers.
"I need to know how you survived,"
he said,
sitting across from her.
"My mother said you took a payoff."
Mave laughed,
a bitter,
hollow sound that cut him to the core.
"The payoff she offered was my life,
Garrett."
"She told me if I didn't disappear,
she would make sure neither I nor the baby saw another sunrise."
"I had twelve dollars in my pocket when I stepped onto that bus."
"I worked three jobs,
lived in shelters,
and did everything I could to keep her fed."
"I saw your face on the news every day,
the great Garrett Hail,
the king of New York."
"I thought you had forgotten us."
Garrett slammed his glass onto the table,
the crystal shattering into a thousand pieces.
The roar of his anger was silent but devastating.
"I never forgot you,"
he whispered.
"I was told you were dead."
"She showed me a grave,
Mave."
"A headstone with your name on it."
Mave froze,
her face turning as white as the rain outside.
"She went that far?"
"She went further,"
Garrett said,
standing up and pacing the room.
"She wanted a pure bloodline for the Ashford merger."
"She didn't want a 'commoner' like you polluting the family name."
"But she didn't realize that the Hail blood is stronger than her ambition."
The doctor entered the room then,
looking solemn.
"She's healthy,
sir,
but she's malnourished."
"She has a slight fever from the rain,
but she's a fighter."
"And the DNA?"
Garrett asked,
his heart stopping for a beat.
The doctor nodded.
"There is no doubt."
"She is your daughter,
one hundred percent."
Garrett felt a weight lift from his shoulders,
replaced by a new,
heavier responsibility.
He walked back to the room where Posie was resting.
She was asleep now,
wrapped in a silk blanket that cost more than Mave's coat.
He touched her cheek,
marveling at the softness of her skin.
"I'm sorry,"
he whispered to the sleeping child.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there."
Outside,
the sound of a helicopter approached.
The searchlights swept across the lawn,
illuminating the rain.
It was his mother.
Eleanor Hail was coming to claim her kingdom,
or what was left of it.
Garrett straightened his tuxedo jacket,
which was still damp from the street.
"Stay here,"
he told Mave.
"Lock the door."
"Don't come out until I tell you it's safe."
He walked toward the grand staircase,
his footsteps heavy and rhythmic.
The front doors burst open,
and Eleanor Hail walked in,
her face a mask of aristocratic fury.
She was followed by a dozen armed guards.
"Garrett!"
she screamed,
the sound echoing through the house.
"Explain yourself this instant!"
"You have humiliated this family in front of the entire world!"
Garrett stopped at the top of the stairs,
looking down at the woman who had raised him.
"I didn't humiliate the family,
Mother."
"I simply found the part of it you tried to kill."
Eleanor stopped,
her eyes narrowing.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know about the grave,"
Garrett said,
his voice cold as the grave itself.
May you like
"I know about the twelve dollars."
"And I know about my daughter."
