Chapter 224: COMPLICATED FAMILY
Ace pushed him to the ground, and jumped on top of him.
He continued to punch him, shoving off everyone who tried to hold him back.
Landon dropped to the ground, and tried to hold him off.
"Let go, Lan!" He scread angrily, and tried to push him off.
"And ? Should I also let go?"
He lifted his head, and saw Fay had also dropped to her knees in front of him.
"This is what you do with your spare ti? Punch your relatives? What a loser!" She hissed, and rose to her feet.
She had made it to the door, when he hopped off Collins body, and dashed for her.
"Do you even know what he did?!" He grabbed her hand roughly, and turned her to face him.
She gave him a once-over, her gaze stopping at the spot which his arms encircled.
"What is this? Pouring out your anger on
too? Be very careful, Ace," she warned.
He sighed wearily, and let her go. As he turned, he saw his family had helped Colin up his feet.
"Ace– I ca-n ex-plain," he stuttered through bloodied mouth.
"What the hell is this?!" The matriarch scread, on entering the room.
Her eyes moved around the faces of everyone, then ca to stop on Colin.
"Oh my God! My sweet boy." the bag she was carrying dropped out of her hands.
Everyone around him shifted, as the matriarch walked up to him.
"Who did this to you?" She asked, cupping his face in her hands.
"I did," Ace boldly responded.
Her already shivering fingers departed Collins face, as she turned around slowly to face Ace.
"You did what?!"
"I beat him up, because this son of a bitch has been playing
for the past four years."
"Ace, darling, could you explain what you an by that? You and Colins are so close. I doubt he harbours any resentnts towards you that’d lead him to play you," his mother, bless her innocent heart, said.
Ace scoffed, and shook his head bitterly.
"That’s what I thought too."
"Ace–"
"Don’t you dare Ace ! Out of all the disappointnts I’ve been slamd with off recently, nothing beats the one I felt when in a spur, it hit
why you’ve been so distant. How dare you do that to your own cousin?"
"This is getting boring. What did the man do for heaven’s sake!" Fay asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
"I ssed up," Colin said before Ace could spill. "Reign was never pregnant for Ace. She was pregnant for ."
Dark silence suddenly descended the room, as his confession sent chills down everyone’s spine.
"When she lost the baby, I grew even more upset that she had pinned the pregnancy on Ace. I hated her for denying
my rights. That hatred trickled to Ace, because he had the woman I thought I was in love with. But it wasn’t love," he shook his head, and laughed bitterly. "It was just lust. Real blinding lust."
His face fell down in sha. No one moved, neither did they say a thing.
They were all too stunned to offer a reaction other than silence.
Their surprise further heightened, when the matriarch turned to Colin, and hugged him.
"You should have told ," she cried whilst hugging him. "I would have found a way to settle things before it escalated this way. Why didn’t you tell ?"
"Maybe because you settling things only makes it worse?" Fay found her voice.
The matriarch froze. Fay had been told the truth. And just like she had imagined would happen, she hated her.
"What are you talking about, Fay?" Claire asked.
"Oh, it turns out backstabbing runs in the Atticus family. Just ask your grandmother, and your mother. Anyway, I’ve had enough for today. I’m leaving."
"You can’t leave, Fay!" The matriarch said, without turning around.
"You don’t tell
what to do."
"I’m not trying to do that. The press has multiplied. The only reason I was able to go through the crowd was because I had an escort from the police. They told
to tell everyone to remain in the house, until they de-escalate the situation," she explained.
"So you’re telling
I have to remain here? Until?" She asked in a testy tone.
"They say at least two hours."
"You’ve got to be kidding ," she muttered under her breath.
"I think it’s excellent, actually. Everyone can air out their grievances," Landon said, causing Fay to scoff.
"Count
out," she said, and walked out of the room.
She returned to the balcony, and sat on the chair she had sat down on before.
"I can’t believe this is happening," she muttered to herself.
Opening her purse she was only just realising had been slung across her shoulders all this while, she fetched out her phone.
She texted Cade that they couldn’t leave just yet, then updated her grandfather about what was happening.
As soon as she sent the ssage, she received a pop up for a video call.
She couldn’t reject it, because she knew it was definitely Dream trying to talk to her.
She pressed answer, and Dream popped up on the screen.
"Mummy!" She scread in excitent.
"My Dream," Fay replied, smiling heartily.
"I wanted to show you this cool cupcake nanny and I found online."
"But Dream, you already chose the cake design you wanted. The baker I hired is already working on it."
"But can’t we get these cupcakes too? Please mummy."
"Of course you can, my love. You can get whatever you want."
Fay’s heart skipped a beat, as she looked behind her, and saw Ace.
"Daddy?" Dream called. "It’s really you!"
"Hello baby," he waved. "Don’t worry about the cupcakes. You’ll get whatever you want, okay?"
"Okay daddy," she smiled, showing off her half empty front teeth.
"Dream, baby, let
call you later, okay?" Fay said.
"Okay mummy. Bye daddy."
The screen went blank, and Fay turned to face Ace.
"Have you lost your mind?" She asked.
"I don’t understand." He shrugged, feigning ignorance.
"You do, that’s why you crept up on
like a stalker. What exactly do you think you’re trying to do? Because if you think you can pretend to be a father to Dream just so you can get closer to , then you’ve absolutely lost your mind."
He chuckled, further annoying her.
"What’s so funny?" She asked, giving him an annoyed look.
"You, darling. You seem to forget there’s still a wedge between us. We’ve not gotten all our truths, so don’t worry. I’m not trying to chase you just yet. I really want to be allowed to love my daughter."
"Why? Because you lost the child you were supposed to have with Reign, and now you think forming a bond with my Dream would help heal your mourning heart?"
His face darkened, as he took a withdrawing step back.
Fay instantly knew she had gone too far. It was one thing to insult him, but using the dead child that wasn’t even his was a little too low.
"I’m sorry," she said.
"It’s okay," he forced a smile. "I guess I deserved that."
"No," she shook her head. "Ace," she grabbed his arm, but he gently pulled away. "I’m serious, I shouldn’t have said that."
"What does Dream like?" He cleared his throat, and changed the topic.
She felt completely awful, and it worried her.
She wasn’t supposed to feel sad for hurting his feelings. He had done worse than that to her.
"Stuffed toys, sweets, board gas," she replied anyway.
"That’s one smart kid."
"Yeah, she surprises
too," she replied.
"Why? Her mother isn’t dull. I don’t think her father is either. She couldn’t have co out any different."
"I wish she didn’t look so much like you. It wasn’t easy seeing her when—-" she paused, and bit her lips. "Nevermind."
"Don’t do that, Fay," he said in a hoarse voice.
She looked up, and their eyes locked. "It was a mistake," she said in a hushed tone.
"Nah, I don’t think so. I think you do it on purpose everyti you’re around , because you know how crazy it drives ."
"Stop it, Ace. I’m not trying to drive you crazy."
She moved her face away to break the spell, but he wasn’t having it.
He moved closer to her, and pushed his head down.
Grabbing her chin, he turned it until she was facing him again.
"What are you doing, Ace?" She asked, feeling a rush of ecstasy consu her body.
"Reign lied to , but her father has cancer, so I can’t confront her with her lies. Colin deceived , I lost my position, my company, and my public image. The only thing I probably have is Dream, and it’s all thanks to you. So for the fact I’ve not been there the last four years, I’m sorry Fay."
"Ace—"
"I know you hate , but this one ti, can I just—"
He let his words trail, and instead, did the speaking with his lips that ca down on hers, in a frenzy.
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