The Leroys' little girl (3)

Going back to his grandfather's house for a discussion felt like willingly returning to the cage he had escaped from not too long ago. They had stayed at the banquet for an agonizing hour before they couldn't take it anymore and left, then he'd dropped her off at her apartment. She wouldn't let him near the apartment complex even though he simply wanted to make sure she was home safely. But thinking about it, it was almost insane to want to ensure that a woman like Kara was safe. That, and the fact that her new shadow was within ten steps of her since they left L'Onyx. He had freaked out when the man followed her into the building. But what right did he have to say no to that? He was not her boyfriend and he definitely didn't have any right to make a single comment on her personal life. She would have made sure to remind him that if he so much as hinted about his discomfort.

He unclenched his fists and pushed open the door to Farren's home office.

"You still remember your way home." He started in disapproval.

"Actually, I had to use a google map." His smile faded. "What do you want from me, grandfather?"

"What a lovely way of speaking to your family after disappearing off the surface of the earth for two years." Gordon walked in through the open door with displeasure written all over his face.

Carlos let out a sigh, knowing that whatever conversation this was, it was not going to be worth his time. His uncle, Gordon, was stuck believing the world revolved around him and his sons. Carlos had always been a rival to him even without intending to be one, and he wouldn't pass any chance to make his life miserable even if it would only last a minute.

"Sit." Farren ordered. When Carlos didn't move, the elderly man narrowed his eyes in anger.

"Oh, are you talking to me?" Carlos placed a hand on his chest like he had just noticed. "Sorry. You sounded like you were commanding a dog so I thought… never mind."

His gaze was on the lap dog, Gordon, the whole time. He could almost hear his uncle's teeth clench but the latter pretended to brush it off.

"Since we are here, let's not waste each other's time. I'm certain Carlos needs to get back to his little slut." Gordon took a cup from the tray on the side table and poured himself some tea, but Carlos wanted nothing but to pour the scalding beverage all over him. Son of a bitch.

"Now that you brought her up, we definitely need to talk about that one." Farren adjusted his glasses and pushed a photograph in front of Carlos.

He glanced at it without picking it and immediately recognized the little girl. She looked seven or eight years old and had her long hair in a ponytail with a ribbon at the end of it. Her joyous smile was unaffected by her missing teeth and she didn't seem to mind the mud all over her clothes. He didn't need a closer look to recognize her. So this was what Kara looked like as a kid. She was quite adorable. But he knew they were not giving him the picture for him to admire it.

"What's wrong with her?"

Farren's answer was to slide another picture over. This time, the girl was holding her parents' hands.

"The woman you brought tonight, she is the daughter of Ivan and Regina Leroy." He announced like it was supposed to be news. "You brought a fucking ticking time bomb to the banquet! Do you know how embarrassing that was to us?

He tapped his finger against the hard wood surface of the desk, keeping his smile to himself. Regina Leroy? Was he kidding?

He didn't know crap, yet he acted like he knew everything in the world. Regina was not Kara's mother. Sianna Willaims was.

Ivan had an affair with his secretary and Kara was the result of it, and he and Regina had taken her in to evade all the drama and keep up with appearances. They were the perfect couple to the world and wanted to remain so, while punishing Kara for causing the rift in their perfect marriage. Not that he was going to let his family know.

They could keep thinking she was pretending to be Sianna's daughter and that would lessen their problems by one. Hell knew what they would do to hurt Kara if they knew the truth. Hurting the family of the people they wanted to get back at was completely something the Aubert family liked doing.

Farren thought he was in deep thought because he had realized that he was lied to. He offered a clumsy attempt at consolation.

"Forget the past. It doesn't matter." He said. "We could fix it in just a few steps."

This was clearly what he was here to talk about in first place, so Carlos straightened in his seat. "What?"

Farren glanced at Gordon who then spoke for them. "Marry that woman."

____

AN: To TTW and Villainess readers, I'm aware that the name of Kara's stepmother was Lucy Leroy and I'm sorry for the confusion.

I named Kara's parents two years ago and they were very minor characters. One paragraph characters kind of thing. So when I started writing TTW and I still loved the name, I named Zaria's mother Lucy Roatta. I didn't think Kara's parents would ever reappear but here we go. And the two FLs are even cousins. Just great.

So to avoid confusion, I have changed the less known Lucy's name to Regina. She will now be Regina Leroy and I'm so sorry for the confusion.