Page 86 of Delilah In Discretion

Present

Stephan walked into his father’s office to see him on a phone call while Andrew wandered by the windows in thought. He looked over his shoulder to see Stephan, and he could tell that something climactic was about to happen just by looking at him.

Calvin finished the phone call and placed it on the receiver before he smiled at his son. “Stephan, my boy! Don’t you look well? I trust you’ve been working hard since I haven’t heard from you in a few days.”

Stephan nodded slowly. “You could say that...”

Calvin nodded and stood. “Well, your brother is still in Paris, enjoying his break. You should take one too. You both work too hard.”

Stephan slowly walked to sit on the sofa as Calvin walked around the office, gathering his files from his cabinet. “Father, I have a question.”

Calvin nodded, listening as he looked through the folder in his hand.

“Do you speak to Killian’s daughter regularly?”

Calvin shrugged. “I think of her as my goddaughter. Of course we do.”

Stephan nodded. “And Archer took a liking to her, did he not?”

His father chuckled, but Stephan noticed something was off.

“Archer has not had a crush on Delilah for the last few years. I would assume you knew he would grow out of that.”

Stephan chuckled humorlessly as he rubbed his hands together. “See, that’s where you’re wrong, Father. I am actually quite aware of the attraction Archer has for Delilah. What I don’t understand is why you’re trying to hide the obvious truth.”

Calvin looked over to his son and watched him as he stood up slowly and placed his hands in his pockets.

Stephan continued, “You know,Dad, you’ve been playing quite a lot of people lately, and I have a slight suspicion that I may be on that list.”

“Stephan—” Calvin started, but Stephan cut him off.

“You expect me to sit here and believe that I have a chance against Archer, who has every advantage in his hand? I’ve been working my ass off trying to please you day after day, trying to prove to you that I am much more capable than he is—but you haven’t even been looking, just feeding me lies that I may have a chance when, in reality, I don’t! Did you never actually realize that I would eventually find out!”

The room was silent, and Calvin placed the file he was holding on the table with a sigh. “Well, not this soon. I was hoping you would find out a bit later, and we would all be able just to sweep this under the rug.”

“Father. I cannot merely sweep the last few years of preparing under a fucking rug. You’ve been playing me like a damn fiddle while Archer gets to sleep around with your ‘goddaughter’ and, all of a sudden, be handed the family business as a reward!”

Calvin tilted his head. “Technically they need to get married before he is actually handed anything, really. Though that should be easily done in a few years’ time…”

“How could I have been so clueless!” Stephan groaned in agony, and Calvin sighed.

“Well, son, if you had known too much, we may have had more obstacles than necessary. Besides, look at the bright side: You now have a real reason to hate your brother.”

Stephan chuckled. “Only hate? I could never. Idespisehim even more than I did before. Once again, he knows nothing of his future success, and here I am looking like an idiot to everyone as they see the truth. You know what? It doesn’t even matter.You all are on your own now.”

“What do you mean?” Andrew muttered, and Stephan sent a glare toward him.

“I mean the fact that my real mother idolizes him and blames me, my father uses us all and keeps his golden boy on top, and everyone is having a good laugh at my expense as I work my ass off.I’m fucking done. And if you wanted to be ever so careful like you claim to be,Father…” He looked at Calvin. “You should warn your future successor and his beloved soon-to-be wife…to be careful.”

“Oh, my apologies, I’ll be waiting in the living room. Please, carry on.”

The door closed, and Delilah quickly jumped off of Archer, pushing him away in the process. He sighed, crossing his arms as he watched her scatter around, trying to find something to put on.

“He said we could continue,” he muttered, and she scoffed.

“Are you kidding me, Archer? I don’t think you understand the predicament we’re in right now! My childhood butler, basically grandfather, just saw me in my bra kissing my ‘boyfriend’ who is one hundred percent not supposed to be with me! There is no way in hell we’re continuing after that!”

He sighed as he watched her still scramble around. Reaching into the drawer, he threw one of his sweaters over to her. She caught it and pulled it over her head as he walked out of the room.

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