Page 53 of Brutal Kingdom

He points to the desk where I stashed the application. “Is that what this is? You’re attacking me first?”

I throw my hands up in frustration. “This has nothing to do with you, Logan! Not that I expect you to believe me, but this is aboutmyfamily and finding out the truth about where I come from. The only person that truth may inconvenience is Bella.”

He scrubs a hand through his hair. “How can I believe you when you’ve never given me a reason to?”

“Logan, I’ve never given you a reasonnotto.”

I walk to my closet and pull out the small lock box I keep on the top shelf. “You’re right. It’s just a matter of time before everyone hears about it, and because I don’t have the time to fight you and Bella coming at me from opposite directions, I’ll give you a scoop. You like those, right?”

I open the box and pull out a copy of the will and the current draft of the family tree, spreading them across the bed.

“What is this?”

“It’s like I said. Elijah Summer had two daughters and a son. One daughter, Imogen, was disowned, and he used his power and influence in town to convince everyone to treat her like she never existed. My father’s aunt lived here. The two of them were researching our family tree. Starting with Charles Bendevire, you can see all the branches of his family line up until Pippa Phillips. If you go further, you’ll learn that the La Bel Anon line also crosses paths with Pippa and her sisters. Keep tracing and searching. The nexus points on up to the present. This sister became Tiffany La Bel Anon and her family moved to California. Eventually, La Bel Anon shorted to Lance. This one begat, this one, who begat… etc etc, until we come to the current century and your bestie, Isabelle Lance.”

“You’re saying Bella really is from this founding family too?”

“I’m betting her family has always known about their ties to Kingsley Hollow, and moved here for this.”

“Bella?” He says incredulously.

“That’s right. If no direct descendent to Elijah Summer should arise, it falls to her.”

“You and Bella are…”

“Very distant cousins.”

He looks at the family tree again. I see him piecing it together, but he’s still fighting what’s right in front of his eyes. “She never wanted you here.”

I point to the items scattered on my bed. “And I think this is why. If I would have left, I never would’ve learned about any of it.”

“How did you?”

I’ve got nothing else to lose. I’ve filed the papers, and maybe telling him will get him off my back enough to get some breathing room. “Well, it turns out your little plan to get rid of me backfired. I’m not quite sure what the town did to piss off my friend, but she wanted me to know exactly who I am. Something about a promise her family made to mine. So she’s been helping me with all this stuff.”

“You’re talking about the bossy old lady that lives on Ash Court.”

“How did-” Right. He’s probably been watching me. “She has a name, but yes, that’s her.”

He flips through the pages of the will and looks up at me again. “You weren’t working with Bella from the beginning?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

Something passes across his face but quickly disappears. “And what happened between us…”

How many times do I have to answer this question? “Was the worst experience of my life. I don’t absolve you from the part you played in this, but I think Bella has known about me this whole time, and convincing you to ruin me was her way of making sure I never learned the truth, so she could claim the inheritance for herself.”

“Bella’s family doesn’t need the money.”

“Are you sure about that? Besides, it’s not just money. It’s power, prestige. It’s a level up in life that she didn’t previously have.”

I hand him the document that was given to me by my lawyer last week. “She’s already started the process of claiming the inheritance. We both have to do it by our twenty-first birthday. I have a few more hoops to jump through, validating my identity. So, like I said, I can’t deal with fighting both of you. How about you and I drop our weapons and call a cease-fire?”

“This is an amazing story. But all of this could be fabricated.” He flips through the pages again. “And if you had this since last semester, why didn’t you use this in your revenge scheme, instead of lying to me?”

Sitting on my bed, with a sigh, I pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m already tired of talking about this. “I didn’t have it. Not at first, and when I found out, I used it.”

He frowns at me. I can’t help the chuckle that tumbles from my lips. “Ah, so you don’t know what was in Bella’s email.”

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