Page 52 of Poison Vows

“The Beaumonts?”

Holy God! What’s the real deal behind my friends? Do I really know them?

“Look at you piecing things together!” Scar smirks. “The thing is, the Eastons and the Beaumonts don’t get along at all.”

“Like the Hatfields and the McCoys? Seriously?” I deadpan.

Scarlet laughs heartily at this, clearly tickled.

“Maybe it is like that, but on steroids. I’m not even sure, to be honest,” Scarlet muses with a delicate frown on her beautiful face. “You see, Ivy, information is the most valuable currency in the world. Problem is, what you know might very well get you killed. For example, the two families are extremely good at smoke and mirrors. What youthinkyou know is mostly likely a trap.”

“Wow,” I muse silently, my mind reeling with all this information.

“What I do know is that at some point, there was a chance to bridge that divide through my cousin, but, well, you already know the rest.”

“The failed marriage with the Beaumonts?” I ask and Scar nods silently but the atmosphere in the room changes drastically.

Something horrible must’ve happened, judging by the faint sorrow I notice on Scar’s face.

“We didn’t hear from him for three years after that,” she suddenly mutters.

Her face pales, draining of all color, and her eyes become dark, desolate and so far away, it’s as if she’s remembering something… sinister.

“Scarlet?” I whisper, concern flooding my system. “Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she splutters. “It’s just… there’s a code our Family has and there are methods used when raising the next generation that would turn anyone’s blood cold. But that’s not the same for Emmett.”

“What do you mean?”

Scar sighs heavily. “Regardless of this trial thing happening, Emmettisthe designated, rightful heir, which means he was raised in a vastly different way from the rest of us, including Vaughn.

“He couldn’t afford the luxury of having a normal childhood. By the time he was five years old, he had already passed stages that the rest of us learn when we’re twelve or thirteen.” Scarlet’s voice is low, tinged with a palpable sorrow and anger that makes my heart start to race.

“One day, Aunt Daphne disappeared. Uncle Syrus lost all say in raising their son because, well, Grandfather sort of forcefully took him. So all throughout these dramatic shifts and wars, he’s been alone.”

The sensation that clutches my heart when Scar says that is enough to make me almost keel over.

Emmett suffering wasn’t really something I’ve ever thought possible.

He’s always seemed to be composed, so calm and larger than life, that I just…

“I’m saying all this because I don’t exactly know what the deal about you is, but you might get caught up in the crosswinds,” Scarlet says kindly. “Don’t be easily fooled. Rely on what you already know. Facts and truth are not the same thing either, but don’t let people play you like a flute.”

Maybe it’s because I was already thinking of this, but when Scarlet says it, I feel the resolve coursing through my veins,warning me, preparing me, attempting to build an impenetrable fortress around me.

It’s just that… when it comes to Emmett, is there really an impenetrable wall he can’t shatter to pieces?

“Your cousins, can they be trusted?” I ask quietly.

“The thing about trust is that it’s never supposed to be complicated. I just met you and yet I feel like I can trust you with my life,” Scar says with a mischievous smirk. “I’ve known others for far longer. They’ve never outrightly done anything to me to warrant caution but I just don’t trust them.”

I understand exactly what she means.

“I guess it’s a soul conviction kind of thing… but sometimes we’re wrong. You’ll never know unless you try.”

“To give you a little character hint… Vaughn isn’t exactly mean, it’s just that with him, everything depends on his feelings, but Emmett is like a millennium old mountain, standing strong through the slow passage of time, unwavering on his stance and indifferent to circumstances. To him, promises are absolute. His word is more than his bond. I guess that’s what makes him dangerous… but I’d never want anyone else in my corner but him.”

With that being said, is Emmett someone I can go up against?

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