Page 92 of Fallen Legacy

I shake my head, grimacing. “But I don’t get it. If you two are half-siblings, then why on earth would they want you to marry each other? That’s incest. It’s also illegal.”

“I know,” he agrees. He grips at my hands, and I can feel his anxiety. “Phil became obsessed with our family, not joining with yours. He also became obsessed with creating his own legacy and thought that by having both his kids marry, he’d be ensuring the bloodline. It’s completely messed up. When you came back to town, you ruined their plans, and they needed you out of the way.”

I sigh. This is a lot to digest. It’s crazy and messed up and you don’t expect things like this to happen in the real world.

“Are you okay? You’re very quiet,” he says, chewing on his lip, watching my reactions and trying to gauge them.

“It’s just a lot,” I confess. “The car accident!” I sit up in bed as a memory hits me, of Damon and me crashing the car. My chest tightens and I struggle to breathe.

“It’s okay, Scar. Just take a deep breath. Breathe baby,” he reassures me, cupping my face in his hands. “In and out, that’s it.”

I copy him and take steadying breaths. “Tell me,” I beg him. “I need to know.”

Archer looks uncertain about whether he should continue. “Phil tampered with your car. They wanted to remove you from the equation once and for all.”

“They wanted to kill me?” I gasp, realising what he is saying to me.

“You might find it hard to believe, but if it wasn’t for Georgie, you may not be here today. She overheard them discussing what they had done, and she came to warn me. She found out a week or so ago about us sharing a father.”

“So that’s why she was crying in the bathroom,” I mutter to myself, remembering that day the other week in the girl’s bathroom at sixth form. “Is she okay?”

I bob my shoulders. “I guess. It’s messed up, and I think we’ll both struggle with all this moving forward.”

I can only imagine how they are both feeling. Especially Georgie, she’s been obsessed with Archer for so long, so to find out the guy you’ve obsessed over for years and have slept with in the past, is your brother is so disturbing.

“Does everyone know?”

Archer shakes his head. “Edward locked it down. The story is that they were just obsessed with the two families joining together because they were in love. No one knows that we’re actually half-siblings, thank God.”

I squeeze his hand to reassure him it’s okay. “So, the police have caught them both. They’re in jail?”

Archer grimaces. “Not quite. Felicity is missing, and Phil is being dealt with. I’ll hand him over to the police when I’m done with him. I’d rather bury the fucker six feet under and make sure he never takes another breath again for what he’s done to you.”

I cup his cheek, wanting to take the pain he’s feeling away from him. “And for what he’s done to you and Georgie.” He must be hurting just as much as I am. “So, it’s not all over because she’s still out there somewhere,” I comment, a cold shiver running down my spine. Archer leans in and kisses me.

“I promise you, you’re safe. She’s out there somewhere hiding, trying to save her own skin. My dad was the driving force behind the whole sinister plan. I think she just got caught up in it because she was in love with him.”

“So, all that about him loving your mum was bullshit?”

Archer nods his head. “I don’t think he ever loved her, and it makes me question everything he’s ever told me about her and why she took her own life.”

I nod my head in agreement. I think there’s more to that story than we may ever know. There’s a knock on the door and Seb sticks his head in.

“Is it safe to come in? We come bearing a caramel Frappuccino!”

“Bring me the goodness!” I tell him, beckoning him in and eyeing the cup in his hands. My mouth waters at the thought of some flavour, having only had water so far. Seb hands me the drink and I take a sip and groan. “That is heaven!”

“Custard,” I blurt out. “I miss custard.”

Archer grins at me. “You had a bit of a thing for custard recently, didn’t you?”

My expression drops and my heart plummets to my chest. My other hand flies to my stomach and I look down. That’s what was niggling at me since I’d woken up!

“Oh my god, the baby. Archer, I should have told you, I’m pregnant.” I pause, and my mind moves at a hundred miles an hour. “The accident. Archer, is the baby okay?”

Archer, Seb and Rafe all have a private conversation with their eyes and the two boys say they’ll leave us alone and make a quick exit.

“Scar,” Archers says as he takes my drink from my hand and places it down on the bedside cupboard. He cups my face with his hands. “I’m so sorry, but the baby didn’t survive the accident.”

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