Page 123 of Tethered

The ballroom echoes the sentiment.

Immediately, the music starts up again. Gryphon jerks his head towards the garden terrace, but Marlowe, though expressionless, ispissed. She stalks off towards the entryway instead. Unperturbed, he ushers Vee ahead and follows her. I follow behind, slowed down enough by the crowds that I’m inconspicuous. The trio disappear into the neighbouring room, and the doors are shut; a guard then takes up a wide-legged stance in front of them.

I’d really like to know what’s being said in there.

I push back into the ballroom, out onto the terrace and follow the sharp curve of the mansion. It leads me to identical floor-to-ceiling windows in about the right place. Confirmation comes when Marlowe’s aggrieved face moves into sight. When I crouch to the side of an open window, I can just about hear over the music drifting through the garden.

“—just a boy. You didnotdo this for him.”

“Why else?” Gryphon demands.

“More manipulation: what you’re best at. I want to see the terms of the trust. You’ll need my signature, and I won’t sign until I’ve read through it with a lawyer.”

“Why can’t you see that I meant it? I want us to be a family. This is me proving it. Harvey and I will get to spend more time with each other. If you accompany us while I show him the ropes, we’llallspend time together. We can rebuild—”

“If you really cared, you wouldn’t have sprung this on us tonight.”

“When was I supposed to tell you, Lowe? When you locked yourself in your bedroom last night? When you spent all of today in your office?”

There’s a pause, and I can practically hear Marlowe itching to punch him. Gryphon barrels on, and I can only hope Vee is waiting in a separate room—no one should have to watch their father try and gaslight their mother.

“Look, I know it’s going to take you time to trust me. That’s why you have your own suite, your own study. I know you need space while we work this out. I’m trying, okay?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Youblackmailedme.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” he roars, that smooth charm of his cracking at the edges. “You aremine, both of you.”

Marlowe snorts.

I can’t see their faces. Gryphon’s voice could strip paint, but she’s not bowed. She can’t help herself, even though she was soadamant about toeing the line. She won’t be able to withstand this for a decade; if I have anything to do with it, it’ll never reach that point.

“You’re pathetic, Dominik.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Don’t—”

“I keep trying to move on, and it never works. You’re the only person I’ve ever loved, and I might not go about it the right way, but I’ll keep showing you. I bought this fucking house for you, Lowe, because you told meonetime, a decade ago, that you liked it.”

“Wh—What?”

My gut clenches. I don’t like the way Marlowe’s voice tripped. I take a risk by leaning in and peering through, just to see Gryphon approach Marlowe like she’s a wild animal. He stops a foot away from the window, and I duck out of sight again.

“You don’t recognise it?” he asks.

“The mansion in—”

“Yes.” He sounds pleased with himself.“I bought it, had it broken down and shipped here in parts for you. You showed me a picture before Harvey was even born, and I put it aside because I knew one day I was going to be able to buy this house for you. If you don’t know that I would do anything for you by now—”

“Stop. What about yourson? You can go on and on about me, but what about him? Do you know Vee thinks you don’t even like him?”

Gryphon scoffs, but Marlowe keeps talking.

“If you really wanted us to be a healthy, happy and functional family, you wouldn’t have signed over a multi-billion-cred company to a ten-year-old. You wouldn’t have abducted him and put him on a ship with strangers. You know what I think? I think you just want us to look like a family from the outside,and that’s really fucking sad. In case it wasn’t clear, I don’t want anything to do with you. We’re forced to be here, so I’ll make it work because I have to. But don’t make the mistake of thinking I give a shit about you. I despise you. I’ll smile in public, hold your hand, maybe even extol your virtues; behind closed doors, don’t even breathe in my direction.”

“We’ll see.”

The words force a finger of ice down my spine.