Chapter 4: The Strange Dinner

Clover's P.O.V ************************************ The next evening there was a timid knock on my door. I didn't give permission for anyone to come in, but that's never mattered before. I stared at the door as it slowly opened and Maeve poked her head through, eyes cast down. "Miss Clover, Madam and Sir are waiting for you in the dining room," she told me. "They would like to have dinner together." Right. "And what family is joining us tonight?" I asked. "What dress would they prefer I wear?" "Sir has only instructed that you look presentable for dinner," she replied. "No other families will be joining tonight." I furrowed my brow in confusion. That's strange. They never want to have a family dinner together unless we're putting on a show. Either they've finally picked a marriage alliance, or they want something from me. Last time this happened, they wanted me to help them win over the Sterling’s. A family of insane wealth and connections. I just so happened to befriend their eight-year-old daughter when she got lost a banquent a couple of weeks prior. I did what they asked though, and they got what they wanted. All to go right back to treating me how they always did. I was nothing more than a tool to be used by them. "I'll be right down, Maeve, thank you," I told the maid. She gave me a single nod before closing my bedroom door. I admit that I dragged my feet all the way to the dining room. I'm sure I'd be scolded for it, but it'd be worth the few extra seconds of peace. I didn't have a good feeling about this, and that made me reluctant to come at all. But what choice did I really have? When I got to the dining room, Clara and Declan were already seated and eating. They looked up when I walked in, but I kept my head down as I made my way to my seat. I wasn't going to speak first. They taught me not to, and I had no interest in communicating with them unless I had to anyway. "So, Clover, how's school?" Declan asked, breaking the silence. I looked up to meet his eyes, one of my brows raising slightly. "Fine," I replied curtly. "I hear you're doing wonderfully, dear," Clara said with a bright smile. "The dean says you have excellent grades, and you get along with your peers." "Right," I mumbled, confused as to why they were praising me. They've never done this before. Even when I'd won competitions, or maintained my 4.0 GPA, or when I made them look good to other rich a.ssholes. I didn't even get praised when I won them the Sterling’s. "I heard Sienna Andrade is attending the same school this year," Clara added. "Make sure to befriend her. Her family has a lot of connections. Plus, your brother is friends with her brother." My brother? Does she mean Truce? The man I've met maybe five times? And all five times, he's barely even looked at me. The guy pretended like I didn't even exist. Except that very first time... Besides that, I already knew Sienna. She's been attending the same college since we graduated. She and her little pack of classic mean girls. I guess these two didn't know that. I've managed to stay off Sienna's radar so far, and I'd planned to keep it that way. I've seen how cruel they are to other students. Sometimes for no reason at all. They're the kind of girls that Clara and Declan wish I was. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen," I replied before taking a bite of my chicken. "Excuse me?" Declan sneered. "If you want connections from her family, talk to Truce, since he's already friends with her brother," I said, completely unbothered by his tone. "I'm not befriending her. She's mean." "She's mean," Declan repeated with a scoff. "Don't be childish, Clover. Everyone in our world is mean." "And you still wonder why I want out so badly," I muttered. "Alright, fine," he relented, shocking the hell out of me. "You don't have to be her friend." I looked at him, but he was looking down at his plate. I narrowed my eyes and turned them to Clara. She was looking at the wall, sipping her wine. "Okay, what's going on?" I asked, throwing my napkin on top of my plate. "You guys are acting weird. You're not scolding me. You don't even look annoyed." They shared a look, but didn't say anything. "Is this about marriage again?" I asked. "I'm not marrying anyone I don't want to. I'll-" "You'll marry whoever we pick out for you and you won't say a damn thing about it," Declan cut me off. "There's the loving stepfather I know," I said sarcastically. "This isn't about marriage, sweetheart," Clara said, putting her hand on mine. I quickly snatched my hand back, giving her a bewildered look. "Sweetheart? Since when do you call me sweetheart?" "Alright, alright, fine," Declan cut in, throwing his hands up in surrender. "You're right. There's something we need you to do. It's not marriage. Nobody wants you because of your tainted past. Until you do something successful either during or after college, we can't discuss marriage. So, be happy about that I suppose." Tainted past? He means because I was poor. That's considered tainted in their world. But I guess I can be happy about it for now. Maybe I'll get lucky enough to be promised to a man who also doesn't want an arranged marriage. We can just do our own thing and stay out of each other's way. "That's not true," Clara said sweetly. "The Mathers' family made an offer. They thought that Clover would be perfect to help fix their son's playboy image." Declan scoffed. "Until they offer us something real in exchange, there's no deal," he stated firmly. Have I even met the Mathers family? I can't remember. There have been so many, and honestly, all of them are playboys. "I need you to do something else for me, Clover, something you haven't done before," Declan said. "Oh, goodie, I hope it has something to do with my freedom," I replied sarcastically. "It doesn't," he said with a tight smile. "It has to do with your brother." "I don't have siblings." "Your stepbrother," he ground out. "Okay, fine, what does Truce have to do with anything?" I asked. "I want you to move in with him and his friends." "Excuse me?" I asked, unsure if I'd heard him correctly. "Right now, Truce is fighting me tooth and nail about his future. I paid for him to go to college. He took the classes I wanted, but he also maintained his stupid hockey hobby. I thought things would settle once he graduated, but I was incorrect. Instead of coming to work for me at the company like we'd discussed, he's been recruited to a hockey team. The Blackwood Blades," he told me. "And you need me to move with him because...?" I asked, still not following. "Truce is living with his three best friends that have also been recruited," Declan said. "They're staying near the training center, which also happens to be near your school." "Okay?" Where the hell is this going? "I want you to move in with them," he continued. "Spy on Truce. I want to know everything. Every little detail about his life. I want to know who he talks to daily, what he eats, where he spends his free time, who he's seeing. All of it. You're going to move in there, and relay all information directly to me." "Why?" I asked. "Because I need to know his weaknesses if I want him to obey me," Declan replied, as if it were no big deal at all. We were talking about spying on his own son. He was talking about using his own son's weaknesses to force him to do what he wanted. He said it all like it was completely normal. Like it was totally normal to not give a flying f***k about your child or their dreams. I guess for this family that is normal. It was right then that I realized something. Truce and I were the same. I always thought that Clara and Declan treated me the way they did because I was a burden neither of them wanted. I never stopped to think if they treated Truce the same way. No wonder he rarely ever came around. Luckily for him, he still has his freedom though. "So, you will move in with them within the next couple of weeks, before school starts," Declan said, like it was a done deal. "I'll arrange-" "No," I cut him off. I'd barely realized what I'd just done, but I wasn't taking it back. "What did you just say?" Declan asked in a hard tone. "I said no," I replied. "I'm not going to spy on your son for you just because you have control issues. No." "Clover-" "I said no," I cut him off again, giving him a defiant look. "Find someone else to help you ruin your son's life." Declan chuckled, but it wasn't a happy sound. "You're really going to defy me? Even knowing what happens when you do?" "Bring out the family whip if you want," I said. "I still have my morals. That's the one thing you can't take from me. No matter how many lashings I get." Declan chuckled again as he leaned back in his seat. He snapped his fingers and Fredrick appeared. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but refused to back down. He could whip me all he wanted. I wasn't going to help him. Not with this. I wasn't going to strip someone's freedom just because I didn't have my own. "Fine," Declan said. "Let's see how long you last."