Chapter 182: Long Overdue
Langston’s POV
In life, no matter how much a parent wanted to protect their kids, they could not live their children’s lives for them. At some point you had to let kids make their own mistakes, Langston knew that.
But now he felt that when it came to his grandson, he had stood aside long enough. He clearly needed to intervene before the situation got too out of hand. Obviously Ryan was incapable of thinking clearly at the moment. His reaction to Langston telling him that he was aware of his relationship with that dangerous Vivian Rose was to smile. That was proof that whatever love potion that woman had given his grandson was truly something strong.
"How can you be happy about this Ryan? Do you not see the big mistake that you are making?"
Not even looking a little bit guilty, Ryan, glared instead, and when he spoke, his tone was defensive.
"I am not making a mistake in choosing to be with Vivian Rose. I love her,"
If he was a man who loved violence, Langston was certain that he would have already whacked his grandson over the head with his cane several times. It was clear Ryan needed someone to knock some sense into him.
Love!
Did he just say that he loved that woman who had pictures of herself naked all over the internet?! His grandson had very clearly lost his mind.
"Ryan Terrell, I have no idea what insanity has come over you, but I command you to shake it off right now and start thinking like the respectable young man that I raised instead of a fool in the clutches of a femme fatale,"
***
"Grandfather, I do not know where you got the information that Vivian and I are dating. But whoever your source was, it seems they have told you nothing but lies when it comes to Vivian’s character," His grandson actually seemed to genuinely believe what he was saying. Gwendolyn had been right. The woman really was dangerous.
Langston had never seen his grandson defend any of the women that he had been with, with such conviction. Yet here he was, standing up for a gold digger and even claiming to love her.
Taking a breath, Langston realized that anger was not the correct approach in the situation. The more he tried to pull his grandson away from that Vivian rose, the harder Ryan would cling to her.
He had to make his point in a way that would have Ryan letting go of the evil woman himself.
"Ryan, I was young too once. What you think is love is nothing more than lust. That woman is no good for you and she will lead you nowhere but towards your demise. I can see it as clear as day and if you were to use your head, I am certain that you would come to that realization as well,"
Shaking his head, Ryan got to his feet. "When I came here I was intending to tell you about the lovely lady that I have met. But you seem to have already made up your mind about her without even knowing her. I cannot sit here and listen to you say such untrue things about her. Goodbye, grandfather,"
Watching his grandson walk away, Langston felt panic sees him. If Ryan left, he would probably be gone for a decade this time and Langston doubted he had that much time left.
"Ryan, stop! We are only worried about you," To his relief, his grandson listened to him. But when he turned all the way back, his eyes were narrowed. Walking towards the seat that he had just left, Ryan sat back down, his gaze still fixed on Langston and he met the look head on, not backing down.
"We," Ryan said and Langston’s brows knit together. Seeing that he was confused his grandson elaborated.
"You said ’we’, who exactly have you been talking with grandfather?" Did Ryan truly not know?
"That sweet young lady, Gwendolyn’s Stuart the fourth, has been by to see me a few times? She is the one who showed me all of those disgusting articles about Vivian Rose and she told me just how much danger you are in," Ryan stared right at Langston without blinking for so long that the old man worried that something was wrong. But then his grandson’s shoulder started shaking and in the next instant his entire frame was trembling as he laughed like a madman.
What was going on?
***
What followed was the most unnerving two minutes of Langston Terrell’s life. Which, given how long he had lived. Was a pretty big deal. All that the old man could do was sit there and watch as his grandson laughed uncontrollably.
But now, Ryan had his laughter under control and he was completely serious.
"Those images that Gwendolyn showed you are fake, grandfather. They used AI to bash my Vivian,"
What? Langston wanted to argue. But now that Ryan mentioned it, Langston did think that the picture he had seen had been odd, almost having the quality of a painting. But he had thought that it was that thing that the youth used to edit photos. What was it called again?...Filters!
Focusing on his grandson, he carried on trying to get his point across.
"Even if those pictures are fake, Gwendolyn would not view the other woman as a threat without there being probable cause. If she says that that Vivian Rose is dangerous, then I believe her,"
Ryan inhaled sharply. Then he exhaled. "Grandfather, if I were you, I would not believe a single word that comes out of that woman’s mouth,"
Langston shook his head. "It was not just her, she even brought along Vivian’s ex-boyfriend and that poor man had many heart breaking tales to tell,"
Instead of seeming interested, now that there was a witness, Ryan’s face turned stony. "So she really has been hiding him this entire time," Putting both hands on the table, Ryan leaned forward.
"Grandfather, listen to me. If Gwendolyn ever shows up here again, have the staff send her away. I do not want you to ever speak to her again. She is dangerous," Langston stared at his grandson.
Wow, Vivian Rose was really messing with him. How could he say that about such an upstanding woman?
"Ryan, it is Vivian who is the dangerous one. Gwendolyn is-" Out of nowhere, Ryan started yelling.
"Gwendolyn is a foul, selfish human being. She slept with my brother!" Ryan shouted. Then he went quiet. His eyes widening when he realized what he just said.
Langston blinked, trying to rearrange Ryan’s final sentence in a way that did not say the words that he had just heard. But no matter how he tried, the statement remained the same.
"What? Ryan, what are you talking about?" He asked. He hoped that by asking again the answer that he would get would be totally different. But his grandson repeated those same words again.
"She slept with Brian, Grandfather. Gwendolyn and I broke up all of those years ago because she slept with my brother,"
Comments