Angry as she had never been before, Isabelle abruptly pulled away from him. He let her go without saying another word. She wanted to tell him a lot more, but Marie's voice stopped her. She didn't want to be seen by her in that state, so Isabelle tried to calm down.
"Oh, my dear, you are here... Come on, your father just arrived... Ah, but I see you've already met Shawn, my nephew." Marie walked up to him and let him give her a hug. "How about you have dinner with us this evening?" she asked, adjusting his hair.
"Aunt Marie, first I need to take a shower and I'll join you as soon as possible," he replied, continuing to smile at Isabelle.
“Very well! Hurry up, please!”
Marie took Isabelle's hand and practically dragged her towards the living room. While walking behind Marie, Isabelle turned and looked at Shawn again. There it was, the same smug smile on his lips, a smile that she wanted so badly to wipe off his lips. Maybe he had won this round, but the next one would be hers.
When she entered the living room, her father was already there, in the middle of a very heated conversation with Christopher and Billy. Hearing his daughter enter the room, he turned and stared at her with a severe look in his eyes.
"Where were you, missy?" he asked angrily. “Is this the way to behave in Marie and Christopher's house? Going around and snooping?”
“I apologize for being late, but I’ve just finished putting the girls to bed,” she answered almost whispering the words avoiding looking at him because she didn’t want to make him angrier.
Isabelle used a very calm and polite tone to give her father an explanation, but Andrew was already starting to get agitated. Looking down and trembling slightly, she waited for Marie to invite everyone to sit down at the dinner table.
“Be very careful how you behave. This isn’t your house,” he said in a tone that made her tremble even more.
"Yes, father," she replied without looking up to him.
Marie decided to break the awkward silence that was taking over the room and invited everyone to join her at the table. Isabelle found herself near Billy and Christopher, but Andrew was right in front of her. She looked up just to find that everyone was quite elegant. She was the only one poorly dressed. Feeling too embarrassed, she closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them when she heard a voice she knew and hated a lot, greeting everyone. Things were going from bad to worse. Isabelle felt his eyes on her, but she avoided looking in Shawn’s direction.
"Shawn, son, how nice to have you at the table with us tonight!" Christopher exclaimed extremely pleased.
"Brother, we need to talk later," Billy told him.
The dinner went on without unpleasant moments. Andrew was chatting with Christopher about this and that. For those who didn’t know the truth, her father seemed a normal person. How much she would’ve liked to have him always like this, to talk to her father as she did before that damn night, instead of living under the same roof with a frail and broken man. Billy asked her a few things and she gave him brief, polite answers.
Marie invited everyone to serve the cake in the living room. It was a fantastic room that allowed everyone to relax. Everyone, but Isabelle.
"Isabelle, I am very happy that my wife convinced you to come and take care of the girls. Hearing you talk to them in French... Fantastic!” Christopher said, smiling at her.
"Those were just a few words... The girls are so much better than me at this..." she answered softly, with her eyes on her plate.
“Of course, they’re much better than you. You don't know French. You barely speak English,” Andrew added without realizing that he was embarrassing not only his daughter but others as well.
"Isabelle," Billy said, "what college did you attend or are you still attending?"
“I ... I don't ... I chose not to go to college. My father needed my help at home,” she answered quickly feeling her father getting a bit furious.
She took a deep breath to avoid crying. Her father's words had visibly bothered her, but she had to regain control of her emotions to prevent the others from realizing that what they had witnessed was something that was happening to her every day. She briefly looked at Andrew. He was rubbing his temple and Isabelle knew what that meant. ‘Oh God, I hope he won't have one of his crises right now,’ she thought.
"You are not very intelligent, so what need was there to throw the money out of the window?" Andrew added, thinking out loud.
“What else can you do, dear? What are your hobbies? Marie asked, trying not to pay attention to what Andrew had just said.
"I speak... I speak Fr..." she began, stammering a little.
“Yes, we know, you speak French. Marie asked you what else can you do? What would it take for you to answer her properly?” Andrew asked her, completely furious.
"Probably Isabelle waits for you to stop talking so she can finally start answering my aunt’s question," Shawn intervened for the first time during the evening.
Shawn's tone was very calm and very polite, but the way he stared at him convinced Andrew to review his behavior. Isabelle looked at him without saying a word. His stepping in this conversation had been so unexpected as to leave everyone silent for a moment. Shawn got up and poured himself a glass of scotch. From the look on everybody’s faces, Andrew understood that he had crossed the line and leaned against the back of the sofa. He brought his hand back to his temple and a frown showed up on his face as if he were thinking of something to say to apologize to his daughter.
Isabelle smiled and for a moment saw her father again, the one he was before the accident. She explained to Marie that she had learned to speak three languages, French, Spanish and Italian, she loved drawing, even though she didn't have much time to do it, she wanted to go to college and study the history of art and perfecting herself, and that she loved to sing. It was her way of escaping from reality. When she finished speaking, her eyes met Shawn's. He brought the glass to his lips and took a sip as he continued to stare at Isabelle.
"Would you be so kind and sing something for us this evening?" Marie asked.
"Of course, she will sing..." Andrew replied instead of his daughter.
Shyness and fear were stopping her from giving an answer. She didn't want to sing in front of everyone, including his father, but she knew she had to do it. Maybe this way, her father would understand that it wasn't that insignificant girl he thought she was, that she was able to do something more than taking care of him and the house. Yes, she had to perform in front of everybody, she simply had to. The notes full of sadness and melancholy of ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ filled the room, growing like the high seas, to then retreat and simply flow and the music became the expression of her desperation, her pain, and her desire that were filling her heart and soul.
When Isabelle finished singing, she realized that nobody was talking, not even her father. She raised her beautiful blue eyes and, very close to her she met another pair of eyes that were staring at her in complete awe. She hadn't noticed that while she was singing, he had moved and was now near to her."You're such a good singer, Isabelle," he said stunned almost whispering those words. “Your voice is so stunning.”"Shawn is right, my dear," Marie added in a tone full of enthusiasm. “Sweetie, you are a young woman full of surprises.” But she wasn’t paying attention to the other comments. Apart from Shawn's tender words, she heard nothing else. Someone cleared his throat and Isabelle looked in the direction of her father who was
Isabelle entered the kitchen and surprised Lucy while she was preparing breakfast. She tip-toed to Lucy and hugged her, making the woman startled."One day, you will give me a heart attack with this little game of yours!" she scolded Isabelle with feigned anger. “You’d better sit down and eat something before starting your day at the Graysons.”“No, Lucy, the car sent by Marie to pick me up will be here at any moment. Besides, I'd like to go away before father wakes up. I am sick and tired of hearing him saying the same things that he had been telling me for almost two weeks now. Today I don’t want to hear ‘You have to impress Billy Grayson! You must marry Billy Grayson!’, I just don’t,” Isabelle said imitating Andrew's voice. “I can't stand the sound of these words an
Frannie and Diana were finishing breakfast when Christopher came down with the suitcase ready for the trip to England. He kissed his wife and the girls and he was about to get into the car and go to the airport, but the loud noise made by a sports car stopped him. Everyone turned in the direction from which all that noise came. Christopher shook his head when he saw his nephew getting down from a black Ferrari, walking all full of himself towards the small group. The girls ran to their uncle who leaned down and hugged them, then he said hi to Marie and Christopher. As usual, he didn't consider Isabelle."Uncle Chris, have a good trip, and let me know what can I do to help you from our main office," Shawn said shaking his hand. “I’ll go right now to San Francisco. If you need me, you'll find me there.”“Very well, son. I will keep you informed about everything,” his uncle said and the
“Now that you're going to stay with Marie at the villa, you’ll have to be very careful!” Andrew told her in a severe tone. He finished drinking his coffee and put the cup on the breakfast tray his daughter had brought him earlier. “Stay always close to her, listen to her, and don't go snooping around too much. Always listen to what she has to say and remember that you are there to work, not to behave like the mistress of the house! You will do exactly what you are doing here, in this house, and even more since the Graysonshouse is so big.”"Yes, Father," she said quickly.“When you won’t be taking care of those little girls, you'll have to help out with cleaning and other chores. You don't have to stop and laze around, that's not why I gave you permission to stay with the Graysons. You were not raised to behave like a damn princess, rem
Isabelle looked at her watch and realized that she would arrive at the villa too early if she continued the journey by car. The girls were never out of bed before nine in the morning. She still had a good half hour to enjoy a little walk, so she asked the driver to stop the car. After a while, Isabelle saw the villa and stopped to admire it. It was not just a gigantic house made of bricks, granite, and marble, but also a house made of love, trust, laughter, sweetness. The bond that Marie had with her husband was strong, sweet, full of love, and respect. All this could be felt since the first second spent inside the Grayson’s house. To have a house like this had always been a dream of hers, but both her mother and her father had never been able to get along very well. Her father, too busy with his job and his company, and her mother, too t
She was completely mute staring at Marie totally perplexed. She can't go to this party… she couldn't go to any party. First of all, she was there to take care of the girls, and besides, she didn't have any kind of dress to attend this party that seemed to be very important. No, she had to come up with some excuse not to accompany Marie. She couldn't go, she had to stay home, with Frannie and Diana.“I can't come with you. Please let me stay here with the girls,” she said in a pleading tone.“And why not, dear girl? It will be a fun evening and I believe you will love it. Erica's daughter is almost your age,” Marie continued her speech helping Diana with the grapefruit. “Maybe you two will become friends...” What could she say to Ma
During dinner, Shawn sat at the table without talking much. He still remained quite unbearable, but at least that evening he had not spoken to her, he had not verbally attacked her… yet. But the night was young, so she kept her fingers crossed. Marie tried very hard to carry on the conversation at the table, but her nephew opened his mouth only to give monosyllabic answers. Shawn finished dinner and asked his aunt to excuse him, after which he retired to the study."Something bad happened in the office," Marie murmured, looking at him as he was closing the door of the study. “He’s always like this when there is something that worries him or when he’s angry. He barely speaks and closes in on himself worse than a hedgehog. I adore him, but sometimes I wish he was more open to me." &nbs
She sat on the edge of the chair opposite Shawn but didn't look up at him. She didn't want to prolong this agony too much.“This afternoon, I felt the strong desire to go on a horse ride and I went to "Silver Spur Ranch". And since the ranch belongs to our family, even if you and your father are living there for several years now, the people who work there are still very loyal to the Grayson family. I talked a little with every one of them, starting with the boys from the stables to the administrator of the ranch, and everyone told me a very interesting story. It’s something that I get a few evenings ago and today I had further confirmation. He stopped and sip some coffee. It had gotten cold and Shawn pushed the cup aside a little testily."I’m not sure what’s ab