ATLAS GRANT

ATLAS GRANT

SEVEN YEARS AGO

“ I am here to visit, Elena Carlson,” I muttered to the guard in the black and white striped uniform.  My voice was shaky. This would be the first time I stepped into a prison. 

Elena is a stranger to me, I mean, she doesn't know me. But I know her. 

“And who are you?” the Guard with the unlinked goatee had asked. I hesitated, not sure if I should give my real name.

“Atlas, Atlas Jasper,” I responded, Jasper was my middle name. 

He buzzed me in and I made my way to the visitor area. I sat down, gently tapping the table nervously as I waited for Elena, she had not been convicted yet. Her trial would be in a few days, and I was here to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

She strode in with handcuffs in her hands, her eyes were dim and her eye patches faded in pale yellow. Her hair was messy and it looked like she had lost a few pounds. I adjusted my sunshades and fake mustache. 

I had worn a disguise because I didn't want her to know who I was. 

She approached the table and sat down, staring at me, she didn't say a word.

Gosh, she is so beautiful,  despite being in prison Orange she radiated like the sun, her essence gently being accentuated by her aura, her calm presence breathing a soothing stillness to the air. 

“How… How are you doing?” I stuttered, not really sure what to say. She glanced at me. Her eyes scrutinized me.

“Do I know you?” she asked, clenching her fist to the table as her gaze pierced through mine, she was trying to make out my face.

“No but I know you, I know you are Elena and you are married to Luke Grant,” I responded, adjusting my glasses. 

“Congratulations you can g****e,” she muttered, her tone laced with sarcasm.

“I know that you are innocent,  I saw you that night, you were not the one driving, Luke was, you are taking the fall for him, Elena,” I spoke in a low tone, her gaze widened, her hands clasped onto the table firmer.

“You know nothing,” she simply responded. 

“Elena, don't go to prison for a douchebag like Luke, he is not worth it,” 

“How dare you, come here to tell me what I should do and not do,” she snapped, “I don't know who the fuck you are but it is none of your business,” she stood up from the chair.

“Elena, I just want to help, Luke Grant is evil,”

“And you are a saint?” she asked and I hesitated before responding. I stood up from the seat and tried to reach to her, my hands gently grazing hers. I expected her to shove my hands away but she didn't. 

She froze at my touch, my eyes piercing hers. 

“Elena, don't do this, you will regret this,” I spoke in a low tone. She glanced at me, I could feel her heaving breath on my skin. 

“Who are you?” she asked. 

I wished I could respond to tell her everything. But I couldn't. 

PRESENT DAY

The name Atlas Grant was plastered on the door. 

Being a Grant had always gotten me through doors. 

But I had never felt like a Grant. 

I was the illegitimate son of Richard Grant, the son people called a mistake. My mum, who was the maid, had an affair with Richard Grant.

It didn't also help that he had two sons before me. 

Braden Grant, the first and probably the only Grant who liked me. He was painfully stolen from us by the cruel arms of cancer.  

Then there was Luke, Luke Grant is a fortunate son of a bitch. He had always wiggled his way to the top in the shadiest way. 

I am no saint either, don't get me wrong. I can't even say I am, but Luke had no moral scruples whatsoever. 

You are just a bastard son, birthed from our father’s inability to keep his dick in his pants,” Luke had once said to me. We were just teenagers then. 

Of course that earned him a punch, we got into a fight and my father grounded me. Just me. 

That had fueled my hatred for Luke. 

“I know what they did to you, and I am here to help you bring them down, I am here to help you make Luke pay and get back all he had stolen away from you.”

I had gotten her attention.  She glanced at me, the same way she had glanced at me seven years ago when I was a stranger to her. The same way she had glanced at me two weeks ago when I made love to her.

Gosh, those eyes, they were breathtaking. 

“You don't know anything about me, you are just some twisted sociopath,” she snarled, trying to squeal away but unable to do so. 

“I know that you went to prison because of Luke, I know that you sacrificed your life for him and he stole the inheritance Braden left for you,” I explained,  trying not to divulge too much, so she wouldn't think I was a stalker. 

“Of course you would know that, you are part of that monstrous family,” she snapped. “Look here mister, I don't know what kind of twisted game you are playing, I want none of it. I just want to be left the fuck alone,” she tries to wiggle her way again out of my grip but my grasp was firm, I didn't want to lose her, not this time again.

“Elena, can you stop being so stubborn and listen to me, I am on your side here and I want to help you gain back all you lost,” 

“Oh no, I am stubborn?” she scoffed, “I don't need your help, I don't want anything to do with you Grants, how many times do I have to say it,” she snarled and paused, I exhaled hoping she would calm down but she didn't.

“You slept with me knowing perfectly well who I was,”

“Don’t put it like that,”

“Oh sorry, I mean, you fucked me, knowing I was your brother’s ex-convict wife,”

I couldn't help but chuckle, there was this humor and beauty to the way she spoke, the way she smiled and gazed at me, it made me want to protect her, to help her, to be there for her… my thoughts trailed off for a moment. “My step-brother,” I corrected. 

It made me want to WANT her.

“Let go,” she pushed, this time so hard, and I let her go, “Go fuck yourself,” she snapped and was storming towards the door when I called out. 

“I will pay you 10 million dollars if you help me bring down Luke,”

She stopped abruptly, veering around to gaze at me, she didn't say a word for a moment, “You think you can buy me with money?” she glared at me.

“I am not buying you, I need a service and you can render that service, so why shouldn't I pay you for that service.”

She remained silent, scrutinizing me, I could tell her thoughts trailed off, and then she finally broke the silence, “Why are you doing this?”

“I already told you, we want the same thing. I want to bring down Luke and you want the same thing too, so why can't we work together,” I replied in a calm tone, tucking my hands in my pockets while leaning on my desk, she took a few steps close to me.

“How can I trust you?” she asked, skepticism etched all over her face.

“It is a risk you would have to take for the greater good,” I paused and stood up from the desk, tilting my head towards her. “And what do you have to lose, you already lost everything,”

She gazed at me, “I have nothing to lose,” she muttered. “Why does it feel like I am about to make a deal with the son of the devil,”

I chuckled. “Don’t be modest Elena, if we make this deal, you would be making it with the Devil himself,”