CHAPTER 20: THE MASTERMIND’S MOVE

XANDER'S POV

I slam the mahogany door behind me so hard that the frame shudders.

“My son,” Richard says without looking up, flipping through a stack of papers like he’s reviewing a dinner menu, and not playing god with my life.

“Took you long enough.”

“I should break your fucking jaw.”

I definitely should, with sort of text he sent me.

Fuck it, he's even sitting in the guest office room with paper work on the desk as if this is his house and he lives here.

Who let him in here anyway? I'll fire that person straight away after I'm done with him.

He should be down in the living room, not here while he lifts his eyes lazily to meet mine.

“Language, Xander. You’ll be a father soon.”

I don’t move though I want to.

My fists clench tightly by my sides as the high amount of anger inside me pulses.

I'm barely holding my own self from doing anything physically damaging to the man in front of him.

I've never been close to him, but right now I can't even can him my father.

Athena doesn't know it but when my phone buzzed, it wasn't a call that came in, it was a text he sent letting me know of what he had done.

I should be wondering why he's just telling me about it but right now I don't care.

I'm fucking livid and start stalking towards the bastard.

“You tampered with the insemination records and had Athena chosen. For what? A designer heir?”

The corners of his lips curve up into something that’s supposed to be a smile but looks more like a smirk from a dirty mindset.

“You make it sound so dirty," he replies as if he'd just read my mind.

"I prefer to call it strategic and efficient.”

“You manipulated a woman’s body like she was part of a stock merger,” I growl.

“You used me.”

“No,” he replies calmly, standing up to his feet.

“I used us; the Knight name, our bloodline and our power. You’ve spent too long chasing control Xander, without even understanding anything at all about legacy.”

I move even more toward him until there’s only inches between us.

“She’s not some pawn in your twisted empire- building fantasy.”

“You’re right. She’s not a pawn, she's the queen,” he says coolly.

“And queens are chosen— strategically and carefully. Do you think she was picked to be pregnant at random?" He asks and cocks his head at me.

"Athena Foster’s IQ is so high that it's off the charts. She has a healthy family lineage with no family history of disease and has strong moral compass. She's just naive enough to believe in protocols and procedures which is exactly what THIS family needs.”

I almost can’t breathe, Athena was right; he played us both from the start.

“You made me the villain in her story,” I whisper, more to myself than to him.

Richard sighs. “You chose to play that role the second you started letting your emotions cloud your judgment. You falling for her wasn’t in my plan, Xander.”

I slam my palm onto the desk, making a pen roll off and hit the floor.

“She’s not yours to plan. She’s mine.”

The words leave my mouth before I even think, but it’s the only truth I know, one I've been trying to sink into Athena's head for weeks now.

The man in front of me leans in. “Then prove it. Marry your ex fiance, Veronica and take over the family's company you left to start your own. If you do these, I’ll erase every threat to Athena, including every name and plot against her. You’ll then have enough power to protect her after she bears the child.”

“That’s your solution?” I scoff and laugh bitterly.

“You're planning to shackle me to a woman that I've clearly broken off my engagement with, and then hope that Athena never learns I sold my soul to save her?”

“You already did, son,” he says simply. “You just haven’t accepted the price yet.”

I turn my back on him, feeling rage and anger, not just at him but at myself.

Athena trusted me, even though in bits and pieces, but I buried the truth.

I let this situation stay in the shadows because I was too obsessed with controlling the fallout and too terrified to admit that I didn’t just want the baby.

... Till now I've realised that I wanted her and found that I'm expecting twins.

But now...

Fuck I should have known; how had I been so blind?

The confidential contract papers Athena had found had the name E.K as the approving signature.

My father's full name is Richard Elias Knight.

E.K means Elias Knight, he must have just omitted the 'R' on purpose.

How did I miss that?

Knowing my father, there must have been something I could have done to stop it if I had found out on time, otherwise he wouldn't have taken so long to throw it in my face.

Now this is turning into something else entirely.

The only good thing I've gathered from this 'discussion' is that Richard doesn't know that it's not just one child within Athena.

... And I plan on letting him to keep thinking that way.

“Time’s ticking,” Richard calls behind me.

“Choose wisely, Xander. You won’t get another chance.”

However I don't answer him, he knows my answer already.

"Leave my house Richard, the security will see you out. Do not visit here again."

I can't let Athena know I've found out it's my father that was behind this---- she'll think I knew about this the entire time.

Keeping this in mind, I step out of the office, closing the door behind me, but then stop in my tracts.

... Because Athena is standing at the far end of the corridor, staring at me without blinking.

And by the look on her face, I know she’s already heard my father's words.

“How long have you known?” she asked me.

She's not raising her voice, I notice that immediately.

She's just quiet and looking at me with a devastated look on her face that makes my heart hurt.

... And I have no answer to her question.