"I'm afraid you cannot refuse this Mr. Orwell," James stated as a matter of fact, staring at Soren in a defiant stance. Soren frowned, his words spiteful, "You seriously don't expect me to play babysitter. I have more important things to do." He looked at Alanna and she quickly averted her gaze, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her dress.
She knew it wasn't convenient for him and to be suddenly thrust into such responsibility was tasking but he didn't have to say it like she was some sort of burden.
"You are sure father wrote this will?" Ares asked the solicitor again just to make sure this was exactly what his father wanted. For some reason he couldn't quite place a finger on, something was definitely not right. Not because his father wasn't capable of such but that some things that had been said in his will sounded outrageous and unlike him.
He and his father hadn't always been on good terms but he knew his father well enough to understand that this was far more than they were being led to believe.
James sighed. He had grown tired of answering the same question over and over again. "For the last time Mr. Carmichael, yes he did." He sounded done with the siblings and luckily no one brought up any rebuttal. He turned his attention back to Soren.
"Call it whatever you want Mr. Orwell but Mr. Carmichael told me to remind you of the agreement you both had. It is why you can't refuse this on a whim. You're bound by your signature and I have the papers with me in case you've forgotten." He looked like he was tired of repeating things which was weird because it was the first time he had brought up this particular topic.
That darn old man. He chuckled. Very well played. "It seems I have no choice but to play babysitter after all," his eyes went to Alanna and this time she managed to hold his gaze until he recircled back to looking at James. Allie hadn't felt so unintentionally pressed like she did today.
Everything of Soren's was daunting. He always looked too guarded, too calculative, like he was waiting for you to just let up a slip so he could leverage it against you. You couldn't afford to say the wrong thing in front of him because he seemed like the type of person to make it hurt when it benefitted him. He didn't come across as a selfish person but he was a business man after all. It was an eat or get eaten world and he was at the top of that fucking food chain.
"Are we really vacating this house?" Astrid sounded pained and it may have been the very first time she had spoken softly. Her lingering eyes searched around the room, distant, as if holding onto the precious memories that surrounded the place. In as much as Alanna disliked her rudeness , she felt heartbroken for the girl whose life seemed to have come crushing in just a few weeks. She had lost her father and the said father was making her leave the home she had been born into. She was surprised she wasn't even spiraling. Not yet at least.
"I know how difficult it is to come to terms with that fact Miss Carmichael but I'm afraid the answer is still yes. It is why he included houses in all of your inheritances."
Lies. James did not look like he was sympathizing at all. It sounded practiced, like a line he had repeated dozens of times and it made Alanna realize that Reginald Carmichael may not have been the only man to pull a stunt like this.
Orion patted his sister's back, comforting her and she leaned into his touch, hiding the tears in her eyes. Alanna felt like an evil autocratic ruler who had just banned an entire family into exile. It was uncomfortable and she just wanted to go back to Sienna's place.
Ares wasn't convinced. At the beginning yes, skeptical but yes. Now that Soren was involved in teaching the little wench about his own father's legacy, something was definitely sketchy about the whole thing. He was going to find out and if there had been foul play, the little witch wasn't going to have even a pen to her name. He was going to make sure of it.
"A pleasure meeting you all today. I will leave you to discuss the rest amongst yourselves. There's no need to see me out. " He disappeared even before anyone could come up with further questions to ask him. For a solicitor, he didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about his job very much. There was nothing to be happy about anyway. You literally had to go to houses anytime your clients died to read out their will and face questions from angry family members who thought they had been cheated. Not fun at all.
Astrid shot Alanna a murderous look and she almost shrunk back in her seat at the blatant killing intent behind the girl's eyes. She didn't even try to hide it. "Enough of that. Let's go," Orion said, referring to the way his sister was staring, and he practically dragged her from there, with their older brother following suit. They went upstairs. To do what exactly? Alanna didn't know.
Realization dawned on her and it registered in her mind that she had been left with Soren. Not that he would do anything to her but she didn't want to be anywhere near him at the moment.
"What did you study in school," his deep voice rumbled through her, startling her and pulling her out of her thoughts at the same time. She looked up at him and like she had started to notice, he always had his eyes on her before hers ever met his. There was no play in his eyes. Just dead seriousness and it made Alanna overly aware of her herself.
She shifted in her seat. "Psychology."
He hummed in understanding, capturing the word so attentively it might have fooled her into thinking he cared about it. "Pennwood offers psychology," he tilted his head as if it was now the thought was settling in his mind.
Alanna nodded, frowned at why he said that and then her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the man in front of her, going through different versions of emotion.How did he know that. "How did you know I...that I went to Pennwood?" Her eyes demanded an explanation and this time she was able to hold his gaze because she wanted to hear his answer. Soren just stared. He didn't bother to say anything to ease the tension that had started to rise in her and he saw the light in her eyes dim when she realized he wasn't going to reply her.
"I think it came up in one of uncle's conversations. Whenever he would talk about you," he said after the long silence and Alanna cocked her head to the side as she regarded his answer. "He spoke to you a lot about me?" Her brows furrowed and although it was a question, deep down she knew she already had the answer. It was unsettling and she wondered how much he knew.
Something shifted behind Soren's eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it came.
"That is very out of scope with your new position." She looked confused as if she had forgotten what exactly they were talking about and Soren noticed it. "Your course ms. Ingram." As if she had regained her memories, the conversation came surging back, replaying over and over in her head.
He sounded done with her and she couldn't even blame him. She would be done with her too. He didn't answer her last question and maybe it was because he thought she had already figured it out.
"Am I a bother...
"No."
The answer came so quickly and abruptly, it almost knocked her out of her seat. She didn't even finish the question. She smiled.
"I didn't finish what I was saying," a chuckle followed her statement and Soren's keen ears zeroed in on the sound of her laughter.
She seemed to have let her guard down. "You didn't have to finish the sentence before I knew what you were about to say. The old man just had to go and make everyone's lives miserable even after death," the last part was more to himself than to her and she heard only parts of it.
"You're not a bother," he said out of nowhere as if iterating the fact and drilling it into her mind. Maybe it was just her imagination but she felt his tone soften when he said those words. And there he went again; saying things that made her believe she was worth something. She tried not to dwell on it because she had come to understand they weren't friends and things he said were probably just out of pity.
She nodded at him and he kept her gaze for a long time, as if he wanted her to know something his mouth couldn't say. And if that wasn't the most bizarre thing ever.