She Accepted Divorce, He Panicked

Scarlett's POV

After that one bombing sentence, Adrian did not continue but started leading the way to his car.

He has been shooting me observing looks all the way even after he started driving. I sneakily take longer breaths, waiting patiently for him to conduct his "mental status evaluation" on me. I don't want him to worry about me, and I can handle this. I need him to know. "Lucas told me everything," Adrian finally says, eying me in the rare mirror, "How have you been holding up? I'm actually impressed that you pulled yourself together after only three days."

I frown leeringly: "Please don't tell me that the boss of the Dunn empire has been squatting downstairs of my hotel for the past three days..." Adrian lets out a laugh, the worry in his eyes faints a little.

"I have eyes on your personal driver, that's all," Adrian gives me a harmless smile, "By the way, I'm not the only one doing that, apparently." "Who else?!" I frown. I understand that Adrian is doing this out of concern for my safety, but I don't want attention like this from anyone else. "You will know soon, and I'll leave that one to you," Adrian grumbles, looking bothered, "I'm behind any decision you make, of course." "You know who it is--?"

"That's not the most urging matter," Adrian averts the topic in the most awkward way, "aren't you curious about your new family?"Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

I grin at him -- he was the one throwing me a hook, and now he is the one getting impatient first!

"Yeah, sure, let's hear about it. You found something, didn't you?" I shoot him a glowing smirk. Lucas kept him posted about everything. And with Adrian's resources, he could find a lot more about them than what I can in three days locked in a hotel room. And I know he wouldn't be here himself if it's a small thing. I have embraced myself.

My reaction takes Adrian by surprise. He frowns, looking hesitant now. "You have met Damian Vanderbilt," He takes a deep breath, trying to ease his way in, "What do you think of him?"

A jerk! An arrogant, dark, evil jerk!

"A womanizer. Do you know him? Does he keep a lot of women around?" That's all I can think about after that brief night I spent knowing him. Well, Ava might not count, considering he might have been kind to her because of Mom's necklace. But he only smiled to her face before turning his back on her the next second!

"Also an evil mastermind!" I add.

"You know he's to be your brother, not your husband, right?" With sarcasm, Adrian gives me a harmless smile. But he looks less worried now, "You sound very eager and passionate about your new family."

I roll my eyes. I'm not sure if I want such a brother, and I'm sure I don't want such a husband for Lilith!

"Emma Vanderbilt, died at the age of 32, car accident," Adrain recites, glancing at me, "...in North Dakota."

There has been too many signs that the Vanderbilts is the answer, but still, when I hears about it, it's like a heavy blown to my head.

So I AM a Vanderbilt. I was with Mom when we got into a car accident when Jack Fuller took me! Not some overdose bullshit! I close my eyes shut, calming myself for the rest of the story.

"She was reported to be with her two-year-old daughter. That's you," Adrian continues, "Her husband at the time was at home with their six-year-old son, Damian. They searched for the daughter for months, and Johnny Vanderbilt never remarried for his late wife." Huh. That's a consolation. If the reason unknown. But even if a small percentage of that reason is out of the love for my mom, it's huge to me.

"Are you here to persuade me to not hurry into any rushed judgement?" I can't help but frown. The only reason I didn't blow out everything was because I wanted to check out the family first. And clearly, they aren't that welcoming. At least Damian Vanderbilt wasn't. "No, I'm here to warn you against rushing into the wealthy trap," Adrian pulls the car up by the side of the road, looking at me in the eyes, "That being said, I don't know the Vanderbilts personally, so I don't want to sway your judgement, I can only try to get you as much facts as possible, and you need to make a careful decision at that."

I flinch at his dark tone, getting scared.

Wait, Adrian said it's Johnny Vanderbilt that I should worry about? The loving husband???

"I'm come bearing divorce papers," Adrian says slowly, pulling out a folder, "It's from your Mom to your Dad. She registered it, but he never signed it, well, not before she died."