Wicked Wicked Games – How It All Started
25 Years Ago
"Theo, you can't be serious."
"Blythe, I'm completely serious."
"But, you said you love me," Blythe said, tears tracking down her cheeks.
"I do, but right now, I've got to think about the future. Claude Whitman needs someone to run the family business after he's gone."
"And that's more important than what you and I have?"
"Right now, it is. Blythe this doesn't have to be forever. Anna doesn't love me any more than I love her. This is a business deal."
"But, Theo…"
"Don't do this Blythe. I'm marrying Anna."
"Just like that? Nothing I say can convince you?"
"No, Blythe. It's done."
Theodore's POV
Theo closed his eyes at the memory. Did he start all this by leaving Blythe? All the pain and heartache she'd caused to him, Maddie, Emma and Brooke couldn't possibly have started all that time ago. He'd loved her then and he still had feelings for her now. That's what made him hate himself. The feelings were conflicted and yes, part of him hated her, but not all of them.
All the time they'd been apart, he'd thought of her. When Brooke had turned out to be Gavin's daughter, he'd imagined what a life with Blythe might have been like. He'd known without a doubt that she loved him. That had never been a question. But for that love to have turned into something so ugly was a travesty.
Theo was totally convinced that Blythe had stashed the gun that shot Joshua Spencer. How she'd done it, he didn't know, but he knew he hadn't shot the kid. Blythe was the only one with anything to gain by his arrest. Could she know who shot her son, but hated him enough to cover it up? Did she really hate him that much? Yes. He knew it to the marrow of his bones. Yes, he had to burden some of the blame for her feelings, but Blythe was out of control. She had to be stopped.
That she'd used her own sons to hurt him and his daughters was deplorable. Her son, Aaron, might be the only hope he had of stopping her and getting back what belonged to him and his girls. The sons might be devious, but neither of them seemed particularly cruel or evil. If he could get what he needed on Blythe, he might just be able to get her out of his life for good. Nothing sounded sweeter.
Blythe's POV
Blythe feel moisture behind her eyelids at the memory of Theo leaving her and immediately cleared her mind. She would not give him the satisfaction of crying over what had happened 25 years earlier. Blythe had loved that man with everything in her. When he'd left he'd taken everything with him. Everything, except her boys. He'd left her without a backwards glance – her and the boys. Blythe would get him back for it. She still loved him, but what was the saying? Love and hate were two sides of the same coin. Nothing was truer.
Yes, she'd taken his precious business and his house, but his freedom was still up for grabs and he owed her everything. Blythe planned to call in that debt. It was only a matter of time before he was convicted of shooting Josh. The gun was the same one he'd pointed at her in her office. He'd threatened her and Aaron, so why not Josh. Theo had brought all of this on himself and he was going to pay.
Two people were dead because of what Theo had done all those years ago and Edward still had to suffer for shooting Josh. Edward was in for a rude awakening if he thought he was off the hook. He was in her pocket and his pain had just begun.
The only good things to come of all this, other than Theo's pain, was the fact that her boys may have actually fallen for the girls. Both boys had inherited her charm and good looks. They were hard to resist and it appeared that the girls had fallen hard in spite of themselves. Emma was definitely in love with Josh, if Blythe's instincts were right from her hospital visit. And Brooke. Brooke had issues, but she couldn't stay away from Aaron and apparently the feeling was mutual. Her plan was coming together and she would win. She always did.
