Returning to the Stowaway, I headed straight upstairs wanting to put a sleeping JD down. Charlotte had mentioned on the drive that Carl was staying with his grandparents, and to me that meant an empty crib in which to deposit my sleeping son, or an empty bed at least.
After putting him down and checking my phone messages, I started to head back down the stairs, pausing when I heard Charlotte's voice followed by Daniel's. I remained where I was, my mind racing as I heard Charlotte start telling Daniel that he needed to talk to Sara, move on past the accident. To me, that was rather unusual, and highly suspicious. I had thought it just a tad bit odd that Sara had been at the same bakery Charlotte ordered from, now I found it just plain suspicious, and very Victoria Grayson like. I could feel my hands start to clench into fists as I thought of the woman who had destroyed my family, and calmed myself down just as I heard Daniel leave.
I was going to go down the steps when I heard Charlotte again, this time apparently talking to someone on the phone. I closed my eyes when I heard the conversation, the Victoria Grayson in the girl now clear as day. This was something her mother would do for certain, it actually had Victoria Grayson written all over it. For a moment, I was disappointed. Some small part of me wanted to believe that Charlotte was better than her mother, better than the Grayson last name she once bore. Yet, it was becoming clear as day that she was more a Grayson than a Clarke. A Clarke girl didn't destroy someone who was innocent, and I believed Sara was innocent. She wasn't like the people my sister was taking down, people who had done terrible things to save their own butts. No, Sara was a victim of circumstances beyond her control, and now she was going to be another victim in the Grayson's chess game.
I clucked my tongue as I came down the steps, my disappointment turning to anger as I descended to a surprised Charlotte.
"Genevieve, I thought-" I cut her off.
"That I was still upstairs? Going to stay upstairs while you destroyed someone's life?" I asked, my tone becoming angry as I reached the end of my sentence. "Honestly, you are just like your mother." Charlotte looked stricken at that, almost like I had slapped her.
"I am not my mother," Charlotte protested, and I sensed I had struck a nerve.
"No, clearly you are. That phone call, that is probably going to get Sara in trouble, likely fired. Her life is going to be turned upside down once again and for what, Charlotte? So you can prove a point?" I demanded. "Or so you can save your own skin? Or maybe you are doing this just so you can get your own way, get your brother's attention." I snapped. "Well let me tell you something, people's lives are not trivial or toys, they are real and you just destroyed one, just like your mother destroyed my entire families life." Charlotte's face started to turn red, and I could see tears beginning to form.
"I'm trying to help my brother," Charlotte said, her voice cracking a few times. I shook my head in disgust.
"Help him? Or protect your own interests? You really are your mother's child, not my father's. My father would let Daniel make his own decision without interfering or using someone else as a pawn. This screams Victoria Grayson, and it screams why I don't want you near my son or me," I could see the fear in Charlotte's eyes as I turned around to go back upstairs, determined to get my son and leave.
"Please, Genevieve, you have to understand-" I ignored her as I moved towards the back room, Charlotte a few feet behind me, continuing to ramble out excuses. I finally cut her off as I reached my son.
"Understand what? That you are more a Grayson than a Clarke? I can see that clear as day. Amanda would be so disappointed," I said as I picked up JD carefully, resting him against me as I turned to face Charlotte. "Amanda and I had our worlds turned upside down because your mother wanted to protect her own interests. Evidently, Sara is your Amanda, just another unfortunate victim in the Grayson family's scheme to keep everything just as they want it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my son before you or your mother can get your claws into him and make him the next victim," I said, brushing past Charlotte, the tears streaking down her face only making me a little angrier and more disappointed. Though, the disappointment wasn't directed at her this time, but rather at myself. I had promised Amanda I would look out for Charlotte, yet here I was unable to be in the same room with her anymore. I knew Amanda would be upset, but I also knew that I couldn't watch as Charlotte destroyed an innocent woman.
As I left the Stowaway, I wondered what Charlotte's end game was. I knew with my father, Victoria's end game had been to save her husband from jail, and her fortune from disappearing completely. But I didn't know what Charlotte's was. She said she was helping her brother, but how did destroying Sara's life help Daniel? Was it a revenge scheme of it's own? Or was she looking to replace my sister in Daniel's life? If it was the latter, I wasn't sure how I felt. I was still angry she was destroying an innocent woman, but I also wondered if Sara could save my sister from making the worst mistake of her life. Only one thing was for certain though, I couldn't keep watching Charlotte any longer, not if she didn't bat an eye at destroying an innocent person. If that was who she was, she didn't need my protection, she needed help, help I wasn't qualified to provide.