AUTHORS NOTE: Just a quick message, I need to say that due to work commitments this will be the last update I will be able to provide this side Christmas. So, I hope you enjoy this one and I'll see you all in the new year – so try and have a very merry Christmas and stay safe.
CHAPTER 54
(SADIE)
"You look fine mom".
Lucy holds my hand as I look down at myself once more, I am fully aware that these people we are having dinner with tonight are incredibly wealthy and here I am in a cheap dress from Walmart.
"I am so scared Lucy" I whisper and I blink rapidly as the tears that are threatening to fall fill my eyes.
Lucy shakes her head at me and wraps me in a hug, "Mom, stop it. They are not going to judge you by what you are wearing, they are all really nice people. That much is obvious by the way they have all put themselves out for us and bent over backwards to help".
I take a deep breath and nod. "Ok" I say with more confidence than I am actually feeling at the moment.
"Also, don't forget that you get to meet your granddaughter tonight" Lucy says and I smile as I remember what Elliot had told me about his daughter.
Lucy and I leave the sumptuous bedroom and go downstairs. I was totally over awed when Christian said I could stay here. I have never been anywhere so grand. Ana had told me this was where Christian lived before he met her and they had lived here for a while after they married before Christian bought their home on the sound. Apparently now Escala is mainly used for business clients who need a place to stay while visiting in Seattle. Looking around I do wonder what their home is like if this is just a second home as it is absolutely stunning. But then again this is Christian Grey we are talking about. The man is worth over twelve billion dollars, that is something I have real difficulty getting my head around. Then on top of that there is Gideon Cross who is also helping us and he is even wealthier.
I hear a noise and look towards the far end of this huge sitting room, then I hear a ping and I see doors opening and I immediately realise someone has come up in the elevator. Standing there smiling at me is Ana Grey, looking absolutely stunning in a navy blue dress.
"Hello Sadie, have you both settled in ok?" she asks as she moves out of the elevator closely followed by her husband, who is dressed in a sharp black suit.
I nod, "Yes, thank you… you have been so very kind" I say.
Ana shakes her head, "Not at all it's the very least we could do" she says. She hesitates a moment and then gestures to the large sofa.
"Shall we sit down a moment because I have some news for you, which I'd like to share before we leave to head to dinner with Grace and Carrick".
I quickly move to the sofa and sit down, Lucy sits beside me and I find myself reaching for her hand which she takes and grips tightly. Christian and Ana sit down opposite me and Ana leans forward to speak.
"Eva called me again a short while ago, it appears that your husband has been persuaded not to travel to Seattle by Gideon and Eva. They have also made him realise that it is in his best interest to co-operate and to give you the divorce you are seeking, along with a generous settlement and to repay you for all the years you have worked for him without seeing a dime". She pauses and smiles at me. I am astounded and my mouth drops open.
"David has agreed to all that? How? I mean… how did? How did they manage to get him to do that?" I stammer as I try and wrap my head around what I have just heard.
Christian smiles, "Let's just say Gideon and Eva were very persuasive" he says vaguely and I wonder if they threatened David in some way as I really can't see the man that I know capitulating like that and so quickly.
"I called Elliot and filled him in and I believe Eva has called him as well, but the main thing is hopefully with Carrick and Arash dealing with your divorce things should move quickly and smoothly as long as he honours the agreement he has made".
"Do you have any questions, before we head off for dinner?" Christian asks.
I glance at Lucy who shrugs and I shake my head, "I… I don't think so, I mean everything is happening so quickly and relatively easily. I thought it would be much harder than this" I say.
Christian acknowledges that with a tip of his head, "I think had Gideon and Eva not been quite so persuasive, and by persuasive I mean putting the fear of god into David; things wouldn't be quite as straightforward as they seem to be. However, I am not going to be complacent as there is always the chance that David could renege on his agreement to do things properly and quickly. Gideon is of the opinion that won't happen as threats have been made as to what the consequences would be should he cause a fuss and not co-operate. He is confident that David won't want to invoke any of those repercussions".
"I have no idea how I am going to repay you all for everything you are doing for us and all I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart" I say earnestly.
Ana leans forward and squeezes my hand, "You have no need to thank us" she says simply.
A moment later the elevator pings again and as it opens a small child hurtles into the room, closely followed by Elliot and a young Asian woman dressed in black. Elliot has his arm around the woman's waist and the child has just thrown herself into Christian's arms and he has picked her up and placed her on his lap.
I stand as Elliot comes over to me and greets me with a small kiss on the cheek. "Hi Sadie, are you settled in ok here?" he asks and I nod.
"Yes, thank you. It's a beautiful apartment" I say a little lamely.
Elliot pulls the woman closer and smiles at her. "Meg this is my birth mom Sadie Greaves and my half sister, Sadie's daughter Lucy" he says and then he looks at me, "Sadie, this is my girlfriend Megumi. Lucy, Megumi. Megumi, Lucy, he adds with a grin as he gestures between the two women resulting in Lucy giggling and Megumi rolling her eyes. He then glances over to the child.
"Ava come here sweetheart" he calls and I watch as the child shuffles off of Christian's lap. He helps her by lifting her and he places her on her feet and she immediately runs to Elliot and grips his hand.
Elliot crouches down so he is at Ava's level and wraps his arm around her as he speaks to her. "Ava sweetheart, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Sadie and this is Lucy". He pauses as he licks his lips and looks up at us nervously, before rising back up to his full height. "This is my daughter Ava, I figured it was best to introduce you as friends for the time being… I hope that's ok?" he asks slightly worriedly.
I nod, "I totally understand" I say, I look at the child she is clearly very young and there is no need to confuse her with the complicated nature of our relationship yet.
"So, I don't know about anyone else but I'm starving so shall we go?" Elliot says as he pats his stomach.
Ana and Megumi both roll their eyes once again and Ava lets out a small cheer and excitedly bounces on the spot.
She looks up at me and grins at me, "Going to grans" she says adamantly and then she pauses, "Are you coming?" she asks and I nod.
"Yes Ava we are" I say.
oooOOOooo
I take a deep breath as I see the large house looming up in front of us. I glance at Lucy who grips my hand tightly. As the car comes to a halt the front door opens and I see Grace smiling widely at us.
I take a deep breath and climb out of the car and Lucy follows me. I glance across at the other cars in the convoy and see Christian and Ana climbing out of one and Elliot, Megumi and Ava getting out of the third.
Ava doesn't hesitate and with a squeal runs towards Grace who catches her and hugs her tightly. I can clearly see this woman is very maternal and loving and I am so grateful that Elliot was adopted by her as she gave him the best possible life which I was unable to.
I watch as Elliot strides towards her and hugs her tightly before planting a kiss on her cheek and then Grace greets Megumi equally warmly. Elliot looks back towards me and smiles at me encouragingly.
I take another deep breath and move towards the doorway. Grace immediately holds open her arms and greets me with a hug which calms me slightly and I watch as she greets Lucy equally warmly. Then it is Christian and Ana's turn and we all make our way inside. Once again I feel totally overwhelmed by my surroundings even more so as I am led into a large sitting room and I see Carrick Grey. He is sitting in a huge armchair with a glass of what looks like bourbon in his hand. He stands and walks over to me with his hand outstretched.
"Sadie, I'm glad you could join us tonight" he says and then he turns towards Lucy, "And you too of course, Lucy" he adds.
I shake his hand as he offers me a drink, which I politely decline, but I watch as Christian and Elliot go to the bar and help themselves before they are even asked if they want one. Christian turns towards Ana and waves a bottle.
"Drink, baby?" he asks but Ana shakes her head and politely declines. She turns towards me and smiles.
"There will be wine with dinner so that will be enough for me" she says with a grin.
"And me" Megumi adds as she comes to stand beside us.
Elliot shrugs, "Your loss, all the more for us" he says with a grin.
We all sit down and Carrick looks at me carefully.
"So… as you are aware, I am Carrick and I along with Arash Madani, who is Gideon's personal attorney will be representing you in your divorce from your husband and helping you get the back payments for your employment. Christian has given me all the information and I have to say you have made my life very easy as a result of the detailed records you have. As under normal circumstances, I would be chasing after this sort of evidence for months before we even got the ball rolling. You should also know that Gideon called me and asked me to put in place a restraining order in the event your husband turned up here at any point, although I believe that concern has now passed as Gideon has persuaded your husband not to travel to Washington. I have the flash drive which details all the injuries you suffered and I will also have the written testimony from Grace as soon as she has completed it. I have spoken with Arash Madani already, and we have decided that Arash will be handling all the information with regard to the abuse charges due to the possible conflict of interests with Grace being my wife and the doctor who examined you. We don't want to give David Greaves any grounds to wriggle out of anything. He will also be dealing with the accusations made against Jennifer and her conduct as a police officer".
At that Lucy stands up and pulls out a piece of paper from the pocket of the trousers she is wearing and offers it to Carrick.
"This is the names of all the police officers who know that Jen is bad, and who have seen and heard things. I was asked to make a list of their names so that Eva's father could contact them" she says.
Carrick nods as he takes the paper, "Thank you I will pass this over to Arash and he can inform Eva and Victor as he is dealing with that".
Lucy nods and then sits back down again.
Carrick looks at us and smiles kindly, "I'm not going to expect you to discuss everything that we need to go through tonight. But we will need to at some point in the near future, if you could come to my offices, we can make an appointment for you and get Arash in on it and we can decide how we are going to proceed. Things are moving quite fluidly at the moment as we have so much information and evidence which isn't normally the case at this stage. You should also know that Gideon has secured written confirmation that your husband will co-operate fully with us and won't contest the divorce. I believe he has also secured his agreement to back pay you for your entire period of employment with him".
My mouth drops open at this, "But what's stopping him going back on his word?" Lucy asks.
Carrick smiles at her, "When I say Gideon has secured his agreement, it is his written agreement which has been signed and dated and I also believe that Eva recorded the entire conversation, so if he were to backtrack at this point it wouldn't do him any favours in the long term".
"Wow" I say as I can't believe what I am hearing and I wonder just what happened when Gideon and Eva went to see David.
The door opens and Grace appears, she smiles at everyone and tells us that dinner is ready to be served. I watch as Elliot goes to find Ava and we all follow Grace and Carrick into a beautiful dining room. Lucy and I exchange glances as we take in our surroundings and wait to be told where to sit. I watch as Carrick takes one end of the table and Grace sits at the other, Christian sits beside Grace with Ana taking the seat on his other side, Elliot and Megumi take the seats opposite Christian and Ana which leave a seat beside Megumi and a seat beside Ana free. We are also sitting next to Carrick. I look at Lucy meaningfully as she takes the seat beside Megumi leaving me to sit next to Ana.
A young woman appears with a tureen of soup and places it on the table along with some plates filled with crusty bread rolls.
"I wasn't sure what you liked so I thought soup was the safest option for a starter" Grace says almost apologetically.
Elliot doesn't hesitate and reaches over to ladle some soup into a bowl for himself and for Ava.
"There are other people here El" Christian says wryly which makes Elliot pause and he flushes slightly before recovering and shrugging.
"There's plenty" he says with a grin.
We are about half way through the main course when I hear a phone ringing. I look up to see Ana flushing and apologising as she fumbles for her phone. She glances at the screen and smiles.
"It's Eva" she says, before she glances round, "Do you mind if I take this?" she adds and everyone tells her to go ahead.
"Hello" she says and I see her smile even wider, she glances at me and then speaks again. "Just hang on right there Eva, I'm going to put you on speaker as we are all with Sadie and Lucy and we are having dinner with Carrick and Grace" she says.
A moment later she tells Eva to repeat what she said and I hear Eva's voice fill the room.
"Hello everyone and sorry to interrupt your meal. But Arash just called Gideon. Apparently, Jen has emailed him and handed over everything she has on David and he said that the amount of dirt she had on him was astounding. Carrick, he is going to call you tomorrow and I think he will be forwarding all the information to you so you have it as well. He did say that with everything we have it is all practically a formality" she says.
Carrick leans forward, "That's excellent news Eva and I look forward to hearing from Arash tomorrow. You should know that Lucy has given me the list of police officers who are aware of Jen and the fact she is a dirty cop so I will send that to Arash tomorrow when I speak to him".
"Ok, thanks for that Carrick, and I'll get my dad on the case for that one" Eva says brightly.
Eva talks for a while longer and then she goes and Ana switches off her phone. I look around the table and take in the sight in front of me, everyone is chatting freely and laughing and there is a relaxed atmosphere in the room. It is nothing like the grim mealtimes back home in Detroit, when nobody dared to speak in case it angered David. I look at Lucy once more and see she is taking in everything around her. She gives me a reassuring smile and I know that we did the right thing when we took the opportunity that was presented to us to get away.
