A/N: I know I am horrible. I promise that I haven't given up on this story or the others. I have had a lot of personal things going on and just have not had the time or motivation to write anything. I hope this chapter is worth it... I have proof-read it a few times but I probably missed a few things since this chapter has been worked on for the past two months :( I am almost done with another chapter so hope to have that done soon. Thank you guys for your reviews and I am thankful for all of them... reading them and your encouragement gave me the motivation to come back to this and try and finish it.
Mitchum studied the door in front of him and a sneer unconsciously formed on his lips. He could see now why Shira would think this girl was an easy target. After he had gotten Logan's phone call, he had done some digging on the ex-Mrs. Dean Forester and everything was as he suspected. She was a high school cheerleader and had no real goals outside of the small-town wife life. She and Dean had started dating shortly after he and Rory had broken up and that progressed to marriage. He would never understand how people could possibly think that marriage at the age of 18, right out of high school was a smart idea. Then he thought of Rory and Logan and the way they looked at each other even though they were still young. Now that was a couple he could see making it the long haul and he knew that Logan had a very important ring in his possession so now they just waited to see what would happen next. Despite his reservations at the beginning, he now hoped that they would marry soon and take their places in society. The two of them had become a power couple and a model of what the next generation could be and he knew that they would only increase the standing of the families in the years to come. He shook his head slightly and refocused his thoughts on what needed to be done to protect that future and knocked on the door. The sight of the young girl didn't surprise him but the apprehension in her eyes made him give her a small smile. "Ms. Lister,"
The girl gave a slight sigh and forced a smile onto her lips. "Call me Lindsey," when he nodded, she opened the door more to allow him into the small apartment. "I assume your Mr. Huntzberger?" when he answered in the affirmative, she let out another sigh and led him toward the couch. "Rory told me I could trust you…" she trailed off and studied the opposing man in front of her and she could feel the anxiety rise.
"You can," he stated firmly. "While Rory and I may have had our differences, I appreciate the way she has steadied my son. And this situation… I want to resolve it quickly. Shira has no right to try and stir up more trouble to try and benefit herself and hurt my family."
"And how do we do that? What are you planning on doing to me?" Lindsey asked anxiously. Ever since the visit from Rory and Logan she had gone through so many emotions, fear, anxiety, excitement, happiness… But she didn't know this man and even though Rory said she could trust him she was still afraid of what could possibly happen to her. She had done a lot of thinking and she wanted out of this town, out of the life she thought she wanted while she was with Dean. Now she knew that she could do better, be better than what she had previously thought. After lots of thought, and some pro-con lists out of Rory's playbook, she knew she wanted to go to New York and a small acting school she had found and see if that is what she wanted to do. It wasn't lost on her that the girl that she once thought had destroyed her life was now the ones opening the doors to a possibility of something better.
"First," Mitchum replied as he pulled some papers out of a briefcase, "nothing is going to happen to you. Everything that I have planned is to try and keep what happened in the past where it belongs, in the past. This is a non-disclosure agreement. It just states that you can't tell anyone about our agreement…" and with that he went over everything. She wouldn't be allowed to go to the press about the affair but if she was asked directly about it, she could admit it happened but was not say anything disparaging about Rory. He would prefer that she answer with 'no comment' but she was able to say things about them being young, people grow and learn from the past… Mitchum told her that he would handle Shira and do what he could to keep the affair out of the papers. In return for her cooperation, they were giving her the $200K that Shira had promised along with paying for the rent for a small apartment in New York for a year, her tuition for the school she had found, and they had also secured an entry level job at a Morgan Hotel as a hotel receptionist, so the hours were flexible enough to accommodate her school schedule. The job was through a family friend and far enough removed from the families, so it didn't appear that they were buying her off. With everything settled, the papers signed, Mitchum asked if she had any other questions and when she didn't he told her she could contact him and said his good-byes and Lindsey walked him to the door.
As she shut the door behind Mitchum a sigh of relief escaped her. He was imposing and she couldn't help but shutter at the thought that she made the right decision, the man that she had met would have destroyed her if she had went along with Shira and Rory would not have been able to stop him. Slowly she walked back over to the couch and grabbed the papers before she sank down into the cushions. As she flipped through the papers and read the information a smile came to her face. Rory really did do everything she could to help her and there was one more thing she needed to do, talk to her mother and tell her everything that had happened and tell her about the small clause to the contract that worried her slightly. She had to convince her mother to not say anything if the story came out but when she heard about everything Rory and the Huntzberger's were doing she didn't think her mom would have many issues, especially since the clause stated that Lindsey could lose everything if her mother made disparaging comments or went to the press. But for now… There was the enrollment information for the school along with the confirmation of her enrollment, there was a studio apartment that was in a safe neighborhood and not far from either the school or her new job. The job wasn't the most glamourous, she would be working at a hotel in the city as a receptionist. It was a start, and it was a job so she wouldn't need to touch the extra money much. There was also some information about a community college where she could take classes in business or anything else that interested her, and she was told that if she wanted to take classes there as well to let Rory know and they would cover at least her first year of classes. For the first time since she had found out Dean had cheated on her she felt like she had a future. These papers in front of her gave her a shot, a chance to live outside Stars Hollow. With a smile she walked into the bedroom and started packing, the apartment was awaiting her arrival and she couldn't wait to see what the future held.
A weight seemed to lift off Mitchum as he walked out of the small apartment. He had everything signed and was ready for the next step of the plan. Now it was time to head home and meet his lovely wife…
The drive from Stars Hollow to Hartford was shorter than he would have liked. As much as he despised Shira this part was going to be difficult, and he needed to make sure there weren't to many breakables in her immediate vicinity when it took place. This show-down had been a long time coming and he had avoided it due to the possible society fallout but with Shira's recent behavior he knew the blowback would be minimal. He had contacted his lawyers to get the paperwork completed and the staff were in place to follow his orders so all that was left was this meeting. He had no doubt that she would try and cause drama but his people had already started working on possible PR scenarios to minimize damage.
It didn't really surprise him that Shira was handling the appearance of Rory Gilmore-Hayden so horribly, after all Rory was everything Shira was not. Rory was blue-blooded, smart, kind and on top of everything she had the innate grace needed to survive society without losing herself; she would be the type of partner that would support and encourage Logan and in some ways that made Mitchum jealous. He had never had the type of relationship his son and Rory had or even the one that Josh and Honor had. It there was one thing that he could be happy about, it was that his children did not make his mistakes in love. He had lots of regrets about how little he was involved with his children but that was changing now. The three of them, Rory, Josh, and Elias had started building a family with each other. There were still things that needed to be worked through, he needed to work on things to get both of his kids to open up with them but the dynamics between them were changing and it was another reason to be thankful for Rory.
Walking into his home, well mansion, he immediately sighed and hoped that the maids had hidden all the breakables that were outside. With a quick detour to his office for a bracing glass of scotch he followed the smell of smoke and found his wife sitting on the back porch and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Hello Shira," he stated as he sat down across from her. "How was France?"
"You know exactly how it was," Shira sneered. "You sent me to the most remote property knowing that there was nothing around there."
"I had hoped that you would have used that time to think," he slowly stated as he sat back in the chair. "So, have you done a lot of thinking?"
Shira studied the man for a moment and reached forward to grab her wine and took a large gulp. "I thought a lot about how this family has abandoned me and chose that girl over me. I cannot believe that you chose some, some… tart over your own wife! After everything that I have done for you over the years, I gave you two children and that doesn't mean anything to you!"
Mitchum's eyes narrowed, and his voice was icy cold when he finally spoke. "That girl, as you know, is more blue-blooded that you could ever be and not only has the breeding but the character to fit into this world. Now, you… well you were just a girl that got knocked-up to try and force me into a marriage. How is this working out for you? Do you have everything you want?"
"That girl is not better than me!" Shira yelled as she crushed the cigarette on the table in front of her, completely missing the ash tray. "That girl is nothing compared to me and soon everyone will know exactly who she is!"
He leaned back and calculated his next words; Shira really was delusional. "You mean that she slept with her married ex after he told her that he and his wife were getting a divorce?" he asked in a deathly calm tone. "We all already know about your PI Shira. We know what you have planned," he saw her pale and quickly light another cigarette, so he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. "It's not going to work Shira. And this time you have gone too far and there are repercussions for your actions, repercussions that I don't think you are going to like."
"If you know about the married ex, how could you be happy with Logan being with her!" she exclaimed. "She is just going to cheat on Logan…"
"Like you cheat on me?" he cut off, "or how I cheat on you? I really don't think those two will have to worry about ending up like us, they actually like each other. Now let's talk about what is going to happen to you now."
"What do you mean?" she questioned and for the first time was slightly afraid. "You're not going to do anything to me! What will people think?"
"They will think it's about damn time," he answered with a laugh, "that I divorced your scheming ass."
"You wouldn't!" she yelled and stood up. "You wouldn't divorce me! You know I could hurt your image!"
"More than you already have?" he questioned with a mocking lift of his eyebrow. "You also seem to forget the non-disclosure agreement you signed as part of the pre-nup that prevents you from talking about anything from the moment that we met, and you got knocked up until this moment. Even after this conversation you cannot disparage the Huntzberger name, and so much more," he stated a smug smirk on his face. "Just to be clear, you can never even mention the Huntzberger name without breaking the terms of the agreement and risk us suing you."
"You bastard!" she exclaimed and picked up her wine glass to throw it at him.
"I would think very carefully before you do anything," he stated as he slowly stood up. "You were the one that couldn't accept Rory when the rest of us made amends, you were the one that hired the PI to try and destroy her and Logan. Everything that happens now is on you. You have two choices right now. The first is to try and fight this divorce and I will destroy you and you will only get the $100,000 per year of marriage that the pre-nup states," he paused and watched her face pale again at that small amount. "Or two, is sign the divorce papers here and now. I will give you $5 million, the small New York apartment, your 'hidden' bank accounts, and your clothes. You will not keep any Huntzberger jewelry, your credit cards and access to Huntzberger accounts are cut off as of this moment, and you will never speak to or about the children, Rory, their families, friends… anyone connected to them again."
"You can't do this," Shira cried as she sank down on the chair. "After everything I have done for you! I gave you two children, and you are going to throw me out on the street?"
"I and giving you $5 million and a chance to not be publicly destroyed," he retorted. "You have an hour to make your choice," he continued and then nodded toward the door where two muscular men walked toward them. "And these two men will be sitting here watching you as you read through these papers," he paused to pull a folder out of his briefcase and threw it down on the table. "I also took the liberty of having a lawyer come by to talk to you and he should be here in a moment. When I come back, I want your answer."
Shira watched as her husband walked away and saw the two men move to block the entrance and they stared at her with cold expressions. Slowly she picked up the folder and cringed at the images that she saw. Staring at the images it was obvious that Mitchum had someone following her for years. There were photos of her and previous lovers, bank statements from accounts she had established and hidden funds in case she needed them, then there was the pre-nup with paragraphs highlighted and notes written on stickies attached to the pages. She was truly screwed with this document and she knew it. The more she read, the more she hated Rory Gilmore-Hayden but she knew that this battle was lost, and she needed to agree to these terms so she at least had access to some money. Between the apartment, the settlement and the $3 million she had hidden she could live comfortably but nowhere near what she was used to. The lawyer came out and sat across from her ready to answer and questions, but she ignored him and continued to read through the documents. When she finally read the last page, she was glad she hadn't thrown the wine and quickly gulped it down.
"Do you have any questions?" the lawyer asked, and Shira studied the older man for a moment.
"Do you agree with what he is doing to me?" she asked in a pleading tone, hoping to get someone on her side.
The man let out a small sigh and met her eyes before answering. "No, I don't," he stated but before she could get excited, he continued. "I don't think you deserve anything for trying to destroy a young woman that has done nothing to you. I have met Ms. Gilmore-Hayden and I think your vendetta against her is petty."
Shira looked at him in shock and finally stuttered, "she took my family away from me. She destroyed everything."
He gave a mirthless laugh and shook his head at her. "From what I have observed over the years, your children barely tolerate you and you use them as pawns for the perfect society image. Don't try and blame that young girl for something you did to yourself." Pausing he gave her a cold look and stood when Mitchum walked back outside.
"Have you decided?" he asked as he focused on his soon to be ex-wife.
"I'll sign the papers," she stated in a defeated tone and picked up a pen and quickly scrawled her name on the last page. The lawyer stood up and took the papers before walking out of the room. As the door clicked behind him Mitchum looked at the woman he had been shackled with for years and felt a bit of relief.
"I have already had the maids start packing up your clothes. Everything has been cleaned in the apartment for you to move in and your clothes and possessions will be delivered there tomorrow morning." He tossed another small envelope on the table in front of her, "this is your new account information. Half of the money has already been deposited and after everything is finalized you will get the other half and the deed for the apartment. If I were you I would also look at all of the monthly fees for that place that you will now be responsible for. Those fees are paid for the next six months but after that you are responsible for them. Do you have any questions?"
Shira studied him for a long moment and briefly closed her eyes, "did you ever care for me?"
"No," he answered coldly. "You knew from the beginning that I was looking to get laid and then you ended up pregnant. You were never the type of woman that I thought I would end up with, but I tolerated you for the sake of Honor and only slept with you because I needed a heir. You gave me Logan, but you never were a mother to them. I won't say that I was a decent father because I wasn't but I learned from my mistakes but you… you are to self-centered to give a damn about anyone other than yourself and don't even try and say you cared about me or the kids because we both know that would be a lie. The only thing you ever cared about was the money that this marriage gave you."
"I love the kids," Shira stated with a few tears falling from her eyes but Mitchum knew that they weren't real. She was always a good actress and that had only improved over the years.
"If that was true then you would have put aside your vendetta and try to put them ahead of yourself when it came to Rory," he retorted. "Pop and I did and the relationship between us and the kids has only improved. She came into Logan's life and changed everything, but it was for the best. Logan and Honor are happy for this first time that I can remember and they are fine with not having a relationship with you." He didn't give her a chance to reply and just shook his head, "these men will lead you out to the car and it will drive you to the apartment." Turning his back on her he walked towards the house but paused and turned around to face her once more. "Remember what I said about staying away from us," he stated. "You know me enough to know that I don't let people try to destroy my business or my family and whether you want to admit it or not, Lorelai Gilmore-Hayden is more a part of this family than you ever where."
Shira could only watch as he walked away with his parting words and she visibly paled. He was right, she did know him well enough to know that he could destroy her without a second thought and Logan and Honor wouldn't do anything to try and stop him. Slowly she looked at the vast expanse of the yard behind her and tried to remember a single memory from the children's childhood where she watched them play out there but couldn't think of any. Hell, if she was honest with herself, she had very few memories of the children in this house. She could remember a few 'family' vacations but those were few and far between and as Honor and Logan got older they banded together and avoided her as much as possible. It was then that it hit her that she wouldn't even be at her daughter's wedding, she wouldn't be helping with the planning, the dress fittings, nothing... she didn't even know the date, just the date she originally book the tea garden but didn't know if that was still the big day. She was going to miss out on that event and then the eventual marriage between Logan and Rory. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud clearing of one of her guards' throats and she turned to face them and the look on the men's faces told her everything, she needed to leave, and this would be the last time that she ever set foot in this house again. Trying to reign in her emotions she took a few steadying breaths and walked towards the house.
It was like a ghost town as she walked through the halls. All of the people that were normally scurrying about were hidden, almost like they were avoiding her. With a glance towards the rooms, she had painstakingly decorated she fleetingly wondered if they would keep anything the same and if not how long it would be till everything was redecorated. She had really imploded her life when she refused to swallow her pride and apologize to Rory. From the moment that Honor had told her that Logan had a girlfriend she was afraid that this would happen, that the girl couldn't be controlled by her. And when she found out that the girl was Rory Gilmore… she was elated when Elias and Mitchum thought that she wouldn't be acceptable. She remembered Emily talking about her granddaughter and she knew that this girl was someone that would change Logan and could possibly change the family… she could have never imagined this outcome. She would have never imagined losing everything that she had schemed for all of those years ago… for these almost 30 years she was at the top of society, but it was all being taken away because she refused to accept Rory Gilmore, the girl that she knew was capable of taking away her spot at the top without even trying. She was right from the start, Rory Gilmore would be her downfall.
Logan kept glancing at his phone impatiently waiting for it to ring. He had been on edge for the last few days knowing his father planned on talking to Lindsey and Shira but he didn't know when until last night. He and Mitchum had met for dinner and they had gone over the entire plan, what they were doing for Lindsey and that Mitchum was filing for a divorce. While Logan was slightly shocked that a divorce was in the future he wasn't upset about it. For Logan, Shira had never really been a mother to him and with her not accepting Rory and then the PI stunt… he was done with her. It may have been different if she had ever shown an inkling of caring about either him or Honor in a maternal fashion, but the kids were there to cement her place. Now with Honor getting married, and Logan having Rory, the siblings were finally getting a taste of a real relationship and were not willing to settle for the handouts that Shira gave them in the past. After he had gotten back from the dinner he told Rory about the plans and she was happy about how they were helping out Lindsey but was apprehensive about Shira. As much as Rory disliked the woman she didn't want to be the reason that she was pushed out of Logans life. No matter how much he had tried to convince her it was for the best and that she had brought this upon herself he knew that Rory was to kindhearted of a person to not feel responsible for what was happening. When the phone finally rang he jumped and quickly answered after seeing it was his father.
"Its done," Mitchum stated as soon as he heard his sons voice, to exhausted for pleasantries. "I told Shira, she wasn't happy, but she agreed to the terms.
"Are you okay?" Logan asked, hearing the weariness in his fathers voice. "I know you said this was a long time coming but you two had been married for over 20 years…"
Mitchum sighed and rubbed his temples trying to ward off the headache that was starting to build. "We may have been married for that long but after you turned two we gave up an semblance of having a relationship that wasn't in the public eye," he answered truthfully. "Seeing what you have with Rory, what Honor has with Josh…" he trailed off and Logan could only assume what he was thinking. "I'm glad you found something real because your mother and I never showed you what a real relationship should be like and I'm sorry for that."
Logan sighed and debated on what he should say but decided to pull a page out of Mitchum's playbook and went for the unvarnished truth. "Your right, you guys didn't show us what we should look for but you showed us what we didn't want. Honor and I… we saw what you and mom had and Honor looked for something completely different and found that with Josh. Me… I ran from everything knowing that you both expected me to have the same relationship that you two had and that was the last thing I wanted… I just got lucky and found Rory and she showed me what I could have."
"I had a girl like her once," Mitchum surprisingly stated and let out a long suffering sigh. "I had someone that I loved but I tried to change her… tried to get her to become what I thought I needed and it pushed her away. Shira was…" he paused trying to get his thoughts together and just sighed instead. "Don't let Rory go, don't try and force her to become something she isn't." Logan was shocked at his father's words; he had never heard about him ever having a relationship with someone. Mitchum sighed and continued when Logan remained silent. "I knew what love looked like so I knew I would never have it with Shira and instead of trying to make the best of the situation I focused on what I lost. And I am sorry that instead of realizing on what you and Rory had, what you could have, I tried to push you two apart and you will never know how happy I am that you guys stayed together. But back to Shira," he continued not wanting to talk anymore about 'feelings.' "I told her that she is not allowed to contact you, Honor, Rory or her family and she is also not allowed to say anything disparaging about anyone."
"Thank you, dad," Logan truthfully stated, feeling thankful for his father for the first time that he could remember. "Thank you for your help with all of this."
"Of course, son," Mitchum replied, shocked at his son's words.
"How about we try and plan a dinner soon," Logan offered, wanting for the first time realizing that Mitchum was really trying to change, and it wasn't just a show.
"That would be nice," Mitchum immediately answered. "I would really like that."
"I'll check with Rory since she is the scheduler," Logan laughed, and his words caused his father to chuckle as well. "I am sure she will get with Honor and come up with some options."
"You just let me know what works for you two and Honor and I'll make it work," Mitchum stated much to both his own shock and Logan's.
"Okay," Logan answered. "I'll let you know."
The two hung up and Logan stared at his phone for a long while as he thought about the conversation. It was really done, the Shira situation was settled, and it felt like a weight had been lifted. Then there was the relationship that was starting to build between father and son. Logan would have never imagined these events and he was still in shock with how everything was going, and he was just starting to fully come to terms that this was becoming his new reality. Throughout his life he would have never been able to imagine the changes that had happened in the last few months and it was all due to Rory. It was like thinking about her caused her to appear and he couldn't stop the smile and he immediately went to her and pulled her in for a deep kiss. When they broke he just rested his forehead on hers.
"You heard from your dad?" she asked as she studied him, feeling relaxed at his calm look.
"Yeah," he breathed out and led her to the couch and proceeded to tell her about the conversation. When he finished telling her about everything, he could see her visibly relax but there was still some uncertainty in her eyes.
"Are you sure about cutting…" she started, and he cut her off with a kiss.
"You don't even have to ask," he stated when he pulled back. "You reassure me about me not being the cause for your rift with Lorelai and you are not the cause for this. Like you said, this was bond to happen due to us not following what they wanted. I will never regret you, I will never regret us and my life is going to be better without her being in my life trying to force what she thinks what society wants."
"Okay," she sighed and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I can't fight with myself," she giggled. "I love you."
"I love you," he replied and then proceeded to show her how much.