Theo sat down across from his newfound step-mother. It was awkward for him to think of her as that, after all, step families usually happen after your parents get a divorce, but that was not the situation here. Theo's mother was the other woman, a home-wrecker, and he was the product of that. He didn't harbor any negative feelings toward his mother about that, but that didn't mean that Mrs. Talbot didn't. "Welcome to our home," the woman said, in the same cold monotonous tone that was common among the upper class.
Theo still could not get over the differences between Mrs. Talbot and Mrs. Dunbar. They were both strikingly different, but they had one thing in common, neither of them were truly saying what they were thinking. This seemed to be a trait that was common amongst the upper class, not showing all your cards. Perhaps Theo could learn something from that. "Thank you for welcoming me in to your home, Mrs. Talbot."
"Of course," she offered a smile but her voice was full of ice, however Theo didn't think it was directed at him. By the way she was speaking, she seemed to just be a cold woman. "I want to make one thing clear. I hold no resentment towards you or your mother for her actions all those years ago. We have all grown since then, and besides, you were an unwilling participant in the twisted game we call life. I am sure you would not have chosen to be born a bastard."
Theo was taken aback, and truthfully, he had no idea how to respond to her. He needed to be respectful, but he did not want her to get away with her passive aggressive comments. "Thank you Mrs. Talbot, I appreciate the generosity," he told her through gritted teeth, "And I would like to make it clear that I do not hold any resentment for your husband's actions against my mother."
The woman turned to look at Theo, her dark soulless eyes staring right at him. "Enjoy your stay, Mr. Raeken, I trust it won't be a long one." She then turned her attention to Erica, who was a few feet away, sweeping off the patio, "Erica," she called out. When Erica turned around, Mrs. Talbot pushed her glass of wine off the table, causing it to shatter on the ground, "Clean this up," she ordered before standing up and marching inside.
Erica quickly nodded and got down on her knees, sweeping up the shards of glass. Theo looked down at her, mortified to see the feisty and powerful girl he once knew, demean herself to cleaning up a mess that was clearly made just to humiliate her. "Erica, what the hell? Why are you putting up with that?" He asked and watched as Erica continued working. "Erica, what is up with that woman?"
She clenched her fists and threw down her broom in a fit of anger, "You want to help me Theo? Then stop asking questions!" She snapped, and oddly enough, it made Theo smile. The Erica that he always knew was in there. She took a deep breathe and resumed her work, "My apologies sir."
"Erica," Theo said back to her, still astounded by her new attitude. What happened to her? More importantly, what is up with this household? "I'll leave you alone, just please, tell me what the hell is up with Mrs. Talbot."
She sighed and looked over her shoulder, then back at Theo, "She doesn't want you here, none of them do. A bastard kid in the house is an embarrassment to them, the only reason why they are acknowledging your existence is because they don't want you taking Mr. Talbot to court for that child support. The only thing worse than a bastard kid, is a bastard kid going public, with a court case, which will be in the papers, and all over town. Aside from that, she's also just a raging bitch," Erica told him, a small smile spreading on her face as she said that last part. "If I were you, I would get the hell out of here. This isn't a home, its a war zone."
"A warzone?" Theo asked in shock, but as he thought about it, that was how he might describe Liam's life too. Constant obsession about looks and appearances, one step out of line, and there's trouble. "Erica, what is Mr. Talbot like? How does he treat his family?"
Erica was going to answer but heard a call for her coming from inside the house. She quickly stood up, "I'm sorry Theo, but I have to go," she said quickly before turning to leave, but before leaving, she turned to say one more thing to Theo, "Don't trust the parents, but get to know Brett and Lori, they're just as much victims as you are." She then ran inside to attend to her employer.
Theo went back to his room, with a pit in his stomach. He shouldn't have come. He should have listened to his mother, and he should have stayed far far away from the whole Talbot family. He sensed a darkness here, with Mrs. Talbot's icy tone, and Erica's strange demeanor, something was very wrong with this family, and now, Theo was in the middle of it. His head was spinning, and he did not know what to do. In the back if his mind, he knew he was overreacting. He had only spoken to one member of the family, and the maid. Not necessarily the best sample group for passing judgement on an entire family, but he couldn't take it, he needed to talk to someone, about anything. Before he knew it, he was dialing his phone.
"Hello?" Liam answered his phone, and Theo sighed in relief, just to hear his voice. "Theo, whats up? Are you at the Talbot's place yet?"
Theo smiled, even though Liam couldn't see it because they were just on the phone. "Yes, I am, but I want to know about Hayden, has anything happened since we talked with Nolan? A phone call, a text, anything?"
"Nope, nothing, i actually think she's ghosting me, we probably threw the poor girl into a mental breakdown," Liam said, it was clearly with some guilt, but also he laughed a bit as well. After everything Hayden has put him through, Liam deserved to make a joke, just one. "But you know what was weird? Nolan said he started falling for Hayden. Do you think thats true?"
Theo furrowed his brows, confused on why Liam asked this question, but, nonetheless, Theo gave it some thought. "I really couldn't say. I mean, it is possible that Nolan was lying in order to look a little bit less of an asshole, but his feelings seemed sincere. However, thats not the important question. Whats important is, did Hayden fall for him as well? If their relationship was more then sexual, then maybe, just maybe, we could have accidentally manipulated her more than we thought."
"We went nuclear without even knowing it, manipulating her through love, we just might get lucky," Liam replied, his tone full of hope and it made Theo smile, and feel some hope as well. "In other words, my mom told me she's going to be staying here for a while, she said she is done traveling and wants to spend time with me. Which means, we have to be a bit more inconspicuous. You like that? I learned that word studying for the ACT," Liam said and laughed. Liam's laugh was always infectious, and it made Theo laugh to. He liked this side of Liam a lot, the dorky, more relaxed side. Sure they'd have to me more secretive, but Theo liked Liam with a mom.
"How witty of you," Theo replied with another small laugh. "Speaking of moms, I got to sit down with my step-mother today."
"Ah, I was curious on when you would stop asking me about my life to deflect from your own," Liam teased and continued, "What was she like?"
"I don't think I have met a scarier woman. She was staring daggers into me the whole time, and called me a bastard. I also think she might have threatened me," Theo explained, still shaken up by his interaction. "The nicest thing I can say about her was that she was cold. I have never met anyone like that."
"Welcome to where the other half lives Theo," Liam laughed, "Everyone is cold, to some extent. Emotions lead to talk, talk leads to questions, and questions are never good for the family reputation. Family reputation is everything, and whats worse for their family's reputation than you? No offense. Just telling you how she's looking at it. Not to mention her husband it notoriously awful, so she is probably beat down from that."
"But your mom was nothing like that," Theo protested, refusing to believe that it was this society that turned people into heartless drones. "Sure there was a bit of a cultural difference, but your mom was nice and generous."
"She would love that you think so highly of her Theo, but the bottom line is, you are not a threat to my mother. If your suspicions are true and she really does hate Hayden, then you're an ally to her. But with Mrs. Talbot, you are a threat to their status, and her children's inheritance, your presence in her life makes her think she's losing something," Liam explained, and Theo was beginning to understand Liam's point about this world being different.
"But I just want a family, I really don't want their money," Theo complained and sat down on his bed.
"To people like her, everyone is after her money. The price of having money is being terrified to lose it," Liam replied, his tone getting softer, probably because he sensed Theo's frustration. "Just look at my mother, we just spoke about this. She can't even help me, her only son, because she is scared to lose her money. Thats the unfortunate thing about this life, about this world, is that often times, women are at the mercy of their husbands. Everyone knows how controlling Mr. Talbot really is, there is no love in their marriage. However, she does love one thing, her children, and she sees you as a threat to them."
"I should have listened to you. There was to much about this I don't understand. Can't you and I just run away?" Theo asked with a small laugh. He began pondering what Liam had said, about powerful men controlling their wives. Theo already knew the patriarchal system of the world by watching what his mother had experienced, and if he hadn't, Cora would have made damn well sure that he did before they ever started dating. However, Theo realized now that he had failed to apply that knowledge to the situation. After all, there was one more thing that Mrs. Dunbar and Mrs. Talbot had in common. Both of them, rich and comfortable, were both sitting outside, doing absolutely nothing. They both have enough money to do whatever they want, but instead they were simply sitting, and waiting for their children. Both women, were completely alone. Perhaps that is why Hayden was doing what she was doing, to give her baby a good life, away from the control of powerful men, because she knew that Liam was different, and her baby would have a good life with him as its father. Before Theo's thoughts could spiral further he looked up and saw the Talbot siblings standing in the doorway, "I have to go," he said and hung up.
"I guess you're our brother now," Brett said, eyeing Theo down as he did. He walked up to Theo and stared him straight in the eyes, "Welcome to hell."
Long time no see! Sorry for my absence, school and all that made it hard. My computer also deleted my notes on the story so I'm running off memory, meaning my original plan for the story is lost. That is why this chapter is so boring, nonetheless, I hope to keep writing this story with the same flow and narratives that i had originally planned. I will say this (kinda spoiler), the situation with Hayden will be semi resolved soon, but the story is far from over. I love it to much just to end it after Hayden is wrapped up, but the resolution to the Hayden problem is something I planned in the very beginning, and am excited to do! Also, to address something in this chapter. Sorry if it sounded "political" with the mention of the patriarchy, i am not trying to sound preachy, after all, if you don't see the patriarchy, this poorly written fanfic will not change your mind. I also do not wish to simply write off Mrs. Dunbar and Mrs. Talbot off as victims of their society, I will spend time fleshing them both out, and their stories will be different. However, after thinking much about it, i decided to include the theme of sexism in this story because this story takes place in our world, and it needs to have themes from our world. I have witnessed and know women similar to Mrs. Dunbar and Mrs. Talbot in my own life, so it would be unjust to write a story about real life without including real life elements. But, like I said, I will flesh them out more, and show you that Theo's observation that they are both polar opposites will be true and untrue all at the same time.
