Disclaimer: The same applies.
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Cheers
Chapter 21: The Truth Comes Out At Last
"To Robert and Rory! Here's to our granddaughter and her fiancé, and may they have a lifetime of happiness together! Cheers!"
Suppressing the wry smile wavering on his lips, Jess forced himself to raise his glass of champagne and join in the toast to the couple. A lifetime of happiness, huh? What a crock.
A considerable amount of time had gone by since he, Tristan and Dean had dropped their bombshell on the Gilmore family, and they were now in the home of Rory's grandparents Emily and Richard Gilmore, where a dinner party was taking place in honour of the fact the wedding was now only a week away. But seeing the smiles all around him, no one would have ever suspected that anything had changed. The Gilmore family were especially jovial that night, participating with extra zest in the night's celebrations despite the new unpleasant knowledge they'd been privy to a few days ago. Tristan was right about one thing: appearances really were everything in this social circle.
"Having fun?"
A voice to his left shattered Jess's ruminations, and snapping out of his thoughts, he put on his most charming smile. "I certainly am, Mrs Gilmore."
"Good, good," Emily Gilmore patted him vaguely on the arm before sailing off to greet the other guests. "Try the lobster puffs; they're absolutely to die for!"
Glancing about him, Jess sauntered over to the buffet table, where row upon row of finger foods were arranged neatly on shiny silver platters. Spying Tristan ahead of him, he playfully socked his friend in the arm. "Hey, you tried the lobster puffs yet? Word on the street is, they're absolutely–"
"–To die for? Yeah, they really are," Tristan spun around. Taking another bite of the lobster puff in his hand, Tristan smiled. "I have to admit, Emily Gilmore has excellent taste." He looked around. "Where's Dean?"
"Oh, he's around," Jess gestured behind him absently. "He shouldn't be too hard to miss." Turning around, he scanned the room, and sure enough, he caught a glimpse of Dean towering over the other guests, looking just as uncomfortable in his suit as Jess himself felt. Raising an arm to wave Dean over, Jess downed the contents of his half-empty glass and then looked around. "Hey, where's the guy with the drinks?"
"You mean, the waiter?" Tristan smirked, undeterred by the withering look Jess shot him.
"Up yours, DuGrey."
"Right back at you, Mariano." Shifting his gaze to Dean, he smiled with amusement. "So what have you been up to – mingling?"
Dean shook his head, snatching some food off Tristan's plate. "Not quite. I'm actually trying to find a way to get the hell out of here." Stopping to take a bite of the finger food he was holding, he chewed energetically for a moment before raising his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Hmm, these lobster puffs are good."
"Yeah, we've been told," Jess paused long enough to snag another glass of champagne from a passing waiter, nodding his thanks as he did so. "This blows. How much longer are we supposed to hang around?"
"I don't know," Tristan handed his plate to a nearby member of the waiting staff. "In about another hour, I guess." He was about to say something else, but then something caught his eye, and the expression on his face hardened.
Turning to look in the same direction, Dean nodded knowingly when he realized what Tristan was looking at. "Yeah, I've been staying the hell away from that side of the room all evening."
"Let's go and talk to him," Jess unexpectedly suggested, drawing surprised glances from the other two.
"Why?" Dean frowned, looking highly displeased with Jess's proposition. "What do you possibly have to say to that jackass?"
"Actually, Mariano might be onto something," Tristan broke in, a contemplative look crossing his face. "We might be able to find out if he knows the Gilmores know what he's up to."
"And we could let him know we know what he's up to," Jess further explained, setting down his now-empty glass on to the buffet table behind him. "Get the picture?"
"Yeah," Dean nodded, doing an about-turn and striding off in Robert's direction, Tristan and Jess hot on his heels. The trio wound their way through the crowd of well-dressed guests, each intent on only one thought, one objective: to confront Robert, who was deep in conversation with a bored-looking elderly gentleman off in a far corner of the room.
Tristan was the first to reach Robert, and plastering a mild, friendly grin on his face, he managed to steal Rory's fiancé from the elderly gent, who looked exceedingly grateful for having been deprived of the groom-to-be. Keeping up a flow of trivial chatter, Tristan managed to distract Robert long enough to steer him to the relatively empty Gilmore foyer, where Dean and Jess were already waiting.
"What's this?" Robert glanced questioningly from Tristan to Jess and Dean. "What's going on?" The expression of smug complacency on his face was replaced by one of genuine unease, which he tried to cover up by genially shaking hands with the other two. "So you three have decided to give me a pre-wedding pep talk, eh? I appreciate the thought."
"That wasn't why we called you here, Robert," Jess said, smiling sardonically. "We know what you're doing."
Robert's face reddened. "What on earth are you talking about? I haven't the faintest idea of what you're trying to imply–"
Dean glared at the groom-to-be. "Cut the crap, Robert."
"We know about the business merger," Tristan coolly interjected, narrowing his eyes at Rory's fiancé. "We know your family paid a fortune to cover up your past indiscretions. We know the real reason you're marrying Rory."
"So you know about my past, do you? Well done. Outstanding detective work, I must say." Robert presented them with another one of his haughty sneers. "But I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation, fellows. Do you have any idea how much money I stand to gain from the merger?"
Tristan held Robert's arrogant gaze with his own. "Billions of dollars."
Robert nodded condescendingly. "Bingo, pretty boy. I guess your attending Harvard wasn't a complete waste of time after all, huh?"
Tristan shot his rival one of his trademark smirks. "Yeah well, at least my folks didn't have to bribe the school to get me in."
Anger burned in Robert's eyes as he frowned at Tristan. "One day you'll regret you ever said that, DuGrey."
"And I promise I'll be waiting for that day with bated breath, Matheson," Tristan smiled mockingly, causing his opponent to bristle even further. The two men continued to stand facing each other, scowling as they did so. It became clear they would start throwing punches if someone didn't intervene soon.
"Okay ladies, let's break up the little love fest, shall we?" Jess smoothly cut in, taking the edge off the animosity that still hung in the air. Stepping in between the two adversaries, Jess glanced at Robert casually, almost languidly. "I'd watch my step if I were you, Robert."
Stepping away from Jess, Robert brushed himself off agitatedly, sneering disdainfully once again. "I think you have more to be worried about, Trailer Trash. You're just pissed off because I got the girl and you clowns didn't. That's what burns you up, isn't it?"
Dean leapt forward just in time to restrain Jess. "Forget him, Mariano. He's just a worthless jackass, remember?"
"That may be so, Bean Pole," Robert cocked a haughtily amused eyebrow at Dean. "But I'll be one very rich jackass by the time I marry your precious Rory, and there is nothing you can do. Deal with it."
"Watch it, Matheson," Tristan stepped forward, his voice steely. "You're going too far."
Despite the look of triumphant bravado on Robert's countenance, he shrank back when he saw Tristan's blazing eyes. Attempting to dispel his fear, Robert squared his shoulders and smiled cockily. "Suck it up, guys. I'll marry Rory in a week, inherit half of her fortune, and everyone lives happily ever after. Or at least, I will." He laughed gleefully as the other three valiantly struggled not to succumb to their fury, but then a noise in the doorway distracted all of them. Glancing up, they froze when they saw who was standing there.
Rory Gilmore stood in front of them, her cheeks burning, her eyes fiery. If anything else, the anger Dean could see in her eyes only seemed to increase as her gaze travelled over the tableau. But when she spoke, her voice was deadly calm. "What's going on?"
"Sweetie!" Robert sprang forward, eager to clear his name, and to ensure his fiancée hadn't overheard anything that had been said earlier. "Thank goodness you're here. Your friends–" and here he cast a sneer in the direction of Tristan, Dean and Jess, "–have been accusing me of all sorts of unmentionable things!"
It was possible Robert simply didn't know his fiancée as well as he liked to think, or maybe he was just plain stupid, but to the other three men, the expression on her face said only one thing: danger ahead. "Really? Like what?" Her tone was cool, but her face said otherwise.
Meanwhile, Robert was too busy warming up to notice. "They were trying to blackmail me, to stop me from marrying you. They accused me of wanting to marry you only for your money! That is simply preposterous!"
"Is that so?" Rory smiled blandly. "It's funny you should say that, because I could have sworn I heard you say a few minutes ago that you are marrying me for my money." She stared at her fiancé, and for a split second, it seemed to Dean, Tristan and Jess that they were looking at a younger version of Emily Gilmore, from the scowl right down to the unwavering gaze.
Tristan coughed discreetly, momentarily catching Rory's attention. "I think the guys and I should leave you two alone. Unless you want us to stick around…?"
"No, that's alright," Rory nodded firmly, but then her stern expression melted away fleetingly, to be replaced by one of warmth and gratitude. "And thank you." She watched as the three men walked away before she turned back to her fiancé, who was clearly starting on his descent into full-blown panic. Crossing her arms, she lifted her chin and smiled a hard little smile.
"Well then Robert, I think it's about time you and I had a little talk."
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To Be Continued…