Battle Of The Flock.

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Theresa thought she'd be fine returning to the Crane estate the following morning. She had to face him at one point or another, and so she swallowed the pain and betrayal putting on her most unaffected face as she walked into the place of untainted ivory. She thought she could make seeing his face as she past him in a hallway, turning from his advances and gaining a small portion of her dignity, but in no way was she prepared for this.

"Beautiful isn't it." Ivy said, catching her personal assistant in a constant stare. She too was in awe of the enchanting wedding gown that Gwen was to wear only weeks from now. "Pilar has told me you design as well, do I sense the making of a fashion designer?" She continued into Theresa's awkward silence.

"Yes," Theresa replied dejectedly to both comments. "Fashion designer I don't know," She continued quietly, turning to the matriarch casually avoiding any comment towards Gwen's wedding dress.

"Time will tell." Ivy finished the broken statements as a smile broadened across her lips. All a mask of course, she knew all too well that there was more than what met the eye pertaining to Theresa's trance within the wedding dress. She was the other woman. A mother such as her, could catch these things from passing glances and wordless whispers. " You left in quite a rush last night , was anything wrong?" Ivy rose a brow while crossing her arms, giving off a somewhat concerned aura.

Was anything wrong? The words echoed through her head, as Theresa could almost feel the warmth of her tears resurface. " No. It was just getting late, Mamma wanted me home - it was getting late." Everything is and was wrong.

The words echoed through her head, as Theresa could almost feel the warmth of her tears resurface. " No. It was just getting late, Mamma wanted me home - it was getting late." Everything and wrong.

Her lies could have almost past as truths in Ivy's eyes had she not known what really happened. Part of her felt rather sorry for Theresa. She sympathized with the situation, she understood. Yet another part, felt a fear one bigger than the thought of loosing everything she'd loved , loosing everything she had to sacrifice for…everything that lead her to this pain. This part of her kept a watchful eye on Theresa Lopez - Fitzgerald, it knew that if the cards weren't dealt correctly that very meek girl could be the end of her.

" It's quite comical, actually…" Julian trailed taking another sip of alcohol. He and Nicholas Foxworth Crane were in the conference room in Crane Industries, awaiting the arrival of Ethan for their meeting to begin.

"Yes, Father, I do find your new choice of hairstyle quite comical." Fox quipped a smirk rising upon him. "Tell me, what was your inspiration somewhere between Donald Trump and Cruella De vil?"

"No." Julian replied curtly, offended at his son's comments. He thought his new hairstyle looked quite good, the young woman he'd frolicked with seemed to find it quite retro. But even so that wasn't the fact of the matter, " I found it funny how you, Fox, come in swarming from wherever the hell you are supposed to be when money is involved." He finished broken statements, while staring at his ungrateful offspring.

"I was in boarding school Julian," Fox said shifting in his seat as a certain thunder became of his voice. " You should have known you and Mother sent me there." Hurt nevertheless, accepting that the only Crane heir that his parent's ever fussed over, or bothered to put into public schooling was Ethan.

"That's right. And with that said the question does comes to mind as to why you aren't there - these boarding school, you religiously get kicked out of take money you know." Julian stated raising his brow, preparing himself for another atrocious tale of his son yet again got himself expelled.

Nicholas enfolded his slender hands across his lips revealing only his eyes to his father. Fox's looks challenging his counterpart before easing suavely back into the amber velour chair. "So where's my ever so cherished sibling?" The words falling out of his mouth like a sickness when referring to his older brother. "You know for being the responsible one, I find him extremely lacking."

Julian laid his glass to rest, as his eye brow arched to Nicholas' comments. " Don't you find it the least bit strange that I'm the first one here. I mean when dealing with the Crane future, I think my brother finds it all quite insignificant -"

"You would say that wouldn't you, Fox?" Both turned to the sound of the door opening, as well as the voice. "Father," Ethan said crisply before taking his seat at his brother's side.

" Son nice of you to finally drop by," Julian commented snidely the intensity of his liquor speaking. "Now let's get down to business shall we?"

Jointly Ethan and Nicholas attentively listened to their father's plan's for them in the not so distant future. Both very well knowing that at that moment their statuses will change, and the true competition between them will start. They would no longer be brothers, they were competitors.

Once back at the mansion Ivy looked at her son completely awestruck when she began to listen to her son retell the events of what occurred in Crane Industries. What perturbed her most was the arrival of her son, the other, in her honest opinion. Nicholas had always appeared to her as an exact duplicate of her husband, and she never quite got into the habit of loving Julian so it was almost innate of her to do the same with Foxworth. She knew all to well of how much of a bad mother that would have made her seem, and that's why she covered her true feelings by being the caring and yearning mother of her other children.

"He wants Nicholas and I, to work together." Ethan declared quietly in the Crane living room. "We're going to be partners in the Crane Industry fortune," He sighed showing his discontentment towards the subject. His dark coloured eyes traced his mother's bleak expressions within her silence before she continued. "Mother, I'm taking myself out."

Taking himself out? Ivy's mind roared. " What do you mean?" Ethan made efforts to get a word in, before Ivy put her hands up in vehement defence. "Please don't tell me, you're leaving the opportunity of a lifetime to that brother of yours."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Mother I'm a lawyer, not a business man , and that's how I'll intend to keep it. I don't care about the money, once I get settled I'm sure I'll have enough for Gwen and I."

"Ethan this is bigger than money. It's bigger than everything ,Sweetheart, open your eyes - what do you think will happen if you leave this company in the hands of your brother? Do you think it will flourish? Because I sure as hell don't."

"Mom -"

"No Ethan, Mother nothing." Ivy sternly conveyed, before resting a loving hand on her son's face making sure he paid full attention to what she was about to say. Her son, her beautiful son - why couldn't he understand that this was the best move for him…for them. "I want you to find out why Fox is back in Harmony,"

Her son's brow furrowed in confusion as he backed away from Ivy's embrace. He stood still looking at her sceptically "What? No, Mother I could care less what Fox did to get him expelled all the other times, why should I care now…"

"Trust me." She said softly, in all her assurance while letting her hand drop. Ivy would handle the rest, after her son's whereabouts where discovered. In the years she'd watched pass by she happened to learn allot form her husband and father in law. She learned that now the lives that Ethan and Fox had lived where lost, and now it was survival of the fittest , a fight to the death, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure her pride was the last standing.

…