Something Old, Something New

Chapter 11: Cutting the Ties

Kate drove directly to the Luthor mansion after leaving Lionel's office with her copy of the sales contract in hand. She rang the bell and waited impatiently for Mrs. Jacobs to answer.

She bounded up the stairs and into Lex's office, completely forgetting to knock with the excitement of having completed her role in their plan.

Lex looked up from his computer screen and smiled broadly. "Good day?" he asked hopefully.

Kate brandished the papers at him, practically skipping into the room and laying the contract down on his desk with a flourish. She sat on the edge of his desk, watching his eyes skim across the pages as he read the contract over.

"Fifty million?" he asked, slight disappointment creeping into his tone. "Is that all?"

Kate laughed, "Fifty million dollars is no small sum, Lex!"

He looked at her suspiciously. "He knows that LexCorp alone is worth far more. How did you talk his price down?"

"I didn't," Kate shrugged innocently. "I named my price and he accepted."

Lex rolled his leather chair along the carpet so that he sat in front of her place on the desk. He fixed her with a sceptical gaze, demanding more information without a word.

"Okay, okay," she grinned and gave in. "I gave him the sob story about you breaking my heart, and told him that fifty million was the most I could afford."

Lex looked distinctly proud, placing his hands gently on her hips and smiling. "You lied outright to my father?"

Kate tried to ignore the heat from his hands and nodded happily at his question. "He told me that he knew all about my financial position from talking to my mother. I saw my chance to lower the price and I took it. My mother doesn't know anything about our financial position – all she knows is that my father suggested a ten percent monthly allowance for her in his will."

"You don't give her ten percent?" Lex looked suspicious.

"Not even close," Kate grinned. "The more I give her, the more she'll find to spend it on; and there's no way that she needs that kind of money. I did some quick calculating, and if she told Lionel how much she's given per month – never doubting that it's really ten percent – we arrive at fifty million dollars making a fair dent in the family funds."

Lex looked impressed.

Kate shrugged, "Your father went for it, anyway."

Lex shook his head slightly, "It's never about the money for him."

"I know," Kate said seriously. Lex raised his eyebrows in questioning and she reluctantly continued, "I told him I wanted revenge – to hurt you for breaking my heart. I think he was happy to sustain the financial loss as long as he…"

"Got to watch me suffer," Lex concluded with a sigh. "Always the compassionate father."

"I'm sorry," Kate said softly. She placed her hands on either side of his face and leaned down from her place on the desk to kiss him softly.

"But it doesn't matter now," she continued, "because we're done with him. You have your companies back, and we never have to see or hear from him again if you don't want to. You're free from him. You're your own man now."

Lex smiled and pulled her gently from the desk and into his lap. He kissed her deeply, allowing the relief and happiness to wash over him.

"My own man," he said with a feeling of wonder, testing how the words felt in his mouth.

Kate grinned happily. "And the first thing to do is get out of this house," she said firmly.

Lex looked surprised and somewhat annoyed, "I hadn't considered the fact that I would have to leave."

"Well he's not going to leave," she said. "It's his house, and you need to get away from it. Make a whole new start. You're way too old to be still living with your dad anyway. You can come and stay with me in the hotel until we figure something out."

Lex paused before nodding his agreement. "I could buy a farmhouse," he said lightly, considering his options for the first time.

Kate smiled at him kindly, "You can do whatever you want."

He looked thoughtfully at his desktop computer. "I'll need some time to get everything I need off of here."

Kate nodded. She kissed him quickly and rose from his lap, allowing him to stand. "How soon do you want to aim to leave?"

Lex looked at the wall clock. Nearly noon. "I think we can make it by tonight," he said. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

"No," Kate shook her head. "I'm completely at your disposal."

Lex smirked and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"We'll never get out of here if you keep getting distracted like this," Kate laughed.

Lex released her reluctantly and Kate could see his face moving into business mode. He pushed a call button on his desk, "Mrs. Jacobs, I need as many suitcases as you can find, brought up to my room immediately."

Kate smiled. She nodded towards the computer, "You clear out your files, and I'll clear out your room."

Lex nodded and planted a quick kiss on her temple. He was really going to cut the ties and leave it all behind.

---------------------------------------

"Ready?" Kate asked softly as the pair stood by the front door. She took his hand gently, lacing her fingers through his as he took a last long look around the house he had grown up in. All in all, it wasn't a place that he was going to miss, and that realisation saddened him a little.

He nodded sharply, letting his decisive nature take over.

"Okay," Kate stood on her toes and kissed his cheek gently. He turned to pull her close, and wrapped his arms easily around her smaller frame.

He kissed her mouth gently, wanting to tell her how much her actions had meant to him. How much he appreciated her going into battle with him against his father, and helping him to break free from the demands of his name and his upbringing.

Kate smiled gently, knowing all of the things that he wanted to tell her, but didn't know how. "You're welcome."

She pulled away from his embrace and opened the front door wide, stepping out into the night.

"Come on, Lex," she reached back to take his hand again and led him out of the house. "Let's go home."