Conrad Grayson rolled over not even close to falling asleep- desperately trying to find a comfortable sleeping position on the hard mattress of his prison cell. He pulled the thin blanket up to his ears to shield his already freezing body from the cold air. Two weeks had passed since the day of the trial that had changed his life for good. He felt like he was slowly going mad although his stay behind bars had so far only been quite short. Quietly he had to laugh to himself when he remembered how his lawyer had done his best to conceal the hopelessness of the situation and pretend like there was still the possibility for Conrad to get out. But he knew that is fate had long been sealed. Ever since he had witnessed Victoria's tearful testimony in court, he had known that it was over for him – that she had worked against him and had found more powerful allies to carry out her plan. She couldn't have done all of that on her own, of that he was sure – it just bothered him that he didn't know to whom his wife had turned to for help. He knew that it couldn't have been just that Nolan kid and Roger Halsted. There had to be far more powerful forces behind his quick conviction. The more Conrad thought about it, the quicker he came to the conclusion that it had been Americon Initiative. That somehow they had reached out to Victoria and for some reason had decided to make him the fall guy after all. Although she had betrayed him, Conrad still worried about what Victoria had gotten herself and their son into if his theory really was true. Again, he had to laugh out of desperation still not being able to find restful sleep. He could have never imagined that his life would come to this point, that he would end up rotting away in some prison cell sold out by his own wife. Or should he better say ex-wife? It had taken Victoria only a week to file for divorce and have him sign the papers. He had told her lawyer that he would only do that under one condition: He would get to see his son regularly. He had no idea what Daniel thought about him now, but Conrad wanted nothing more than to stay connected to him – the only chance the Grayson name could still live on and some day may be cleared of the shame brought over the family. The next day, Victoria's lawyer had informed him that she had agreed to his terms and would allow Daniel to visit his father in prison. Therefore, he looked forward to finally seeing Daniel tomorrow. The only person that had visited him so far was his mother – his mother who had seemed weirdly calm and calculated since her very first visit. Her husband and son both would very likely be locked up for the rest of their lives and still she found encouraging words for them assuring them that everything would turn out just fine. If she found out that Conrad was about to sign the divorce papers giving Victoria everything they had negotiated in the prenup, she would probably freak out. The only thing Eleanor really seemed to be emotional about was the fact that Victoria would get away with everything, that she could live a new life with her only grandson while Conrad's life was taken away from him. Strangely however, Conrad's anger against Victoria had quickly faded as the realization had sunk in that protesting against the verdict was a hopeless encounter and instead his wish for Daniel to become a better man to continue the Grayson legacy had grown stronger. What hadn't changed was his hatred against David Clarke. Every time he thought of his dumb face, his lips pressing against Victoria's and the fact that they would get to be a family raising their children together, Conrad was on the verge of going mad. He had already begun plotting revenge plans in his head on how he could keep that man from becoming Daniel's stepfather. Lost in thought and painfully aware of his loss of power Conrad kept on tossing and turning in his prison bed, awaiting the morning that at least meant a little bit of hope for him.
Daniel Grayson shyly looked up to his mother who was clutching his little hand so tightly that he feared she would break it. Her face that usually carried a warm smile for him had been as hard as stone ever since they had left their new home in Manhattan that morning. Amanda's friend Jack had been staying at their apartment for the last few days and Amanda had also gotten her dog Sammy back. It had made Daniel wonder why he had never been allowed to have a dog when now his mother seemed to be okay with that. He hadn't dared to ask her for reasons however because she had been in a foul mood for some time mentioning that they would visit his father – in prison. It was a reality the 6-year-old Daniel still had to cope with. His mother had taken her time to explain everything to him: the bad things his father and grandfather had done and why they would have to stay in prison. At first, Daniel hadn't been able to believe the truth, but he had learned to accept it. His mother had also explained to him that although his father would always be his father, from now on David and Amanda would live with them and that they would be a family. She had told him that she loved David – he had never heard her say that about anyone other than himself. In the moment he looked up to her, her face was still frozen as they were walking down the seemingly endless grey corridor.
"Mom?" Daniel whispered trying to get her attention, but she didn't react. "Mom, you…" He said a little louder and tried to free his hand from her tight grip.
At his movement, Victoria looked at her son and stopped on her way as she noticed his frightened face. Only then did she realize that she must have been so lost in thought that she had clutched Daniel's hand too tightly causing him pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Danny." She released his hand from her grip and he immediately stretched his little fingers that had begun to turn white at their knuckles. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so sorry." She lovingly took her son's hand and gave it a kiss. Her mind had been occupied by worries about her daughter who could be released from the hospital within the next two weeks if she kept on doing so well. Still, the doctors had made it quite clear that Charlotte would suffer from chronic asthma for the rest of her life and that they couldn't predict how her motoric abilities would be affected. David had been by her side for every visit, for every diagnosis, for every step forward their daughter had made and she was extremely grateful for that. He had rubbed her back when she had been stressed, he had taken care of Amanda and Daniel when she had needed some time alone and at the same time he had also prepared his testimony against Conrad in court. But when he had come up with the great idea to let his friend's son Jack Porter to stay with them for a couple of days and get back their dog Sammy in order to make his daughter happy, Victoria had noticed how she had begun to reach her limit. All she wanted was to pack all of their stuff and go somewhere far away where it was quiet and they could concentrate on getting their life in order. Her reality however meant that she had another child and a dog running around in their already crowded apartment. She had kept on smiling simply accepting the situation because she did not want to fight with David – not after all they had been through.
"It's okay, Mom." Daniel assured his mother whose thoughts were obviously somewhere else.
The guard that accompanied them through the long grey corridors signaled Victoria that they had to keep walking, so she gently took Daniel's hand again and whispered: "Come on, Danny, let's do this." All she wanted was to get it over with that visit and see Conrad's signature on the divorce papers. As she waited outside of the room in which Daniel was meeting his father she was nervously tapping her feet on the dirty floor of the prison. She was wearing a new dark red wrap dress she had bought on a shopping spree out of frustration over the fact that either her old wardrobe didn't fit her anymore or reminded her of her marriage to Conrad. Although she was rushing back and forth between their apartment and the hospital every single day she still put on her favorite black Dior stilettos because succumbing to wearing flats felt like giving in to her weaknesses. For a short moment, she closed her eyes leaning her head back against the cold, hard wall. She instantly felt the exhaustion she was constantly trying to suppress coming to the surface and threatening to make her body collapse. Just as she noticed she was drifting off to sleep – or into a coma, she wasn't quite sure of that – she was woken up by her son's heart-wrenching cries. Struggling to open her heavy eyelids and searching for orientation, she saw Daniel rushing towards her burying his head in her lap while he was crying. Nodding to her lawyer Natalie quickly, Victoria affirmed her that she could now meet Conrad to get him to fulfill his side of the deal.
"I don't wanna leave Daddy." Daniel cried obviously overwhelmed by the whole situation.
"I know." Victoria sighed having a hard time to console her son yet again. She simply felt emotionally worn out not having the strength to permanently support other people while she herself needed to deal with her own problems. Instead of trying everything to make her son feel better, she only pulled him on her lap laying her head on top of his and caressing his back. At the same time, she prayed that her lawyer could quickly get Conrad's signature which meant one problem less for her.
"It's done." Natalie silently formed with her lips when she came out of the room and saw Victoria in the difficult situation with her son. She quickly opened the page of the document that carried Conrad's signature finalizing their divorce and leaving her with 50 percent of his wealth. She hadn't believed he would agree to her terms so easily and wondered what made Conrad give in so quickly. But what was important now was that it was official: She was no longer Mrs Conrad Grayson. As at least some of the weight lifted from her shoulders, Victoria exhaled heavily.
"Congratulations, Victoria." Natalie smiled at her when she saw the relief on her client's face.
"Thank you." Victoria kissed Daniel's head and lifted him from her lap to stand up.
"There's just one thing he wanted to change." The divorce attorney announced and immediately noticed the shock in Victoria's eyes. "I'm sorry, don't worry – it's nothing bad." She calmed her down. "He wants you to have the house; the manor. He gave it to you."
"What?" Victoria asked dumbfounded because she had been expecting the worst. "But I… I don't want it." It hurt Victoria deeply to say those words because she loved Grayson Manor. It was not just a house to her. It was her palace and her shelter. But too many memories were connected to it reminding her of her past with Conrad so she simply couldn't keep it.
"He sent you a note." Natalie handed a piece of paper to Victoria who read it right away.
Victoria,
I will not forgive you for what you have done to me - betraying everything that we created together. I will not fight the decision because it would make me look even more foolish than I already do. But I don't want any of this to affect our son. He should enjoy the best upbringing possible. He should never have to experience any kind of lack. He is a much better person than you and I and I want him to live up to his full potential. Grayson Manor is my gift for you to secure that. Your heart is in that house and I want Daniel to feel that. And one day he will live there with his wife and children having created a family we were unable keep together.
Goodbye
Quickly pushing any emotional thoughts away, Victoria tore the note apart and tossed it on the floor.
"I need you to find me the best estate agent to sell the manor." Victoria told Natalie determinedly. Her decision was final. She would never live in Grayson Manor again – and neither would her son. It was part of their past they finally needed to start getting rid of.
"What would you like to eat?" The brunette asked her son deciding to spoil him in order to distract him from the messy family situation.
"Can we get burgers and shakes?" Daniel's eyes lit up immediately since his mother rarely let him decide where they would go to eat out.
"Of course." With one last glance at her attorney who already searched her brain for a fitting estate agent, Victoria started to leave the prison as quickly as possible.
"Are you still going to eat that?" Nolan reached over to the last slice of Amanda's vegetarian pizza that had been lying there for over 10 minutes.
"Yes! Don't steal my food!" The 9-year-old slapped Nolan's hand and quickly raised the slice to her mouth. "I just needed a little break." She stuffed the food in her mouth causing David to laugh at the interaction between his daughter and his best friend.
"What about you, Jack?" Nolan asked again throwing Amanda a judging look.
"I'm still working on it!" The boy answered and did the same as his friend devouring the last slice of his pizza before an always hungry Nolan could eat it from his plate.
"You can have the rest of mine. I don't want you to starve." David offered the young man his plate and couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculous situation. It felt like just like a regular Friday evening with family and friends enjoying a casual dinner together. David did his best to push all of the troubles in their life to the far back of his head in order to enjoy this moment of simple happiness.
"Dad!" Amanda screamed. "Don't give in to this pizza monster." Jack and she had to giggle while Nolan looked at them with glaring eyes.
"The pizza monster will always win!" Nolan growled and gladly accepted the rest of the salami pizza David had offered him.
In that moment, the door to the apartment opened and Sammy who could forget about the smell of pizza for a moment happily rushed over to see who was entering. Of course it was Victoria and Daniel who had just gotten back from their exhausting day. Excitedly, the dog barked at them and jumped up and down almost causing Daniel to fall over. The boy however laughed and patted the dog while his mother couldn't erase the sour look from her face.
"Hey, you two." David smiled brightly getting up to take the bags from Victoria's hands. He knew how much she had dreaded that day and now that it was finally over he wanted to spoil her.
"Hey." Victoria tried to offer David a smile after he had kissed her and taken care of the shopping bags she had acquired while strolling through the city with Daniel. Her head was pounding when Sammy continued to bark because Daniel had decided to play with the dog. Apparently, that circumstance didn't bother David at all as he kissed her again.
"I'm so glad you're back, Vee. Now we can finally enjoy the weekend." Victoria couldn't return the excited look on David's face pushing his hands away when he wanted to help her get out of her coat.
"David, I'm sorry. I can't do this right now." She explained - the chaos in their apartment mirroring the growing chaos in her head.
"Did something happen today?" David asked irritated by her distant behavior.
"No, everything went perfectly fine. I just need some space." She didn't intend to appear so rude when she simply turned around and practically slammed the door of their apartment into David's face. She hurried to the elevator praying that David would not run after her because she was in no mood to explain what she was feeling and instead only wanted to be on her own. Luckily, she finally stood in the elevator alone. She brought her cold hands up to her face and started massaging her temples. Slowly she breathed out only then fully realizing how crazy that day had been. She wasn't married to Conrad Grayson anymore. She was finally free. Another gasp escaped her mouth. When she had married Conrad, she had really believed that they would stay together forever. But her life rarely took the path she expected it to take. With a ping the elevator doors opened on the ground floor and Victoria rushed past the confused looking doorman.
Outside, the cold winter air instantly made her freeze to her bones; the deafening sirens of a passing fire truck rang in her ears. The usually annoying noise of the city was a welcome distraction for Victoria numbing her never ending worried thoughts. Without further thinking she started walking towards midtown Manhattan from their apartment on the Upper East Side they had been lucky enough to rent with the help from one of the many supporters that had offered their support after their story had went public. Victoria knew that she should be happy. Everything had worked out perfectly fine so far. But for some reason she wasn't able to let the happiness fill her body. She had no idea what exactly it was; maybe the new situation with their extended family, maybe the lack of her personal time or the built up exhaustion from the last couple of months. All she knew was that she needed to get away, to do something else. When she saw a taxi passing her she didn't hesitate and put up her arm to signal the driver to pull over. Fortunately, she had caught a free one and seconds later she found herself sitting in the warm back seat. On her way further downtown Victoria watched the people on the streets: groups of young women looking careless and ready to spend a night out on the town. Involuntarily, she had to wonder if she had ever been like them – or if she had missed out; missed out on simply having fun without having to worry about a thing in her life.
Nervously, David got out of the taxi regretting that he had forgotten his hat at home as it started to snow. He had left the apartment in a hurry not sure what he was actually doing. He hadn't directly followed Victoria and could only guess where she would go. Already feeling stupid for his naïve assumption that it would be easy to find her, he looked up to the fire escape at the street corner she had so often talked about. Raising his head he immediately felt the snow falling into his eyes and he needed to look twice to trust his vision. But there she really was. Sitting on the stairs of the last floor, he saw Victoria clutching her coat tightly to her body and looking out onto the city. David hesitated not wanting to disturb her, but he also didn't know a different way to attract her attention.
"Vee." He shouted not getting a reaction from her. "Vee." He tried it again and she started turning her head confused. "I'm down here." He said waving at her being aware of how ridiculous he had to look.
"David?" She asked dumbfounded narrowing her eyes to see him through the snowfall and he waved at her again an innocent smile on his face. "Wait, I'm coming down."
"Be careful!" David shouted worried that she might slip on the snowy metal stairs but he also saw no way to get up there for she must have taken the entrance through the restaurant. Not even three minutes later, Victoria appeared in the entrance to the Italian restaurant looking at David with wondering eyes that demanded an explanation. In her typical fashion she had her arms crossed in front of her chest leaning her head to the side.
"I'm not safe from you anywhere, am I?" She asked making it difficult for David to answer.
"Vee, I'm sorry. I don't know what you expect from me – to run after you or leave you alone." David explained stepping closer to her.
"It's a good question I can't provide you an answer to." A light smile started spreading on her face and she noticed that she was glad that David had decided to look after her. Standing right in front of him she raised her hand caressing his cheek. The moment she touched him she felt the familiar tingling feeling rise in her body again and she realized that it must have been the messy atmosphere in their apartment that had made her feel weirdly estranged from David. Closing her eyes she stood on the tip of her toes to kiss his lips. Relieved that she was not mad at him, David deepened the kiss and closed his arms around her back pressing her close to him. After a while Victoria had to laugh parting from David's lips. By then, the snow had already started covering their clothes.
"What is it?" David smiled at her keeping her in his arms.
"Everything is always so cheesy with you." She told him. "Standing here with you under this street lamp while the snow is falling down on us – and how the hell did you even know where I was?"
"I remember things, Vee." David answered. "You told me so many times where your favorite place to come to and think is located. The fact that you are actually here was just a lucky coincidence."
"Alright, Mr Perfect, I have to admit I'm glad you listened to me and decided to come here." Victoria was relieved that her previous bad mood had obviously only been fueled by an emotional over-reaction and the happiness she so desperately had tried to feel finally started to arrive. "So you left the kids with Nolan?"
"I did." David replied seeing the doubt in her eyes. "I think he can handle them. Or at least Amanda will tell him what to." They both had to laugh at the thought of the 9-year-old taking over the role of the babysitter.
"I'm sure of that." Victoria agreed taking David's face between her hands.
"Do you want to tell me about today?" David asked when he noticed that Victoria obviously wanted to get something off her chest. Almost immediately she nodded.
Nervously Victoria wiped a streak of her wet hair from her face. "Conrad signed the papers. We're now officially not having an affair anymore." She didn't have to wait long for the smile to spread across David's face.
"That's great!" David was beaming with joy. He had been worried that Victoria's foul mood stemmed from the fact that Conrad hadn't agreed to her conditions for the divorce.
"He also wants me to have the manor." Victoria then blurted out not sure how David would react to that revelation. She was afraid that he would think she would never let go of the Grayson family's influence. "But I don't want it. I already told Natalie to find me a real estate agent."
"You love that house." Was all he could say when he saw the torn look on her face.
"But I love you more. And our family. I want a fresh start for all of us."
"I want that too." David leant forward to kiss Victoria's cold lips.
"And I don't want a dog." She couldn't keep that to herself anymore so she decided to simply say it.
Taken aback by the sudden change of topic in the conversation, David uttered: "What?"
"I don't want Sammy to live with us. I love you and I love Amanda, but we have two children and soon we'll also have to take care of Charlotte at home and I don't want the chaos a dog brings into our home to add to the picture - especially because we don't even know where we'll end up living in the long run. I'm sorry."
"No, I get it. You don't have to apologize." He swallowed because he already thought about how he would break it to Amanda that she had to give Sammy away again when she had just been so happily reunited with him. "If you don't feel comfortable with Sammy at home, we'll find a solution."
"The last thing I want is to see Amanda unhappy, but I really think we need to concentrate on us and consider what is best for Charlotte."
"I know - you're probably right." David exhaled noticing how the snowfall was getting heavier and Victoria's lips started to tremble. "But let's go inside now. Tonight, we'll celebrate and discuss the rest later. Are you hungry?"
"I haven't eaten anything today." David's understanding reaction immediately made her calm down and let her feel the emptiness of her stomach. "How about pizza?" She grinned pointing at her favorite trattoria.
"Nolan ate half of mine anyway, so why not." Relieved that the previous tension had vanished and they could enjoy an evening as a couple, David slid his arm around her waist kissing her hair.
"I think we have to go away for some time and leave all of this behind." Victoria then stated matter-of-factly just before David reached for the doorknob to go inside. She received a puzzled look from him and continued to explain her motives. "I feel like we're trapped in our past when we stay here. I love New York, it's my home, but right now I cannot deal with the memories that remind me of how I met Conrad, of how we lived here, of the person I was when I was with him. It's keeping me from fully committing to you, Amanda, and Charlotte no matter how hard I try to push the pictures from my mind. Sometimes I look back at what we had when we stayed with Charlotte and I think an experience similar to that would help us all to bond and start all over. You know, it would be just us five and we would have all the time in the world to get to know each other again and take a break from life. What do you think?" Afraid that David wouldn't agree with her, she looked him right in the eyes awaiting his answer.
"You're always good for a surprise." David said grinning. "You've already convinced me. It's a great idea. Last year has been stressful enough for us, we deserve an extended break."
Letting out a deep breath Victoria explained: "Thank you, I'm so relieved you understand." In that moment a group of people came up to the restaurant's door making the couple realize that they were blocking the entrance.
When David apologized to the others wanting to follow them inside, Victoria held him back once more.
"Wait, David. Now that we're on it…" She hesitated for a second lowering her head to think about how to propose her suggestion before she finally decided to just put it straight. "Can we also not get married? I mean not right away." Noticing that she sounded confused, Victoria swallowed and began again. "What I wanted to say is that I'd like to postpone the wedding."
"Vee, what's going on?" He had been able to understand all of her previous suggestions but in that moment he could only stare at her uncomprehendingly. "This is what we fought for. We went through all of this crap, I'm finally free, you're getting a divorce, and all of a sudden you don't want me anymore? You don't want our family anymore?"
"David, listen to me." Expecting his rage, Victoria stepped closer to him putting her hands on his chest to calm him down. "I do want you and I do want our family, but I just don't want to be married right away. We can be together without going through that official ritual, don't you think?"
The pleading look in her dark brown eyes made it hard for David to be mad at her. "Yeah, we could. But I love you and I really want to get married to you. I want to be your husband, Vee – not the guy you used to have an affair with."
At his words, she only chuckled. "I love you, too, and I do want to become Mrs Clarke- I mean, I said yes to that ring for a reason. But a wedding means stress, it means creating a guest list, picking out a dress, figuring out whether you look better in a simple or a bow tie, finding the perfect location, picking the best caterer, tasting a hundred different cake samples, almost suffering from a heart attack before the ceremony, having someone to take care of the…"
"It doesn't have to be that complicated. It could just be us and the kids."
"No, that's not an option for me. I thought you knew me. If I get married, I want to do it right. It has to be big and I want to celebrate the whole night. And in order to do that we have to settle down and create a stable family situation so the kids can also enjoy it. Especially Charlotte – she's so small, I want her to be part of the ceremony. Oh, and I want her to wear a cute dress – I doubt they have those in her size." Like she had assumed, her comment made a smile appear on David's face. "Now, what do you say? We get married next year in summer and show everyone the great family we've become?"
"You're crazy, is all I can say." It was hard for him not to laugh when Victoria was leaning forward and pouted her lips like a child. "It's a deal – but no later than next August. That's almost one and a half years from now and should give you enough time to prepare that extravaganza that you call our wedding."
"Perfect." She pecked his lips. "Trust me, it's the best decision, you won't regret waiting. And in the meantime we will get our life on track."
"I trust you completely, Vee." David assured her calming down again. He had been really surprised by her suggestion, but knew that she was right. He just had the strong urge inside of him to be with Victoria and he wanted to make that official. "But let's finally get you something to eat. I don't want you to starve before we become husband and wife." The smile she sent him and the glow radiating from her eyes was enough for David to accept that he wanted nothing more than to simply be with her – whether they shared a last name or not was entirely unimportant.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter - my plan is to publish only one more chapter to finally wrap up the story. I cannot promise you that I'll be able to write it anytime soon, but I'll do my best. Again, thank you so much for reading and your comments! :)
I also have some ideas for a spin-off to this story that would show how Victoria's and David's life together continues.