CHAPTER 99

(EAMON)

'Are you sure you are ok with this, because it will be brutal?'

Elliot's question circles my mind once more as I watch the preparation for the interview with him and his sister Lucy. I am leaning against the wall of the breakroom at Grey Publishing where the last interview was also held. Both Christian and Ana had offered Elliot space at Grey House to do this and he had opted for this particular room, he had said he felt comfortable in here and I have to admit it is a lovely room.

He had called me as soon as Kate's article hit the web. I had seen it and so I was expecting his call. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I cannot comment on that Jennifer, woman as I don't know her. It also seems I have no idea who my daughter is anymore. My first thoughts when I read her article are that she is bloody stupid. She has clearly been blinded by revenge towards Elliot for the way he treated her, which in my opinion was justified.

I cannot in good conscience argue with anything that he has done up to this point or anything he does today. The way she treated him was appalling and her words regarding Ava totally disgusting. I was shocked, appalled and ashamed of her that day when I was made aware of the truth behind their sham of a marriage. I also cannot believe she allowed me to go to Christian Grey's house and walk into that situation. I will never forget that day as long as I live the way she burst into my office sobbing and telling me Elliot had thrown her out and changed the locks insisting she had done nothing wrong to deserve it.

I had immediately believed her and I had been ready to wring his neck for hurting my baby, but then as the truth came out and it was clear that Elliot was the true victim in that whole scenario, not to mention Ana Grey who had been stuck in the middle, knowing what Kate really thought of her husband. Since then, she has totally gone off the rails. My wife read her the riot act and told her to grow up, sign the damn divorce papers and get on with her life. She had also told her that she had never been so ashamed in her life and that until Kate started to behave as she had been raised, she wanted nothing to do with her. That had shocked Kate to the core, she didn't expect her own mother to turn against her. I must admit I was shocked as well, but then realised it had to be done. We had to be cruel to be kind to try and make her see what she had done was wrong. Also, we knew that it had to be done so that we could still have a relationship with Ava. There was no way Elliot would allow Kate near her after her disgusting opinions were made known and both myself and my wife understood and accepted that. That little girl had done nothing wrong, whereas Kate had done everything wrong.

I had tried to guide her, and to help her but she made life so difficult using Kavanagh Media for her vendetta against the Grey family and so I had to let her go. There is no way I want to be sued by them, and my daughter was bringing the reputation of my company down with her actions. I have always prided myself on being a responsible journalist and that is how I have run my company. I insist on fact checking and due diligence before anything is published. As a result, my company is respected and a trusted news medium. Kate was dragging us down to the level of the bottom feeder internet sites with her increasingly erratic behaviour.

Since then her behaviour has made me totally re-evaluate my relationship with her. I am totally ashamed of her and what she has become and with a heavy heart I too have disowned her, I told her clearly that when she learns to behave in a responsible and dignified manner and stops her senseless vendetta against the Grey family she will be welcomed back, but as of now that is getting increasingly unlikely.

My son, Ethan is appalled by her behaviour and he is also concerned that she is having some kind of breakdown. As a trained psychologist he believes that there is something more going on. Whatever is happening her latest actions beggar belief. Blindly publishing that woman's story without any fact checking is asking for trouble and her own comments regarding the family also contained within the article are completely unprofessional and bordering on moronic. I find myself actually hoping she gets sued for what she has written, hoping that it makes her realise just how stupid she is being. I taught her better than the way she is currently acting, both professionally and personally.

I watch Hazel as she directs the proceedings and I smile. Ana and Eva had specifically asked for her for their own interview. I know that there was probably a degree of vengeance in that request but after the way Ana has been treated by Kate I can't say I blame her. Hazel's career has gone into the stratosphere since her incendiary interview with Gideon Cross and I am currently trying to hang on to her, as there have been numerous attempts at head hunting her since that interview aired. Thankfully though she shares my moral integrity and values, so at present I know she is happy with me here at Kavanagh Media.

"Eamon"

I turn at my name being called and see Elliot approach me with his arm around a young girl who I recognise as his sister Lucy. I smile at her and greet her warmly before shaking Elliot's hand.

"Hello Mr Kavanagh" she says politely and I wave my hand.

"Please, call me Eamon" I say and she just smiles politely.

"Is everything ready?" Elliot asks and I nod.

"I believe so, Hazel has been organising everything. You should know I've been approached by a number of networks who want to air this. The fact this is the first response to that crap that came out is significant and I must say the way you have all handled this is outstanding… And… and… I just want to say… I want to reiterate just how sorry I am about Kate's behaviour; her mother and I are mortified by her actions… we did not raise her to behave in this manner".

Elliot smiles kindly and touches my shoulder, "I don't blame you Eamon – none of us do. The fact you are helping me here says everything I need to know. There is just one thing… what goes down today will destroy Kate's career as she won't be taken seriously as a journalist anymore after this. I need to make sure one final time, that you are on board with that?".

I take a deep breath and nod my head firmly, "I am, I wish there was another way but this has to be done. Are you going to sue her for her comments regarding her insinuations about Ava?" I ask.

Elliot nods his head, "I am, we are also suing the site she works for, for allowing her to do this as we have the evidence which proves everything Jen is saying is a lie and as Kate's employers, they have allowed her to print the lies of a woman without doing any fact checking or looking into the claims beforehand, plus we have the threatening conversation with Luce which was bang out of order so we are suing her for that as well. My lawyers will be serving the internet news site and Kate as soon as this airs".

"Are you using all the footage of her bad behaviour?" I ask and once again Elliot nods.

"I have the video which was recorded at Christian's place, and I have been given a copy of the security footage at Grey House where she bawled out Meg along with a copy of the footage when she went to see Ana there as well – when she went to ask her to help her get me back and how she reacted when it became apparent that wasn't going to happen. She is not going to come out of this well Eamon… are you on board with that?" he asks me again looking carefully at me.

I sigh, I know this needs to be done and I am hoping seeing herself behaving in such a way will be the wake up call she needs to turn things around. "I am" I say simply.

I turn my attention to Lucy who is standing silently at Elliot's side. I marvel at how composed and stoic she is.

"Are you alright Lucy?" I ask and she gives me a little smile.

"I am, El is dealing with Kate whereas my goal is to show the world exactly what a complete liar my sister is. She has voiced her warped views long enough. It's time she was taken down and I am realistically the only person who can do that. In the process I am also going to show what a complete monster both she and my father were to my mom and what we had to live with for years".

I have no idea what to say to that. I have viewed all the footage which is going to be used and after watching some of the abuse video footage that Jennifer shot of her father abusing her mother I was physically sick.

"Your mom is ok with all this being made public?" I ask. I am still nervous about this as I am unable to get a signed waver from her for use of the footage due to the terms of her divorce settlement.

Lucy nods, "It is my footage and my decision to air it and I have written and signed a waver to clarify that to cover you". She hands me a piece of paper which I quickly scan and I give her a smile and nod of relief. "As you know, my mom can't sign anything or have anything to do with this as it may violate the terms of her divorce" she adds and I take a deep breath and nod my head.

"Alright, I accept that, and this is sufficient" I say simply holding up the paper once more.

My attention is taken by Hazel striding confidently towards us with her hand outstretched.

"Elliot, good to see you again" she says brightly and after greeting him she then turns to Lucy, "and you must be Lucy, I'm so pleased to meet you" she adds.

"Hello" Lucy replies quietly.

"So, where do you want us?" Elliot asks as he glances around.

I step away as Elliot and Lucy make their way over to the area which Hazel has organised to film the interview. There is a screen along with a laptop to screen the security footage and the laptop is wired up to the studio sound so anything said will be clearly heard.

"Do you have the audio footage with you of the phone calls your sister made to you?" Hazel says and Lucy nods.

"I do and I also have the footage my sister filmed of my mom being abused by our dad" she adds.

"Ok, and are you sure you want to air that?" Hazel asks and Lucy nods her head adamantly.

"I do, it's long overdue. It is mine and as such I have decided it needs to be seen" she says.

Hazel smiles, "Well, just make sure you say that then before we show it" she says.

I sit down just off camera and watch the proceedings. As I do so I see movement near the door and Elliot looks across, his face breaking into a huge grin as he recognises the people standing there. He nudges Lucy and nods his head towards the door and she also smiles and gives a little wave to whoever is there. I lean to look and see Ana Grey, Megumi Grey and Eva Cross. They slip into the room and come and stand with me. I immediately rise to my feet to greet them and quickly organise some chairs for them.

"Thank you" Ana whispers as the chairs are brought over.

"I didn't realise you were in Seattle? Is Gideon with you?" I whisper to Eva and she grins at me.

"You seriously think I'd miss this?!" she says gesturing around the room, "Gideon is with me, but he is talking with Christian at the moment but I'm sure they will both be here shortly. I couldn't miss this, plus I had to be here to offer moral support to El and Lucy".

I nod, and then I see Christian Grey and Gideon Cross calmly stroll in. All eyes immediately turn towards them as they make their way towards us. I shake their hands in greeting but then swallow what I was going to say to them as there is a call for silence.

We all settle down as Hazel starts to speak to the camera.

"Hello and welcome to this very special interview. Once again, I am with Elliot Grey to get his reaction to the highly controversial interview which was published on the internet which was written by his ex-wife Katherine and in which some startling claims were made by Jennifer Greaves-McDonald. Ms Greaves-McDonald is his half-sister through his biological mother, Sadie Greaves. Also joining us to give her perspective on this matter is Lucy Greaves, Sadie's youngest daughter and sister to Jennifer".

Hazel turns towards Elliot and Lucy and smiles warmly.

"Thank you both for joining me today. First of all thank you both for trusting me with airing your response to the claims made by Jennifer Greaves-McDonald. How did you feel when you saw what she had said, and who she had chosen to speak to?"

Elliot looks at Lucy and leans forward, "I was shocked. I don't know her well so am unable to comment on why she feels she needs to tell such blatant lies, I'm sure my sister will be able to offer more of an insight into that. I have only spoken to her a handful of times and met her in person once, so why she feels she needs to do this is beyond me. However, with regard to the person she is speaking to, I am under no illusions why Kate is doing this. Sadly, after our marriage broke down when I discovered her true feelings about me and our daughter, she seems to have been filled with a need to seek some kind of vengeance on myself and my family for what she sees as her unfair treatment. However, I have documentary evidence to prove that whatever she believes about why our marriage failed is incorrect and I am prepared to make that public today to resolve this once and for all as I don't want her to drag any more innocent people into her games. She has caused enough trouble since we divorced and quite frankly I want it to stop. I am also genuinely concerned for her state of mind as she is not behaving rationally at the moment and I am hoping that seeing herself and the way she is behaving will make her realise she needs professional help".

My eyebrows rise in surprise at Elliot's final comment as what he just said about Kate's mental state mirrors what Ethan has also suggested.

"I see, so what in particular is concerning you?" Hazel asks.

"Well, everything really. She has confronted my sister Ana, in an attempt to try and persuade me to take her back. She accosted my wife – Megumi at her place of work and balled her out and the final icing on the cake, as it were. She telephoned Lucy" he pauses and gestures towards Lucy, "and bearing in mind she doesn't know her, she was verbally abusive and threatening".

"Can you verify these claims?" Hazel asks and Elliot nods. He pulls out a flash drive from his pocket and as he does so Lucy pulls one out of hers and looks at it before pushing back.

"On there is footage of what Kate said to Ana and Eva which essentially ended our marriage. It was recorded on my brother's home security system. There is also security footage from Grey House when Kate showed up there and kicked off with Meg and also with Ana" he explains.

Hazel plugs in the flash drive and tapping the keyboard the footage starts. There is complete silence as the footage plays and I close my eyes as I hear Kate's repugnant views about Elliot and Ava. Not to mention her uncalled for remarks about Ana.

"So that was what ended our marriage, then when Meg came into my life and she became aware that Meg was going to legally adopt my daughter this was her response".

The second recording plays of Kate screaming at Meg in the lobby of Grey House and ranting at her. I close my eyes again. It strikes me though that she is more upset about the fact she has been refused access to Grey House rather than the fact Meg is adopting her daughter. I hadn't actually seen this but I had heard about it and once again I am ashamed of my daughter and the way she is behaving.

"Finally, this was also captured by Grey House security when she showed up to speak to Ana when she asked Ana to help her get me back" Elliot explains.

The footage plays and seeing Kate have a tantrum because she is unable to get her own way is sickening. I put my head in my hands, this is torturous hearing her behave like this. Ana reaches for me and pats my knee and I look as she gives me a sympathetic smile.

Eva puts her hand on my arm and squeezes, also offering her silent support and I feel a third hand on my shoulder and I realise it is Megumi. I am beyond touched by their reaction and I realise quickly they didn't only come to support Elliot and Lucy, they have come to offer their support to me as they knew this would be hard.

"That is really quite shocking" Hazel says when the footage ends. Elliot just shrugs.

"If you think that's bad you should hear what she said to Lucy" he says.

Lucy pulls her phone from her pocket and looks at it before handing it to Hazel.

"I recorded the conversation with Kate" she says and once again I hear Kate's voice.

I cringe as she tells Lucy that she is the enemy and that she had tried to be nice. If that is Kate being nice I dread to think how low she could stoop.

"So, that is pretty conclusive, do you believe that this is all down to jealousy on your ex-wife's part?" Hazel asks.

Elliot nods, "Yes, I do. Add in Jennifer's motives and it's all just toxic" he says sadly.

"That leads me on nicely to your sister Jennifer. Why do you think she has decided to come out and make these claims?"

At this Lucy leans forward. "I will answer this one because as Elliot said, he barely knows her. Whereas I have had the misfortune of knowing her all my life".

"My mother's life was complete hell. My father was an abusive monster, he was controlling and he treated her like a slave. He gave her a job at his medical practice, so that he knew where she was at all times. She didn't get paid for that employment. On paper she was paid but the money went into a bank account she had no access to. He beat her, he raped her, and he emotionally verbally eviscerated her. As soon as I was old enough to realise what was going on I started gathering evidence against him to use. I saved my allowance for years so that should the day come when my mother was finally brave enough to leave him, we would have something to live off of. While I tried my hardest to help my mom escape, my sister was my father's female equivalent. She used her position as a police officer to hold over my dad, and she also gathered evidence, not to help my mom but to use as a leash on my dad. She was as controlling and vicious as him and she was the only person he was afraid of because he knew she had so much on him she could destroy his reputation. That is how we lived, in fear and in pain. He never hit me and neither did my sister. They disregarded me as any threat and as such I was able to quietly gather all the evidence I needed to bring them down should my mom ever be able to escape. When El got in touch looking for his biological family, I realised that this was the opportunity of a lifetime and that this could be my mom's chance to get out. I knew my dad would never allow her to meet El as he forbid her to talk about him or even mention him. This meant I had to get Jen to persuade him. I left the letter El sent for Jen to find and she fell right into my trap. She insisted on meeting him and obviously my dad agreed. When we met El, and everyone in Detroit I knew that this was our chance and I went for it. I revealed what our life was like and I begged El to help us". She pauses and smiles at Elliot and reaching for his hand squeezes it. "And he did, along with everyone else. You have no idea how grateful myself and my mom are for how everyone literally rallied and helped us escape".

"In the interview your sister states that her claims of abuse were false?" Hazel says.

Lucy takes a deep breath and reaching into her pocket pulls out the flash drive once more. "This proves otherwise" she says simply.

"This is mine, this is evidence I gathered and there is also evidence on here which Jen recorded herself of my dad abusing my mom and which she gave to Eva when she was trying to wriggle out of culpability. Eva gave me a copy of it before she handed it over to the lawyers helping my mom. So, this is mine and I want it shown, I want the world to see my sister and father for the lying monsters they are".

"Are you certain you want to show this?" Hazel asks.

"Yes, I am" Lucy replies. "Also, on my phone you will find a number of abusive threatening phone calls my sister has made to me since we moved to Seattle".

Hazel turns toward the camera, "I have to inform viewers that what you are about to see is very disturbing and upsetting".

The flash drive starts and Lucy provides a calm almost detached commentary to what we are seeing.

"That is what mom looked like every time dad abused her. I made sure to record it every time I cleaned her up and helped dress the wounds as well as taking photographs so that there would be no reasonable doubt to the authenticity of the damage that was caused".

"Here you see my sister recording my dad abusing my mom. He was unaware she was there as he was so… in the moment. My mom spots her and look… look how she is pleading with her". You clearly hear her say please Jen, help me and then you also hear Jen's response a cold and simple no.

"That right there is my sister and my father in a nutshell. Two sick and abusive monsters" Lucy says.

"I'm not sure what to say to that" Hazel says, and she is clearly affected by this.

"You said your sister has been making threatening phone calls to you since you moved to Seattle?" she says now composing herself once more.

Lucy nods and points to her phone which is still attached to the laptop. Hazel moves towards it and a moment later the vitriolic rants of Jen fill the room.

When it has finally finished Lucy looks up defiantly. "And that is Jen. She started doing that as soon as we moved here. She first tried with mom, she'd call her and rant like that to her and tell her everything that had happened was her fault. I quickly put a stop to it by blocking her on mom's phone. So, then she started calling me instead. So, I just recorded everything she said when she called as I knew one day I would probably need them as evidence… and that day is now".

"Is your mother aware of your actions today?" Hazel asks and Lucy takes a deep breath.

"We have taken legal advice on this, because after we escaped and my mom filed for divorce my father was encouraged to repay my mother all the earnings she had been denied over the years. Mr Cross managed to get my dad's signed agreement to that, but when it came to the divorce, my mom was going to press charges for all the abuse as well. My dad told her he would give her a generous settlement and she would never see him again but in return she could never speak of the abuse and that she must drop all the charges of abuse filed against him. My mom was very fragile at that point and she agreed. The thought of never having to deal with him again was a very attractive one to her. As I say though, the terms were very clear, she was not allowed to speak of the abuse. It didn't say anything anywhere about me speaking out and using my footage and my copies of the recordings Jen made. I was prepared to stay quiet at let it go as that was my mother's wishes until my sister did what she did. I think she made the claims she did, knowing my mom couldn't defend herself against them. What she failed to realise is, I could and would defend my mother and speak out and tell the truth and use my footage as evidence against the lies and false claims she has made. I will always defend my mother as I have done all my life and will continue to do so".

Elliot reaches over and wraps his arm around Lucy and pulls her towards him. "Only now she doesn't need to continue to do it alone. She has me, and the entire Grey and Cross families and their combined resources – which are immense, supporting her now".

The veiled threat in Elliot's words is obvious. It is also a warning to anyone who thinks they can cause harm or trouble. The message is clear - You hurt one of us, you get all of us coming down on you like a ton of bricks.

Hazel, thanks Elliot and Lucy for their contributions and she hands the flash drive and Lucy's phone back. Then she does another piece to camera bringing this disturbing, compelling and explosive interview to a close. A moment later someone shouts and we all relax.

"Well, there we go, when will this air?" Megumi asks me.

"My team will edit it and hopefully subject to agreement with Elliot and Lucy after viewing it, it should air tonight".

"What about elsewhere?" Eva asks.

"I've got an agreement that it will air nationwide tonight. All the networks asking for it were eager to agree to those terms. Everyone is desperate to hear a response to the allegations that were made to that article and boy is this a response".

Elliot strolls over his arm still fixed around Lucy and they both greet everyone affectionately.

"Well, what do you all think?" Elliot asks looking from his wife to his brothers and sisters.

"You both fucking nailed it" Eva says with a swipe of her hand.

They did but I just can't help but wonder what will happen now.