Bound To Fall

A Bloodline

Sterling

I walked into my father's office and took a seat in front of him. "We need to talk."

"You have my attention." He responded as he turned his attention away from his computer.

I proceeded to tell him everything that Isabelle had gotten from Alexandra. From the man Elise had apparently slept with to the confirmation that Elise's father needs her to be involved with us. I finished off with telling him about the mentions of Elise's grandfather.

"Wilson Tunt is involved in this?" My father raised a brow as he was confirming if he had heard me correctly.

"That's what it sounds like." I answered. "I just don't know exactly why he would want her to marry me so damn bad. He's got money, he has his own power, what else could he fucking want with us?"

I was beginning to get a little frustrated about this to say the least. At least with her father we knew what he wanted. When it came to Wilson Tunt my mind kept drawing blanks.

My father was silent as he thought for a moment. His eyes then met mine. "Bloodline."

"What?" I furrowed my brows in confusion. "Why would a bloodline matter?"

He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "It shouldn't matter, not in this day in age anyway. Some wealthy families, especially the older generations, like to make sure their family members marry someone of the same wealth or higher up. It's like a guarantee that they'll be supported and have the life that they deserve."

"That's stupid." I responded.

"I agree." My father straightened back up in his chair. "Your grandfather had those same views until the events with your biological mother happened. He's changed a lot since then, but not everyone gets an eye opener like that."

"Still stupid." I stated. "There's no love in a marriage like that. How do people expect that to last?"

"The theory is that the couple will come to love each other in time." He answered. "Let's be honest, that rarely happens. They usually just stay together for convenience and they don't want the families to be embarrassed that it didn't work out."

"Like your sister?" I questioned.

"Unfortunately." He nodded. "It took finding out how much of a true monster she was for poor Robert to justify leaving her."

"Well the Tunt's can take their bloodline bullshit and fuck off." My frustration about all of this was taking the lead. "Isabelle is the one I love, Elise needs to go find some poor sap she can con into taking care of her."

"The bloodline thing is only a theory." My father reminded me. "There could be other things but it's the only thing I can think of."

"So we need to dig deeper to see if we're right then?" I sighed out of frustration.

"Come on." My father gets up from his chair.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I got up to follow behind him.

"We're going to go talk with your grandfather." He leads the way out of the office. "He knew Wilson Tunt very well when they were younger, he might be able to give us some information."

"Okay." I was willing to do anything at this point to get this issue taken care of as soon as possible. Isabelle and I have a life to live and that happens to not involve this drama with Elise.

I stopped over at Isabelle's desk to inform her that I'll be out for a few hours. "I love you." I told her before giving her a kiss on her lips.

"I love you too." She responded with a smile as I pulled away from her.

I followed my father to the elevator and we waited for it to make it's descent. The doors opened and he led the way over to his black BMW. It's the same BMW he's had since I came to live with him.

He made sure to keep this car in pristine condition. He took care of it like it was another child to him. He always took it in for maintenance on time and any work he needed to have done he had taken care of as soon as he knew something was wrong.

We got into the car and he pulled out of the parking lot. We both remained silent as he drove over to my grandpa's. The both of us took the time to think, to see if we could figure out anything else that may give us the answers we were looking for.

We arrived at my grandfather's home in about twenty minutes. My father parked the car and we both got out to make our way to the porch. My father rang the doorbell and Davis answered the door moments later.

"Is my father available?" My father spoke before Davis could greet us. "He's not expecting us but this is an urgent matter."

"He should be." Davis answered as he stepped to the side. "Come in and I'll go get him for you."

"Thank you." My father responded as we entered the house.

We went into the living room while Davis headed upstairs. We both sat down and patiently waited for my grandfather to come join us. It didn't take too long for him to appear in the doorway.

"What's this about?" He asked with a look of confusion on his face.

"You're well aware of the situation with the Tunt family, correct?" My father asked to make sure my grandfather's up to date.

"Yes." He nodded. "What about them?"

"We've found out that Wilson Tunt may have some involvement in the situation." I chimed in.

"I see." My grandfather thought for a moment. "Maybe this is a conversation more suited for my study. Better access to old information up there."

My father and I both got up and followed behind him. Apparently there's just something about my family and studies. It's where the most serious conversations seemed to happen because everything they needed to access was on the computers inside of these rooms.

We entered the study and my grandfather shut the door behind us. My father and I took a seat at his desk as he made his way over to sit down in front of us. He seemed to think for a moment, like he was trying to figure out where to start.

"I'm thinking this may be related to them wanting to make sure they have a rich bloodline." My father's the first one to speak. "That's just my thoughts though, you know Wilson Tunt better than I do. What's your opinion?"

"The bloodline thing may be correct." My grandfather looks between us. I could see his face take on a look of regret. "Unfortunately, if it is about that, it's my fault."