Penance - Uncovering the truth, Secrets and confessions, and Twisted pasts

Chapter 50

Grayson checked the time again. 4:07 AM. He could sleep. He should sleep. But every time he closed his eyes, Emily came back to haunt him. Her voice, her face—everything. 

Emily wasn't just a memory—she was a constant reminder of what he couldn't change. And Grayson Hawthorne wasn't used to feeling powerless. He was used to control, to strategy, to having the upper hand. But not with her. Never with her.

And dammit, he just couldn't handle that right now. He stared at the ceiling instead, his mind refusing to shut off.

The phone buzzed in his pocket again. Alison's phone. He pulled it out, the cold screen lighting up his tired face.

New message from unknown contact: Mum's dead.

Grayson blinked, staring at the message. His mind stalled, like it needed time to process what he just read.
Her mum was dead? But he had just seen her a few days ago. She'd seemed fine, like everything in their world was normal. And now... gone?

He leaned back against the bed pillows, exhaling slowly. That wasn't something you could prepare for—finding out someone you'd just seen alive was suddenly... not.

After a few moments, his brain started working again, piecing things together. Three things stood out:

1. The message had to be from one of her brothers, William or Hudson.

2. It was sent just now.

3. Alison didn't know yet—or at least, he didn't think she did.

Did he care? Honestly, he wasn't sure what he felt. Shock? Annoyance? Frustration? Maybe all of it, mashed together into something he didn't know how to deal with.

He scrolled through her recent messages, half out of curiosity, half out of... whatever the hell this was. Most were simple, nothing important. Then there were the ones that stood out:

"Fuck you."
"Bitch."

Grayson's eyebrows rose. Okay, that wasn't exactly what he expected. Who the hell sent messages like that? He tapped on the contact. No name, just a number. He couldn't tell if it was someone she knew or just some idiot trying to get a reaction.

He scrolled further down, past the insults and random texts, until he found the real conversations—the ones with Mason. Mason had been calling her. A lot. Grayson opened the call logs and saw at least a dozen calls in the last few days. Most were short, but one caught his attention.

Five minutes long.

He tapped on the voicemail.

Alison's voice came through first. "Okay, so you know how you said my last idea sucked?" she said, sounding very annoyed. "I think this one might be worse."

Mason chuckled. "Oh, great. Can't wait to hear it."

They went back and forth, mostly about book ideas and plot twists. Grayson hated how... normal Mason sounded, like he was some kind of supportive friend. But it didn't stay that way for long.

"You need to stay away from Grayson Hawthorne," Mason said. His voice was low, but the warning in it was clear.

He wasn't surprised Mason was trying to keep Alison away from him—of course he was. Mason had never liked him, never trusted him. Grayson wouldn't trust himself either.

Alison's response came sharp, ignoring the threat. "Or what? You'll hit me again? Lock me in my room again?"

Grayson's breath caught for a second. He did hit her. He already knew Mason was capable of that, and now hearing it from Alison herself... now he wanted to punch the bastard himself.