When the Contract Ends

3- Grandfather's Plan

A knock on my penthouse door wake me from my alcohol induced slumber.

"Paisley..." I trip over a pizza box trying to get to the door.

I check myself in the mirror before opening the door. The white shirt I'm wearing has pizza and beer stains down the front of it and I have a weeks worth of stubble on my face.

Knocking sounds through the penthouse again and I open the door, disappointment floods through my chest when I see it's not Paisley.

"I'm gone for one week, one week!" My grandfather yells. "And you go from being happily married to having signed divorce papers."

"We've been fighting..." I mutter a pathetic excuse I've been rehearsing.

"We've been fighting," He mocks me. "Bull!"

"What?"

He pushes me out of the doorway and being my hungover self, I stumble. "How stupid do you think I am?" He asks, closing the door. "Do you think just because I'm old, I'm an idiot?"

I understand why he's angry, he loved Paisley as though she was his own granddaughter.
"Grandfather, I know you're upset about the divorce, but-"

"I know you paid her to marry you for a year."

My head snaps to face him. "Wha- How- I didn't-" I can't force the words out. The way his eyes are drilling into me has me as scared as a ten year old caught sneaking candy.

"Choose your next words wisely Sebastian, I will not allow you to lie to me again."

He knows the truth, there's no point in upsetting him further. "How did you know?" I sigh.

He smirks. "It was all part of my plan."

"Your plan?" I question. "What are you talking about?" Part of me is worried he's finally off his rocker.

"By making you marry I woman of my approval I knew you would go to Paisley. It was what I wanted from the beginning."

I don't know what to think, my mind can't comprehend a sentence. All I'm able to do is stutter out a what.

Grandfather rolls his eyes. "I knew you would go to Paisley, which is why a made you get married. I knew the two of you would eventually figure out your feelings, you just needed a push."

My mind cannot wrap around how thought out his plan must have been.

"Did you really think I was going to give the company to Jimmy?" He laughs, "That boy doesn't know the difference between a hammer and a saw, why would I give him my construction company?" The smile on his face suddenly turns to a scowl. "And then you ruined it by making her leave."

"You think I made her leave?" Now I'm pissed. He tricked me.

"All I know is that at your grandmother's birthday party last month she was looking at you with nothing but love in her eyes." I scoff and shake my head. "And now she's gone."

"You're wrong. I didn't make her leave, I even asked her to stay."

"You asked her to stay?" His left eyebrow quirks up.

"Yes," My voice cracks. "I asked her to stay but she didn't want to."

"So now you're giving up?"

"It's not like I can force her to be with me." When I think about all I've done in my past, it's not hard to see why she left. The Sebastian I was before we married was arrogant and sarcastic. He only cared about money and women.

"No, you can't force her, but you can fight for her."