Chapter 199

When Tina had told them at the door that they would want to see her dinner guest, Logan had suspected that guest was his grandfather. Still, there was a different between suspecting and seeing for certain that his grandfather was sitting at Tina’s table, cutting into a steak.

“Sit down, Logan,” Grandfather said. “You too, Dylan. Do not make the lady ask again.”

At once, Logan and Dylan took seats facing each other and sat down. A pair of servants brought them each a plate of food.

“You have perfect timing,” Tina said, smiling brightly. “I was just telling your grandfather all about how special our relationship is.”

“I’m sure it contains no embellishments at all,” Dylan said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

“My love for Logan might make me see things a certain way,” Tina said. “But I wouldn’t purposefully –” Her gaze sliced to Logan. “—lie.”

“She was telling me about your elaborate date over the weekend,” Grandfather said. “She said you bought out an entire amusement park.”

Logan internally groaned. He had been with Hazel this weekend, something that Tina knew. She was making this purposefully difficult for him, but then, wasn’t that exactly what he had been expecting from her?

“I can’t say I approve of such frivolous spending,” Grandfather continued. “But I can see why you would want to keep this charming young lady happy.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hatfield,” Tina said. “Logan does make me happy, too. He works such long hours but always makes up for it in the time he can set aside for me.”

Dylan narrowed his eyes at Tina.

Logan could suspect what he was thinking, that Tina was trying to lead this into Logan not actually being at work during those long hours. She was likely about to tell him in not so many words that Logan was having an affair.

“Work is important,” Grandfather said, looking mildly uncomfortable.

“But he’s so sweet,” Tina said. “I’m absolutely smitten with him. Every time he leaves for a business trip, why I just don’t know what to do. Such long periods when he doesn’t call me or check my texts! It almost makes me wonder what you are getting up to, Logan, you scoundrel.”

Logan had to get ahead of this or he was about to lose everything. With Tina spinning the narrative, everything was tilted. She was likely trying to downplay my relationship with Hazel as some unfaithfulness on Logan’s part. Grandfather would be forced to intervene.

Was this her plan? To use Grandfather to separate Logan from Hazel so that Tina could swoop in and still have him?

He would never be hers. He had thought he had made that abundantly clear, but apparently Tina still needed the reality check.

Logan was done playing along with this. To stand up for Hazel and his relationship, that meant standing up for himself to.

“It’s alright, Tina. You don’t have to cover for me anymore,” Logan said loudly, reclaiming everyone’s attention. “I’m ready to tell Grandfather the truth.”

Tina’s face went pale. “What are you talking about?”

Dylan caught Logan’s eye and nodded.

This is a bold move, even for you.

This hadn’t been what Logan had planned, but he could think on his feet well enough.

“Grandfather,” Logan started.

Grandfather lowered his cutlery. “What is this about, Logan? If you are having an affair, I couldn’t care less. Men wander sometimes. It’s life.”

“It’s not an affair,” Logan said. He inhaled a deep breath, taking a moment to appreciate the quiet before the storm he knew was going to follow. “I’m married to Hazel, and I’ve been hiding that fact under a fake relationship with Tina.”

“Why, Logan?!” Tina screeched. “I had no clue! How could you do this to me?”

“You had every clue,” Dylan said. “You signed a contract, agreeing to it. I have the paperwork here.” Dylan reached into his jacket pocket and produced a copy of the original document. He tossed it in Grandfather’s direction.

Grandfather sat very tall and still. His face was a blank void but in his eyes was a raging fury. “Who,” he began, word terse, “is Hazel?”

“She is the woman who has been my assistant for the past several months,” Logan said. “But… we were married before any of that happened. I met her in Vegas, and –”

“Let me get this straight.” Grandfather’s voice was ice cold. “You married… your assistant?” He was absolutely incredulous.

“I married her before she was my assistant,” Logan said, but, realizing that didn’t make it sound better, added, “She was my assistant by chance.”

“Don’t feed me these lines of bullshit,” Grandfather said. Abruptly, he pushed back his chair and stood. “Don’t lie to an old man.”

“I’m not lying,” Logan said. “I married Hazel and I love her.”

Dylan quickly glanced at him as he said the words.

“She may be common –”

“Common?! She’s not even the relation of someone in society?”

“No, she –”

“This is unacceptable, Logan.”

Tired of having him towering over him, Logan pushed himself to his feet too.

“Hazel is my wife, grandfather, and I am done trying to hide that from you!”

Grandfather threw his finger in Logan’s face. “You will divorce that woman immediately.”

Logan clenched his jaw. “I will not.”

“If you don’t, I’ll kick you out of the inheritance, Logan. Don’t you dare tempt me.”

This threat might have been somewhat affective in the past. If not for his grandfather’s legacy, what good was he? That was the line of thinking he would have pursued in the past.

Now, with his roots reestablished with his foster parents and his relationship with Hazel thriving, he knew he was more than the blood in his veins and the last name attached to him. Even without his grandfather’s money or legacy, he would succeed in life.

He was his own man with his own ambition. He would succeed no matter what, based on his own abilities and merits.

“So take me out of the will,” Logan said. “Do it.”

The new separation he felt from his grandfather had granted him one more boon: clarity.

“You won’t,” Logan added. “You’ve invested too much into me, molding me into the perfect heir to replace you. If you kick me out now, you have to admit you failed with me.”

Grandfather’s eye twitched. “The Hatfield’s do not fail.”

They did. Regularly. But Grandfather’s pride had always been too bloated for him to see it. That, combined with the yes men he surrounded himself with, kept him unable to see anything but his own hubris.

That hubris would be his undoing.

“I will stay as your heir only on the condition that you accept Hazel as my wife,” Logan said. “If not, I will happily walk away. She is the woman I love, my wife, and it was wrong of me to hide her away at all. Ever. To ever seek your approval.”

“A commoner will only wish to steal from us,” Grandfather said.

“She hasn’t so far. All she has done is support me while I mistreated her,” Logan said. “That ends now. Even if she wants to leave me, I will give her half. Because I love her.”

“Love is for fools,” Grandfather snapped.

“Then call me a fool,” Logan replied, matching his tone. “And write me out of the will.”