Chapter 75

Octavia frowned, but she stepped aside, and Marjorie marched past her.

She was dressed in a shin-length coral dress with a matching plaid-printed jacket on her shoulders and a string of pearls to complete the look.

The color looked vibrant against her dark skin, and as always, her hair was styled to perfection in a neat bun.

Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked right into the living room. She observed the empty doughnut box and other bags or boxes that had been full of food strewn around the place.

“Sorry about the mess,” Octavia said, “I’ve been working on a huge project. And the housekeeper doesn’t come till tomorrow.”

“Ah,” Marjorie remarked in a tone that was anything but friendly. “So he gave you a housekeeper too, did he?”

Octavia didn’t know how to respond to this, so she said nothing.

Once Marjorie had decided she’d seen enough of the place, she turned to face Octavia.

“I’ll not beat around the bush with you, Octavia. No doubt you are wondering why I am here,” she said.

Octavia nodded, though at that exact moment, she was wondering how the woman managed to keep her outfit completely wrinkle-free.

“I’m sure you are wondering why I’ve decided to show up now,” Marjorie continued, “to come see you now…when you’ve been with my son as long as you have.”

“I wasn’t expecting a visit or anything,” Octavia said.

“I wasn’t expecting to have to do this either,” Marjorie said, “but circumstances have changed. I am here to ask a favor of you, Octavia.”

“What favor?”

“This thing you are having with my son?” Marjorie began.

“Yes…?”

“End it.”

Octavia blinked, unsure of what she’d just heard.

“Excuse me?”

“I want you to break up with my son, Octavia. I want you to end your relationship.”

Looking at the woman’s stone-cold face, Octavia was instantly reminded of Raemon.

“May I ask…why?” Octavia said.

“Do you have to ask?” Marjorie said in a tone of steel. “You are not fit for him. You must end it.”

“And by ‘fit,’ I take it you mean…”

“The right kind, yes. I know you are smart, and I’m sure you’re a wonderful girl. But you can’t be with him any longer. Things have just gotten too dangerous. Raemon should have been done with you by now.”

“Is there some kind of deadline?”

“Yes, actually,” Marjorie said placidly.

“I’ve known my son longer than you have, Octavia. He picks up women, has his way with them, and then cuts them off. You should have been cut off from him too, but you are still here.

“And then he goes and shows you off to the world as if you are his girlfriend.” Marjorie’s eyes slightly narrowed.

“But then the madness just doesn’t end. He buys you this place. He flies you to Europe. He cuts a business meeting short to run about like a madman searching for yellow paint!”

Marjorie suddenly stopped. When she finally spoke again, she simply concluded, “It is too much.”

“How do you know all this?”

“A mother knows what goes on in her son’s life.” Her dark brows lowered. “Don’t think I’m just some helpless woman with no connections of my own to this country, or to my son’s company.”

“Look,” Octavia began, “I never asked him to do any of this. He pretty much forced it on me.”

“I know,” Marjorie said. “Raemon always gets what he wants. Only this time, it can’t be you. You are not right for him.”

Octavia would have been happy to inform Marjorie that she had no intention of her relationship with Raemon being a permanent thing. But at those words, she felt the need to defend herself.

“Please,” she said, crossing her arms, “elaborate.”

Marjorie sighed impatiently. “You have no money to your name and no connections. Your mother is some mad scientist who does god knows what, your father is unknown—probably never in the picture.

“You may be smart and educated…but it’s not the right kind of education.” Marjorie began to pace, all the while keeping her eyes on Octavia.

“You don’t know how to dress well, you don’t know how to talk to the important people. You don’t have what it takes to stand by his side. Lastly, you are Black.”

For one dazed second, Octavia wasn’t sure she’d heard what she heard.

“But…you’re Black,” she said.

“I know.” Marjorie’s eyes hardened.

“So trust me when I say that women with our skin color are not received well by the people Raemon associates with. I want Raemon to have someone who will be an advantage to him—not a hindrance.”

“Okay…,” Octavia said slowly, “I’ll try not to be seriously offended by any of that.”

Marjorie stopped pacing. “I’m not trying to offend you. These are facts. The position Raemon holds means that anyone associated with him must live up to these standards.

“He would be better off with someone already on his level. Like that Scott woman. She’s perfect—the right family, the right background. She’s established, famous, wealthy.

“An alliance with her would have been extremely advantageous. Had you not interfered, he would be courting Miss Scott right now.”

It felt like some sick joke. Octavia was torn between an anger she couldn’t explain and the impulse to burst out laughing.

“I interfered?” Octavia said. “How the hell did your sources explain that?”

“It’s not what you did. You just were a distraction to Raemon. No doubt he grew tired of the high-class women he has been with and wanted to be rebellious—to try something different.

“So he went with you. Now you seem to have tricked him into thinking he’s in love. If nothing is done, he will fall so deeply into this illusion, he’ll think you should be his wife.”

Marjorie’s tone became adamant. “That cannot happen.”

“So you decided to come all the way here to ask me to break up with him?” Octavia asked, irritated.

“Why not just tell him to end it himself? He’s your son. How does it make sense for you to ask it of me, a perfect stranger?”

“My son is very smart,” Marjorie said, “but he’s only a man. He’s not thinking with his head right now. If I told him to end it with you, he’d only want you more.”

“And you think if I said it’s over, the billionaire egomaniac would just accept that?”

“I expect you to be creative. To make him believe he wouldn’t want you. Let him think you cheated or something like that.”

Octavia looked at her in disbelief. “You’d ask me to do that to your own son?”

“It’s for the best,” Marjorie said with a shrug.

“That’s disgusting.”

Marjorie’s eyes narrowed. “No…what’s disgusting is being surrounded by people who despise you. People who think you’re lower than dirt; people who spend every waking minute trying to make you miserable.

“What’s disgusting is working yourself to the bone to live up to their standards and knowing that you’ll never be good enough. Because it doesn’t matter who you are—only what you are.”

Her eyes became fierce. “I don’t care what it takes. If I can spare my son from that miserable life, I will!”

“Oh, please,” Octavia sneered. “You’re not trapped, Mrs. Kentworth. You can leave whenever you choose.”

Marjorie was silent, but then she gave a short, mirthless laugh. “You don’t know what it means to love someone.”

“Maybe not. But I know it shouldn’t turn you into a slave.”

Marjorie flinched. She quickly regained her composure and settled her steely eyes on Octavia.

“Five million dollars,” she said.

“Are you seriously trying to bribe me?”

“Ten million.”

“I’m not going to do it.”

“Twenty million.”

Octavia shook her head.

“Look. I don’t want your money. If it makes you feel any better, there’s no way Raemon and I will end up together in the long run. And that’s something I can promise you. We’re only temporary.”

“So…you will end it with him?”

“No,” Octavia said bluntly. “But it will end. Eventually.”

“That’s not good enough. I need your word on it. And I need to know when.”

“That’s too bad,” Octavia said, “because this is my life. If you’ve got a problem, take it up with your son. You can’t demand anything from me.”

Marjorie fixed her gaze on Octavia. Her facial expression did not change, but there was something flickering in the depths of her eyes.

Eventually, she turned and headed for the door.

“I’ll show myself out,” she said curtly as she walked past Octavia.

“Please do,” Octavia said.

Before she left, Marjorie stopped and turned back to face her.

“Let me warn you, Octavia. Even if Raemon decided to choose you and you are stupid enough to accept him, it will not end in a ‘happily ever after.’”

Octavia merely raised an eyebrow at this.

“You and he are on two very different levels. He cannot stoop down to where you are, and you cannot climb up. If you try to do so, you will only destroy yourself.”

Octavia said nothing. Marjorie gave her one last meaningful look, then left.