The Billionaire's Twins Play Matchmaker novel Chapter 61

For the first time in weeks Ava woke rested and she wasn’t alone. Alexis snuggled beside her while Sean and Theo lounged at the foot of the bed. Seeing them she couldn’t help but smile but she also felt the pain of regret knowing Silas was not with them. Perhaps his presence had only been a dream. And yet she could still feel his arms around her.

“If you’re wondering where Mister Prescott went he got a call from work,” Alexis yawned. “It sounded pretty serious.”

“He…did?” Ava turned to look at her trying to fight the hope blooming in her chest. So it wasn’t a dream. He had really been there and he held her so tenderly like she was a precious treasure. But why would he comfort her? Didn’t he hate her?

“I think he likes you mom,” Alexis said after a moment.

“…What? I—I’m sure it’s not…Do you think so?” Ava hesitantly asked. Was it wrong for her to hope it was true?

“He wouldn’t have carried you up to your room or tucked you in or held you if he didn’t,” Alexis said.

Ava bit her lip. Was all of that true? Did he do that for her? Or was he trying to earn the kids’ trust? Her head ached from the paradoxes running through it. What was she going to do?

“Well…it’s morning so we should get ready for breakfast,” Ava announced. “I’m going to take a shower and you three should wash up too.”

“Kay.” Alexis readily agreed.

“Sure,” Sean and Theo gave muffled replies as they continued to doze.

They watched as their mother stood and retreated to her private bathroom. After a moment Sean finally spoke, “I thought we agreed we weren’t going to help him.”

“A little nudge doesn’t hurt,” Alexis said. “Besides I think last night was the first time mom slept without tossing and turning.”

As much as they wanted to deny it what their sister said was true. Their mother had always been a light sleeper and prone to waking at odd hours. They remembered waking early hoping to surprise her with breakfast only to find she was already awake. As they grew bigger the boys began to notice their mother was getting thinner, paler and the dark rings around her eyes were darker. Their mother seemed to be slowly wasting away right before their eyes and they didn’t know how to help her.

But last night their mother hadn’t stirred at all. She slept deeply, completely relaxed in their father’s arms. He held her all night long never once trying to disengage or leave her. As much as they hated to admit it their parents did look good together.

“…So are we going to help him now?” Theo asked.

“It’s still too early to give him our full support,” Alexis said. “But we can nudge mom here or there. I think he really does want to take care of her. You heard what he told the butler before he left didn’t you?”

“You mean that thing about getting rid of mom’s old clothes so she would wear the new stuff he bought?” Sean said.

Alexis nodded.

“What’s the big deal about that?” Theo asked.

“He wants mom to wear the clothes he bought her because they are nicer. You know mom never buys anything new for herself,” Alexis said.

“That’s true,” Sean agreed.

Their mother didn’t hesitate to buy them new clothes but she always made due with secondhand things for herself. In fact it had been several years since she bought anything for herself so her clothing was getting more frayed the longer she wore it without replacing it. Their mother deserved a new wardrobe and needed one.

Though Theo was hesitant to admit it their father did seem to care about their mother’s wellbeing. The shopping trip might have been too much too soon but it was clear he wanted to make up for the time he missed.

“I read something interesting last night,” Sean said.

“What’s that?”

“It seems Prescott Industries beat out Carlisle Enterprises for several key acquisitions.”

“Is that news?” Theo sighed. “They’ve always been rivals.”

“But Prescott’s never specifically gone after the same contracts as Carlisle before. This time they were determined to win the bids.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning our father might just be seeking revenge for mom too,” Alexis said, “same as us.”

“You think?” Theo asked sitting up.

“It might be too early to say for certain…but I think so,” Sean said. “The DaLairs did the same thing to the Trents remember?”

“No.” Theo shook his head and earned his brother’s rolled gaze. “Does it matter?”

“If he is aiming at the Carlisle’s it might make things easier for us,” Alexis said. “A two-prong attack will be more effective.”

“Right.” The brothers agreed.

Ever since they decided to eliminate the people responsible for their mother’s suffering they had faced several difficulties. First of all they didn’t have the capitol to truly hurt their grandfather’s company. They simply didn’t have the means to buy them out or outbid their projects. The second difficulty was that while their grandfather was a despicable person he was an excellent and honest businessman. Sean found no dirty deals or tax evasion in his deep dive through the company’s finances.

If there was even one or two under the table deals to take advantage of it would make it far easier to hurt the company’s image. Right now their grandfather’s biggest weakness was their aunt. Marilynn’s antics were outrageous. It was the reason why they employed so many bots to comment, share and criticize her. Her shoddy reputation damaged the image of the company as a whole and it was the best they could do so far.

“Okay here’s our next move,” Alexis said. “We need bots to spread the news of their failed projects. Highlight the bids they lost to Prescott and make it look like they are falling behind. That should make investors think twice. Also highlight our little escapade with the hack. If they are too incompetent to protect their files it’ll make others lose trust with them.”