Becoming a Scott

Chapter 28 (Ander Pov)

He pulled up to the Scott mansion and was very confused to find that the butler wouldn't let him in when he appeared at the front door. "If there is something going on then I'll leave, I just wanted to check in." Ander explained.

The butler shook their head, "Give me just one moment, Mr. Vivaldi." They shut the door and Ander frowned, he wasn't particularly used to being asked to wait outside of a friends house and it only made the pit in his stomach open up a little more.

He let out a breath and convinced himself that this was all a misunderstanding, there was nothing for him to worry about. Michael would come down eventually, ask him to stay for dinner and inform him that Christina was just feeling sick. Ander would then say he needed to leave with some made up excuse, he'd drive home, Michael would mention to him a few days later that Christina was engaged, and Ander would receive a wedding invitation shortly after. Nothing else to it.

The door opened with a click and Riley appeared with a sad smile, "Hey..." she called quietly.

"Oh," Ander hesitated to step up to greet her. "Is something the matter? Is it a bad time?" He found it odd that Riley was still in her nightgown and opening the door for him with remorse. This was not at all how Riley usually behaved in his presence.

She shook her head, "Ander, oh God, Ander, something horrible has happened."

"What? What?" He urged, desperate to know what had happened within the Scott family overnight. "Did something happen to Christina?"

"Yes," she spoke before breaking out into tears. "I can't even bring myself to meet your eyes." From behind her Michael appeared, he reached forward and placed a hand over her shoulder.

"Ander, my dear friend," Michael said carefully, "I'm sorry to leave you out here for so long."

The three of them walked into the sitting room, Riley sniffling as she sat down on the couch. Isabela ran in and offered tea but they all declined. Ander was impatient, he wanted them to tell him there was nothing to worry about it so that he could put this all behind it and worry about his own problems.

"I'm too embarrassed and ashamed, Ander, to be giving you the news I have to give you." Michael spoke from where he stood by the fire place. "We found out the news only last night."

Ander watched him, knowing full well that he had seen Michael in his worst moments and Michael had never seemed embarrassed by them.  He placed his elbows on his knees, "What news?"

Michael let out a sigh, "My cousin has been lying to us this entire time. She was taking advantage of our good intentions and attempting to defraud us."

It took everything in him to keep from cringing, he hadn't really realized until this very moment that by helping Christina he had effectively tried to fuck over his best friend. Perhaps he was truly as dumb as Christina had insisted he was.

"And in actuality, the time she spent you, she was trying to seduce you." Michael claimed without a trace of irony.

"Well, thats funny," The words snuck out of Ander's mouth before he could effectively shut up. Michael and Riley both snapped their gazes onto him. "I just meant... I just couldn't imagine a sweet person like Christina doing such a thing."

"Neither could we." Michael added with a raised brow.

"So what are you planning on doing with her?" Ander ventured to ask. "I mean is she still even here?"

Michael nodded as he took a deep breath and crossed the room. He sat next to his friend, "It'll be decided by the end of the week, but for now my grandma is adamant on keeping her until her graduation. Not to worry though Ander, we've punished her and will keep a firm eye on her to make sure she doesn't take a single breath out of place."