Phantasm || irwin

[ 30 ] 2013

[ 30 ] 2013

"Arthur is my son." Claire said.

Harley just watched her in shock. She let a brief minute go by without saying anything until a laugh escaped her lips. "You're kidding, right?" She asked through her breaths. Her laughing came to a bitter halt when she realized neither of them was laughing. "If Arthur is your son, that would mean you and I are related. And since you're Calum's grandmother, that would mean I'm related to him as well..."

Ashton shook his head and she had to admit there was a hope in her eyes that she would soon find a relief to her fear. "Claire is Arthur's mum, Harley." He said, and just as he was about to continue, Harley interrupted.

"I am so fucking confused." She admitted. "I just don't understand how she went from being Calum's grandmother to being mine. I thought Arthur didn't have a mum. He was adopted, at least that's what he said." But now that she thought about it, Arthur was very secretive and was known to keep things from people.

"Claire and I were engaged." Ashton started after taking a deep breath. Harley nodded. She was aware of everything up to about that point. After a short pause, he continued, "Let me know if I lose you in this whole mix-up, doll."

Claire snorted. "Doll. Why don't you call her kitten, like you did with me?"

Ashton ignored her words, but he rolled his eyes. Claire could not see it because his back was turned to her.

"Oh my gosh." Harley gasped, bringing her hands to her face. "Don't tell me you're Arthur's dad, Ashton. We kissed."

Shaking his head frantically, he attempted once more to explain. "I am not Arthur's dad. After I died, Con and Claire got married. They had their own kids and Claire raised Richard as her own."

"And he was an ungrateful little snot." Claire hissed.

"Apparently some time after, Claire took Bobby from Hayley." The hazel eyed boy said.

Claire made another rude comment, "Hayley Reid was a jealous bitch, but I showed her. Bobby left her for me in a second. Hayley was left to find consolation in that loser Thomas Davis. And I probably could have taken him from her too if I wanted to." She said the last sentence proudly. Thomas Davis and Hayley Reid. Those names stuck out in Claire's words because Harley knew those names. They were her grandparents, the parents of her mother.

Horrified, Harley came to a conclusion. "So my mum and Arthur were this close to being siblings?" Had Hayley married Bobby and not Thomas, there would have been three possible outcomes: her parents may have been related, Arthur would have never existed, or Harleen may have never existed.

"Don't tell me you're Hayley's granddaughter too!" Claire whined. "I hate her."

"She hated you too." Ashton pointed out, earning him a glare from her.

"Whatever." Claire shrugged.

"So..." Harley started hesitantly. "Is Calum her grandson or not?"

Ashton shook his head in response. "Richard, who was Calum's dad, was Anne-Sophie's son. That means you and Calum can't be related."

"And what happened to Anne-Sophie?" Harley wondered.

Claire shrugged her shoulders and spoke in the most nonchalant way. "Once Ashton was out of Con's way, I needed to get Anne out of the way. So I poinsoned her. That was one of my other reasons for my affair with Bobby. He was onto us and I needed to keep him distracted."

"You killed Anne?" Ashton gasped. Though truthfully, he knew he shouldn't be surprised. Both Con and Claire were truly horrible people.

"Don't act so surprised." Claire scoffed.