somewhere only we know || grayson hawthorne x oc

chapter six (izzy)

Izzy walked into the House, through the maze or corridors, and entered the wing that she had now been forced to occupy. Now that archery was off the table, she decided to sit and read. She went over to her large collection of books that spanned the entire dome show of her living room, or what would be for the next year. In fact, every room in the wing was the shape of a dome, but the House was designed with another room encapsulating it all, creating the appearance that the wing wasn't any different to the others. As for the books themselves, the collection wasn't nearly as grand as that of any of the official libraries in the House, but it was the largest beside them. She picked out a copy of I Capture The Castle. It was a comfort read of hers, one which she could get lost in for hours and never get bored of. Unfortunately, those hours never came. Instead, her phone erupted into irritating buzzing noises, forcing her to get out of the armchair she had just settled into and cross back into the bedroom.

She groaned at the sight of Alisa's name on the screen, but decided it wasn't worth the fight. She picked up reluctantly and put the phone to her ear, refusing to say anything. After a few seconds of silence, Alisa's voice came through the speaker.

"Well, good evening to you, too."

Silence.

"Come on. Work with me here. It feels like I'm just talking to myself."

Silence again.

"Fine," Alisa relented. "I have to say, Avery was much more willing to speak to me. But moving on, we need to go over some things. Firstly, we need to talk about your appearance, both in the media and physically. Starting with the latter, I presume you're not the type of person that likes others meddling with their style. Honestly speaking, there isn't anything that really needs to be changed regardless. As for the former, I've spoken with Oren. There's no hiding the fact that Avery has just inherited 40.2 billion dollars, as well has most of Tobias' properties, especially given the fact that it's been leaked to the public."

"What, already? How?" Izzy gave up on giving Alisa the silent treatment.

"Libby told her boyfriend - or ex, I suppose - when she went back to Connecticut to collect both of their things. Don't worry, she didn't mention anything about you." At Alisa's words, Izzy relaxed slightly. "But that brings me onto what I was saying before. There's still a way you wouldn't have to be in the public eye. We could release an official statement that Avery inherited everything, including your share of the money, Hawthorne House, and the Foundation."

After absorbing everything Alisa had said, Izzy knew that this was the best option. There wouldn't really be any added effect on Avery. After all, she was still a billionaire who needed her own security team. And after the year was up, she could go back to living in London, without anyone so much as batting an eye at her return.

Alisa took the silence to mean that the matter was agreed upon. "There's something else, too. You need to go to the Foundation on Monday. Grayson is going to run you by how everything works. And before you say anything: no, you cannot find a way to get out of this." And with that, she hung up the phone before Izzy could argue.