TheNiteSiren
Virginal Temptress
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2013
- Posts
- 1,434
‘…control of Thorson Publishing will be given to my stepdaughter, Paige Elizabeth Thorson, who I loved and raised from a small child like she was my own…’ Those handful of words had sealed her fate to a confrontation with someone she had been avoiding for countless years. Paige’s mother had met Eric Thorson when Paige was 4 years old. At such a young age she bore the brunt of painful memories of an abusive father with a drug habit that eventually killed him. The nightmares still plagued her sometimes when she was under heavy stress. It took a lot of effort on his part but she came to trust Eric. The only problem she had was with his son, Viktor. He was three years older than her and was holding on to a lot of anger. He tried scaring them away with pranks and causing a ruckus but there was no shaking it. Eric was in love with her mother and they married two years after they met.
As the years went on, Viktor’s animosity turned towards Paige. She avoided him as much as she could but sometimes there was nothing she could do. There would be some kind of altercation where she would end up in tears. One of the staff would see and tell Eric. Paige never tattled to her stepfather but that wasn’t what Viktor thought. It was like a constant competition for attention. Paige was always trying to keep the peace because despite Viktor’s machinations, she was honestly happy with Eric as her stepfather and had grown to love him. When they had become teenagers it got worse because Paige realized a growing attraction to her stepbrother that was likely to get her heart broken. Right away she learned to bury her feelings. She focused on her studies and eventually graduated high school as the valedictorian. Then there was that one incident when she was 19 years old and went on a date with one of Viktor’s friends, Evan. Everything had been fine until they got back to the car after dinner. In no uncertain terms Evan tried to take what he thought she owed him for showing her a good time. It shocked her when it was Viktor of all people that pulled him off of her. He had followed them to the restaurant. They never spoke about what happened that night. He just took her home and never brought it up again.
After college Eric took her on as a trainee in the publishing business. Books had been her obsession ever since she could remember. They had been the escape she needed when her life was just too much to deal with. Viktor hadn’t liked the idea of her in the family business and was very vocal about keeping it just in the family. He had never considered her anything but a nuisance which hurt. They worked together for years, arguing and putting together projects for their authors. Paige was 26 when Eric started having heart problems. The fear that she might lose the only father she ever knew was so hard to take. Her mother practically hovered over him, trying to get him to take it easy but Eric hated NOT having something to do. He had worked all his life to establish himself in the publishing business and it was just unnatural for him. Ne late night Viktor found him on the floor of his office, his face a sickly gray. It had been a heart attack that finally took him from them.
The night he died Viktor had left and Paige got a call from a local bar. Apparently her stepbrother had gotten stinking drunk and started a fight with another patron. Despite her own grief, Paige went down there and got him to come home with her. It had been the only time she had ever seen tears in his eyes. It killed her to see him in that kind of pain. Instead of taking him to his place on the other side of town, she brought him to her apartment. There was a guestroom for when her best friend was visiting from Atlanta. She laid him there and made sure he would be comfortable. He was barely conscious but awake enough so that she hadn’t had to carry him in there. Thank God. She had to face facts. She was in love with him. He had hated her since they were children and she was in love with him. Fate was almost cruel in a way because she knew he would never love her back.
At the reading of the will, Paige hadn’t expected much. Didn’t need anything really since she had refused any financial help from Eric when she went to college or got her first apartment. When the executor read those words, her heart dropped into her stomach. Paige had no idea why Eric did what he did but there was going to be a major collision between her and Viktor. There was no way he was going to let this be. Paige sat there, a week later,in her old room where she had grown up just waiting. When that door swung open, she knew exactly who it was and why he was there. Her shields instantly went up. Time for battle.
As the years went on, Viktor’s animosity turned towards Paige. She avoided him as much as she could but sometimes there was nothing she could do. There would be some kind of altercation where she would end up in tears. One of the staff would see and tell Eric. Paige never tattled to her stepfather but that wasn’t what Viktor thought. It was like a constant competition for attention. Paige was always trying to keep the peace because despite Viktor’s machinations, she was honestly happy with Eric as her stepfather and had grown to love him. When they had become teenagers it got worse because Paige realized a growing attraction to her stepbrother that was likely to get her heart broken. Right away she learned to bury her feelings. She focused on her studies and eventually graduated high school as the valedictorian. Then there was that one incident when she was 19 years old and went on a date with one of Viktor’s friends, Evan. Everything had been fine until they got back to the car after dinner. In no uncertain terms Evan tried to take what he thought she owed him for showing her a good time. It shocked her when it was Viktor of all people that pulled him off of her. He had followed them to the restaurant. They never spoke about what happened that night. He just took her home and never brought it up again.
After college Eric took her on as a trainee in the publishing business. Books had been her obsession ever since she could remember. They had been the escape she needed when her life was just too much to deal with. Viktor hadn’t liked the idea of her in the family business and was very vocal about keeping it just in the family. He had never considered her anything but a nuisance which hurt. They worked together for years, arguing and putting together projects for their authors. Paige was 26 when Eric started having heart problems. The fear that she might lose the only father she ever knew was so hard to take. Her mother practically hovered over him, trying to get him to take it easy but Eric hated NOT having something to do. He had worked all his life to establish himself in the publishing business and it was just unnatural for him. Ne late night Viktor found him on the floor of his office, his face a sickly gray. It had been a heart attack that finally took him from them.
The night he died Viktor had left and Paige got a call from a local bar. Apparently her stepbrother had gotten stinking drunk and started a fight with another patron. Despite her own grief, Paige went down there and got him to come home with her. It had been the only time she had ever seen tears in his eyes. It killed her to see him in that kind of pain. Instead of taking him to his place on the other side of town, she brought him to her apartment. There was a guestroom for when her best friend was visiting from Atlanta. She laid him there and made sure he would be comfortable. He was barely conscious but awake enough so that she hadn’t had to carry him in there. Thank God. She had to face facts. She was in love with him. He had hated her since they were children and she was in love with him. Fate was almost cruel in a way because she knew he would never love her back.
At the reading of the will, Paige hadn’t expected much. Didn’t need anything really since she had refused any financial help from Eric when she went to college or got her first apartment. When the executor read those words, her heart dropped into her stomach. Paige had no idea why Eric did what he did but there was going to be a major collision between her and Viktor. There was no way he was going to let this be. Paige sat there, a week later,in her old room where she had grown up just waiting. When that door swung open, she knew exactly who it was and why he was there. Her shields instantly went up. Time for battle.
