The Unwanted Marriage: Dion and Faye’s Story (The Windsors)

I look up when my office door opens without a prior knock, my eyes widening when Grandma walks in. Her usual stern expression is notably absent today, caring concern having replaced it. It’s a curious sight to see her looking like the grandmother I used to know, instead of the ruthless matriarch she has become.

“Dion,” she says when I rise from my seat. “You were missed at your parents’ memorial service. I wish you could’ve made it, sweetheart.”

I look away and nod. “Maybe next year,” I murmur. I’ve said that for years, but this time, I actually mean it. With Faye by my side, I might be able to sit through my siblings’ endless stories without feeling guilty that they won’t ever get to make more memories with Mom and Dad.

I lead Grandma to the seating area in my office, my mind already trying to work out what brings her here. She’s been surprisingly quiet since I got married. Based on what Ares and Luca told me, I’d expected her to meddle far more than she has. Perhaps the worst is yet to come. I’m not foolish enough to lower my guard around her.

“What can I do for you, Grandma?” I say eventually, when she remains quiet. She seems lost in thought, as though she isn’t quite sure why she’s here. I’ve never seen her act without purpose, and her behavior has my hackles raised.

“I understand Faye’s father miraculously found himself in the hospital with countless broken bones,” she says eventually. “He claims he has no recollection of what happened. Weird, isn’t it? Even more so, considering all of his mines collapsed on the same day he went missing.”

I nod thoughtfully. “I’d heard of that. Such a shame.”

She narrows her eyes. “It was even more curious that Silas Sinclair couldn’t find out a thing about any of it.”

I purse my lips and nod. “That’s so weird. But then again, Silas tends to have his own agenda. He has a habit of defying you when he disagrees with your methods, you know that.”

Grandma crosses her arms and shoots me a chastising look. “Cut the crap,” she snaps. “What happened? What could he possibly have done for you to destroy him so thoroughly?”

I look away and take a deep breath. “It isn’t my story to tell, Grandma. Just trust that he deserved what he got. All I can really tell you is that he was embezzling Faye’s concert income for years and led her to believe she wasn’t earning much at all. He made her financially dependent on him and tried to control her every action until recently.”

Her expression falls, as though her worst fears are confirmed, when she doesn’t know the half of it. “I tried to protect her, you know? It was your mothers who decided the two of you should get engaged, but they had no plans to bring it up until you were much older. I enforced that engagement in an effort to maintain my ties to Faye.”

She runs a hand through her hair, and I frown when I realize her hand is trembling. “Faye’s father has always been rough, and neither your mother nor I ever liked him. When we lost Felicity and your parents, I was worried about what might happen to Faye. I felt that the engagement was one of very few ways I could tie her to us. I wanted to keep an eye on her and be there for her as she grew up, without necessarily intruding. Jimmy had always been money-motivated, so I thought offering the amount I did would ensure he’d treat her with care. Was I wrong, Dion? Did my actions harm her?”

I stare at my grandmother, my thoughts reeling. If she hadn’t interfered, would Jimmy have forced Faye to become a pianist? He might not have wanted to invest in her at such an early age, and she likely would have had a more stable childhood.

His nature would never have changed, though. Eventually, he’d have found a way to use her, and without Grandma’s interference, we never could’ve saved her from that home. I’ve always lost myself in what-ifs, but for the first time ever, I realize the present matters more than a past we can’t change.

“I’m not sure,” I tell her honestly. “I wish that was a question I could answer, Grams, because it’s one I’ve asked myself countless times.”

Her eyes roam over my face, and she draws a shaky breath. “I’m the one who set all of this into motion, but it was never my intention to make both of you miserable.” She looks down and shakes her head. “You might find me meddlesome, but everything I do is for you and your siblings. As the years passed, I became convinced that being with her would heal you, that it would be a way for you to move beyond the past, together. I never intended to make matters worse, but I have, haven’t I?” She rises to her feet and begins to pace in my office.

“You haven’t,” I murmur eventually. “I hate to admit this, but I… I’m happy with her, Grandma. I won’t lie to you and say the past doesn’t still haunt me, but she loosened its hold over me. Being with her gives me purpose. Faye isn’t anything like what I expected, and she makes me want to be a better man.”

Grandma looks at me, a hint of relief in her eyes. “Does she feel the same way? I wanted to save her, Dion, not entrap her. If what you’re telling me about her father is true, then how are we any better? The rules I laid down were meant to bring you two closer — it was never my intention to suffocate her the way he must have.”

I look past her for a moment, my insecurities surging to the surface. “She tells me she loves me, and I think I believe her. I’m not sure she truly is as happy as she’d like me to think, but there’s nothing I won’t do to turn her lies into reality.”

The look in Grandma’s eyes is so pained that I can’t hold her gaze. “Dion,” she says, her voice soft. “I won’t hold you to our agreement. If you two truly are happy together, then you have my unconditional blessing, but if you aren’t…” She crosses her arms and looks past me, out the window. “We can’t do to her what her father did.”

My stomach drops and a chill runs down my spine. “What exactly are you saying, Grandma?”

She smiles tightly. “I’m saying that I’ll grant you a divorce if you think it’s in either of your best interests. It’s not my intention to harm Faye, and if you believe that’s what I’ve done by forcing you into this marriage, I’ll do what I can to make it right.”

I stare at her speechlessly, pure unadulterated fear coursing through me. If I gave Faye a choice, would she choose me?

No. I don’t think she will.