Sage Slade

MEN LIKE THAT ARE THE EXACT REASON I HATE THE WEALTHY

With a personality and vibe like that it's hard to figure out why anyone would be around him. How does a man like that have a wife? She must be twice the asshole he is, maybe a trophy wife, only for show.

Greyson took me out of the room for me to cool down. I gladly accepted the offer, not only for me but him. I've heard stories about Hamilton from Greyson and although I don't judge a book by a cover from the moment I laid eyes on him nothing nice came to my mind. Especially after seeing the expressions of his siblings, Greyson looked livid while Dawn looked like someone held a gun to her head to force her to smile.

"No one is supposed to talk to a Blackstone that way." Greyson starts and I narrow my eyes at him. He is not about to lecture me about standing my ground against someone who can be a bigger asshole than him, right? "But I admit I'm rather amused, in fact act as you please around him, don't let a man think lowly of you."

Greyson's words hit a warm place in my heart. The fact that he feels more relieved than angry that I spoke to his brother like that only comforts me. I have to change my entire life but he doesn't want me as a person to change with it. I'm sure I'll have to learn to suck up my feelings and be around people I don't like and act polite but it's nice to know that if I marry Greyson it won't seem to be much of an issue to be myself.

"Man I wish I could talk to Hamilton that way without father blowing a fuse about sibling bonds." Dawn scoffs. "You go girl." She cuddles into her husband's arms.

I smile.

"I cannot believe I'm forced to be around him for a whole meal." Greyson says. This was true, his father seems hard to deal with as it is but Hamilton? I can't act this way towards him if his father is watching it'll make Greyson look poorly and I can't do that to him. His tight leash seems to be loosening (at least from what I hear when he converses on the phone).

Apparently Mr. Blackstone is allowing Greyson to remove himself as President from Blackstone University to working with the hotels. Dawn will take full control of the campus while Greyson will serve as CEO to the Blackstone towers in New York. It's not set in stone yet but Greyson is almost there.

I may not have spoken to him in weeks but I listen to his conversations. Not on purpose but I can't help it, hearing him speak puts me at ease. Unfortunately, after the photoshoot I feel uncomfortable with this feeling bubbling inside of me everytime we talk.

Niles opens the door and announces. "Time for dinner."

We all follow him to the dining hall.

I had to give it to them, the Blackstone family was wealthy beyond comparison. Everything was covered and molded with pure gold. Their decor was not only luxurious but gorgeous. The majority of furniture was antique and looked like it costed more than college tuition at Harvard without scholarships.

This place was certainly not for a girl who's most expensive thing at her house is probably her flat screen TV.

Everyone sat in what seemed like assigned seats, Dawn and her husband sat across us, I was grateful to have comforting faces in front of me. But that meant that Hamilton will sit next to them, or us. The edge of the table was obviously Mr. Blackstone's seat. As we sat down and waited for the head of the family to join us, Hamilton finally walked in. Unhappily of course.

"Fix yourself up, you look like a bloody whore." He says to his wife.

I wasn't shocked to see that she was GORGEOUS.

I was shocked to see she didn't look like a complete snob.

His wife looked like a damaged swan, hurt and sad but beautiful. Greyson straightened up when she looked at him and I can't say I'm shocked to see it looks like he's slept with her. They had a vibe and the gazes they just shared wasn't one he'd share with Dawn.

Great, family drama everywhere.

"Ms. Slade, Mr. Mercer, this is my wife Hanna." Hamilton introduces her and she smiles weakly. The poor girl looks scared, I wanted to get up and kick Hamilton where it hurts for making her that way. I kept my mouth shut though, I said enough for today.

"Master Blackstone will be late, he has a meeting at the moment he could not cancel." Niles informs us. "He apologizes and says he'll be here at dessert."

"Figures he forces us to accommodate his schedule and he can't make it." Greyson scoffs and Hamilton smirks and scoffs at him. "You have no right to speak when all you do is run a school, try running several Blackstone hotels in ten different cities in different continents."

Keep your mouth shut and eat your food Sage.

The butlers place plates in front of us and I immediately forget my anger. The food in front of me looked so good and smelled so good! I couldn't fight the smile that came across my face when I saw what a Blackstone eats everyday. Not that Greyson hasn't taken me to some ridiculously expensive restaurants that serve 50$ salads but this looked amazing.

"Enjoy your meal, don't hesitate to call when needed." Niles says and walks into what appeared to be the kitchen.

"This looks great." I say out loud.

Dawn smiles. "My father loves to eat the most lavish things, trust me your taste buds will sing when dessert comes."

"Yes, father's desserts are indeed the best." Greyson joins and smiles too.

Hamilton didn't say anything and started to eat while Hanna ate little bites of her food. Maybe she ate before they came.

I ignored my curiosity and indulged in the meal.

The steak was to die for! I was in love, I mean it doesn't compare to a good ol' fashioned burger but for rich food this was great! Maybe it won't be so bad being around rich people all the time.

Man I cannot wait for dessert if dinner tastes this great.

Half-way through the meal my happy thoughts were interrupted when Hamilton decided to speak. "You're done eating." He says to Hanna and I look at her plate to see it was practically full. She looked up at him and I noticed she looked disappointed. Could it be she was hungry? Greyson cleared his throat. "Is she done eating?"

"Yes." Hamilton's eyes slice to Greyson's and Dawn sighs and places her fork down. "When we go back to Europe we have a few gatherings to go to and I refuse to go with someone who looks like a cow."

Eat your food and ignore the bad man Sage.

"A cow? Maybe a sick cow who hasn't touched food in it's life." Greyson scoffs.

"Listen, you may not have standards because you'll mess with anything that moves but a man like me will only be seen with the best." Hamilton says. "And the best is someone who can fit into a size 1 dress, not 2 because she wanted a little more steak."

These mash potatoes are good, great even.

Good ol' mash potatoes.

"If she's hungry she can eat." Greyson tells him, calmly.

"Mind your business, Greyson." Hamilton growls, then looks that Hanna. "Put the bloody fork down and don't eat anything else."

"She's a human not a doll." Greyson's jaw hardens.

Dawn and her husband stay silent, Dawn looks annoyed like she wants to say something too but doesn't want to be caught in the idiocracy. Her husband stays quiet too because just like me, he too is somewhat of an outsider no matter what connection we have to their family.

"It's fine." Hanna says. "He's right, I have to keep up with appearances."

Great food is in front of us Sage, ignore your feelings and just eat.

Just eat.

"See." Hamilton smiles all knowingly. "A woman who knows her place, unlike yours."

Greyson's eyebrows snapped together and he was about to say something but I placed my fork down nicely and smiled at Hamilton. "You remember earlier when I told you I didn't want to talk to you because I had nothing nice to say?"

Everybody looked at me, Dawn with warning eyes, Greyson with curiosity, and Hamilton with impatience. Hamilton wants any excuse to bash me, so I'll give him one.

"First thing, you look and act like...one of those neanderthal jocks you see on TV. You know the ones who are complete douchebags that everyone hates. Kinda like that kid from that cartoon on Nickelodeon...Back at the Barnyard was it? The fat one who laughs funny and picks on animals, not that you know what I'm talking about because you're an old man."

Hamilton's brows furrowed and Hanna's eyes widened with fear.

I continued. "Secondly, I'd rather eat dinner staring at the back end of a plumber than with you who treats women like that. In fact I hope you find someone else because that poor girl deserves so much better. She's hungry, she can eat. You don't decide that based on whether or not you want to her to fit into a stupid dress."

Dawn was fighting a smile.

"Also," I said. "calling your wife a whore is probably a sin. So with that being said I hope you rot in hell next to hitler and any horrible human that's there rotting that deserve it. Although that's a bit far because you shouldn't wish that even on your enemies but let's be honest, someone who forces someone to be someone they're not appearance wise is kind of Hitler."

Greyson's lips twitched.

"Lastly," I breathe. "if you're going to tell anyone they should lose weight, look in the mirror. Now you're handsome and great looking but I'm going to be honest, Greyson has the body of a Greek God and you have one of...buddha. So please don't judge when you yourself are not perfect, I'm not and you're probably going to tell me I'm some trashy scum who has no manners or respect. Well I am, what are you going to do about it?"

When I finished it took a second for me to realize that I may have went overboard.

It two seconds for me to realize I called him the fat kid from Back at the Barnyard.

It took another four seconds for me to realize I said he looked like Buddha.

And eight seconds later I called myself scum and was proud.

Then something horrible happened and my blood turned to ice. A man cleared their throat and it wasn't Hamilton, Greyson or Dawn's husband. Standing behind me was Mr. Blackstone and from the cocky smile Hamilton wore he was there for a while.

I immediately stood up and greeted him. "H-Hello Mr. Blackstone."

"Looks like you just lost yourself a fiance Greyson." Hamilton says, humorously.

Mr. Blackstone stared at me, observing my nervous behaviour before saying. "Please seat yourself, Miss Slade. Dessert will be ready soon."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"You're not removing her!?" Hamilton stands and slams his hands on the table. "You didn't just hear the way she spoke to me, father?"

Mr. Blackstone walked to his seat and sat himself down. "You're over thirty years old, I will not remove anyone for you. Especially when they haven't done anything that deserves it."

"She called me a fat boy from a cartoon!" Hamilton snaps.

Mr. Blackstone's brows furrow. "Don't raise your voice with me, I got off a bloody three hour meeting making arrangements so that I can inform your brother something very important. I am not in the mood to be tested, Hamilton. Truthfully it was classless the way she went about it but unlike you she wasn't raised in a family of class. She has an excuse, what's yours?"

I slowly sat down, my legs almost giving in before sitting.

Hamilton frowned like a child who got his toy taken away for bad behaviour.

"Oh and before I speak to you about what I've summoned you for I have two things to say. One, thank you all for coming and I hope you enjoyed your meals. Secondly, Hanna I may have chosen you for my son but if he treats you that poorly daily I will not hold it against you if you leave him. In fact the Blackstone family will help you live comfortably if you chose too, because after seeing my son's behaviour towards you and the way you accepted it, tells me you're a loyal woman. One who doesn't need to starve herself when her husband hasn't been normal weight since he was ten."

Wow, Papa Blackstone was a savage.

Hanna was almost in tears and she nodded her head. "Thank you for the offer but your son is a great man towards me. He's just under stress."

"Yes but a good man doesn't treat a woman that way or call her anything degrading, even if it is stress. However, if you chose to believe in him I will not argue any further." Mr. Blackstone says, then exhales. "Anyways I'll begin my announcement."

I kind of want to give him an applause.

"Dawn, prepare yourself because you'll be the sole owner of Blackstone University." Mr. Blackstone says to Dawn and her eyes widen with awe. "What?" She breathes.

Greyson looked like he was prepared to argue, when Mr. Blackstone said. "Greyson, I admit I don't think you're much of a man even at your age. You lack maturity and have a history with women that none of us in the room or manor can match. However, that doesn't mean your work ethic doesn't have an impact in my choice for now."

I looked at Greyson, whose jaw was hard and lips pursed.

Mr. Blackstone continued. "You're removed from your duties at the University and will now be CEO of the Blackstone towers in New York. Unfortunately, my trust in you isn't as strong as I'd like it to be so you will be placed on probation with strict orders to report back to me weekly. Don't disappoint me son."

Greyson stared at him. "You're giving me the towers in New York? That was your first..."

"Yes, which is why your on strict probation to report back to me." Mr. Blackstone says.

"That's crap." Hamilton says. "I get this family millions a month, I deserve to have your favorite towers."

"Unlike you, your brother he has seen what it's like to be solely on my bad side and knows more than you why failing me isn't an option. I'd rather have him, plus everyone here not only knows him but respects him despite his ways. You on the other hand have worked so hard in looking good in Europe that you forget to come back and do the same here. Which is why Greyson will be chosen."

Greyson nodded his head and said. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, you'll thank me when you don't fail." Mr. Blackstone says. "You'll make sure he won't, right? Miss Trashy Scum with no respect?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes."

Despite the Hamilton issue, dinner turned out to be very pleasant after all.