"Sylvester, you've had quite a scare today. Stay here at the estate and rest. Tomorrow, Rose will come to take you home."
Sylvester's grip on the pistol loosened. His eyes flicked to me, then to the two elders, and slowly, he set the gun down.
It hit the Persian rug with a soft click.
He lowered his head, his voice hoarse. "Alright."
A bodyguard stepped forward immediately to retrieve the weapon, and the butler hurried over to steady him.
As he turned to leave, his gaze lingered on me for a beat.
I looked away.
My grandmother glared at me, ice in her eyes.
"What are you standing there for? Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Come on. We're going home."
The moment we settled into the car, every trace of anger vanished from my grandmother's face.
She frowned and looked me over.
"Did I actually hurt you? Let me see. If your grandfather notices when we get back, he'll never let me hear the end of it."
My grandparents were devoted to each other in a way that bordered on ridiculous.
And everyone knew that Grandpa's greatest soft spot was me.
I hissed through my teeth. "Yes, it hurts! Did you have to kick that hard?"
"Hard?"
The old woman shot me a look.
"If you weren't the only heir I've got worth grooming, I would've broken your leg today."
She smacked me on the back for good measure.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused in there?"
I kept my mouth shut. I knew exactly how much.
A marriage between powerful families was a delicate thing. Filing for divorce days after the wedding was the same as slapping the Farley family across the face in broad daylight.
If I'd been anyone else, I probably would have "gone missing" by now.
Seeing my expression, the old woman didn't press further. She just sighed.
"Rose, don't let the way things look fool you. Our family seems powerful, sure. But do you know how many eyes are on us? I've built something enormous. All those resources, all those channels I control. To everyone else, it's like a slab of prime rib dangling over their heads."
"I'm getting old. The plan was for me to step back gradually and let you take over at your own pace, so no one would feel too threatened. But the problem is, you turned out to be too capable. Even more ruthless than I was at your age. Tell me, how is anyone supposed to sleep soundly knowing that?"
It clicked.
What Grandma meant was that the Henson family had grown too powerful. People were wary of us.