Chapter 6: My Grandmother Wants to Meet My Wife

Ethan's POV

This whole thing started as some drunk marriage deal, but watching Amanda handle Richard's threats and Madison's cheap shots changed things. She kept it together, head high through it all - and something about that quiet fight in her, mixing guts with raw hurt, hit me hard. Every time her family came at her, I wanted to jump in and shield her.

Shit, when she talked about her grandfather, I caught her voice shake just a bit. Their manipulation cut deep. Even with her father playing dirty, she wouldn't back down. What was supposed to be just some arrangement had gotten to me. Seeing her family use her like this pissed me off. She deserved way better.

I straightened my tie, taking a breath. "Well, well. Quite the family dynamic you've got here." My tone stayed light, but my eyes went cold. "Using your sick father as leverage? Wonder what your fancy friends would say about that."

Richard's hand shook with anger. "You're nobody to judge how I handle my family affairs!" he snapped. "She has no say in Davis family matters!"

I noticed the subtle change in Amanda's expression as she watched us.

"Perhaps," Richard's voice turned calculating, "we can reach a reasonable arrangement."

"Reasonable?" Amanda's voice was bitter, and I felt a surge of protectiveness.

"A legal separation first." Richard set down his crystal with exaggerated care. "We'll proceed with the Wilson wedding as planned. Afterward, once the business arrangements are secure, you can quietly divorce."

Elizabeth moved forward quietly across the thick carpet. "Your grandfather's care would continue uninterrupted, of course."

I couldn't help tensing slightly at their blatant manipulation. Amanda caught the movement - she was more observant than they gave her credit for. I saw her wondering if my reaction was part of some escort's training in reading room dynamics.

"The legal waiting period," Amanda said carefully, "is about one month. You can't force a divorce faster than that."

Richard's jaw clenched, but he nodded. "One month then. But you'll announce the engagement to Wilson immediately."

The Davis mansion's grand portico offered us a moment of privacy, its marble columns standing sentinel against eavesdroppers. Amanda leaned against one, clearly exhausted.

"Are you really considering marrying Wilson?" I couldn't keep the concern from my voice.

"The legal waiting period gives me a month to secure my grandfather's care arrangements," Amanda straightened her spine, her reflex to reject help evident in her posture.

I couldn't suppress a slight smile at her determination. "Strategic alliances can be useful, and my grandmother is quite insistent on meeting my new wife next week."

Amanda studied me with new interest. "You want me to play the devoted wife for your grandmother?"

"A mutually beneficial arrangement," I held her gaze steadily, "unless you'd prefer Wilson's yacht party this weekend?"

Before she could respond, footsteps on marble announced Madison's arrival. Her demeanor changed completely when she saw me.

"Couldn't help but hear." Madison flashed that fake smile. "Family drama's such a drag, right?" She slid closer to me, acting like Amanda wasn't even there. "Maybe you'd prefer... something simpler."

I knew that look - exactly how Amanda said Madison went after Nathan.

"Here." She pulled out a business card. "My private number. For when you want to explore better options."

I accepted the card with polite grace, but deliberately moved my other hand to Amanda's elbow, drawing her closer. How laughable - Madison was still playing these childish games. The gesture wasn't lost on Madison, whose smile acquired a brittle edge.

"For when you'd like to explore better options," she said softly.

"Miss Davis," I replied, "not interested in being kept, thanks."

The carefully crafted smile froze on Madison's face. She recovered quickly, but the damage was done. Her retreat was markedly less graceful than her advance.

In the back of my Maybach, my grandmother's voice filled the car through the speakers.

"The board meeting could have waited," she said. "Why the sudden trip to Los Angeles?"

My lips curved slightly. "Can't your grandson visit the West Coast office occasionally?"

"Not when you've spent the last five years delegating everything west of Chicago to Christopher." There was a pause. "This wouldn't have anything to do with a woman, would it?"

"I met someone in LA," I admitted. "She's... different."

"Different enough to marry without telling your grandmother?"

My smile widened. "You'd like her."

"I'll decide that for myself." The steel in her voice softened slightly.

"Grandmother—"

"Three days, Ethan. It's time I met my granddaughter-in-law."

After ending the call, I gazed at the city beyond my window. Grandma always had this way of seeing straight through my bullshit. She stuck around through everything - the messy divorce, Mom jetting off to chase her artistic dreams across Europe, Dad burying himself in work. While my parents were off living their own lives, she was the one who actually raised me.

I was seven when Dad dropped his bombshell - showing up with a ready-made new family. Some woman and her four-year-old daughter, suddenly moved into our house. No heads up, no asking how I felt about it. Just Dad's typical "deal with it" attitude, expecting everything to fall perfectly into place.

Damn, things with Dad went downhill fast after that. Every single conversation turned into a battle of wills, every little thing blew up into a screaming match. Hell, maybe we were just too much alike - both hard-headed as mules, neither one willing to give an inch. In the end, we just... gave up trying.

God, watching Grandma's health slip away these past few years has been killing me. I've thrown money at every hotshot doctor from New York to LA, but nothing works. Shit, she's the only one who ever really fought my corner, you know? The only person who saw past all this CEO bullshit to the scared kid I was underneath. Still am, sometimes.

My phone lights up with a message from Chris: [Grandma and her entourage are flying in on Thursday. Don't forget we're all meeting them at LAX.]

Perfect. Three days to figure out how to tell her that her golden boy grandson is now supposedly a high-end escort.