A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust

"Where's Archie?" Quentin stepped forward, his voice tense. "Where is he? What did you do to him?"

Gavin shot Quentin a suspicious look. "And who the hell are you supposed to be? Archie's boyfriend or something?"

He remembered Archie once mentioning he was into men. Looking at the strangers crowding his living room, Gavin's doubts only grew.

Are one of these guys the one Archie likes? What a bunch of lunatics. And what's Silas doing here, hanging out with this circus?

None of it made sense, and Gavin was starting to get pissed off. It was Christmas Eve for crying out loud, and a gang had barged into his home, two of them even lugging what looked suspiciously like bazookas.

What the hell? Can't a man just have his holiday dinner in peace?

"What do you people want?" Gavin demanded. "Archie's my son. If you've got business with him, you go through me. Let's not ruin the holidays. Just spit it out."

"Yeah!" Chester chimed in, eyeing the group nervously. "You all look ready to start a bar fight. It's making everyone uncomfortable!"

Portia folded her arms, glaring. "You must be Archie's idiot, conniving little brother, huh? We're here for Archie. You've locked him up, haven't you?"

"What's uncomfortable is you keeping Archie from us!" She snapped. "If you've got the guts, bring him out!"

Calliope stepped up, planting herself squarely in front of Gavin. Despite being younger and smaller, her presence was formidable.

"Let me get this straight," she said, voice icy. "You three get to sit down for Christmas dinner, but you don't invite Archie? So what, he's your son in name only? He's not good enough for the family roast and mashed potatoes?"

"If he's not good enough, then this guy doesn't deserve it either!" Calliope's sharp gaze fell on Chester, who blinked, startled.

"Wait, why am I 'this guy' all of a sudden?"

"Because you're no prize, either!" Calliope shot back. "If it weren't for you, maybe Archie wouldn't be bullied all the time!"

Then, her eyes darted to Willow, cold and sharp as a blade. Willow shivered under the stare, her brow furrowing.

"We haven't done anything to Archie," She insisted, her tone defensive. "We just wanted him to marry someone suitable. He refused, that's all."

"Oh, so you tied him up because he said no?" Calliope's eyebrow arched. "If this marriage you want is so great, why not have your son do it? Really you just want Archie out of the family so your precious boy can inherit everything, right?"

Calliope clearly knew the Yoder family's dirty laundry. Even if Archie hadn't told her much, she'd gotten wind of the rumors. Archie's position was not enviable.noveldrama

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Gavin's face hardened. "I'll do as I please. I think Archie should marry who I say, and that's the end of it. I'm his father, I raised him, I make the rules! The inheritance goes to my youngest, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Calliope shot him a look of pure disdain. "Idiot."

Gavin bristled. "What did you just say?"

He stared at her in disbelief. "You little brat, did you just call me an idiot?"