Eyes finally open

"Vincent, darling, what's the matter?"

"Nobody wants me!"

"That's not true! I want you; I always have! Where would you get that idea?"

"The man said you're not my real dad!"

"...What man?"

"He was here... he knew my name, and he said he knows you!"

“Come here... Are you sure? What did he look like?”

"He had brown hair. He said his name is Miles...”

“...Oh..........Let's sit down.”

“Okay, Vin, listen to me. I love you more than anything. This man, he's a bad man, and he was just trying to cause trouble.”

“But he showed me pictures of Uncle Tate at our house, with a baby, but the baby was me and he's my real dad! Is he?"

"N-no... Sweetheart, Uncle Tate is not your dad. I am. I always have been, and I always will be."

"Do you really love me and want me?"

"I promise I do."

---

“We need to talk.”

“Can it not wait? It's been a long day,”

“Well, it's about to get even longer. No, it can't. I got a letter. Addressed to me. From Miles.”

“...Oh fuck... Right. The office.”

“Don't even think about trying to deny it! Look at the photos!”

“I can see them perfectly clearly, yes... I don't know how the fuck he got them-”

“It doesn't matter how! The fact is, it happened! What do you have to say about that?”

“Not a whole lot, really.”

“Really. Our nephew is actually your biological son, and you have nothing to say about it.”

“What can I say? He lives with Edward, and that's not going to change any time soon. I don't want him.”

“You cheated on me and got another woman pregnant! Hell, she would have been pregnant at the same time as I was! Was she really your secretary?”

“Yes.”

“And she's dead?”

“...Yes.”

“How did she die?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“No... you're evil...”

“I don't see what your issue is. I've always treated you perfectly fine. I've upheld my part of the deal by giving you everything.”

“How many women...?”

“How many women did I kill or how many women did I fuck?”

“It's not funny.”

“I'm not laughing. How do you think I feel? Miles has set out to ruin me. How the fuck did he know about this? Where did he get the proof?”

“You only care that you've been found out... Not that you did those terrible things...”

“Correct. A scandal like this could ruin me.”

“I can't do this anymore. I can't bring myself to even look at you, let alone sleep with you ever again...”

“In case you forgot, it's part of the terms. Oh, what is your problem? You know this marriage is a sham. It's all very well and good you claiming I'm awful, when you sold yourself out to me.”

“I wish I hadn't!”

“It's too late now. I know your game, knew it from the start. You're a fucking gold-digger. You were just waiting for me to die so you could have everything. Well, I put a stop to that by taking the age freeze potion. I bet that caught you off guard, didn't it?”

“Whatever I've done, it's nothing in comparison to you! You've killed people, for fuck's sake!”

“So your role is to have sex with me, provide me with children and look good by my side, while I shower you in money. Expensive clothes, jewellery, your weekly spa treatments... oh dear, that doesn't exactly paint you in a good light, does it? In fact, I'd say it makes you look like a prostitute. A worthless whore. That's what you are. And believe me Roxxi, by stopping sleeping with me, your usefulness is really starting to decrease.”

“S-stop it.”

“No, it's fine. I see you've made up your mind. I'll just get my needs met elsewhere.”

“That's never stopped you before...”

“No, I don't suppose it has.”

“I don't want to do this any more.”

“Well, you're not leaving. You know what happened to the last woman who tried to leave me.”

“No...”

“Yes. You're well aware. And I will get away with it, too. I always do. This conversation is over. What you found out, it changes nothing. Deal with it and shut the fuck up. Now get out.”

Cruelty

"I'm telling you, she was lying..."

"I don't understand! How could he be so evil? I... I'm sorry, I can't cope with this."

"Me neither... It doesn't get much worse than that."

"Oh, come on, Zeus! Don't you have any faith in Father?"

"Why would we, Tristan? His first three kids don't talk to him for a reason. I bet they know."

"Yeah... and it'd certainly explain why Edward hates him..."

"He...he's the worst! How can we go on living with him like normal after that? And how can we face Edward? Or Mum! Poor Mum! Not only is there the fact that he's a heartless bastard, he's a cheating one too!"

"H-Hazel's got no proof! Father wouldn't do something like that!"

"You're fucking delusional, Tristan! What will it take for you to accept what he's like?!"

"That's not fair-!"

"The hell it isn't! I'm so fed up of this. Ugh, I'm going after Carmella."

"Charon..."

"You know what I think of him. You're in the minority here, sorry."

"What do we do? Do we ask Edward? Because even if he did do it, Father's not going to admit to something like that..."

"No... My dad said not to bring up his past. Whichever way you look at it... he must have suffered horribly. He won't want to relive it."

"You're right..."

"Hello. Your name is Vincent, isn't it?"

"Yeah... how did you know that?"

"I know your dad. Actually, that's why I'm here."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Miles. I'm sorry that I have to drop some bad news on you, but it's important."

"Okay..."

"...I know this will be difficult to understand at first, but..."

"Edward is not your real dad."

"What?"

"You're not really his. I... don't know how much you know about where babies come from..."

"I don't know. Where do babies come from?"

"Oh, heavens... Right, er..."

"Do they all come from guys' butts like Nix did?"

"No, they don't. Only alien babies do that. Ordinary babies come from ladies."

"Ladies' butts?"

"...something like that. And that happens because a man does... something... to the lady and that's how a baby is made. Then it's in her stomach. You've seen pregnant ladies before, haven't you?"

"Yeah..."

"You actually came from a man and a lady. But the man is not Edward. What happened is that a different couple made you, then you were given away as a baby."

"Given away?!"

"Yes. The man took you to Edward's house and left you there. Here, I can prove it. Come sit down and I'll show you."

"See? That's him going in with you, then going back out without you."

"Why?"

"That's your real dad. ...Do you not recognise him?"

"No..."

"It's Uncle Tate."

"Uncle Tate?! He's my dad?"

"Yes, he is... He did it because he didn't want you."

"Who's the lady?"

"I don't know. Probably dead."

"Why didn't he want me?"

"You were an accident. So he dumped you on Edward, like rubbish. He's looked after you ever since. Sorry to tell you this, Vincent, but you were never wanted at all."

"Okay, I have to go now. Take care."

Scandal

"What's this letter for me?"

"What the?! No no no no..."

"Listen. I know, you're not happy with Father right now, and I admit there may be some favouritism on his part-"

"Some? Really? It's okay for you. He's nice to you."

"But he's not a bad person, Zeus! He has a stressful job, okay, and you're being overdramatic."

"...He banned us from our sister's wedding."

"Mum's taking us, isn't she?"

"Behind his back! What does that say to you?"

"Does he need some extra persuasion?"

"No. Fuck off, Hazel."

"But there's something you all need to hear."

"Is it that your dad died and will leave us alone? If not, still not interested."

"No. He's well. Look, I told you he cut up your dad, and Edward. I didn't say why."

"Because he's insane?"

"No-"

"Then why was he in an asylum? Father told us all about how they locked him up."

"That was because of Tate."

"...What?"

"There was nothing wrong with him before then! It's Tate who put Dad in that shit-hole!"

"And how the hell would he do that?"

"He conspired with Olivia to do it. Remember her?"

"Of course we do."

"So you know how awful she was. Did you ever find out her husband was shot and killed?"

"...Yeah, we read it in the newspaper that time, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah, we did..."

"Tate did it."

"No way. That's bullshit!"

"Didn't you know he was a hitman? I'd certainly be shocked if you've never seen a gun in your house. Olivia hired him to kill her husband – my grandfather, by the way! Thanks to your fucking father, I never had a grandfather! And just so she could be sure to get away with it, she put my dad away in a hellhole so he wouldn't get his inheritance. They took a grieving man and ruined his life when he'd done nothing wrong! He finally got out once the place was shut down, then he tried to take Edward as bait. You want to hear the really fucked up part?"

"No..."

"Tate was given the option of saving his brother or keeping the money. He chose the money. He left Edward to die. Not that my dad tried to kill him-"

"Oh, that's normal, is it? Cutting up an innocent man? But it's fine that he tortured him because hey, he didn't try to kill him!"

"Spare me the sentimental shit. I'm just telling you what happened."

"And it's really true?"

"Of course it's not! She's just stirring it because her dad's a fucking psycho, and so is she!"

"Every word. Ask Edward. Hell, ask Tate, not that you'll get an honest answer."

"No, Dad can't be that bad..."

"Oh, yeah, and he's Vincent's biological father. He fucked a secretary."

"Seriously?!"

"Charon, you live with him. Isn't it true that one day you came home and a baby was there? What did he say about where he came from?"

"He's his son..."

"From where?"

"A short-lived previous relationship... that's what he said."

"Have you ever, in all the years you've lived with Edward, seen him with a woman in any capacity?"

"Well, no..."

"And does Vincent look anything like him? No. He's got black hair and green eyes."

"Father's got yellow eyes, and there's no black hair on his side of the family."

"But Vincent resembles him facially. He's still a bit too young to tell, but just you wait until he's older. Anyway, that's all. Now you're up-to-date. Goodbye."

Elsewhere...

Eavesdropping

"I'm going to tell the class that if any of their parents happen to work for me, I can fire them  any time I want. So they'd better be nice to me."

"Doesn't a thing called 'unfair dismissal' exist?"

"Not for someone with my power and influence! Let's be honest, most of us Farringtons are above the law now."

"Only because Dad bribes everyone into getting what he wants... including the police."

"It's a smart move."

"It's bullshit, Tristan. And wow, you're really letting this power go to your head."

"Are you jealous like Father said?"

"No, I told you, I hate mega-corporations. Unless you're prepared to start implementing some eco-friendly policies, I want no part."

"...To be honest, I could do that, just for you if you like."

"You barely remember to even turn the lights off at home."

"Actually, I leave them on deliberately to wind you up."

"Oh, charming."

"Anyway, is it me or is your beard shorter than last night?"

"Yeah... woke up and found Julius going at it with a pair of scissors."

"Hahahaha, little bastard."

"It wasn't funny, I lost at least a week's progress."

"And how long are you going to grow it?"

"I think I might just carry on and see how far it goes... I want it at least long enough to plait."

"Jeez. You really are turning into some kind of hippy Jesus."

"Thanks."

"Charon, I know you'll agree with me here... I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like Dad too much. He's horrible to Zeus sometimes.  As for me or Julius, forget it. He forgets we even exist. It's not right... parents shouldn't have favourites."

"I know my dad doesn't."

"But because Zeus is a free spirit  - and believe me, he really is embracing it-"

"What do you mean?"

"...Naturism."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I don't go in his room any more... so yeah, and because Tristan is trying to be a miniature Tate, guess who matters the most."

"Damn..."

"I think it's getting to Zeus too. He puts on a brave face, but..."

Later that evening...

"...So all that made it pretty clear. Tristan is undoubtedly the favourite."

"Do you think he loves him?"

"I suppose he does? It's a lot of effort to buy a company for someone if you don't love them."

"Tate has more money than sense... but you're right. I'm just surprised, Hazel. I didn't think  he actually had the capacity to love anyone."

"No, me neither."

"That's useful... I'm going to bear that firmly in mind for the future. First, the current plan. Timed so that it all happens on the same day. His wife will receive a package, you will have another chat with the triplets and Charon... as we agreed?"

"Sure."

"Good. Then I'll pay Vincent a visit..."