A Second Chance at Forever (Eleanor and Bernard) novel Chapter 1411

“Back in the day, the Hardy clan had fallen on hard times, deep in debt and having made more than a few enemies. It was common knowledge that there were plenty looking to settle scores with the Hardys, but every single one of them was thwarted by Yates' intervention.

With Yates' protection, no soul dared to hurt the Hardys; not even the darkest shadows could get close to Pauline.

That was until Yates was strong-armed by his father into marrying Samantha. Pauline, feeling betrayed, left, giving Gregory the chance he'd been waiting for to exact his revenge.

Leading his band of thugs, Gregory slaughtered Pauline's entire family. Then, in a heinous act, he had his goons take turns raping Pauline, who had just given birth.

The brutality was extreme; as my father told it, Pauline was left more than just physically broken—it was a cruel, cruel deed, and she died with her eyes open in defiance.

At that time, Gregory didn't have the clout to cross Yates, so after the deed was done, he framed it to look like the work of some other Hardy enemy.

Yates spent years searching for the truth, and it wasn't until the Siren Organization emerged that he started putting together the pieces. It was after many years that, inspired by the Siren Organization, he founded Ace, spreading his network to hunt down members of the Siren Organization...”

After laying out the whole twisted web of betrayal between Pauline, Timothy, and Yates, Mr. Penrod looked up at the composed man across from him.

"The one who truly ended Timothy was Yates himself, the master manipulator. Gregory was just playing hitman for Samantha. Perhaps Samantha saw an opportunity to rid herself of a problem with Yates planning to divorce her after their agreement ended. She simply decided to use Gregory as a pawn to eliminate Pauline."

Bernard's face was a mask of controlled rage, almost as if he blamed Mr. Penrod for not revealing these secrets sooner.

Facing Bernard's icy demeanor, Mr. Penrod felt compelled to explain, "I didn't tell you all this before because, well, my aunt had a hand in it. It's a rather sordid affair."

Bernard snorted coldly, "The disgraceful acts don't end with Samantha's manipulation. There's also the matter of the internal strife within Darkness, its dissolution, and its rebirth as the Siren Organization, right?"

Darkness, originally founded by Gregory, was now under the control of Xavier Penrod.

The details of what happened in the interim, where Gregory and the other Darkness members had gone, that was probably the most disgraceful part of it all.

"That year, your mother, Tammie Pine, was driven to her death by your grandfather and Donna The Pines, cowardly as ever, wouldn't even acknowledge her wrongful death. And your father was left in the dark, sinking into a grief he couldn't escape. I stood before your mother's gravestone and swore to strengthen the Siren Organization, to harness the power of all the families and wipe out the Stanley, Pine, and Laurence families."

As Mr. Penrod's eyes fell, it seemed as if he was recalling some unpleasant memory, his expression heavy with the weight of it.

"If it hadn't been for Leonard Laurence riding his white horse past Tammie at the racetrack that day, she might never have fallen for your father with that fleeting glance."

He couldn't help but see the parallels between himself and Timothy. It wasn't that he was facing a madman like Yates; rather, his adversary was the feeble heir of the Laurence family, the scion who seemed to possess neither the strength of character nor the cunning required to be a true contender.

"Even though your father was never really a match for me, I despised him with every fiber of my being. That's why, later on, I decided to take you under my wing, because..."

"Because I'm Leonard Laurence's kid. You wanted to mold me into a sharp and handy blade that you could then use to get back at the Stanley, Pine, and Laurence families?" asked Bernard.