The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

With someone powerful

The dining hall was eerily quiet as everybody slowly digested what Madam Jewel had revealed. “A man like Bryan Checks is getting involved with our family?” Mathew, second to Dean, questioned, frowning slightly.

“Why? How can a man like that possibly be interested in helping Peach and Grace though?!” Eli exclaimed angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling angered and confused.

Looking at Madam Jewel, Cora frowned slightly at the stress she saw in her mother‘s eyes and mumbled, “He is someone that never just gets involved with people without ulterior motives, Eli! He loves money and power… nothing else matters to him.” “Money, power, and women,” Amelia said, meeting her sister‘s eyes.

“What?”

“We are all missing the bigger picture here. Peach is a woman. Bryan is a man. Men usually get protective over the one they are interested in and would do whatever it takes to keep them protected no matter what, right mom?”

t‘s like a light bulb switched on in Madam Jewel‘s mind and the realization hit her hard, causing the color to drain from her face, as she stuttered out, “Oh my..”

As soon as those words left her mouth, the whole family turned their heads to stare at her with curious eyes.

“Peach can not be with a man as powerful as Bryan Checks… she can‘t be with anyone with that kind of power or prestige,” Madam Jewel stated quietly, her voice wavering slightly. A couple of silent minutes passed and nobody uttered a word. The tension in the air grew thicker, making everyone feel uneasy.

A nervous laugh filled with uncertainty erupted from Melina‘s lips as a sense of raw panic rose inside of her chest.

a woman like Peach, right? That is so… SO stupid and so unbelievable.” Melina blurted as her eyes darted

dropping his fork on the plate, locking eyes with her. “Peach is out there getting involved with a man like Checks, and you choose that no–good, worthless ass to marry!! How could you be so

at his furious outburst, Melina shrunk back into her chair and lowered her eyes in shame

Melina pouted and whispered, “We don‘t even know for sure if Peach is in a relationship with Checks! After all, she and her mother are still harboring my Ex–husband…” “Stop

glaring at him in a warning. A heavy sigh escaped Josh‘s lips as he dropped his gaze back to his plate and pushed the remains of his dinner away, mumbling, “You guys shouldn‘t have allowed her to marry that punk. That‘s all I am saying.” Staring at her son pleadingly, Martha looked toward her husband for

right. It‘s that trashy ex of hers. If he wasn‘t so useless and dumb, my sister‘s reputation wouldn‘t have taken such a beating!” Josh growled, glaring at his sister. Frowning, Madam Jewel reached for her glass of wine and took a small sip before turning her eyes on Josh and saying, “You four can have your separate meeting as a family to scold Melina for marrying a loser. But not tonight, and not at the meeting I arranged!” The raise in her voice caused everyone to turn and look at her, a look of seriousness on each of

concern now is Peach and Bryan Checks… I need to be sure that Peach doesn‘t have a man as powerful as Checks at her disposal and is

his privacy and doesn‘t reveal much about himself to people,” Dean commented with a frown, placing a hand on his

the table and resting both hands heavily on it, staring at each member of her family in

mean yes… I have a few business partners who I trust with something like that… They might be able to pull some strings and get me a meeting with Checks,” Dean replied, nodding his head and rubbing his chin. Looking at her son with a smile on her lips and an understanding sparkle in her eyes, Madam

he‘s a leech that lives off of anyone‘s money, and

anger.

will take you to see Peach… It‘s best if you have someone to protect you while you visit her..” Nodding her

stared at Elijah, mumbling, “Let me get this straight when you were little you used to cry a

Elijah‘s cheeks flushed and he averted his eyes from her and shook his head lightly at her words, not knowing how their little game got to such a

be enjoying herself. When Peach noticed Elijah‘s intense stare, she furrowed her brows and asked, “What is it?” “Nothing… you

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