A Snake in the Grass Chapter 24 Seth's POV " Well ? What did she say ? " I asked when Dad returned . " She'll come , but not to the house . She asked us to make a reservation . She is so stubborn . You would think that she understood that we are doing this to help her , not hurt her , " he replied with clear frustration in his voice . " Dad , we just need to sit her down and explain , but I don't want to push her too far . It's not worth losing my sister over . Ana's smart . She has made even more plans than the ones she made with you . She just gave Roger her engagement ring back . She's going to humiliate him and leave him , and Sasha looking like the bad guys . She was twisting the script on them and planning to walk away with her head high . I don't think she needs to marry Holden anymore , " I replied . Holden stiffened next to me and said , " I already booked us a VIP room for us to discuss this over dinner tomorrow at six . She doesn't have to marry me , but I would like to marry her . I hate that something happened to make her change so drastically . I spoke to my mother about it , and she is going to talk to Tiffany again . After Ana's comments yesterday about whether she was protected , it seems something happened to her that we weren't aware of . I need to know what happened . I can't take how she looks at me anymore ," Holden announced . " Reid , please tell me you didn't bully our daughter . Are you trying to make her completely cut ties with us ? " my mother asked . " Alicia , you know as well as I do that Ana has always been too stubborn for her own good . I know what's best for my daughter . Do not forget that I love her to the moon and back . I would never do anything that I thought would hurt her , but right now , she's not thinking clearly . She refuses to budge , and the scandal could ruin her . She was already engaged to Holden , and it's best for her to go along with it . She loved Holden ; it was obvious to anyone around them . Whatever this is , it needs to be dealt with , cleanly . We don't need everyone to know our business . It really is the best option ," my father answered her . Hearing his reply didn't comfort me . In fact , I knew that whatever he told Ana probably didn't reflect the love he had for her . I offered to go , but he insisted . He is treating this like a business deal , forgetting that Ana was already hurt . She had already blocked me . I guess he's going to be the next one to get cut out of her life . I need to make him see reason . I started this mess ; I needed to fix it . " Dad , you need to think carefully about what you are going to say at dinner tomorrow . Ana is guarded and upset . She blocked me after we went to Cook's Custom Jewelry on Thursday . She has been put through more than we were aware of , and this whole situation is a mess . I don't want to lose my sister . You need to remember that we don't even know where she lives anymore . She has become very good at avoiding us , do you think that a high - pressure situation is going to help , or hurt us , Dad ? " I asked . " Seth is right . I believe we need to take a much softer approach . Ana's like a feral cat . She's willing to strike at any of us if we get too close to her right now . I think we just need to sit down and talk , clear the air . We don't NDEP A Snake in the Grass C need to force the marriage to be held on the original date . We just need to cancel the wedding with Roger and make that information official . He's already married , so he can't kick up too much . I already have a copy of his marriage certificate . I won't let him make Ana a mistress or humiliate her . Then we can let it ' slip ' that Ana and I have been talking for a couple of months , and rekindled the feelings we had for each other . All we have to do is let a picture of us holding hands surface , and this whole thing should all be behind us . No one would be willing to go against the Caldwell and Vaughn families over this , " Holden pointed out . " Holden is right . The harder we came at her , the more she backed away . I also agree with him that Tiffany didn't do as we asked . I've put a lot of thought into when the real changes came , and it started our second year of college . Ana started to gain weight . But things were obviously bad when we came back the summer after our first year . I always thought she was going to let her anger go , but come on . Holding a grudge for ten years ? That's more than a third of her life . It's not a tantrum ; there's something we missed , and we need to fix it . Holden's right , she might just be angry with us for not protecting her . Just look over at the Vaughns " balcony . Tiffany and Gretchen look like they would like to kill Ana , " I advised , and everyone leaned forward to see what I was talking about . Thankfully , Tiffany and Gretchen didn't notice us . So my parents and Holden all got to see the look on their faces . It was apparent they hated Ana , and I know for a fact that she has never done anything to them Holden was right to speak to his mother about this . I think we've now discovered the issue , but my mother's reaction suggests she was scared to confront Naomi . We all knew how Tiffany was , spiteful and jealous of Ana when they were children . As Tiffany got older , she managed to hide it better , but I just think the mystery was solved . We just need to know what happened . and Naomi was the first to notice us looking at them and waved towards my mother . That got Tiffany a Gretchen's attention , and they quickly masked they're looks of disgust and smiled gently at us . My stomach turned . I was never going to accept Tiffany , especially not as my wife . My mother looked at me , and the pain . on her face was unmistakable . I heard a low sob , and Dad wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side . Well , at least we know why Ana kept quiet . Because whatever this mess was , it would have torn apart her friendship with Naomi " Maybe we should invite the Vaughns to the dinner , and get it all out in the open ," my mother hesitantly suggested . " I don't know , Mom . I think it would be best for the four of us , and Ana . She doesn't want to talk about it , and having Tiffany there won't make it any easier . But if we're going to confront them , we need to have Tiffany and Gretchen both there . Otherwise , Tiffany will defect everything onto Gretchen . Her family isn't as powerful as the Vaughns , and unless she's there to defend herself , we won't get the actual truth . I want the truth , no matter how painful it will be . I've felt like a disappointment to her all these years . She used to look up to me , she loved me , and things are not the same anymore . She still loves me , but she is holding me and Holden accountable for what happened . I know she is , I can tell that our relationship is much different than before ." I replied . My parents are upset , but Mom is completely shattered . She loved Ana , and she tried to be there for her , for us , our whole lives . To know that Ana took the blame and refused to speak about it is tearing us apart . She was trying to protect us from whatever it was , and none of us supported her in her darkest time . I want to go over there and force those two to tell me what they did to my sweet sister . We all know that every time we tried to force Ana to let it go or be nice to them , it had hurt her deeply . MANDONO A Snake in the Gr Grass I didn't mean to, but I keep messing things up . For instance , by using the guise of helping , I offered the solution of Ana marrying Holden . At the time , it seemed like a great idea . I thought she would be so grateful that Holden saved her from being ruined , she would be willing to make it work . I thought it was a done deal when Holden agreed to go through with it . I remember that timeframe well . Holden and I were only interested in finding the next girl . We thought Ana was fine because only a fool would have hurt her . I guess I was so used to having my orders followed , even back then , that I didn't once stop to think that there was an issue . Tiffany had better stay away from me from now on . I don't put my hands on women , but I could still call in a favor to have another woman deal with her . I can feel someone staring at me , and when I turned to look , Tiffany gave me a little finger wave . I turned back to the stage . She plays an innocent very well , but I know better now . I would have never imagined that she was the same person who was glaring daggers at Ana earlier . How she was acting now was an illusion . The person we saw earlier was the honest , unfiltered Tiffany . A snake in the grass . I leaned over to speak to Holden quietly . " We need to find out what Tiffany did to Ana . I don't want to let her out of the room until she tells us . I will bring security , and you can too . We need to deal with whatever it was . We need to remind her that she can always count on us to be there for her . So , no matter what happens tomorrow , we need to make sure that she knows that we love her , and we will never let her get hurt again ," I advised " Already ahead of you , Seth , I have already purchased an engagement ring for her . She will be Mr. Holden Vaughn . I hate to say this , but I support your father's decision to push her into marrying me . I will love and take care of her for the rest of her life , but I might need some help getting her to the altar . But after she's my wife , I won't allow anyone to hurt her again , even her own family ," Holden answered me . " Then we're in agreement , Holden . You're still the man she loves , but she's hurt . We just don't know how badly . yet . You need to convince her that you will be the best husband she could ask for , Holden . I'm entrusting you with one of the most important people in my life . Even if you are my best friend , I won't let you hurt her , " I replied . "I love your sister , Seth . I'll never hurt her , " Holden replied . " After the auction is over , I'll go over and smooth things between us out , so she will be more willing to talk to us tomorrow at dinner , " I responded . " That's not going to happen , Seth . I can see her balcony , and they all left , " Holden replied . I quickly turned to look at her balcony , and he was right , she was gone . I hope she actually shows up tomorrow . I need to apologize and make things right between us . After I find out what she did , Tiffany will be dealt with appropriately .