I don’t feel anything. The entire flight from Newark to Hilton Head Airport I keep waiting for my emotions to take over, but they don’t. I sit in the seat of the tiny plane Christian was able to charter this morning feeling like a blank canvas. Not speaking. Registering nothing.
“Do you want to eat?” Luke asks from the seat across from me. I don’t even look at him as I shake my head. “Ana, you may not get a chance once we land. Have some pretzels.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Ana…”
“Just… bring me a bottle from the diaper bag. Calli should eat before we land.”
I hear his sharp intake of breath through his nose, but he doesn’t argue with me again. He gets up to do exactly as I ask and while I listen to him shaking the bottle of formula behind me I tighten my hold on my daughter, who is now sleeping in my arms. She screamed when the plane took off and continued to cry until long after we’d reached cruising altitude, but I almost prefered that. Now that she’s quiet and resting peacefully, there’s nothing to distract me from my thoughts. I know my mother is in critical condition, bad enough that Christian had been concerned about the time it would take me to fly from New York to Georgia, but I don’t know what happened to her or if anyone else I care for is among the injured. Or worse.
Carter. Taylor. Ryan. Bob.
They’re all question marks to me right now.
But they’re not the only questions keeping me silent. The thing making this the most difficult for me right now are the words that Luke said to me in the dressing room at the Today show, about Hyde.
“From what we know of this guy, he doesn’t seem to have a very forgiving nature when it comes to the people he has working for him not coming through…”
Hyun, Leila, Isaac. All people we know were working for him, and now they’re all dead because they didn’t accomplish what they were supposed to. When my mom did what she did after Calliope was born, I couldn’t understand it. I knew she’d been scared after what happened to me during spring break and, while I didn’t agree with it, I could even understand why she’d let that fear manifest into blame on Christian. But what I couldn’t understand was how she could, as a parent herself, let another parent believe their child was dead. How she could be selfish enough to try and steal a child away from her father when she believed that child had just lost her mother. How she could put the entire Grey family, who have been nothing but warm and welcoming from the day they met, through that much pain.
Unfortunately, the answer to those questions now seems obvious. She did what she did because he told her to. It was his plan. He wanted to hurt Christian, and he used someone I trusted to do it. That’s why she was so adamant about trying to break up Christian and I. That’s why she drug my dad into this and tried to poison him against Christian. Because of him. He wanted to take me away from Christian any way he could and my mother was going to help him. She didn’t though, and now she’s paid the price. But after everything Christian has given her, what could he have possibly promised her that would make her do this to him? To me?
I take a deep breath and tilt my head back, trying to fight back tears as I wonder what would have happened had I not made it through Calliope’s birth. She was in the hospital for 10 days. If they’d taken me off life support on day three, Christian and his family would have been gone long before she was discharged. Would she have been allowed to take her home? And if so, would she have tried to raise Calliope as her own, or would she have delivered her straight to him? Given him the ultimate leverage to use against Christian and take everything else he has away from him. Would he have ever gotten her back?
As I take the bottle from Luke and start to feed my daughter, my arms tighten around her tiny frame and I don’t relax my hold on her until after we’ve touched down in Savannah. A strange mix of nerves and dread course through me as we prepare to deboard because I’m not sure I even want to see my mother or know what her condition is. The betrayal I’ve felt so acutely since Calliope’s birth has been made even worse by my suspicion that she’s been involved in all of this and I can’t deal with that and the pain I still feel over the idea of losing her forever. Because, despite everything that’s happened over the last few months, she’s still my mother.
The choices she’s made don’t erase the twenty-two years of memories I have with her. They don’t negate all of the kisses on scraped needs, cuddles after nightmares, or the touch that was the only thing that felt good when I was sick. Hating what she’s done doesn’t make me forget about birthdays, or Christmases, or the one week every summer we spent on the beach playing in the surf and building sand castles. It doesn’t take back every I love you, even if it does make me question the sincerity behind it. It’s one thing to hate your mother when you know she’s safe. It’s an entirely different thing altogether when you know you’ll never speak to her or see her again. When you know that you’ll never have the chance to make things right.
I let out a long calming breath as I take the stairs from the plane down onto the tarmac, but the effects are wasted when I look up at the car waiting for us and see Christian step out. Not from the backseat, but the driver’s seat. Neither Taylor or Ryan are with him and after what happened last night, there’s only one explanation for why he would be alone out in public right now.
“Let’s get everything in the car as quickly as possible,” Christian says, looking past me to Luke. “We need to get back to the hospital.”
“What happened, Christian?” I ask.
He ignores me. “Get in the car, Ana.”
“No, where is everyone?” My voice is desperate as I seek answers to all the questions that have plagued me since I last spoke to him on the phone, but again, he doesn’t answer. Instead, his eyes flit nervously over the empty airfield around us and he pushes me towards the passenger seat of the black Cadillac.
“Just get in the fucking car.”
The bite in his tone momentarily extinguishes my need for answers as I too find myself looking over my shoulder before allowing him to take Calliope out of my arms and hurry me into the car. Luke buckles the carseat in behind me and once Calliope is secured inside the seat, Luke piles in next to her and Christian comes back around to the driver’s seat. Again, he looks warily around before he begins pulling off the tarmac and then speeds down the vaguely familiar highway in the direction of the hospital.
“What happened?” I ask again.
He takes a breath through his nose and when he speaks, his voice is tight. “They were ambushed.”
“How?” Luke asks.
“I don’t know… I don’t know the whole story. Everything happened very quickly. When they called me and I got on the plane, everything had gone according to plan. They had Isaac, they were bringing Carla back to Seattle… but when I landed, no one was there. None of them answered their phones, I had no idea what was going on. All I had was your mother’s address so I went there first and when I got there, the street was covered in glass and blood and everything was roped off by the police. They said it was a drive by.”
“As in… a shooting?” I ask. He nods.
“Your mother and Taylor are in critical condition, they were both in surgery when I got to the hospital.”
“Carter?” I check.
“He was wounded, but I think he’s going to be okay. I’m not really sure. He was admitted but he was also being questioned by the police so I haven’t had the chance to speak with him.”
“And, Ryan?” Luke asks. Christian presses his lips into a thin line and then slowly, shakes his head.
“Jesus Christ.” I look over my shoulder at Luke, who looks a little winded, and then reach back to take his hand. They were friends, and now he’s gone. Just like that. He squeezes my fingers with his, and then takes a few long deep breaths.
“Was there anyone apprehended at the scene?”
“No, the police are still looking for the car but Reed is the only witness who isn’t dead or unconscious. From what I’ve heard all he’s been able to tell them was that it was a black SUV with its lights off.”
I shake my head with disgust. “How did he coordinate something like this? Georgia, New York…”
“Washington,” Christian says, and the words send a tingle up my spine.
“Washington? What?”
“Kate and Elliot went to a concert in Tacoma last night and they stayed in a hotel, so my parents were watching her dog. Apparently he woke everyone up in the middle of the night barking his head off but when my dad got up to let him out, he didn’t see anything unusual. This morning though, after you called looking for me, Elliot brought Kate back to the house before going to Escala and when my dad told her that Champ had freaked out in the middle of the night, she asked Harrison to take a look around. The lock on the gate had been broken and the control panel on the alarm had been dismantled. It looks like someone tried to break in but got scared away when they came face to face with a 130 lb Bullmastiff.”
“Oh my god… everyone’s okay though?”
“Yeah.” He nods. “Thank god for Champ. I’m going to personally see to it that dog is never fed kibble for the rest of his life.”
“How did they get that close? Where was the security guard you hired to stay at your parent’s house?”
“You fired him last weekend. Remember?”
Right. Mia. Fuck, I forgot all about Mia. Should I tell Christian everything she said to me the morning of the wedding now? In the middle of all of this? I don’t know if he can handle much more.
“There’s more…” he says hesitantly. Shit.
“More?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, then presses his thumb into the news app on the screen before passing it across the console to me. There are a few stories spread across the home page, all Seattle news, so it takes me a second to realize what he’s showing me.
Women’s Correctional Facility Riot Leaves One Inmate Dead, Others Wounded.
I don’t have to read the article to figure out who it was. Besides, this brings up another issue. One I don’t want to face or admit is an issue at all, but because I love the man sitting next to me, I have to.
I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Christian.”
“No, you’re not,” he replies bluntly. “And it’s fine. There’s no reason to be.” He’s brushing me off but I catch him swallowing, as if he’s trying to force down a lump in his throat, and the muscle in his jaw ticks as he clenches his teeth.
“You can talk to me, I won’t be upset. Are you… Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” he says bluntly. “But that has nothing to do with Elena. I’ve done everything I know how to do and I can’t stop him. He’s always one step ahead of me.” His hand moves up and drags through the light stubble over his chin and when he reaches back down for the steering wheel, he squeezes it so hard that his knuckles turn white. “Did I make the wrong choice?”
“What do you mean?”
“When Elena offered me his name for her freedom. Did I make the wrong choice?”
“You mean when you refused to put a child molestor and a convicted sex criminal back on the streets in exchange for the vague promise of a name? No, Christian. You didn’t make the wrong choice.”
“It’s very easy to moralize the situation when you frame it in black and white like that but things turn gray real fast when you consider what we’ve lost trying take the high road. I sent them here, Ana. Ryan’s blood is on my hands, and if Taylor or your mother…” He stops and swallows again. “It would be different if he was coming for me, but he isn’t. He attacks the people I love and I can’t stop him.”
“You will,” I reply firmly. “We’ll find a way.” We have to. There is no other choice. He doesn’t seem as sure though.
“When? And who else am I going to lose before that happens? Mia? You? I can’t keep lying to myself and think I’m protecting you when Hyde was in your fucking dressing room. I can’t stop him and I can’t risk losing you, Ana.”
“You’re not taking risks, this is happening to you. To all of us. You’re doing everything you can to make sure we’re all safe.”
“Am I?”
“What are you saying, Christian?”
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what I’m saying, I don’t know what I’m thinking… I don’t what I want to do. Maybe your mom was right. Maybe the answer is that… I’m too dangerous for you.”
“No, that’s not true,” I snap, but he doesn’t look at me. He focuses only on the road as he turns into the parking lot of the hospital. I don’t know how to take what he’s said. I don’t know if he’s serious or if he’s just scared, but his thought process over this whole thing has obviously changed, and this new direction has taken the wind out of me. Suddenly, in a whole new way, it feels as though I may be fighting for my life.
Once we’re parked, he gets out of the car and comes around my side to open the door. I over examine everything, from the way holds my hand in his to the way he walks beside me. In this moment, I can’t even think about what’s waiting on the other side of the automatic doors, even after we step through them.
“Christian,” I whisper. “I love you.”
He stops, pulling gently against my hand to stop me with him, and then looks deep into my eyes. They gray of his irises seems darker than normal, concealing his thoughts and emotions from me. I can’t read him, so I’m surprised when he takes my face in his hands, leans down, and kisses me. Not politely. This kiss is entirely inappropriate for the number of strangers in the waiting room around us, and for my CPO standing only a few feet away, carrying my daughter. His tongue invades my mouth and tangles forcibly with mine. He groans passionately against my lips. When he pulls away, it’s only because we’re both breathless and he has to take a moment to rest his forehead against mine to catch his breath.
“I love you too,” he whispers, sounding pained. “So much.”
There’s resignation in his voice that is terrifying and when he reaches down for my hand again, my throat tightens and tears spring to my eyes.
“Christian…”
He cuts me off. “Come. Let’s get an update.”
Taylor and my mother are out of surgery, but it’s too early to tell anything real about their condition. They’ve been moved into the ICU, where they’ll remain under constant supervision for at least the next 24 hours. Carter is no longer being interviewed by the police though, so we go to his room first to get the story of what actually happened.
“Carter,” I gasp as we step into the room. He’s shirtless, sitting up in bed, and there’s a large white bandage wrapped around his left shoulder. When he turns to look at me, he winces.
“Ana, are you okay?” There’s genuine concern in his voice that makes me feel guilty.
“Me? What about you?”
“I’ll be alright, it’s just the shoulder. Hurts like a bitch but it should leave a pretty cool scar that I can use to impress some girl who’s way too hot for me when I get out of here.”
I laugh and then carefully ease myself down on the side of his bed. “I’m so sorry, Carter. This is all because of me. I shouldn’t have agreed to what you proposed. You should have said no.”
“I’m not sorry,” he says. “What happened would have happened whether I was there or not and if I had said no and your mom was taken or killed, I wouldn’t have been able to ever look you in the eye again. We gave your mom a chance when she had nothing before, and at the very least, he lost someone too. Someone important. The fewer people he has to use to get to you and Calli, the better we’ll all sleep at night. I don’t regret going, Ana. I’m proud of my decision.”
“And I’m forever grateful,” Christian says. “This didn’t work out the way we’d hoped, but I want you to know that what we talked about still stands. And, if you ever need anything, it’s yours. Just call me.”
“Thanks, Grey.”
“Christian,” he corrects him. “My friends call me Christian.”
Carter smiles but then winces again and takes a deep breath as he allows his body to relax back into the pillows.
“I don’t want to put you through more than you’ve already had to endure,” Christian says. “But Ryan is dead and the head of my security is unconscious. I’d really like to talk to you about what happened.”
He nods. “Of course. Um… Isaac pulled me out of bed just after midnight. There was no phone call or advanced warning, he just shook me awake in the middle of the night and told me we had to go. Ana wasn’t supposed to be in Atlanta until Friday so we all thought we had more time. I was worried that Taylor wasn’t ready. I knew he had me under surveillance but I also don’t really know what that means so I thought maybe he might not have been prepared to go right then. We snuck out of the house and drove off my block, but I had no idea if Taylor knew we were leaving or not and I had no way to contact him. I just had to sit.”
“It’s like three hours from my house to Savannah and Isaac didn’t say a single word to me the entire drive. I didn’t even know where we were going. We just pulled up alongside the street of this random neighborhood and he started walking me through the plan. How we were going to get into the house, where the target would be, how we were going to restrain her. He never told me an exit plan and I realize now, that should have been a red flag, but I don’t know enough about this stuff to ask. I just agreed and silently hoped Taylor was there.”
“We got out of the car and went down this alley and jumped a back fence. It was only 4:30 so it was still dark outside and we came up behind this strange house. He jimmied the lock on the external garage door.”
Suddenly, I can picture the scene he describes with perfect detail. I know exactly the door he’s talking about and I know that my mother doesn’t lock the door from the garage into the house. From there, it’s only a few short steps to her bedroom.
“We got into the house and he handed me a gun. I waited for him to move first and then followed him through a laundry room and then off the right to the bedroom. She was still asleep so she didn’t hear us come in. She didn’t know we were there. He was fast. He got to her and pulled her out of bed, and she was so disoriented he’d already had the duct tape out before she started to scream. He didn’t even ask me for help as he tied her up, he didn’t need it. The way he restrained her and tied the ropes around her wrists, it’s like he’d done it a thousand times before and watching him do it was almost sickening. I still didn’t know who she was, but I knew that he planned to kidnap her and would probably end up killing her, and because I didn’t know where Taylor was, it felt like I was just letting it happen. I almost had to try and stop him, but as she struggled to get away from him and he finally called me for help, I heard the click of a gun behind me and Taylor’s voice telling Isaac to put his hands in the air.”
“He did and once Ryan came into the room and we both lifted our guns and pointed them directly at him. He dropped his weapon and backed up against the wall. Taylor wanted to get him out of the house, to get him somewhere secure, so while he dealt with Isaac, Ryan called you, and I moved to help the woman. It was only after I’d freed her that I got an inkling who she was. She has Ana’s eyes. She started to cry and I hugged her and told her that Ana had sent us for her and that she was safe. Then Ryan came back into the room to help Taylor. They talked for a while, trying to decide where to take him that would be safe until you arrived. I don’t even know where they decided, I was too focused on trying to calm down Ana’s mom, but once a decision had been made, they each hooked an elbow through Isaac’s arms and started dragging him from the room. They had a big SUV outside to get us all out of there and Ryan got in first so that they could put Isaac in the back seat between him and me. Taylor got in the driver’s seat, and I helped Ana’s Mom into the front passenger seat. I’d just closed the door and moved to get in the backseat myself when another car without headlights on pulled beside the car and opened fire.”
“The whole thing happened so fast. It probably only lasted maybe ten seconds but they unloaded a full magazine from an automatic rifle into the side of the SUV. I got hit almost immediately so I fell to the ground and I think now they must have thought I was dead. I probably would have been had I been in the car because both Ryan and Isaac…” He shudders. “I could hear their tires screeching as they peeled out on the asphalt and then a few seconds later the neighbors started coming out into their lawns and someone called the police. The ambulance came and brought us here and once they took the bullet out of me and patched up my arm, the police came in to question me. I don’t know anything else. Are Taylor and Ana’s mom okay?”
“We don’t know,” Christian says. “They just got out of surgery. They’re alive though.”
“Good.” He nods and I reach out to rest my hand over his, but I’m distracted again by a worried voice from the hallway.
“Ana?” It’s Kate and when she passes the open doorway and sees us sitting inside, she first looks relieved. Then her eyes fall on Carter and the bandage around his shoulder and her mouth falls open with shock.
“Kate? What are you doing here?” I ask.
“We just landed,” she explains. “The whole family came. We went to see your mom and Taylor and they told us you were here. They asked me to…” Her words cut off and she almost seems to gasp, like she’s having a hard time catching her breath. “Carter?”
“Hey, Katie…” he croaks. Her eyes widen with disbelief as she comes into the room and starts to examine him.
“Oh my god. Why are you here? What happened to you?”
“Oh you know. Just casually taking a bullet on the side of the road, typical Monday night stuff.”
“He was trying to save my mom,” I add.
“What? Why? Jesus Christ, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing really. Actually…” He hesitates. “Katie, I’ve meaning to call you…”
“Ana?” It’s Elliot this time, standing awkwardly in the doorway, and he shifts uncomfortably as his eyes move from Kate and Carter, to me. “The doctors said you need to come. It’s not looking good.”
“Who?” I check, but the answer is in his eyes. I scramble quickly off the bed, reaching for Christian’s hand as I scurry across the floor. “I’ll be back, Carter,” I call over my shoulder. “I promise.”
“Don’t worry about me, Annie,” he replies. Kate takes the place I’ve vacated on his bedside and Elliot lingers in the doorway for just a moment, but he doesn’t say anything. He turns and follows Christian and I back down the brightly lit sterile hallway towards the ICU.
There are too many people surrounding my mother’s bed. Kate was right, the entire family came, and I have to force my way between Mia and Grace before I can see her.
It’s a shock.
She’s paler than I’ve ever seen her look before and there’s dry blood matted in her hair. They have her covered from the neck down so I don’t really know where she’s injured, but her halted breathing, even with the help of an intubation tube, gives me a good idea. Her eyes are closed, but the blood and the tubes make it impossible for me to imagine she’s just sleeping.
Looking at her, I feel so small. The shock grips my lungs like a vice, making it hard to breathe, and I can feel by body shaking. I want to cry and scream and be sick all at once, but I can’t do anything. I can’t can’t move. I can’t hold myself up. As the shaking becomes more violent, my knees give out and I’m swept with a wave of vertigo.
“Annie!” my dad cries worriedly from the other side of the bed.
“I’ve got her,” Christian says. He holds all of my weight as he catches me and pulls me against him, then turns to Elliot. “Bring me that chair, please.”
With a nod, Elliot turns and drags the chair against the wall near the foot of the bed towards me, and slowly Christian lowers me into it. My dad comes around the bed and kneels down next to me, then reaches up and takes my mother’s pale hand in his. The touching gesture catches my eye and brings up another question that was nagging at me on the plane. There should be another man here, holding her hand.
“Where’s Bob?” I ask.
My dad glances up at Christian and then back to me. He looks nervous. “I’m sorry… I should have said something but you and your mom weren’t really, uh…” He takes a breath. “Bob left your mom, Annie. Right after your graduation. He’s been living in an apartment a few miles away from her since June.”
“Oh…” At first the news doesn’t seem to make much impact on me, I think because I’m still in so much shock over everything that’s happened, but then, without warning, the dam holding back all of my emotions bursts with unbelievable force and my body crumples in the chair as I’m overtaken by horribly painful sobs. My dad pulls me into his chest and wraps as much of me as he can in his arms. He doesn’t whisper words of comfort into my ear, he knows there’s nothing he can say. He just holds me and lets me cry.
“Umm… excuse me. Are you Anastasia Steele?” I look up and, through my tears, see a very somber man looking down on me.
“Grey,” I cough, the correction now automatic, but when I nod, he takes a breath and steps past Carrick. He gives me a rundown on the severity of my mother’s condition and her injuries, which include three gunshot wounds to the chest and one to the abdomen. From his explanation of the surgery and everything they’ve observed since she’s been brought into the ICU, I get my first taste of how grim the prognosis really is. She’s not going to wake. She’s gone, and as her next of kin, they’re looking to me to make a decision on what to do. Only there isn’t really a choice. There’s only one thing to do. I just have to be the one to say it.
“It’s crowded in here…” Grace chokes from behind me, trying to hide her own tears. “Why don’t we go back to the waiting room and give Ana and Ray a little space, huh?”
Mia nods, but reaches out and hugs me over the back of my chair. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I love you, Ana.”
“I love you too, Meems.”
She sniffs and then let’s her mother lead her from the room with Elliot dragging along behind. Carrick gives me a tortured but sympathetic look, then tells Christian they’ll be outside before he follows after his wife and children.
“Mrs. Grey?” The doctor presses me. I glance back down at my mom and blink away tears.
“Can I just have a moment alone with her, please?”
“Of course,” the doctor says. “We’ll come check on you again in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” He turns to leave and my dad stands and leans over my mother’s bed to kiss her on the forehead.
“Good-bye, Carla,” he says, unsuccessfully covering the crack in his voice. He turns back to me, reaches into his jacket, and pulls out a thick bunch of envelopes that are held together with a blue rubber band. “I met Elliot at Escala and he saw the letters piling up on the counter that your mom’s been sending to you. He thought you might like them now. If you want.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, reaching out and taking the letters from his shaking hands. His eyes are glassy and he takes a deep, wet breath before nodding, then kisses the top of my head and exits after the doctor.
“Do you want me to go?” Christian asks.
“Please,” I whisper. “But stay close. Okay? Don’t leave.”
“I won’t.” He too kisses me, on my forehead though. “I’m so sorry, Ana. If you need me for anything, I’ll be in the waiting room.”
“I’ll be out soon, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, baby.”
His words make me start to cry again but I shake off his attempts to comfort me and instead ask him to leave again so I can have one more moment alone with my mother. He does, and once I hear the door close behind him, I sink out my chair and onto my knees. I place the letters on the bed and then entwine my fingers with my mother’s
“It’s just you and me now, Mom. No one else. Please wake up.” I pause, gripping her hand tightly with mine as I wait, but she doesn’t stir. “Please,” I beg again. “Okay, we can talk. I shouldn’t have just ignored you, I’m sorry. But we can talk now. We can work out everything between us, we’ll figure out a way, but just wake up, okay? Please? Please, Mom.”
I wait, but there’s nothing. The room is silent except for the slow, steady beep of her heart on the monitor. A beep that won’t last forever.
“Please.”
The doctor doesn’t give me long. When he returns I ask him to explain everything to me one more time so I can be absolutely sure once this is over that I’ve made the right decision. After all, I was on life support once. But this isn’t like when I was in the hospital after Calliope. There isn’t a chance that she’s going to wake up and be fine. There isn’t even a chance that she’ll wake up with severe mental deficiencies or impaired motor function. This is about a machine that’s moving her lungs, and pumping her heart, and how long I want those machines to keep running.
He hands me a form to sign saying that he’s explained everything to me and that I understand what removing life support means. I scrawl a very shaky signature across the bottom and when he asks if I’d like another moment, I shake my head. There’s no sense in prolonging this. There’s no reason to hold on to something that isn’t there or to drawing out this pain. Hope is worse than defeat right now.
“I can’t watch you do it,” I tell him. He nods as his team comes into the room and then steps aside to let me pass.
I pause outside the room to let myself unravel. There’s no sound to whatever they’re doing inside so I don’t have to hear the final moments, which I’m grateful for. I slide slowly down the wall at my back until I’m sitting on the floor and while I try to regain control of my breathing, I reach out for the letters at my side, and slowly, open the one on top.
Anastasia,
I know you can’t understand what I did and I don’t expect you to. Hell, I think I was half out of my mind myself. I don’t intend to make excuses. I don’t expect you to forgive me. But at the very least, I do want you to know that what I did wasn’t purely out of selfishness. I was trying to protect you. I was trying to protect your daughter.
Before I came to Seattle for your baby shower in March, I’d gotten a phone call. It was a man who told me that your involvement with Christian was going to get you killed. He said that it was in my best interest to get you to leave Christian of your own volition, that that was the only way you’d be safe. I asked him who he was but he told me not to ask questions. Questions would get you killed. Words in general would get you killed. I was to convince you to leave, to break Christian’s heart, and if I could do that, you would be fine. He promised me that if you walked away, he wouldn’t harm you and he wouldn’t harm your baby. But if you didn’t, you would die. If I spoke of this conversation, you would die. If I called the police, you would die.
It’s not the first time I’ve gotten calls from crazies about you. Ever since your name started being printed in the news, people have called me. They always say vile things about what a slut you are or about raping you… I thought this was just the same in a long line of terribly unfunny prank calls.
But it wasn’t.
After your baby shower, you were attacked, and I knew it was real. And it was all because of me. Because I didn’t take it seriously. He called me again, and gave me one last chance. I took it. I knew you were too stubborn to listen to me, especially with a baby on the way, so I screamed at Christian on the phone and brought up everything he’s ever done and how it affected you. I blamed him for every hurt, for every tear, for every ounce of physical pain hoping that he might just give up and leave. But he wouldn’t. So then I tried Ray.
When he called you on your graduation, I thought that was the day. I thought I’d run out of time. I watched you laying in that hospital bed and I couldn’t stop all the horrible thoughts that some how, he’d done this to you. None of this was an accident, that you’d been poisoned or he’d found a way to hurt you, maybe while you were sleeping. It’s seems implausible now, but at the time, I was too blinded by fear and the reality that I was going to lose you for it not to all make sense.
I thought I’d lost you, Ana. I wasn’t going to lose Calliope too. That’s why I said what I said to Christian. I wanted to protect her from him. When I wrote my first letter to you, I still wasn’t sure I should tell you. I’m still so scared. Your father told me about the Leila girl and the boy from Thanksgiving, I don’t want that to be you.
But you won’t listen to me anymore, so I can’t protect you. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to staying quiet if I can’t do what he’s asked me to do to keep you safe, so here it is. You’re in danger, Ana. Please, please, consider that. Consider the safety of your daughter. Run away. Please.
And don’t hate me forever.
I love you, darling baby girl. I’ll always love you. I’ll always be here for you. I’ll always be your mom.
Heartbroken. That’s the only way I can explain the way I feel right now and as I watch the doctors come out of my mother’s room while more hospital personnel go inside, I know I need to get out of here. Taylor is still here somewhere, and I don’t want to leave Carter alone, but I can’t be here right now. I need somewhere I can let myself fully absorb the gravity of what’s happening and then properly fall apart. Maybe in a hotel room, maybe just in the car, but either way, I need to leave this hospital.
I peel myself off the floor, and make my way down the hall to the waiting room, where I know my father and the Grey’s are waiting. It’s an extremely nice setup they have here, the opposite really of the waiting room in Seattle. There are wooden partitions up that create private spaces for family members to come together, probably because this floor has seen so much death. But it means, as I search for my family, that I hear them talking before they see me and when I hear Christian’s voice, I stop to listen.
“I don’t know what else to do, Elliot,” he groans. “You think this is really what I want? You think I could live a day without Anastasia? He’s coming after me and you’re all in danger because of it. Because of me. I can’t let him hurt her.”
“So get on your plane,” Elliot says. “Let Ros have GEH, get on your plane with Ana and Calliope and just go somewhere he can’t find you. I know that you’re scared but you can’t leave her, Christian. It would destroy the both of you and… you’re a father now. That little girl deserves to have you in her life.”
“There’s got to be a way we can stop him,” Carrick says. “Something we haven’t thought of yet.”
“Are you willing to lose people we care about while we try?” Christian counters. “He was at your house last night, Dad. Ana’s mother is going to die because of him.”
“Yeah, so… are we going to talk about what that means?” Elliot asks.
“What do you mean?” Grace asks.
“Well, this guy knows everything Ana and Christian does, so he would know that Ana was estranged from her mother. That doesn’t make her a very likely target if he was trying to get her just to hurt Ana. We all had questions after she tried to basically kidnap Calliope after she was born, maybe… Don’t hate me for saying this, but maybe she was working with him. He does go after his own people when they don’t live up to his expectations and Carla didn’t deliver a baby to him.”
“No,” Christian says. “Carla didn’t like me, but she loved Ana. She wouldn’t have helped the man who was trying to hurt her.”
“She would if she thought that is what she was trying to prevent,” I say, and the voices on the other side of the partition go silent. I take a breath and wipe away the moisture still clinging to my cheeks before I step into view. Every pair of eyes turn to look at me, so I hold up my mother’s letter. “He called her before my shower and told her that if she didn’t break Christian and I up, he was going to hurt me and Calliope. He promised her that if she could convince me to break Christian’s heart and that she never said anything about him, that he wouldn’t harm me. He used my life as leverage over her and she fell for it.”
“What?” my dad asks. I hand him the letter. It’s silent as we all watch his eyes scan through the pages, and when he’s finished, there’s almost a green tint to his completion. “Why would someone do this?”
“Because it’s how he gets what he wants,” Mia says, her voice breaking as she forces out the words. “People are surprisingly self-sacrificing, so he demands your silence by going after the people you love. He sends flowers to your private dressing room at your rehearsal space with a note reminding you to keep your mouth shut. He sends you pictures from the inside of your house of your mother doing laundry with a red dot on the back of her head. He calls you from an anonymous number to talk about how much work your dad’s golf swing needs when you know he’s out on the course. He leaves pictures of Ana or Elliot or Kate on the the windshield of your car at school. He does everything he can to show you that he can get to the people you love and reminds you over and over again that staying silent is the only way to keep them from getting hurt.” She starts crying and every person sitting inside the closed off vestibule goes stiff.
“Mia…” Christian breathes. She looks up at him with tear filled eyes and shakes her head with shame.
“Christian…. I know who it is.”
wishingmrgreywashere 
Mia knew!!! Can’t wait for the next chapter to be release..u are awesome writer❤️👍🏻💖
LikeLiked by 2 people
WHOA!!!!!! Did NOT see that end coming!!! Oh man! Can’t wait for the next update!!! And Christian is out of his mind if he thinks Ana will let him just leave her to keep her safe.
LikeLike
Hmm. Still not liking Carla, but I guess it’s not nice to speak of the almost deceased. Are we 100% certain Elena is dead? The suspect has infiltrated every aspect of their lives. Trust is obliterated.
LikeLike
OMG, who is it??? Please give us a bonus chapter!!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Omg i knew it i fucking knew Mia knew its the prick dom in the club brillant Tara
LikeLiked by 2 people
REMEMBER, though, that WHOEVER it is has to know ANA as well. After all, HE EXPECTED ANA TO REMEMBER HIM, because he claimed to have tried to be nice to her previously.
So if it IS someone from the club, then it would almost have to be a GEH/SIP employee that has worked with Ana. OR maybe a SECURITY OFFICER that has worked with Ana. ANY WAY you look at it, though, Mr. Conspiracy Head KNOWS Ana from some sort of relationship previously.
I believe Mr. Conspiracy Head sees Mia as having previously chosen to SIDE WITH ELENA in trusting Elena to provide her with funds for school, DESPITE knowing just WHERE those illegal funds were coming from. And ANA chose to get back together with Christian, DESPITE knowing that CHristian was now rich ALL from THE LIE that begat GEH—i.e. lying that he had never slept with Elena, thus allowing her to take Andrew to the cleaners.
And ELENA would have HAD to KNOW this individual in order to trust that she could work with him. After all, had someone CLAIMING to have the power to take down Christian approached her, Elena would have most likely ignored him. But Mr. Conspiracy Head HAD to have been known to Elena as having power to actually DO what he claimed he would do.
For the above reasons, I still think it is Andrew Lincoln. The employees of SIP that we know of that worked with Ana have almost all been eliminated at this point. HOWEVER, Tara DID say that it was someone named by a commentator at least once, and BARNEY has been suggested, as has other security officers. However, WHY one of these individuals would target Mia is BEYOND me, UNLESS HE came to Elena’s club as well.
We would need a LOT of backstories, at this point, for it to be a virtually unknown player. So I’m tending to stick with Andrew Lincoln as the most likely suspect. I can’t see ANYONE else being so driven to take down Christian, Ana AND Mia as feeling all THREE wronged him.
(I tend to be ignoring Stephen Morton as a suspect at this point because CARLA would seemingly have recognized him and named him in her letter. AND we would need a SUBSTANTIAL backstory to explain his choosing to target MIA as well, since Mia would only have had a chance to encounter him IF he utilized Elena’s club and had moved to Seattle following his divorce from Carla.)
LikeLike
Tori (or Tara, I guess), I have a question about your theory. Didn’t he only expect Ana to know him in a dream she had? I can’t think of a time when HE specifically said she should know who he is. Even at graduation, he just said “Hi, Ana.” (or whatever he said) when she supposedly looked at him, but didn’t even point out that she should have recognized him. Is that right? I’m only asking because now I’m wondering if that dream hint was supposed to be a red herring to make us think of Hyde?
LikeLike
I admit that there have been too many “fake dreams” that make you think Mr. Conspiracy Head has said things he actually hasn’t said. HOWEVER, WHEN ANA ANSWERED THE PHONE, HE DID expect Ana to know who it was. He said “let’s not waste time pretending” and indicated that she KNEW who HE was. HE then told Ana (and Christian and Luke) that they were NOT looking in the right direction. Ana apparently then DID look in HIS direction, as he said “hello Ana.”
So Mr. Conspiracy Head DID seemingly expect Ana to recognize him. And CHRISTIAN was looking around as well, which had escaped me previously. (Because WHY wouldn’t Christian recognize Andrew Lincoln, a man he had known for YEARS.) So either Christian NEVER looked in the same direction as Ana, OR Andrew could have changed his appearance enough to be trying to test Ana to see if she COULD recognize him.
But he was CLEARLY PRESENT at graduation and observing the proceedings. And while anyone can presumably come to an open graduation, WHY would HE choose to be there? (HOWEVER, we now KNOW that Carla was under his influence then and trying to separate Ana from Christian, so HE could want to be present then, KNOWING what Carla was going to do. BUT THE OTHER possibility is that HE had still ANOTHER reason for being at the graduation, in addition to leaving PROOF of Leila’s dead body—which might have been FURTHER proof to scare Carla, as well.)
(Tara has said that someone has identified in the comments who HE is, so that pretty much rules out some unknown like Kate’s Dad. AND we would expect Christian OR ANA to RECOGNIZE the stalker guy that killed so many their freshman year. And WHY would HE contact ANA, if his whole focus had been on KATE previously? WHY target and focus on ANA? UNLESS he wanted REVENGE on Christian for helping Elliot take him down. While Ana DID get pinned down by Mr. Stalker guy previously, I believe he had a mask on and wasn’t identified until the DNA evidence came through. ANA wouldn’t be expected to necessarily recognize the man the way Kate or Christian would, who DIRECTLY interfaced wtih HIM. AND you would THINK that the family OR POLICE would notify Christian or Kate IF the stalker guy got out, particularly since he KILLED so many people, dESPITE the fact that the family was supposed to be rich and powerful. BUT that guy WAS supposed to be super smart. But HOW would he have been able to control ELENA? And even ELENA clearly expected HIM to be taken down relatively easily by Christian WITH her help.)
So CHRISTIAN did not recognize HIM as well. Which could be TELLING. But Mr. Conspiracy Head DID EXPECT ANA to recognize him by site.
I previously expected confirmation of Hyde’s involvement at the time we learned of Elena’s BOOK, since I said that Mr. Conspiracy Head would have to have some expectation of publication for the book, meaning HE had to use someone with publishing ties, which turned out to be correct.
I previously ruled out Hyde as the HEAD of the Conspiracy definitely when he made that ridiculous attempt at getting Ana in her dressing room. He didn’t even bother to bring a gun with him and still reeked of alcohol. AND the feds or Luke learned of WHY Hyde supposedly helped the Conspiracy due to what he did with underage girls. So I just can’t see Hyde being willing to risk being in jail at the time his revenge plan still remained unfinished, if it was him behind it all.
The KEY to this has been that Mr. Conspiracy Head is SOMEONE that MIA AND ANA should both know. AND someone that Elena would have reason to FEAR. And with Elena already serving time in prison, what more could she fear being revealed? But we DO know that Elena feared that one “client,” as she was willing to put her relationship wtih Christian at jeopardy, since HAD Mia been raped, you KNOW Christian would have turned Elena in. And Mia looked NOTHING like the type of woman that Mr. Stalker Guy was after, although Gia WOULD have met the description.
I’m still FURIOUS with Mia for seemingly being willing to allow Ana to be harmed in exchange for her own family. Because I can’t interpret her actions is any other way but this, if she truly KNOWS who HE is. So because HE “might” do something to her parents, she let HIM definitely try to attack and harm ANA. KNOWING she was pregnant. And NOTHING excuses this, since Mia should know that Leila has already been killed.
So Mia has a lot of explaining to do. I GET that she was a child, but HIS obvious ability to get CLOSE to her family was ALL the reason WHY she should have said SOMETHING to her brother. AND she seemingly put herself at risk REPEATEDLY, so she clearly didn’t expect HIM to come after her!
BUT MY THEORIES have been based on Mr. Conspiracy Head telling the truth that Ana WOULD have reason to KNOW AND SUSPECT HIM. Which is TELLING. And MIA knows HIM as well. So we are still dealing with the CROSSOVER of it being someone that both have been acquainted with, and there is LITTLE overlap between Mia and Ana previously, UNLESS the person WORKED at GEH AND had been to the CLUB and had something to HOLD OVER on Elena.
And my THEORY as to Andrew Lincoln was also based on ELENA’s HAVING to tell the TRUTH in her book about what REALLY went on back in the day—and VERY FEW people would KNOW enough to FORCE Elena to put the truth into the book. But WHY wouldn’t CHristian recognize him?
But IF Stalker Guy got out of prison or an asylum based on “good behavior,” then you would have expected him to kill Elliot, who helped bring him down, particularly if Gia worked for him. WHY target CHRISTIAN? And WHY would he want so much to do horrible things to ANA?
As others have said, ANDREW LINCOLN is the obvious choice to suspect. AND it might not be the obvious choice. AND we KNOW that Kate’s stalker guy was brilliant, wonderful at stalking behaviors, came from a powerful and rich family AND WAS CRAZY to boot. And CARRICK worked wtih Kate’s family to make sure the guy was put away for life. But WHY focus on Christian and Ana rather than Kate? He wanted to make CHristian suffer as he suffered, but WHY would ELLIOT escape his notice, since Elliot helped keep him from murdering Kate. And WHY not go after KATE first, if it was this guy? And WHERE would Mia and Elena fit into crazy stalker-guy’s plan?
So I’m still sticking with Andrew, although I admit there are multiple possible holes that need to be plugged up, such as if he had so much power and capacity to do this before, then WHY let his company be taken in the first place? ANDREW would know who all to approach, and once he forced Elena to help him, he would have everything at his disposal that he potentially needed. It would seeminging be much HARDER for MR. Stalker Guy, whose focus was on KATE before. AND Mr. Stalker Guy was seemingly YOUNGER than Mr. Conspiracy Head.
AGAIN, there are multiple possibilities still out there. But I ADMIT that the biggest HOLE to my theory of it being Andrew Lincoln is that Christian SHOULD have recognized HIM at graduation. But there may be REASONS why he didn’t. And ANDREW would know Mia, while Mr. Stalker Guy would have to have a BACKSTORY for why he targeted Mia (such as his perfecting his “skills” over dominating women at Elena’s club). So MIA OPENING HER MOUTH NOW is the only thing that is going to reveal HIS identity.
ANY WAY you look at it though, Mr. Conspiracy Head DID EXPECT ANA TO KNOW HIS VOICE AND/OR APPEARANCE. It has been years since Ana saw Andrew Lincoln or Stalker Guy, and she is NOT expecting to see EITHER one, so she may not have recognized his change in appearance. But MIA, DOES know HIS identity, which pretty much CONFIRMS that WHOEVER HE IS came through ELena’s club. Where Mia NEVER should have been. So I have little pity left for Mia, quite frankly, even though I know I should sympathize with a child who can’t think things through. BUT MIA HAS MADE SO MANY MANY BAD CHOICES that it seems unfair that so many others pay the price for her stupidity, when they might could have been saved. STILL, the Ultimate Bad Guy is Mr. Conspiracy Head, and we just need his identity to hopefully reveal WHY he did what he did.
LikeLike
OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!???? HOW COULD YOU LEAVE US LIKE THIS??? HOLY CRAP GIRL!! LOL. YOU MUST post a bonus update something!!! dying here already!
LikeLiked by 1 person
NO NO NO NO YOU CAN’T LEAVE US LIKE THIS!
What a long week it is going to be D: any chance of a bonus chapter? You know, to prevent heart attacks.
Oh my god I confirmed a lot of my suspicions, like it was Ana’s mother involvement and Mia knowledge of him. I always though that is was Lincoln. Now I am positive that it is the man that demanded Elena sleeping with Mia. The question is, who that man was.
Cannot cannot cannot cannot wait.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Me too I have always thought it was him!!!
LikeLike
I was just thinking Lincoln
LikeLike
While the person that demanded Elena provide Mia to him FITS certain things, there remain questions as to WHY this individual would expect ANA to remember HIM.
So this individual had to have MAJOR POWER, even back then, for ELENA to fear him. BUT THIS PERSON HAD SOME SORT OF BRIEF ACQUAINTANCE WITH ANA as well, and HE had to have worked or been acquainted with Ana for a significant enough time that HE EXPECTED Ana to remember AND RECOGNIZE him.
I have suggested Stephen Morton previously, IF we had the requisite BACKSTORY that would explain the Mia-Ana connection. If Stephen had moved to Seattle after his divorce from Carla, then he could have been a client at the club. BUT FOR ELENA TO FEAR HIM, he almost HAD to have SOMETHING on Elena, and my thoughts were that Stephen was a pimp that put his OWN girls in the club that had provided him EVIDENCE of Elena’s dealings.
AFter all, we know from the first chapters of ASSOF that a couple of girls REFUSED to take any help from Christian. So it stands to reason that MAYBE said girls were still employed with someone ELSE, say Stephen Morton.
Whoever HE is, Mr. Conspiracy Head has shown a knack for KNOWING people’s deep-dark dirty secrets and EXPLOITING them. So HE is an old hand at this. And someone that could blackmail ELENA is DEFINITELY a force to be reckoned with!!!
And IF MR. Conspiracy Head IS the guy that tried to rape Mia at the club, then HE would be someone to target ANA as well, since it was ANA that saved MIA AND in turn brought the club down, by having confronted Elena at the bar.
So the BAR almost HAS to be the connection where Mr. Conspiracy Head got enough evidence/intel on Elena to later force her help with the Conspiracy. And ANA AND MIA together were the undoing of the bar. BUT MR. CONSPIRACY HEAD STILL EXPECTS ANA TO KNOW AND RECOGNIZE HIM, meaning that Ana either WORKED with him previously or knew HIM from an association with the Grey family (such as Andrew Lincoln).
LikeLike
I still hate Carla
Mia is being way too stupid…y is it that people think that remaining silent can resolve issues!!!!
A lottt of damage was being done around these 2 nd they chose to stay quite??
Nd U R BEING WAYYY TOO CRUEL 😷😤
LikeLiked by 1 person
While remaining silent seems stupid NOW, you have to realize that Mr. Conspiracy Head is only NOW completing his task of murdering EVERYONE that was involved.
Previously, Isaac and Elena had been allowed to LIVE. As had Carla. HE was not confident enough of success to warrant trying to remain hidden.
So given the above, it makes sense that an UNDERAGE CHILD (Mia) would have reason to think that her SILENCE would keep her family alive. After all, someone literally took pictures of her MOTHER doing LAUNDRY, of all things, just to show Mia how EASY it would be to get to her.
And Mia’s ongoing silence SEEMED rewarded, in that none of her family had died. HOWEVER, NOW, Mia is undoubtedly feeling OVERWHELMING GUILT since Carla is all but dead, and Mr. Conspiracy Head is now killing off the others.
ANd even NOW, when Mr. Conspiracy Head is killing off people like ELENA, he has STILL made it LOOK LIKE A SUPPOSED PRISON RIOT, so that HE is not implicated in ANY way. So THAT has to be scary to a 17-year-old girl that someone can arrange a MURDER of someone in prison and NOT get caught!!
So while I still want to personally throttle Mia, I GET why she did what she did. And the girl has CLEARLY SUFFERED as well from her previous selfishness AND short-sightedness in having gone to work for Elena at the bar in the FIRST place. BECAUSE it is MIA’s choosing to WORK AT ELENA’S BAR that obviously caused Mr. Conspiracy Head to target her AND associate Mia with siding with Elena and ALL that Elena had previously done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really don’t understand y did Isaac took Carter with him to murder Carla!!!
He might have known she is all alone in d house and he could have easily killed her on his own
LikeLiked by 1 person
EXACTLY. There was seemingly NO NEED to have Carter there, when HE had a WHOLE other car full of people willing to kill for him. So it was seemingly a TEST to Carter.
So WHO would want to TEST Carter? OR was the plan always to leave Carter only SLIGHTLY wounded, so that everyone would descend on Georgia, and presumably KATE would be left ALONE in Carter’s hotel room?
So has KATE been the intended target all along? Maybe Kate agrees to come wtih HIM in order to keep the Grey family and Ana from further harm? HAS THAT been the plan ALL ALONG???
So there are multiple possibilities here. We know of AT LEAST ONE PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED CRAZY PERSON that had a rich and powerful family. But Mr. Stalker Guy was seemingly previously going to be in prison for life, so HOW could he get out and do all this? And WHY seemingly target the GREY family, PARTICULARLY CHRISTIAN AND ANA?
Carter had been someone that was previously with Kate, which would make sense why Mr. Conspiracy Head would want to include him NOW. BUT ANDREW LINCOLN would also have reason to see Carter as like HIM in so many ways, having lost so much to a Grey man. AND seemingly not have a future, since he has no one willing to BUY it for him, as Christian did.
So ANDREW is the obvious choice. But STALKER GUY excelled in STALKING and surveillance techniques previously—he just didn’t utilize HELP before. NOW, however, he sees the people that took him down and prevented him from getting Kate now have what THEY want. AND sending Gia in would keep Elliot from trying to mend things with Kate.
There are MULTIPLE holes to it being EITHER of the men above. AND someone like Stephen Morton would need one major backstory. AND HOW did MIA get so involved? Obviously, WHOEVER is Mr. Conspiracy Head seemingly came through the club somehow and was seen by Mia. But she would have NO REASON to suspect some individual client—SOMETHING had to have occurred that IDENTIFIED Mr. Conspriacy Head to Mia. AND I AM WONDERING WHAT THAT WAS!
Mia just needs to GIVE US THE NAME, since I highly suspect Mr. Conspiracy Head PLANNED for the hospital contingency. IN FACT, I think HE wanted to GUARANTEE that Ana, Christian AND the Grey family were all there at once while LOW on security. And KATE was left ALONE with Carter in his room. . . .
Quite frankly, there are few people still floating out there that would be CAPABLE of all of this. ESPECIALLY of scaring Elena into submission in the first place. STALKER GUY had the powerful family connections AND the brilliance to pull something like this off. AND it was already proven he was crazy, but HE is seemingly out-of-reach and unable to come to Graduation. ANDREW has nothing preventing him from going wherever he wants to go and seemingly nothing left to lose. But WHAT would revenge get him other than a guarateed prison sentence, UNLESS he could get away with everything. BUT with the VERY PUBLIC execution-style drive-by, he has upped it to a WHOLE other level AND something that can’t be explained away.
We have previously ASSUMED a certain END GAME. But that MAY have been wrong, as listed above. We just have to wait and see. Still a few possibilities out there thta it could be. But if someone is THIS crazy and has to control MULTIPLE people, then I can’t see it being JUST one of Christian’s security officers, since he should have been found out by now. Taylor is NOT so inept!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really think Carter deserves a chance to mend ways with Kate
U cannot blame him….others had to mature due to d circumstances but he didn’t have to
He behaved in d same way dat any college bf would have reacted towards Kate’s interactions wid Elliot….she did tried hiding her friendship wid him fr a long tym
LikeLike
Oh Fuck me!!! What an intense chapter it was.. i was holding my breathe while reading this chapter.. damn how i wish We would have got his name.. we have to wait 7 days now😩😩😩😩
PS- you are such an amazing writer👏👏
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well about time!! I just knew Mia knew who he was!!! The guy she would not submit to…. Who hates CG the most?
LikeLike
I couldnt hate him. I think that all the problems are more Mia’s, Ana’s mother and every one that participed fault than Christian’s. He tried to stop him by all means.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think what GMBIZETTE means is that WHO could hate Christian the most to have orchestrated something like this.
AFTER ALL, it involves MURDER of so MANY people. And while SOME of these murdered people practically begged for what they got (Elena, Isaac, Leila, Hyun), OTHERS like Carla were not evil or motivated by evil. Carla just tried to protect those she loved MOST.
So Mr. Conspiracy Head is willing to go after INNOCENTS on his quest for REVENGE. This is DEEPLY PERSONAL for Mr. Conspiracy Head. He RESENTS that Christian has so much success that HAS BEEN BASED ALL ON A LIE. AND abuse. After all, Christian basically accepted PAYMENT for his ABUSE, making him basically a prostitute.
(NOW, we ALL know that Christian did NOT understand the FULL nature of the abuse done to him at that time. AND Elena had “convinced” Christian that her payment to him was recompense for what she had done. So she used her UNDUE INFLUENCE over Christian to make him THINK it was somehow righting a wrong. While IN FACT, it was Christian helping Elena SCREW OVER ANDREW.)
So someone thinks it is UNFAIR for Christian to have built an EMPIRE based on his illegal activity. And GEH grew IN LARGE PART due to all the monies that came in as a result of Elena’s “salons.” And anyone that TRULY LOOKED at the numbers, as Ros and Luke later did, would realize that there was NO WAY that the HUGE profits could have just come from hair and nails.
So Money Laundering helped make GEH what it was. So SOMEONE thought that Christian should SUFFER for what he had done and all the harm that had resulted. And I can’t think of anyone MORE motivated to go after Christian than ANDREW LINCOLN, who lost EVERYTHING as a result of Christian.
AT THIS POINT, I STILL think it is Andrew Lincoln. IF it had been someone ELSE, then HE would have certainly approached Andrew to be part of the Conspiracy. After all, who ELSE lost so much DIRECTLY to Christian?
Had Christian put Elena in PRISON where she belonged WAY back in ADSOF, then NONE of the injustices done to Andrew Lincoln could have happened. Elena would NOT have been able to make off with HALF of Andrew’s assets due to having violated the pre-nuptial agreement. And Elena would NOT have been able to have her club and launder the illegal profits through a reputable business without Christian. SO WHO ELSE COULD HATE CHRISTIAN so much indeed?
LikeLike
Carla didn’t like christian even during d time of 4th July celebrations……there was nt even a single threat at that time
She always insinuated that ana needs a guy to take care of her(lyk herself) but then she realised that her daughter had d best of all worlds that she herself had desired fr her whole life
People died around them, her own grand daughter became a target…she could have easily conveyed d message through ray with whom she was in contact
Btw, what instigated d head to kill Carla!!!!! She had been quite fr a long while so what need now?
LikeLike
I cried so bad reading this. Ana atleast deserved to say goodbye while her mother was concious. Its even more hard for ana because her mother was the only permanent person she had in her life. She made mistakes but she was her mother.
I know mia was being threatened but i absolutely hate her right now.
She could have prevented all of this.
Ana did not deserve to lose her mother.
Its sad that carla died alone thinking that her daughter hated her and she had no one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Take comfort in the fact that KNOWING she was going to die anyway, Carla realized she had NOTHING left to lose. She wrote that letter to Ana, KNOWING that if she died, Ana WOULD read it. And would forgive her mother in death.
So Carla did what she did out of LOVE. And her daughter will know that. I now feel sorry for ANA, given the guilt she is likely to feel that if she had ONLY read that letter sooner, then maybe Carla could have been saved.
I see Ana AND CHristian experiencing some MAJOR SURVIVOR’S GUILT over everything when it is all over with. After all, IF I am right about ANDREW LINCOLN, then Christian arguably CREATED his biggest foe by having WRONGED Andrew time and time again. ALL without every even CONSIDERING how Andrew would feel. I mean, Christian committed adultery wtih Elena. THEN he took Elena’s BRIBE which caused Andrew to lose HALF of his assets, something that NEVER would have happened without Christian’s LIE due to the prenuptial agreement.
So Andrew loses HALF of everything. THEN he clearly loses his social circle, since he chooses to move TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY to get away from everything. ONLY to have his company end up on shaky grounds AND THEN TAKEN OUT FROM UNDER HIM by ELENA and Christian, working together.
So Christian NEVER stopped to think how the man WHO HAD BEEN HIS “UNCLE” would feel about his taking EVERYTHING of value from him. AND THEN basing his OWN company on the FUNDS of Andrew’s and the backs of poor girls that were allowed to be exploited by Elena ALL because of the club/bar that CHRISTIAN made possible, since he owned Elena’s salons.
So yeah, IF it is Andrew Lincoln, then Christian helped create the mad revengeful person that Andrew became. AND Andrew seemingly only targeted ANA after Ana chose to reunite with Christian, even KNOWING all that Christian had done.
Now, Andrew NEVER clearly understood the NATURE of the abuse done to Christian or the HOLD that Elena would have on him. OR how the seeming isolation of ALL of his family and Ana meant that Christian just naturally WOULD turn back to Elena.
But ALL of the above will undoubtedly cause Ana and Christian to need a good deal of therapy to handle all of this moving forward. BUT I still think Carla died KNOWING that she had left the means of REUNITING her with her daughter in the form of the letter. So she would KNOW that being killed would alert Ana that she HAD been trying to help her daughter. SAME with BOB.
AND I think Carla would KNOW that by putting BOB and Ana seemingly OUT OF CONTACT with her, she couldn’t be used FURTHER to harm EITHER of them. So Carla could be at peace in death, knowing that BOTH of the people she loved WOULD forgive her actions, once they were understood.
LikeLike
Poor poor Carla!!! Please post a new chapter ASAP!
LikeLike
The cliffhanger is killing me. Who is it? Who is the one behind this? Oh goooosh
LikeLike
I STILL say it is Andrew Lincoln. After all, WHY would someone have a Conspiracy without trying to RECRUIT the person who had PERSONALLY AND FINANCIALLY lost EVERYTHING to Christian? I mean, Andrew would be the FIRST person to approach, if it was anyone else.
So the fact that we haven’t so much as heard Andrew’s name (EXCEPT, interestingly enough, from ELENA during the prison visit) is TELLING to me. AFTER ALL, Mr. Conspiracy Head has taken the time to find EVERYONE that seems to have a LASTING grudge against Christian and to approach him or her OR attempt to blackmail said individual.
It IS interesting to note that Astor Harrington should have been someone that was approached by Mr. Conspiracy Head, given the definition of a likely recruit as given above. AND Andrew Lincoln even SAW Astor groveling at Elena’s feet during the REVEAL of Elena’s relationship with Christian! BUT Astor is seemingly successful ON HIS OWN and not permanently harmed by Christian, since he is fixing to graduate from Harvard Law. So there may be a REASON that Astor was not approached. OR he still has a role to play. We will just have to wait and see.
But there is NO REASON why ANDREW LINCOLN would NOT have been recruited for the Conspiracy, UNLESS he was the Head. I mean, WHY overlook someone so obvious? Mr. Conspiracy Head would NOT make the mistake of overlooking Andrew. So either Andrew was involved in helping Mr. Conspiracy Head set things up, OR he is the HEAD of the whole thing.
LikeLike
OMG what a nerve racking chapter. You had me on the edge while I finished reading this chapter and a big Cliffhanger. This is not fair and hope Ana and Christian find some peace soon.
LikeLike
I feel like its a shocker Mia knows who it is but at the same time it isn’t because she has been strange and it seems like she was holding a big secret for a while.
LikeLike
I just want to know HOW she knows. After all, while she might suspect any number of Elena’s clients, WHY would ANY of them reach out to HER? Unless HE blames HER for something? AGAIN, that seemingly supports Andrew Lincoln, in my opinion, for siding wtih Elena previously and working in her bar after ALL the damage she had done to people Mia supposedly loved, like Christian and “Uncle Andrew.”
So MIA may have walked in on something that caused her to put two and two together. But WHAT? And WHY not kill Mia, if her knowledge was what HE feared???
I mean, Mia DELIBERATELY put herself at risk AND dodged her own security. It was pure coincidence of ending up at the same club that caused Mia to be caught by Ana and the Grey family. And since HE knew of Mia’s REHEARSAL schedule, then WHY not just kill her off then? Especially if you have people with automatic rifles readily at your disposal?
I had previously DISCOUNTED Mr. Stalker Guy as being the person behind this, but many of these tactics are things he previously utilized, such as FEAR at being WATCHED all the time. And he certainly WAS the expert at STALKING. AND he had a rich family and resources AND brains as well. I just think KATE, as his previous SURVIVING victim, would have HAD to be notified of his release, if the family found some way to make it happen.
But WHY focus on Christian AND ANA, if it was Kate’s stalker from back in the day. And HOW would MIA know him? Did he work in Elena’s club under some OTHER name? Did his family know Elena? Any connection to some OTHER rich family that would have a gripe against Christian?
So MANY unanswered questions. And since Andrew LIncoln has readily been the person that this would point to, you wonder WHY someone else would not have recruited him? So either the OBVIOUS choice is the right one, OR it is something seemingly unexpected, like Stalker Guy.
JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY, MIA!!! I mean, Mia has already kept silent after Ana was attacked. So I want to know just WHEN she knew something. At least CARLA didn’t know HIS identity. But MIA seemingly DID. So was she just willing to allow ANA to come to harm if she could keep the rest of her family?
Mia has made so many bad choices that I am back to almost hating her and her selfishness. Ana tried to help her back on the day that she had CHOSEN to do drugs with the other members of her dance troupe. And Mia felt justified then in “rebelling” any way she chose, rather than recognizing how others had kept her from the trouble that she DESERVED. MIA had chosen to ruin her potential future by doing drugs, yet she blamed EVERYONE else.
So WHEN did Mia learn his identity? And WHY did she keep silent, even KNOWING the bodies were piling up? And HOW did she think to remain unscathed, so much so that she willing ditched security and ran around Vegan unsupervised? HOW did she PAY for that as well? SO MANY unanswered questions. That ONLY Mia can answer, at this point.
But HOW DID MIA’S communications go UNCHECKED OR UNNOTICED by Christian’s security people? THey found out about GIa’s lunch date BUT DIDN’T KNOW about all these TEXTS that Mia received? And those texts were PROOF of SOMEONE being after Christian and could have been the means of identifying HIM or his people, so WHY didn’t Mia THINK about this so that everyone could have been protected?
Is it Monday yet?????
LikeLike
I am dying hereeeeee, 😩😩😩HOW COULD YOU LEAVE US LIKE THAT MAN!!!???? Ugh Can’t wait can’t wait
LikeLiked by 2 people
I forgot to express my non existent condolences for Elena’s dead. I think I’m going to open a champagne bottle and celebrate it. The only way she never again try to go against Christian and Ana is being dead. Finally!
LikeLiked by 2 people
AMEN. No one else deserved their fate more than Elena. AND if I am right in Andrew’s involvement, then it is only fitting that he got the person that had previously harmed him so badly. Something Elena could appreciate, given her OWN desire for revenge!
LikeLike
WHAT?? Mia knows all this time and hasn’t told anyone?? Wow…
Carla is dead, I get why she did what she did. But she shouldn’t have done it, she should have told Ray or hell, Christian!
I still do not trust Carter much. But I guess time will tell about him.
I am LOVING this!!
Cannot wait for next Monday 😀
LikeLike
Carter’s lack of injuries concerns me. By leaving him so little injured, then you GUARANTEE that he is in the hospital where everyone else is. So either we are to believe that Mr. Conspiracy Head completely BOTCHED the murder plan, OR there was a bigger plan to get everyone to this hospital.
AND Kate is now in the hospital room with Carter alone. AND KATE would be the person that ANA and Mia would MOST REGRET outside of Christian, since Kate had previously been the big sister Mia never had AND Ana’s best friend.
Carter may truly be innocent AND may have tried to HELP Christian, for Ana and Kate’s sake. BUT if he was left alive ON PURPOSE, then it would be to kill him later for turning on Mr. Conspiracy Head. So I could see Carter dying by flinging himself in front of Kate.
I want to HOPE that Carter HAS been on the up and up, since someone as good as Kate does NOT deserve to have been duped by someone evil. But ELLIOT should take a page out of Carter’s book, IF Carter IS good, to realize that you make SACRIFICES for the person you LOVE more than yourself! AND that includes making their DREAMS come true. At the VERY least, Elliot should be rethinking the whole marriage thing. AND if he has failed to put a ring on it, then Kate IS within her rights, quite frankly, to look towards someone who WOULD.
LikeLike
OMG SO SAD!!!!! I cried so hard through this chapter. I don’t want Taylor to die. Now the only one left is Luke. He can’t do it all. Carla was trying to save Ana and Calliope and she died alone and thinking that her daughter hated her. Why did Bob leave? I can’t believe that Mia knew. The man that tried to rape her at the club must be him, but who is he.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bob could have left after seeing what Carla tried to do to the Grey family, since Carla would have REFUSED to tell him WHY she did it. And Carla may have tried to look like the bad guy ON PURPOSE so that her loved ones would move AWAY from her. THAT WAY, Carla couldn’t be blackmailed to get to them, since they would be alienated from her.
So I see Carla trying to keep her loved ones far from her, KNOWING what was undoubtedly coming her way. I had been wondering where Bob was during this time.
LikeLike
Can’t believe Mia knew and kept quiet. Her apology to Ana over Carla’s demise shook her to finally confess she knew who the conspiracy is. Carla didn’t deserve to suffer, poor Ana, all the weight on her. Christian better know Ana wont ever leave him. Them together is what keeps them strong, never apart. Can’t wait for next update. Thanks for an amazing and very exciting chapter, Tara. Do hope Taylor recovers. Xoxo daytona
LikeLike
I have said forever that Mia had to know. Quite frankly, it was the only thing that explained her behavior. She was throwing herself into the path of danger out of guilt. She has been made to live a life of hell. I think she took so many chances on the off chance that she WOULD be targeted and put out of her misery.
And yes, someone is trying to punish Mia. Even ELENA was frightened enough of the man that tried to rape Mia enough to just hand Mia over to him, even at the cost of her relationship with Christian. AND that guy would be someone that Mia would be afraid of as well. So that anonymous person COULD be the powerful man behind the Conspiracy.
And that person would NOT likely be Andrew Lincoln (unless he is a REALLY twisted and warped guy that wanted to abuse a Grey kid because Elena did). But at THAT time, Andrew Lincoln had just had his company taken from him by Elena and Christian and shouldn’t have been in a position of ANY kind of power.
At this point, I still can’t rule out Andrew Lincoln entirely. After all, Andrew might get some perverse pleasure in intimidating a Grey kid, ESPECIALLY the Grey kid that had worked with Elena at the club, even KNOWING what Elena had done to Christian previously.
But next chapter will FINALLY give us answers as to HIS identity. I had been SO ANGRY with MIA in previous chapters because I KNEW that she knew HIS identity. And I couldn’t get over WHY she wasn’t saying anything. But Mia had REASONS to be frightened, and given her age, we can now SEE why she did what she did.
LikeLike
What material is Mia made up of????
People were dying around her and she knew exactly y nd was still able to keep quite.
I don’t want ana to feel pity for either Carla or Mia…they don’t deserve it.
Tara plz plz make Kate go back to Carter……..I don’t want her to end up with Elliot
Is there a way to get them back together??
LikeLike
Omg! This is awsome! And so close to finding who is behind all of this!!! You are an amazing writer, you need to publish this!!!!
LikeLike
OMG! I love it! Awsome chapter. Seriously you should publish this. But please don’t separate Anna and Christian. !!!! Any teaser as to who it is? I would say Elena’s husband but is that to obvious? Maybe Luke????
LikeLike
And THAT’S been my worry since the beginning—Andrew Lincoln is an obvious choice. And if he always had so much power, then WHY was he unable to protect himself and his company previously?
If Luke had wanted Ana, he could have had her during the time that Christian and Ana were apart. And WHY save Christian in Trial #2 only to turn around and do this? I can’t see it being Luke.
(I’m going to list the possibilities I think are left below. Andrew Lincoln remains my first choice. But I admit that there are certain things left open that COULD point elsewhere.)
LikeLike
Kelbell25,
I’ve suspected Luke for a long time but I think Mia would slip and act scared around him, no way she could hold it together that well if she was constantly forced to interact with him. But…..you never know? 😎
LikeLike
If you’ll remember, LUKE was the one that set up the box to RECORD the phone call from Mr. Conspiracy Head while HE was on the phone with Ana at graduation. So I can’t see how Luke can be in two places at once, since Mr. Conspiracy Head wanted to see if Ana COULD identify him through the phone call.
And again, Christian WOULD have gone down at the trial BUT FOR Luke’s being able to get the VIDEO from the club of Ana’s visit. WHY save Christian then when Christian would have been sent to jail?
LikeLike
ALLIE,
I just thought of this —LEILA identified LUKE as being the reason Mr. Conspiracy Head was NOT able to get to Ana. She TOLD Ana to stay close to Luke. So LEILA, at least, did NOT suspect Luke in any way.
LikeLike
Noooo!!! Please don’t leave us there!! I have chills right now, that was such an amazing chapter. Christian’s self loathing is making it’s way to the surface and that’s exactly what the conspirator wants. I don’t like the idea of them getting on a plane and going where no one knows, he will just start picking people off until they come back. This chapter was one of the best yet…what are the chances we will have a bonus sometime this week, I don’t know if I can wait 7 whole days to find out what Mia knows! Truly amazing!!!
LikeLike
OMG I knew Mia was the link!!
LikeLike
I just got chills down my legs! Excellent story, Tara, excellent! I look so forward to next week!
LikeLike
OMG is all I can muster.
LikeLike
Next Monday can’t come sooner. Tara, you rock!
LikeLike
I think that we can cross CARTER off the list because Mia NEVER WAS AFRAID of him. I can’t remember very well how their relationship was, but she doesn’t seem to be afraid. That only let two options. Maybe three. When they were talking about that guy of finance who met with Gia, Mia turned pale… what I can’t understand is what motivation he would have to make all of this plan. Doesn’t make sense. Andrew lincoln and Stephen are my possibilities. The rest doesn’t make sense.
ToriK, let us apreciate your theories in order to keep going until next Monday (maybe Friday???? :’D)
LikeLiked by 1 person
First Thought: WHY OH WHY was Carter and Kate left ALONE in a hospital room??? While I want to trust Carter at this point, Mr. Conspiracy Head has shown an intent to destroy ANYONE that goes against him, and Carter seemingly had a VERY minor injury in comparison to all the other people at the scene. AND THAT COULD BE FOR A REASON, even if Carter is not working for HIM.
After all, with MULTIPLE people in the hospital, it goes to reason that people will divide up to check on the various victims, JUST as has happened here. And KATE is now at risk, and SHE HAS BEEN A PERSON being WATCHED by Mr. Conspiracy Head, according to MIA. Mia stated that she had been sent PICTURES OF KATE in addition to her family members.
So right now, if Mr. Conspiracy Head wants to get someone near and dear to ALL the Grey Family AND Ana, then it should be easy enough to grab KATE.
So I’m anxious for the NEXT CHAPTER for ADDITIONAL reasons to everyone else’s.
Second Thought: AND ON to Mr. Conspiracy Head. MIA KNOWS WHO HE IS, which I have suspected for some time. It was the ONLY thing that completely explained her conduct AND recklessness. IT WAS LIKE SHE WAS PRACTICALLY baiting HIM to take her, but she KNEW that she wouldn’t be kidnapped. And that was because HE was tormenting her..
So MIA HAD TO RECOGNIZE HIS VOICE as did Ana. Yet CHRISTIAN seemingly doesn’t recognize HIS VOICE. Which is a conundrum, because ALMOST ALL of the suspects ARE KNOWN TO CHRISTIAN.
So the things we know about Mr. Conspiracy Head are as follows:
1) He had a brief acquaintance with Ana, and HE supposedly worked hard to be NICE to her at the time. HE expected Ana to REMEMBER HIM and VISUALLY recognize HIM as well.
2) MIA knows who HE is. So she has encountered him somehow. AND HE HAS REASON TO WANT TO TORMENT MIA.
3) HE is seemingly an older gentleman.
ASTOR HARRINGTON should be eliminated at this point, given the above. He shouldn’t have ANY reason to know Mia UNLESS he had somehow come to Elena’s club previously. But WHY would she ever be afraid of him?
Things UNANSWERED that I we really NEED to know to eliminate possibilities:
1) Uuummm, Taylor and Luke supposedly got evidence in Elena’s club as to what her club REALLY did. And MIA met all the new clients. So a CLIENT LIST should have been provided to the D.A.’s office.
2) Presumably, IF MIA KNEW HER ATTACKER, then a restraining Order would have been a MUST, if for no other reason than to support her story about what happened at the club. Had Mia known his identity and NOT taken out charges, then that would have REALLY blown a hole in Christian’s case and made Christian look guilty.
3) So if we assume the above, then Mia’s attacker HAS been identified and criminally dealt with, as I can’t see Carrick just letting THAT go. OR
4) Mia’s attacker is UNKNOWN, so Mia would NOT recognize Mr. Conspiracy Head!
So THE ASSUMPTION that Mia’s attacker is Mr. Conspiracy Head does NOT hold water UNLESS she previously did NOT know his identity, and he CHOSE to give it to her. THAT is NOT in keeping with HIS character. So the guy that attacked Mia may be a RED HERRING.
BUT MIA WOULD KNOW ANDREW LINCOLN and would recognize the name of the man she called “Uncle Andrew.” But you would THINK that Christian would recognize his name as well! So it may be that Christian paid SO LITTLE attention to Andrew that HE doesn’t even recognize the voice of the man he so wronged MULTIPLE times.
And ANDREW LINCOLN would presumably THINK that HE has reasons to torment Mia. AFTER ALL, MIA CHOSE to WORK in Elena’s club, KNOWING what Elena did there. AND I would think that Mia would HAVE to know that at least SOME of the girls were being mistreated regularly. YET Mia chose to work there, ALL FOR MONEY, just like her BROTHER had done.
So I CAN SEE why Andrew would choose to torment Mia now, knowing Mia still trusted Elena after EVERYTHING that Elena had done to and with Christian.
(NOTE: this is such a LONG comment that I am going to divide it up so that it doesn’t get accidentally lost when I hit hte comment button. So MORE BELOW.)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mia mentioned that the guy threatened her during her rehearsal before the show…..which was around the time Elena wasnt even convicted which lessens the chances of it being Andrew
It could be Morton…maybe he might have had some history with Elena nd they were co partners of that club but it was a mistake of oversight by the grey’s and that guy that his met might be the reason that they were nt able to track any connections to GEH fr that 2 yrs
LikeLike
Mia was talking about a CURRENT rehearsal, not the one from WAY back in ADSOF. Remember, on the yacht, Mia TALKED about BEING IN REHEARSALS for a new ballet. AND she wanted to talk to Christian then, ONLY to backtrack LATER, AFTER one of the “rehearsals” where Mr. Conspiracy Head apparently sent the flowers.
So THAT is why Mia suddenly changed her mind from wanting to CONFIDE in Christian to not even wanting to be around him, since Mr. Conspiracy Head obviously SUSPECTED that Mia was ready to come forward.
But it DOES provide an interesting question: HOW did Mr. Conspiracy Head KNOW that Mia started to talk on the yacht? Either there were listening devices OR a security officer is in on it, since the rehearsal in question occurred AFTER the family yacht trip!
LikeLike
Longer always was one of d suspects….he was on d hatch dat day
LikeLike
Omg I knew Mia knew something. I really think it’s Lincoln, he’s the only person at this point. Can’t wait for next Monday!!!! I hope Taylor lives
LikeLike
LINCOLN remains first on my list. BUT there are OTHERS that potentially COULD NOT be discounted entirely, IF THE BACKSTORY was right.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES TO ANDREW LINCOLN:
1) Stephen Morton: SEE LAST CHAPTER COMMENTS for my theories here. AND Stephen Morton choosing to taunt and torment an underage girl like Mia WOULD BE IN KEEPING WITH MY THEORY, if he were the type of man to PREY on underage girls and other women.
AND we now know that Mr. Conspiracy Head BELITTLES Ana and thinks she didn’t “deserve” her place at Harvard, which we KNOW she did (AND she had the gradepoint average to prove it!).
The Stephen Morton that would be capable of doing this would RESENT that Ana, Christian AND MIA got away from his “attentions.” My theory would be that Stephen Morton would have started out a pimp and would have been Ella’s pimp that got her hooked on drugs. But after Ella’s death, Christian gets placed in foster care and can no longer be tormented by him. Stephen then chooses to target OTHER women, especially those with underage girls that he tries to dominate and scare into submission. PLUS, he makes sure to involve his women in illegal activities to ensure that they never report him. And Stephen would have resented that Ana escaped to Ray before he could do anything to her, but Carla was not so lucky. Stephen got into the world of BDSM in order to dominate his women further AND even planted some of his girls in Elena’s club in order to get PHOTOS and evidence of Elena’s dealings, which he thereafter used to have free reign in Elena’s club AND to blackmail her for part of the profits. ALL of which came crashing to an end when ANA AND MIA ended up giving Christian the EVIDENCE he needed to shut the whole thing down, INCLUDING giving the women employed by the club the education and resources to get OUT.
So under the ABOVE theory, STEPHEN MORTON would have REASON to want to go after ANA AND MIA and Christian, as well as Elena. WITH THE ABOVE BACKSTORY, Stephen Morton actually becomes a REAL possibility.
HOWEVER, based on this chapter, CARLA WOULD HAVE REVEALED if Mr. Conspiracy Head was Stephen Morton, SO I NOW THINK WE CAN ELIMINATE HIM AS A SUSPECT/choice.
2) The Prosecutor from the first trial. —I had assumed that Tara changed ADSOF to put in a prosecutor because she realized that Carrick would NEVER have been allowed to prosecute a case where his own son was the victim. That would have been a definite conflict of interest. HOWEVER, she could have changed the story to give a REASON for someone to be aggrieved with Christian IF the prosecutor lost his job, etc. due to not knowing that Christian was going to LIE on the stand. After all, the prosecutor would have been expected to interview Christian AND have a signed, sworn statement presumably implicating Elena. So there would have been PRIOR INCONSISTENT Statements to confront Christian with on the witness stand after Christian’s story COMPLETELY changed.
So the fact that the above was not utilized, then the prosecutor, in theory, COULD have lost his job. Maybe even been disbarred, depending on what actions were taken against him. (AND this is not so improbably in real life—the prosecutor in the Duke fraternity rape trial got into SERIOUS trouble based on his comments in the trial and with press during the trial. It ended up changing the law in NC.)
So if a prosecutor had lost his JOB while trying to do the right thing, then I could see some anger there. But WHY go after MIA? And WHY go after ANA?
So I don’t see the prosecutor as being a real possibility.
3) Brian Clark. —This is the intern that kept going after Ana’s job at GEH and had no respect for women. This is a LONG shot that I can’t see being a viable candidate anymore UNLESS he was somehow Mia’s would-be attacker. I also can’t see it being ASTOR Harrington since he has a bright future ahead of him now and would have ZERO reason to target Mia without some bizarre backstory.
4) Barney. —Let’s face it, the PHOTOS Mia received had to come from someone with a LOT of tech knowledge to compromise SO MANY security systems from Escala to GEH to the Grey family home, etc. So I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Barney. AND Barney didn’t get to keep the rights to his tech designs etc. that he developed at GEH. And Barney would expect Ana to recognize him since he worked with her during her summer internship. But I can’t see it being Barney without a MAJOR backstory. I mean, WHY? ANd WHY target MIA? Makes zero sense.
5) Welch. — LEILA stated that it was FALSE evidence being put on the server about Welch to frame him. So he was seemingly RULED OUT as the Conspiracy Head, since Leila KNEW HIS identity. And I can’t see why Leila would have lied, but Welch did have access to all of GEH’s security and presumably anything else involving Christian, so I technically have to mention him somewhere.
6) The Gresham finance guy. — But again, WHY? As a finance guy, he has to be wealthy. We would DEFINITELY need a MAJOR BACKSTORY here. And WHY would MIA know him in the first place UNLESS he was the same guy that tried to rape her. STILL, if Mia knew WHO that guy was, then she undoubtedly would have given his name so taht he could be prosecuted.
YES, we KNOW Mia got pale at the table when Gresham’s name was mentioned. AND this guy was meeting with GIA, who we now pretty much KNOW was with the conspiracy. BUT Mia could have gotten pale from receiving a TEXT MESSAGE from Mr. Conspiracy Head that showed the family at the table. But WHY wouldn’t Mia mention about HIM with GIA sitting right there, ESPECIALLY if she realized that Gia was working for HIM? (However, we DO know that following thta time, Mia was particularly harsh to Gia, so it might have been that she didn’t put the pieces together that Gia was working for HIM UNTIL that MOMENT when she heard Gia had lunch with the guy.)
So Gresham remains a possibility or at the VERY least, a recruit of Mr. Conspiracy Head. AGAIN, we would need a SERIOUS backstory to explain this man’s involvement and WHY he chose to TARGET Mia in such a way.
And GRESHAM would be the one person with the FINANCIAL know-how to pull something like this off. BUT WHY???? He would need a BACKSTORY, like maybe having had a daughter that was forced into working at Elena’s club and was ABUSED there. And THAT would explain why Gresham would choose to harass Mia, KNOWING that Mia chose to work there AND ignore what she saw there in exchange for MONEY.
With the backstories known AT PRESENT, the ONLY person that would have reason to target MIA AND ANA, at least with what is known at this point, is ANDREW LINCOLN. After all, Mia CHOSE to go back to a FRIENDSHIP with Elena, KNOWING what she had done to Christian. ALL for money for her dreams, JUST like Christian. AND Elena’s club allowed her to make the money to keep her in the lifestyle to which she was accustomed to having when married to Andrew. SO I COULD SEE that angering Andrew and being the reason he wanted to SCARE Mia.
So Andrew Lincoln still makes the MOST sense to me, at this time.
Is there ANYBODY ELSE out there that I have NOT listed that anyone else thinks is credible?
LikeLike
What About Jose Rodriguez?
LikeLike
TaniaV,
Tara had said in one of her previous comments that she might eliminate Jose Rodriguez from the story in future edits as she had kind of forgotten about him and not really used him past a certain point.
And considering how Jose got lots of women and was never really interested overly much in Ana, I can’t see him going to THIS extreme. After all, Christian never really wronged him in any real way since Jose and Ana never were anything more than casual friends.
Astor Harrington would make a much better suspect than Jose, since he DID try to take Ana from Christian. He tried to get Ros before finding out she was not interested in men. Astor wanted to take EVERYTHING that was Christian’s, AND he was paid by Elena to try to break-up Christian and Ana. YET Elena would have NO REASON to fear Astor. AND Astor should have now graduated from Harvard Law or be on the point of graduation from Harvard Law with a bright future ahead of him. So he should have no reason to go after Christian now.
LikeLike
ALSO have to ADD Kate’s STALKER GUY to the list of possibilities, since we KNOW HE is crazy. We just don’t KNOW how he could be connected to Mia. OBVIOUSLY, he could have chosen to present as a CLIENT in Elena’s bar to get intel on her and her dealings with Christian. But MIA never met the guy and presumably wouldn’t put two and two together without SOMETHING ELSE.
But Stalker Guy WAS 1) certifiably crazy, 2) had AMAZING stalker capabilities, 3) felt A NEED to communicate and insert himself into Kate’s case and make sure everyone knew he was still around, 4) was willing to kill, 5) came from a RICH AND POWERFUL family and was 6) brilliant.
So the Stalker Guy has the CAPABILITIES but didn’t have associates previously. AND he was supposed to be in prison for life. So HOW would he get out AND Kate not have received notification?
And Stalker Guy wasn’t exactly willing to WAIT and plan so meticulously before. BUT he can’t be RULED OUT at this time, given how much of his FORMER skills are being utilized NOW. But WHY focus on ANA and Christian when KATE was his previous objective?
Still, Stalker Guy has been NAMED before, and there is nothing to RULE HIM OUT yet. So he remains a possibility AND one that has not been named recently. As others have said previously, Andrew Lincoln is the OBVIOUS choice. And Tara may want something unexpected, given the previous surprises that although EXPECTED (such as attempts on Carla and Gia), actually came about in UNEXPECTED ways. So ANYTHING is still possible.
LikeLike
This is one of the best stories I’ve read since I started Reading fanfiction, and I have more than 380 favorite stories on fanfiction. You have a very special gift and I’m in awe of you 😘
Best regards
Helle thomsen
Denmark
LikeLike
Damnit Mia… but I do understand why she didn’t say anything but damnit….
Fear is powerful….sometimes more powerful then bravery.
Look forward to next Monday
LikeLike
We knew Mia knew something. Can’t wait for the next update. Hope Ana isn’t guilt ridden about her Mom.
LikeLike
And THAT is my worry. After all, HAD Ana read those letters, then she would have KNOWN why Carla did what she did. And steps could have been taken to possibly have saved Carla.
But Carla ALSO had the choice of calling and telling RAY what had happened. But for whatever reason, she chose not to do that.
But this will undoubtedly stay with Ana. How could it not? She had the explanation all along and BEFORE this latest series of attacks began.
But it is perfectly understandable WHY Ana wouldn’t read the letters. And Carla had MULTIPLE avenues that she could have taken, such as telling Ray, Bob or even calling GEH. THAT has been the biggest problem thus far in that Mr. Conspiracy Head has been able to SCARE PEOPLE INTO SILENCE, when if his identity or threats were made known earlier, traps or protection could have been utilized.
But if I was Ana, the guilt would be overwhelming. And she and Carla were never able to make their peace before she died. But Carla DID, at least, leave the letter(s) for Ana so that she would know WHY she did what she did. So the whole Grey family will know. So hopefully, Ana WILL be able to make peace with this.
LikeLike
Girl that was one hell of a chapter. Mia of all people able to figure it out. Not for sure I can wait a whole week for another chapter.
LikeLike
“Some of us weren’t born for rewards. We were born for sacrifices.”
― Melina Marchetta
“Blessed is a mother that would give up part of her soul for her child’s happiness.”
― Shannon L. Alder
“The most benevolent souls are the one’s who have had to drink some of life’s worst poisons, yet protected others in their lives from ever having to taste them.”
― José N. Harris
“The bonds of friendship dwindle. But a little blackmail lasts forever.”
― Stephen Hunt
LikeLike
Mia has known this whole time?????? Please update soon!!!!
LikeLike
Please, please let Taylor live.
Where’s Kommer?
If Ros doesn’t have a CPO, she should.
I’ve thought many times “he” is the man who tried to rape Mia, but having so little information about him, he could be anyone from the Mayor, a Senator, someone at GEH, or just some sociopath. Apparently not Stephen Morton, or Carla would have recognized his voice. And not Andrew Lincoln because Christian would have recognized his voice on the tape. I’ve never suggested Barney because I don’t know enough about him — but I suppose he is smart enough to plan all this and siphon the funds to do it, but could he be cruel enough?
Great chapter, Tara. Sometimes I get so into it I forget it’s fiction and I think it’s a story I’m following on the TV news.
LikeLike
TARA – WHAT A CHAPTER!! Can’t wait until tomorrow for #44, Part Two!
If there is any justice – TAYLOR MUST LIVE! Someone must put Dr. Flynn on high-alert as Christian is going to need him more than ever! Then again, perhaps he should be immediately dispatched directly to Savannah! I imagine Gail must be on pins and needles wondering how EVERYONE is doing.
So many of us kept wanting Mia to step up – from back when she registered a huge reaction at the table (that was missed by most and, unfortunately, neither Taylor nor Luke were present to notice) to hearing a name. We did figure she may have held the key…Was it Christian’s financial guy Charles Gresham (Grisham?) or a different man who was trying to rape her?
I suppose this just shoots down my Stephen Morton theory, big-time. And, could there have been an alternate reason connected to Bob’s leaving Carla?? So much has unfurled – and still so many more questions.
Cannot Wait For Mia’s Reveal And, Most Especially, For The REASON Behind All HIS Hatred Toward Christian. I also suspect there may be ties to Ana, as well, and HE didn’t want to show all his cards.
CHAMP certainly is aptly named! He has come through once again!
Your writing continues to amaze – and, your attention to details in unrivaled.
LikeLike
The PROBLEM with Gresham/Grisham is that he never had a reason to work with or know Ana. And Mr. Conspiracy Head EXPECTED Ana to recognize his voice OR appearance at graduation.
And like you, I would expect Carla to RECOGNIZE Stephen Morton’s voice, so he should be eliminated from consideration as well, since Carla seemed in the letter to NOT know HIS identity. So either Mr. Conspiracy Head had a thug contact Carla, or it can’t be Stephen Morton. (And Morton was always a long-shot unless there was a MAJOR backstory.)
But Mr. Conspiracy Head has shown a knack for going after recruits that WOULD HAVE A REASON to go after Christian and Ana, such as Leila. So WHY would he IGNORE such an OBVIOUS RECRUIT as Andrew Lincoln, who lost EVERYTHING to Christian? So that is why I think it almost has to be Andrew Lincoln, unless there is a MAJOR BACKSTORY that we know nothing about.
But Mr. Conspiracy Head has now been THWARTED by CHAMP at least TWICE now! So that dog sure better never eat kibble again!!!! And Champ’s future baby doggies can protect Calliope as well!
LikeLike
Brilliant! So exciting and full of suspence.
LikeLike
WOW WOW WOW! 😳 I for one feel extremely sad that Ana and Carla didn’t get closure together. Unfortunately, I’ve been in Ana’s position where I had to make a decision like hers so I feel her pain and after she read her mother’s letter I know she’ll always have some regrets. Of course, what Carla did was wrong but she thought she was trying to save her daughters life, she wasn’t promised money or status but the safety of her daughter and granddaughter. It’s so beyond evil what this guy is cable of. He’s a true psychopath. I don’t care if Christian had stolen someone’s company, wife, or girlfriend, nothing justifies the hatred and the level at which he’s taken his revenge. It’s hard to rationalize that Mia’s been sitting on important information but I think she’s just been very scared and clearly she’s carried a self hatered of herself for keeping this info as witnessed by her cutting. Hopefully, this will help them gain an upper hand. I wonder what everyone’s reaction to her will be. Relieved to know information, anger at her for keeping this to herself or pity that she’s been enduring this burden. Ana had cut off Carla so I’m curious how she’ll react to Mia. She may not have lost her mother, Ryan, or been worried about Taylor or Carter if Mia had come forward earlier. I would think if Carla didn’t recognize this person on the phone it couldn’t of been Morton since they were married she would of know who it was. Also, I’m wondering why Bob left. Was he disgusted by what happened at the hospital was Carla just especially difficult to live with but couldn’t explain why she was unhappy because of the threats. Thanks for the update!
LikeLike
EXACTLY—no matter what, it does NOT justify Andrew Lincoln causing so much harm to so many, no matter what he lost. YES, I can see how to Andrew, Christian has escaped being brought to justice. But he could have chosen SO MANY OTHER ways to try to obtain “justice” then this. After all, this is NOT justice and is BEYOND revenge, given that SO MANY innocents have been hurt or killed along the way.
So I’m hoping Mr. Conspiracy Head gets taken out, like getting trapped somewhere that causes him to burn to death. I don’t want him lingering in a jail cell for years. But I guess we will just have to wait and see. I’m sure Tara has something wonderfully creative and fit for HIM!
LikeLike
Omg I cannot believe Carla was involved!!! The ending is such a twist I didn’t see it coming!! Bonus chapter?? Please!!
LikeLike
Mia knew all along and by staying quiet she was kept alive. Carla was missed judged by trying to protect Ana and Calliope. It’s all Christian he was after. If he could get others killed why has he not try to kill Christian. What is his plan with him. To take him alive and torture him? I have a difficulty understanding his end game. He is killing people around Christian but keeping him alive, and planning to kill Ana and Calliope would be the end for Christian that he could take his own life? Just a thought but whoever this Conspiracy head is, he seems to have goons working for him and able to spread himself as long as he has money to pay for the dirty jobs. This man must be a dirty politician that Christian had come across with before or could be Lincoln since Christian changed his mind at the witness stand that saved Elena and allowed to continue her evil involvements.Taylor has to survive, Christian needs him. All we need now is the big reveal and hopefully Christian and Ana don’t try to stay away from each other just to make this evil man win, because in the end that would only be a temporary solution and they would still not be safe. Thank you, Tara.
LikeLike
Mr. Conspiracy Head wants to see Christian LOSE everything that he loves–his company AND his family. So Mr. Conspiracy Head thinks Christian needs to SUFFER and be left as a shell of a man.
And the above implies that Mr. Conspiracy Head thinks it would somehow be “justice” for Christian to get back what was done to HIM. Which is why I still think it is Andrew Lincoln. After all, Andrew saw Christian take EVERYTHING from him—first his woman, then his money, THEN his company. As well as his self-respect and trust in others, particularly his friends, like Carrick. Because Carrick DID know that Christian had taken the bribe from Elena. Yet DESPITE knowing what Christian had done, Carrick did NOT turn his son in or try to get him prosecuted for perjury, even though the proof was clearly there, as Andrew INFORMED Carrick that Elena had wired the money TO CHRISTIAN.
So in HIS mind, HE is getting the justice that was denied him. But it is NOT justice when so many INNOCENT people are KNOWINGLY murdered. But THAT would be WHY Mr. Conspiracy Head wants Christian to LOSE EVERYTHING and SUFFER first before killing him.
LikeLike
Omg… I’m speechless so much in one chapter I always figured Mia knew who it was and that some how Carla had done what she did to try and protect Ana and Calli from the bad guy . It’s sad how Carla died with Ana still being mad at her it was heartbreaking when Ana was saying her final goodbye to her you had me in tears 😭 I guess since they’ve finally lost a couple of people that where important to them now we will find out who is behind all of this . I think it’s most likely going to be Mr. Lincoln but then I’d feel it would be to obvious but then who else could be so pissed off at Christian that they would want to see him suffer
Can’t wait for next Monday hopefully ( pretty much begging ) you can give an extra chapter this week
LikeLike
Who is it?! I just don’t know if I can wait until next Monday without dying! Christian and his self loathing I knew he was going to try and leave Ana and Callie…they got to Mia thats why she was cutting…I am dying here can’t wait for the update.
LikeLike
Carla made her bed, she may have thought her actions helped her daughter to feel safe but Mother or not I always thought Carla was selfish and let’s face it just because your a mother doesn’t absolve you from doing bad things. Though poor Ana, I know what it’s like to be estranged from your mother, but having to make that decision well no one wants to be in that situation. I must say though I always thought it was strange no one thought it to be a good idea to go through the mail Carla sent just to be on the safe side, just on the off chance of Carla having anything useful to say? I have to say in the letter Carla wrote about when Ana went into labour that it crossed her mind that she could have been poisoned into an early labour/death it crossed my mind at the time given this guy has been able to cross so many security breaches in the past. I mean Elena may have planted the seeds of doubt in Christian’s mind i.e. Roz and Welch by getting this guy to use his trust issues but once Christian ate humble pie and realised that whomever is behind this is able to get into their security systems pay even dog walkers just to simply ‘spy’ I would think that even Taylor would be wanting to cross anyone off the list. I still never really like Carla I always thought she put herself first before Ana and while I can’t imagine what it would be like to be truly terrified into thinking if you don’t do what I say I’m gonna klll your kid, Carla wasn’t always team Christian because of his past but it seemed ok when she was reaping the rewards with trips to Paris and shopping sprees. It just seems that while Carla may have been frightened for Ana there seems to be more and really something we may never no the truth to her motives. As I’ll mention Mia later, as she said this guys plays on you. I have to agree with some of theories that perhaps Morton had something on her but at the same time not enough has been said about their past other then what we know from Ana’s perspective of their relationship with him as being unpleasant. I haven’t commented as much as in my head who I think this person is because I am either going to have ‘I see dead moment’ aka the sixth sense or be completely blown away (excuse the pun). I am not sure about Carter something still makes me reluctant he is so selfless, the ‘I couldn’t look you in the eye Ana if I didn’t help’. Something came to mind when at graduation Kate wasn’t invited to his family dinner and Kate responded something like ‘Carter’s family are all about their family’ it makes me suspicious of him and perhaps who is father is since he was the only person relatively unscathed in this atttack and he was one of the few who knew about the ‘plan’. Has Kate meet the Reed’s because I think if Kate had she would have the sense if something was off about them? I just don’t remember if they ever met which if anyone can remind me? I mean if Kate wasn’t invited to spend time with Carter’s family, it would seem strange that 24 hours later he was about to propose to her? Surely you’d be like Mum, Dad I am inviting the girl who I hope to be my future wife to my graduation dinner I’d think that would constitute as being being invite enough if she’s potentially going to be your future daughter in law? Also, I am throwing Bob into the ring, though I have no motive really, like everyone I’m now suspicious of everyone, if he left Carla after what she did to Ana and thought can’t be with a woman like that? Well who knows, she’s not exactly a candidate for ideal relationships, I think Ray said something to the affect she likes weddings for the festivities rather than the marriage because theirs was basically a bbq?
As for Mia, well no surprises from me – god what a brat, what the hell was she thinking that keeping her mouth shut would solve everything? I know I’ve been pretty vocal about how stupid and spoilt Mia is but come on!!! The self loathing she developed quickly because what two days before the wedding she’s out partying like there isn’t a care in the world. I swear are Grace and Carrick like the dumbest smart people on the planet – it’s like their last name should Trump not Grey! And how does a family who have a literal target on their back not have proper security except for a lock and home security monitor, given that they all know someone is out to hurt them, besides being a Seattle Roylty and have a billionaire for a son and paparazzi lurking at every corner? The whole point of Champ was to be a protective dog and he did his job, so a dog trained to go crazy at strangers goes off and Carrick just lets him out for a wee and a poo? I know Mia is a teenager she might be book smart but perhaps if everything wasn’t done for her and she was made to think for herself she might have come forward sooner? After everything that has happened Mia finally decided to talk? know lots of people think it’s Lincoln and in someways I am inclined to think yes, though it didn’t appear he was into BDSM, I thought when Astor turned up and effectively outing Elena he said something to Grace and Carrick she’s back into that thing she used to be into if I remember correctly? It’s just plenty of people keep associating him as the guy in the club, I am only asking if I am missing an obvious clue? Also, bloody Grace the naivety of this woman, with her constant ‘ oh my’, ‘what can we possibly do’ attitude, I know the poor woman means well but are you for real woman? It’s like Grace and Carrick Grey are like the white version of the Huxtables in the Cosby show with their careers reversed with their somewhat spoilt over achieving children however, this isn’t a comedy and yes this is a story which I fully appreciate, and I know I have said it but I’ll say it again but for a smart couple they are pretty stupid. Some people might think I’m being tough but even in real life plenty of parents have their heads buried in sand when it comes to their kids failings because it feels like a slight in their parenting which sometimes it is and you know what too bad you need to cop it on the chin like the rest is us. Just because you have a noble profession and run fancy balls to raise money and sit on lots of charity committees doesn’t mean your except from making bad decisions as parents. I know you can’t always know everything your kids do but as a parent it’s your job especially when they have fallen off the rails to get them back on the right track not hand over limitless credit cards and get them to shop their troubles away. When Mia got busted by Ana at her Hens do, Mia’s response to when that Tibby girl said she’s not your mother her response was ‘worse my Mum will ground me…… but Christian will basically do what my parents should be doing’ total paraphrase but you get my drift.
Obviously, whoever is behind this has major clout financially and power wise but you would think Christian and ergo his security would be a bit more diligent? I am so miffed at who this person is because they just seem to close to be know when to show up?!? I don’t know why and I would absolutely hate if this were true but I am suspicious of Luke even though he checks out for the most part, I just can’t seem to put my finger on who would have so much ‘availability’ to their schedules. While I don’t think he’s the mastermind he seems to be one of the few people who have so much access to security information and has been a constant. With Hyde why didn’t Luke check Ana’s dressing room before letting her enter? Sometimes, albeit reluctantly I am on Christian’s side when he’s like don’t get close to the staff, it’s like the constantly trying to outdo Kate in being her best friend then actually do the job he’s paid to do which is to protect her. That’s what I’d prefer to be the theory because that’s what I want to believe that it’s hard doing your job when you get close to someone especially in his line of work that he may forget to stop with the messing about and do his job.
Elena well good riddance but I would have liked for her to suffer more, even she said she was so bored she could just die and god I loved when Ana said ‘could you’, I was under the impression that she would most likely get 5-10 years but I always suspected that someone ne like Elena whose vanity was important to her she would have bribed her way out purely based on the people most likely to have frequented her club, those with money, power and a huge secret they wish to hide well as I am sure Botox and fillers aren’t included in prisoners weekly shops besides cigggies and chocolates. Though despite being blackballed because of her past BDSM making her the reluctant trophy wife she would known some powerful individuals that she may have asked for help. Though, one reviewer already questioned do we know she’s really dead? However, if she wax truly scared of what this guy was capable of more fool her if she is dead,she could of at least tried to right a wrong but as per usual not only was Elena greedy she was delusional and she really underestimated Christian’s love for Ana. Also, is it just me or is strange Issac sent Ana the manuscript instead of Hyde that couldn’t of been just a mistake, it makes me wonder if in some weird way Issac may have decided to help Christian and Ana maybe as he saw how manipulative Elena was and decided to change teams. Now I’m rambling in my head of all the conspiracies I have surrounding this great story.
Once again great chapter, full of suspense, with wonderful characters some who I love, love to hate and some I actually hate, which for me makes for brilliant drama and a great story and has kept me guessing and enjoying the great debate that follows after each marvellous chapter. Though, someone’s endgame seems sooner rather than later I don’t want this to be the end, the sap in me wants lots more juicy bits, lots more babies and for Mia to finally grow a brain and given how slow on the uptake she is well this bodes well for me and this fantastic story to continue indefinitely 🙂 also, if I seem critical of some of your characters it’s not because of your writing which is brilliant if anything the fact you get me riled up males for such an exciting story. It’s not just the drama of the who dunnit for me it’s also the characters and their development. Despite my feelings regarding Carla it’s still a tough one for her to killed because she despite all was Ana’s mother and it takes a brave writer not just to keep her in the story and for it all to be a happily ever after ending without some tragedy. Kudos to you and I hope we get a bonus because this is going to be one long week!
LikeLike
This is what about grace nd Carrick that has always bothered me…..after what happened to christian, u would have expected them to be on high alert around mia….but u don’t see them making much effort around her
In fact they made the same mistake by sending her to do a regular job that they did with christian
Ana should nt feel pity or any compassion towards Carla….she is a mother herself now and I don’t think she would ever do that to her own child.
And please just tell me y is ray so hell bent on trying to make amends between ana and Carla…I agree she is her mother I never saw ray having any anger towards what she did to calliope.
Btw Carla had issues with christian even during the time she was enjoying lavish treatments of private jet nd hatch during d 4th July celebrations
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep totally agree and someone posted about the chapter where they all talk about regrets in the first book and Ana mentioned Stephen Morton so of course I went back to read it kept going and at the bit when they went to Bora Bora. Carla gives Ana at least some parental advice about staying in Harvard, because Christian’s mum says he wants to drop out remember your from different worlds etc, which to me was in case he dumps you at least you have a college degree from Harvard to fall back on. However, Carla is quite happy to accept let’s face it a fancy luxury all expenses paid holiday from a family her daughter has known really what five minutes? Grace again in her desperation to absolve herself of guilt over not parenting Christian and serving him to Elena is totally happy to just pay because now Christian is ‘normal’ with a nice girl rather then her best friend the child molester. The difference between Ana and Carla are obvious, but one has been while Ana feels guilty if Christian spent excessive amounts of money on her because effectively at this point it’s Grace and Carrick’s money and Ana was at least it does make her feel weird, (it would make me weird too when I know it’s the family money not his own that he earned). I think Carla did enjoy the finer things in life and while thankful personally I’d be a little embarrassed that the Grey’s paid for everything. Carla has always been an opportunist and I assume she is pretty insome aspects after all she is Ana’s mother but she never really worked or lifted a finger and in this story I have no clue unless I missed it what exactly did Stephen Morton do for work? It just feels as she got older she had less of an ability to trade on looks and her somewhat flaky and fake personality and Bob Adams is kind of a quiet figure in that he seems to have a decent job but obviously not in excesses the Grey family have.
I still think Carla didn’t do what she did to Ana out of complete protection – it just seems well for Ana it would be nice if Carla did do it because she was genuinely concerned but realistically this conspiracy guy either plays on insecurity like Mia’s stupidity and as I’ve said before I think if he has something on you like Hyde for ex’s ole then if you don’t want your dirty secrets out then you do what he asks.
I also wonder Conspiracy guy must know about Christian’s past life in BDSM and by way of that manuscript tried to get it published but he must not have any hard evidence i.e pictures or anything to blackmail? So it does make think think this is more then about money this is about revenge but as to why I have no more clues except Lincoln but still can’t see he’d have those resources and Ana, Mia and Christian would know his voice. I have wondered like many about the pimp but it seems slightly implausible that a two bit pimp/drug dealer could come back out of nowhere and pull this kind of magnamous, expensive and well thought out plan. No disrespect to Christian’s birth Mum but she was effectively an under age prostitute junkie and I can’t think given the conditions that Christian was found in as a child that she was exactly Gucci of prostitutes and effectively he just lost another worker which was going to happen regardless of Christian’s existence because of her drug habit but then people are pretty sick and can have a bee in their bonnet over plenty of stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
EVERYTHING at this time points to REVENGE rather than MONEY as being the object of Mr. Conspiracy Head.
And ONE OTHER person would want REVENGE on Christian AND would hate that CHRISTIAN got away with CRIMES, when HE did not. And that would be Kate’s Stalker Guy. Who ALSO had the RICH FAMILY and connections.
But WHY target CHRISTIAN and not ELLIOT, who was Kate’s lover at the time? But it COULD EXPLAIN why CARTER would be enlisted into the Conspiracy now. CARTER also had Kate previously, so Mr. Conspiracy Head could want to punish Carter AND USE HIM to further lure KATE to Georgia.
AND by threatening SO MANY that Kate loves, Mr. Stalker Guy could hope to persuade her to stay with him in exchange for letting the others go. I had previously DISCOUNTED Stalker Guy as a possibility, since he is SUPPOSED to be in prison and out of reach. BUT he was BRILLIANT, and his rich family could have coerced the state into letting Mr. Stalker Guy get some low-level asylum.
(There has actually just been a case in NC where the guy was supposed to be in prison for a great many years to life AND the victim’s family was supposed to be NOTIFIED whenever he got moved, BUT THEY WERE NOT. And the guy was transferred to a low-level prison near them, which some reporter uncovered. The FAMILY, however, were never notified of the guy’s moves, DESPITE what he had done to their daughter.)
So it is entirely possible that Stalker Guy got out and targeted ELENA as being the best means of getting intel and possible recruits.
But HOW would MIA be involved? While she may have seen the guy or heard the name he is using at ELena’s club, then HOW would she KNOW it was him UNLESS SHE caught him doing something? So the MIA connection does not YET make sense, since Mia was only 13 at the time of the attack on Kate and murders at the dormitory. So there is NO REASON to target MIA without some MAJOR backstory, and even THEN, Mia wouldn’t be likely to put things together under what we know NOW. So BACKSTORY would be necessary, once again.
But I admit the SKILL SET and CONNECTIONS presumably add up for Mr. Stalker Guy.
ANDREW LINCOLN still makes the most sense. But a CRAZY PERSON shouldn’t be expected to make senes—it is ALL about REVENGE, and by not DIRECTLY attacking Kate, no one expects Kate being left unattended in Carter’s room in a hospital to be a worry. BUT that might have been the plan all along AND REASON FOR BRINGING IN CARTER NOW when he presumably wasn’t needed.
LikeLike
Christian was d one who caught him remember??
But I think he died that night…..but if he hasn’t, he cud be d one
Tara said in one of her post dat on person has correctly guessed his name
That’s y I think it cud nt be Lincoln…..I think it would be Morton or Bob or Taylor
LikeLiked by 1 person
Carla just needed an excuse to get ana away from christian….I have never felt her to be the one of nurturing types
And…..the head might have known that Carla had some resentment towards christian…or he couldnt have chosen her
LikeLike
I have suspected even Taylor too but since he’s been shot maybe not? But do we know he has definitely been shot because Ryan, Carla and Issac are dead and can’t confirm and maybe Carter is just saying it was Taylor at this point we haven’t had confirmation have we it’s actually Taylor.After all with the change of wedding only and Taylor knew other then Christian of the venue change so if is him he couldn’t do anything because it would out him as either an insider or Mr C. At this stage anyone is possible and I’d hate for it to be Taylor but he’s in their inner circle!
I agree that Carla was also jealous of Ana she got the life she always wanted. Not just University she got Harvard a man who really does love her. It is not a far stretch for a mother to be jealous of their daughter. Carla was funny with Christian for ages but she still took from him and prior to that his family. Remember even at Ana’s baby shower Ana made the comment she thought Ana and Grace were fighting for granny of the year but I secretly think Carla was like I’m Ana’s mother I should be number one. As much as Ana regrets leaving Carla behind re: Stephen Morton, Carla let her daughter be exposed to this man, again it wasn’t up to Ana a child to look after Carla and her bad decisions in men and did Carla cheat on Ray to be with Stephen? And if so she made countless of selfish decions which you can’t when you have a child. She could have told Ray about Mr C.
LikeLike
Wtf? Mia new the whole time???? Please don’t let us wait a week for an update!!!
LikeLike
Holy shitballs! Mia knows who it is!!!!!!!!! How the hell did Mia find out? How long has she known who it is and hasn’t said anything? I mean I understand after her little speech about those pictures but still. She could have maybe prevent the shooting for goodness sakes? Why did the guy let Mia live if she knows who he is or does he not know that Mia figured it out? So many questions. I so can’t wait for the next chapter to find out. That is if you tell us. 😉
Now Ana has to bury her mother! Taylor isn’t out of the woods yet either? Please don’t let Taylor die!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I adore that man and so does Gail! Does Gail know what’s going on with Taylor?
They all must have their mouths hanging open looking at Mia at the moment. I know that’s what happened when I read that, was a big OMG came out of mine! 🙂
I am so excited to find out who it is, but the will still have to find him and get to him. BUT then has he dirtied his hands or only had other people do it for him? Is that enough to put him because I so want the bastard to pay? Better if he’s just dead and buried.
LikeLike
Ana and Mia will clearly have A LOT to cope with following all this. As, I suspect, will Christian.
I did not previously list CARTER as a suspect, but quite frankly, anything is still possible. After all, if you go to ALL that trouble to SHOOT all the OTHER people in the car multiple times, then WHY would you shoot Carter once and leave him alone? I mean, it would make sense to AT LEAST shoot him multiple other times, just to make sure he is truly dead and not just playing dead.
AND Mr. Conspiracy Head clearly seems to have SUSPECTED Carter would go to Christian, since there was an ALTERNATIVE PLAN of another car in the driveway. ALMOST as if HE was EXPECTING Taylor and Ryan to show up.
So I can’t completely rule out Carter at this point based on the above. SADLY, even IF Carter is on the up and up, he has been left virtually unscathed, quite frankly. And Mr. Conspiracy Head does NOT like to leave people alive.
So IF MR. CONSPIRACY HEAD knows that Carter is still breathing, then it makes sense that HE would send people to finish Carter off, as soon as he is left alone. AND NOW KATE is in the hospital room, ALONE WITH CARTER.
So I’m hoping that I am WRONG about the above and that Kate is still safe. I guess we will know next chapter.
But I have suspected for some time that Mia knew who Mr. Conspiracy Head is. From the time that she got PALE at the table, I suspected she KNEW. And that there HAD to be a reason WHY she wouldn’t come forward. But WHY would HE choose to TARGET MIA and let her know HIS identity?
I’m wondering if Mia put the pieces together accidentally, and GIA realized that Mia KNEW or suspected who HE was. So then HE began threatening Mia to keep her silent.
So I want to know at what point Mia knew. Sigh. STILL So many QUESTIONS and possibilities!!! At last we should know SOMETHING next chapter. Because even IF something else happens to interrupt Mia’s explanation, she would OBVIOUSLY have reason to give the NAME. (Unless someone literally shot her before she could say something.)
And YES, this has to be my favorite Fifty Shades fanfiction of all time as well. Even when you could predict certain things that were coming (hey, I predicted that laptop issue from the very chapter where Hyun came through the wall), there were ALWAYS shocks and surprises about HOW things got revealed. So we are ALWAYS kept guessing.
(Although Tara, I can’t see HOW I will ever make it to next week. Seriously considering getting together a posse together to chain you to your writing desk until the next chapter gets out!!!! I mean, we are all DESPERATE here!!!!!!!! Have PITY on your poor readers!!! MMMMOOOOORRRREEE! I needs MORE of my PRECIOUS, my PPPRRREEECCCIOOUUSSS!)
LikeLike
Just think, if I post sooner, it’s just going to be over sooner. Although, then I do get to start working on my next story…
LikeLiked by 1 person
(LOL!)
LikeLike
fabulous…….cannot wait to find out who it is…..
LikeLike
I knew Mia was the missing link to this puzzle which I have previously stated. However, I’m truly pissed that she has kept her mouth closed all these months. I understand that she might have been afraid for her family, but I still think there much more that Mia needs to discuss with Christian and security. I honestly don’t think Mia could have stopped Mr. Conspiracy Head by talking. Hiwever, she could have possibly prevented some of the havoc in Georgia. If Carla was a target the inevitable was going to happene
I have read and re-read Carla’s letter to Ana. I’m just a bit confused of these particular words “I just want you to know that whatI did wasn’t out of purely selfishness, I was trying to protect you and Calliope. Something bothers me about that statement. As we know this will be catastrophe for Ana. Having a solid support group that Ana has she will learn how to cope with the loss. I’m not a fan of Carla, but like her choices in life or not she was Ana’s mother. Now I’m wondering if Ana had passed during labor and delivery what was Carla plan for Calliope. Scary thoughts after knowing she was involved.
So Ryan and Carla are both dead. Taylor are in ICU fighting for his life. But Mr Reed decides it’s a good time to have humor. Why would Christian trust this guy at all
His conversation with Ana just not sitting well with me. He’s surely not the “HE” but a hardnose recruits. I was wondering if Christian or Taylor ever did a background check on Carter. We know other students from Harvard was recruits. Carter was the closes to Ana and the Greys. It doesn’t make sense that he would have been eliminated.
I hope Christian bring Gail to Georgia to support Taylor doing his recovery. Please Please let Taylor be ok.
I always said it was Lincoln because imo it makes sense to me. Given the history between Christian and Linc. I read a review that suggested it might be Luke. I was thinking that was possible after hus conversation with Ray when he came home. But would that be enought? Not for me.
Tara what an amazing chapter! I can honestly tell you that I have never, ever been so emotional involved in a fictional before. I have enjoyed other but never involved where I’m re-reading making notes etc. Thank You for this wonderful journey that we’re on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, the other thing about Carla’s letter that didn’t sit well with me was the need to tell Ana about people wanting to rape her and being a whore, was thiat necessary Carla? Also it seem, a recurring theme with everyone and anyone that helps this bloke is that he has something on them? What did he have on Carla? It does make me agree with you if Ana had had Calliope to term, would she have taken her away from Ana in someway? I just don’t buy it was for her own good, Carla must of known Christian and his disposable money and security and even with Ray back in the picture like Ray would let anything happen to Ana and her child.
While it’s interesting that Mia knows who it is, again to me her naivity that people are pretty self sacrificing I think only a teenager who watches way to much tv would think that. In Mia’s case I think what she sees as being self sacrificing is code for he’s scared the crap out of you by sending you all this stuff to show he’s watching all the time. Mia wasn’t exactly self sacrificing when she partied at Ana’s Hens do without her security and her biggest worry was Christian will takeaway my money for school. I think a lot of people when faced with the choice of making a little cash by selling info on people they view as celebrity is no harm no foul.. In terms of the bigger players ie Leila, Elena even Jack he either promised them something they wanted or didn’t want to get out about them. A lot of the general tit bits about Ana and Christians life have come from people just looking to make a quick buck, like it was dog walkers, people that saw Ana at school, these people hadnothing to loose or gain except some extra cash I’ll give you $100 if you see a Grey but you need to let me know ASAP. I mean even in the real world look at how papaprazzi make a living they do so by paying people for information. People don’t think they could be helping a crime or let alone invading someone’s privacy for providing that information. People see anyone in the public eye as fair game unfortunately either because their jealous of their lifestyle or they think hey it’s easy cash if you can get it. Not everyone in this world cares if your happy, they care if they’re happy. Even Christian was naive enough to accept Elena’s deal which helped him start his company, he’s even worked out he was selfish.
Also is it me or is it not strange that Issac was not on the top of the list of suspects given his involvement with Elena? Luke seemed so surprised by his name like who is he type thing when Ana said I know who is. You would think during the security search for any connections with Elena and who came to visit her in prison he would have been a given?
It’s like they (well obviously conspiracy man knew) when this thing was going down with Ana’s Mum and does it not seem strange that Carter was suprised it was Ana’s Mum that was to be kidnapped? The more I read I am suspicious of Carter, and what exactly what has Christian promised him, just because he comes on the day of their wedding and tells them I’ve basically kissed away university sorry college and my Dad is pissed off at me for not carrying out the legacy of Harvard, but hey surprise surprise this mystery man has offered me Harvard Law but I have all this information for you? I think Carter is like well Grey dropped out and became a billionaire practically overnight if I can get into his innner circle well maybe I can be as successful. Though, I don’t think he’s the mastermind he just seems to conviinient to help. I feel weird him and Kate being alone it’s to convenient for something to happen.
I don’t know anymore because it’s a mans voice I’ve always in the back of my mind thought that maybe it was the female lawyer who represented Elena and wanted to see Carrick fail as he’d lost his touch but in the end but it was Christian with I guess the aid of his security who managed to get the info that it was her club at the last minute was she thinking she was on a sure thing with Elena to bring down one of the best lawyers in their state? Oh damn it every time I think I am on to something it even seems ridiculous to see myself type it out but hey this is what comments are for right? And I always did think what ever happened to Jose, or was he just kinda of there as a nod to the original cannon? Sick and sleep deprived for all I know it’s the President he seems the only person with the far reaching influence but why would he care, this was the Obama years when this was set right? Trump I could see on the other hand he’s a rich dirty old man! Oh yukcky!
LikeLike
I’m Shook. 😳
Amazing update! Wow!
LikeLike