Hiraeth

Chapter 5: The Dehydrated Rose

*Knock knock knock*

I freeze up and stare at the door. I wait but hear nothing else. Slowly approaching the door, I can hear slight shuffling like someone was switching feet to stand on nervously. I look through the peek hole, ready to jump out of the way if there is a threat on the other side of the door.

To my relief, it's Mr. Harper. I had told Bryan to tell him to meet me here before I left my father's property. I unlock the door and let him in.

"Did anyone follow you?"

"I did everything you told me to so I don't think so" he says as he walks in and I close the door behind me.

"Do you have any information on Mr. Hale? The other day, a young man tried to overpower me and he said he wasn't working for my father. He didn't tell me who though."

"Hiraeth, I've been trying to do research on Mr. Hale and his name doesn't show up anywhere else other than in America."

What? "Then who else is after me?"

"I have no clue. It is either Mr. Hale using a fake name or someone we don't know about yet. Nothing your father has said so far has given me any hints."

I think back to the roses but decide to not mention it. Nothing about that smell gives me any hints as to whom is after me. "Is my father mad?"

"Very much so. Hiraeth, I think leaving just made your relationship with your father dangerous."

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. I see why you left but I have another thing to tell you. Your father has been looser with acting suspicious. I think he still believes that people like him more than you and so he is letting his guard down. He has been meeting with someone but I can't figure out where they are going."

"Could it just be Mr. Hale?"

"I don't think so. He meets Mr. Hale in his office every now and then to talk about you. The thing is... I wonder if Mr. Hale is working for someone too. Something gives me the impression that he is acting based off instinct."

I ponder this. Who the heck is Mr. Hale working for? I decide to think on this information later. "Do you have what I asked for?"

Mr. Harper nodded and handed me a dehydrated rose with a thorny stem. This rose is from the garden on my father's estate. I go to the small desk and pull out a piece of paper and a pen.

In this letter, I tell my father to break up the engagement. I tell him that he can't make her do this and to take a long look at the rose.

"A rose that I have as I'm writing this but you don't."

My father will know what this means. As much as he likes to deny it, he has to now accept that fact that I have more power than he does.

The image of Bryan sitting across from me comes to my mind. He had said "more than half". More than half of the people working for or with the Hannum family wants me to take over my father's fortune and stop whatever shady business he is getting himself into. He has been neglecting the business and withholding information from clients. I have been working hard to keep us going and now, he has destroyed his own reputation with whatever he is doing behind everyone's back.

I seal the letter after sliding the rose into the envelope.

"Here. Make sure someone else gives it to him and not you or Bryan."

Mr. Harper nods and leaves soon after. I am left alone in the room and I spend my time getting ready to go to sleep. So much is happening and I need to clear my head in the shower.