Pride and Prejudice, the High School Version.

chapter 18

Liz didn't want to tell Charlotte what had happened and risk her gloating and saying she was right. So when she came back to the apartment, she helped Charlotte prepare some food and talked about everything but what was on her mind.

She could not believe the nerve of Bill Darcy. Did he think he could just wave his money around and she would come running, dropping her pants on the way? Or did he think one expensive book was enough to make her forget his past actions? Did he even like her like he said or was he just looking for a quick Christmas lay? Girlfriend her foot. How did he suppose that was going to work out anyway?

Jimmy, who had gone to clean one of the recording studios walked in just as Liz was setting the table. He handed her a gift.

"I met Bill coming here. He told me to give you this? He says you forgot it at Katherine's house or something."

Liz groaned and threw the wrapped present in her bag. She knew he had returned the book back to her. She decided she will send it to Carol Bingley once she was back in Spring Valley.

They ate their supper in silence and both Charlotte and Jimmy were soon asleep. Liz tossed and turned as she replayed the conversation she had had with Bill. She needed something to calm her down, something like...a book.

She grabbed her bag from the floor and tore the package open. As she had suspected, he had sent back the book, but not just the book, as Liz opened it, things fell out, papers, a lot of them and  newspaper clippings. There was also an envelope so she opened it and found a literal letter, an old fashioned letter, written on a piece of paper and addressed to her. If this was a love letter, so help her God...

She began to read

Dear Liz,
Relax, this is not a love letter.

I would like to explain myself a little bit more and I feel like a letter is the safest place to do so. You accused me of two unforgivable crimes yesterday, and I would like you to hear my side of the story too, so please read this.

The first was that I separated your sister from Charlie. This one I accept. However, it wasn't because of any malice on my part, I acted in good faith, believing myself to be doing right by both my friend and your sister. Jane had never expressed her feelings to Charlie, and from my research, I learned that she didn't date much. I didn't think she liked him well enough to love him, so I told him to let it go. But the main reason I did that was because Louise was getting worse, and Charlie was getting too attached to Spring Valley to see it. She needed professional help, so I told him that Jane was not worth staying for, and convinced him to move back to DC. As the sister, of course you know her feelings better, but I figured that since it was her first heartbreak, she was bound to heal.

The second accusation is an accusation too serious not to be explained properly, I have therefore attached the evidence of my claims. As per my father's will if George chose not to attend college, then the sum total of all the money in his college fund was to be paid to him upon my father's death. When my father passed away, he made the claim to be paid all the money, which was paid in full total of £500,000. Forfeiture of his college education also meant forfeiture of his right to work at Pemberly Enterprises. Furthermore, he sued Pemberly Enterprises for negligence a year later. The plane crash that caused both our parents' death was caused by a fault in the aircraft's engine. I shared this information with him in confidence, and a year later, he turned around and used the said information against me. As the information would have damaged the Company's reputation, the case was settled out of court and he was paid $16 million. This particular payment was too expensive for Pemberly Enterprises and the company almost went into liquidation, desperate, I turned to my mother's money, which according to the terms of her will was to be Georgina's. I was almost too late, as I found that he had convinced her to grant him the Power of Attorney without my knowledge and was slowly siphoning the money away. I put a stop to all of it immediately.

As I said before, I have attached copies of the said wills and payment receipts to confirm that I am saying the truth. That being said, I trust that you will keep this information confidential as revealing it may cost Pemberly Enterprises heavily. The media scrutiny of Georgina, as a daughter of my late mother is also a bit too much, as a result, I try to keep the company's image as impeccable as possible for her protection.

I hope this letter has served to reduce your strong dislike towards me.

Sincerely
Bill

P.S: I am not forcing it upon you, but I hope you will keep this copy of Emma, such that if we never meet again, it's absence on my shelves will always remind me that you have it with you.

Liz reread the letter before looking at the said evidence. Indeed, he had attached a copy of everything he claimed to have done. She didn't want to believe it at first. She tried to hold on to her resentment because he had broken Jane's heart, but his explanation was logical and therefore, justified.

How had she not seen straight through George? No one could be that charming. She ought to have seen right through his lies, but she didn't. She was too blinded by her dislike for Bill to ever doubt anything he told her. The way he had stopped hanging out with her in favor of the richer Bess King ought to have sounded a warning bell.

She lay to sleep, clutching the book to her chest, the book that will always remind her of her first love, now lost.