#27 (Warren and Jill have a heated argument... )
Jill Stanhope Montgomery walked into the drawing room of her home to find Will Montgomery and her husband, Warren, having an early afternoon cocktail. While Jill wasn’t a stranger to the joys of alcohol, she detested the flagrant way in which Will so easily led Warren down the wrong path. Even though Warren was older than Will by nearly ten years, Jill considered Will to be the bad influence.
“I thought you were at the country club,” Warren said to his wife. “Billy and I were just talking about the wedding.”
Jill scrunched up her nose. “Oh. Are your parents paying for it?”
Will rolled his eyes. “Actually, I’m paying for my wedding, Jill. I don’t need my parents to fund my lifestyle.”
“Except that your father bought the polo club for you and your parents contribute to your trust fund,” sniffed Jill. “I’ve often told Warren that I think it will be good for our girls to grow up like normal people away from the burdens of excessive wealth.”
Will glared at his sister-in-law with marked contempt. They’d never been friends. Will found her to be vain, condescending, and rigid. Jill wasn’t the kind of person Will would ever help in a crisis, even if their lives depended on it. However, in this moment, he chose to say nothing because he valued his relationship with Warren far too much to waste his time on the likes of the financially derelict Jill Stanhope.
“Jill,” Warren said evenly, “the girls will be prepared for the wealth they will inherit. They are Montgomerys after all.”
“Actually,” said Will, “I stopped by because I wanted to ask you and Warren a question.”
Jill folded her arms with pronounced annoyance. “What?”
“I would like for Hannah and Kate to be flower girls at my wedding to Connor.”
Jill could feel the fury rising from within her. Flower girls, thought Jill, hotly. The last thing she wanted to do was subject her children to the sham of a wedding between Connor and Will. She knew all too well that Connor was not an upstanding man by any means, even if he was the single best lover she had never known. As for Will, Jill loathed him and she refused to let her girls attend any wedding to which he was a party.
“I think it’s great!” chirped Warren. “I know Hannah and Kate will love it.”
“Warren,” Jill said quickly, “don’t you think we should discuss this first?”
“What’s there to discuss,” interjected Will. “They’re going to be flower girls, not drug mules.”
Jill glared at Will. “I just think it’s something my husband and I should discuss.”
“Why?” asked Will, evenly. He did not like Jill. Furthermore, he felt he knew the reason why she didn’t like him. “Jill, I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that this is a gay wedding. I know the Stanhopes are known for their…provincial way of life…but I do hope that’s not what’s on your mind.”
Jill’s eyes flashed with marked fury. “How dare you…!”
“It’s a simple question,” insisted Will. “I’d love to have my nieces in the wedding…”
“Have you asked if Faren will be in the wedding party?” spat Jill.
Warren glared at his wife, unable to ascertain why she was behaving in such an unbecoming manner. “Jill, what has gotten into you?”
“To answer your question,” Will said as he stood up, “I asked Eli if Faren can be a flower girl and he said it was fine with him as long as Hannah and Kate were in the wedding party, too. He didn’t want anyone left out.” With that, Will bade goodbye to Warren and Jill before leaving their house.
“What the hell was that about?!” Warren said once his brother had gone.
“Don’t speak to me like that when you’ve been drinking,” huffed Jill. “I’m going to the country club.”
“Hang on,” Warren said, quickly. He moved to block Jill from leaving the drawing room, his mind racing at a thousand miles a minute. “Billy’s right.” Warren looked into Jill’s eyes which showed no hint of emotion. “He’s right, isn’t he?” Warren let all of the air out of his lungs as he moaned, “Oh, Jill…”
“I don’t approve of Billy and Connor’s marriage! Fine! I said it! I don’t want my daughters photographed for newspapers and magazines around the world at a gay wedding, Warren. My family would be mortified! I know your family will do anything to placate Billy, but I won’t do it!”
“How can you be so cruel and homophobic?!”
“I am not cruel or homophobic!”
“Jill…”
“No! Just because I don’t share the same beliefs as you, Warren, doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I am so sick of your family trying to make me into one of you. God! I don’t care if Eli lets Faren be a flower girl! I will not stand for my daughters being in that freak show!”
“How dare you say that about my brother!”
“Oh, please. Wake up, Warren. You think Billy is some sort of saint and he’s not. He’s planning to marry the man who allegedly raped your sister!”
Warren felt the blood drain from his face. “How do you know about that?!” he seethed.
“Everyone knows,” Jill said in a low growl. “It’s the worst kept secret in Kingsport. People think the Montgomery family is a joke because of Billy and Connor. You people pretend to be so upstanding and noble when your skeletons are literally falling out of your closets. I refuse to let my children be a party to this unseemly affair.”
“They’re my children, too! Don’t force my hand, Jill.”
Jill stared at Warren with contempt for the first time in their marriage. “Are you trying to threaten me?”
“I have the resources of my trusts and the Montgomery family at my disposal. You have what I give you. I will destroy you if you try to play me against my children and my family.” Warren’s eyes narrowed as he transfixed his gaze on Jill. “You get away with a lot, my dear wife. You may think you’re high and mighty, but that’s only due to me. You came from less than nothing! Society trash at its best. No money; just a name. I made you. I gave you money…access…real class… If you cross me where Billy is concerned, you’ll be out on the streets with nothing but what’s in our prenup and that’s not much, Jill.”
“You’d threaten the mother of your children…”
“No.” Warren closed his eyes to regain his thoughts. “I’m simply stating the facts. You may think you’ve won this round, but you will apologize to Billy…”
“I will not!”
“You will!!”
“No! I’m not apologizing to anyone! I do not support his union to Connor. I will not subject my daughters to that freak show, Warren. If you so much as push me on this issue, I will let everyone know about what really goes on in this family. You may have the money, Warren, but I will win in the court of public opinion.”
Warren eyed his wife carefully because, in truth, she seemed more like a stranger. “Where did you learn to be so vile?”
“From your family,” she said, pointedly.
With that, Warren stormed out of the drawing room and out of the house.
Jill collapsed on a divan as she heard Warren’s car peal down the driveway. She could hardly contain her emotions as she began to cry without knowing if the tears would ever cease. Oh, and how she ached for Connor. As she tried to console herself in her eight-million-dollar home, Jill knew all too well that Warren was right about everything. In spite of that, she couldn’t let him take away her children. And yet, she couldn’t let her children be in Will and Connor’s wedding. Either way, she would lose. However, there was only one way to ensure she wouldn’t have to compromise: Jill had to ensure Will and Connor never made it to their wedding day…
In our next installment, Warren confides in Charles...
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