Kyle held his head high and looked down at Lana. She saw the reactions and her eyes were like steel daggers daring any of these people to approach them.
Kyle kept his pace while the older of the two was the first to speak.
"Blaine! What is the meaning of this! What will your grandmother do if she finds out about this!"
He locked his eyes with hers, "she'd simply die."
He led Lana and Cere passed the gaping women who had the audacity to say such a thing until the trio were standing between the wall and the five tables his family were occupying.
He cleared his throat, "I have an announcement to make."
"As some of you may know, there was a silent war going on between the Abel and Techno families. That war is now over, unless someone in this room can give me a reason to continue that war."
Several faces went pale.
Bianca was the first to speak, "whether we are at war or not is up to your grandmother. None of us have that authority."
Kyle looked deep into her eyes, "that wicked witch is dead. I now have control of all Abel Family assets. What do you have to say now?"
To drive home the point, Lana and Kyle started removing the coffin from her bracelet, "Gerald, get some servants here to handle this." As he pulled it to the floor behind Lana.
There were gasps all around the room.
"That's impossible!"
"How could anyone beat her?"
"She was too strong, there's no way!"
Lana chuckled, "too bad she didn't carry a broom, we could have brought it as proof."
Jessica stood up and tried to slap Lana. Lana saw it coming a mile away and grabbed her wrist.
"Try that again, bitch. You must be the psychopath who thinks it's okay to bed your own brother."
Kyle nodded, "this is Jessica."
Lana's lip twisted in contempt, "he's mine," she growled, "I suggest you take your seat and pay attention."
Jessica's face went paler, "grandmother is going to torture us all!"
Lana scoffed, "as a ghost?"
Jessica swallowed hard, "it can't be true. None of us…"
"That's because you are too weak and too timid," Lana stated loudly for all to hear.
She then pointed back at Jessica's seat. Jessica scurried back to her seat with her head down.
Cere stepped forward, "Barica Abel attacked one of my family members, Lana," she said gesturing to the girl. "As such, I refused to allow her malicious behavior to continue. How she ran her family was her business, but she has been harming innocent children for over a decade. Abel Genetics no longer owns any orphanages. As part of our truce, all orphanages under Abel Genetics have been transferred to me and there is now an agreement they will no longer purchase or have any relation with any organization that has affiliation with minors, this includes through proxy."
Cere looked around at all the eyes on her before continuing. The faces were still pale, the eyes still defiant and unbelieving. It wasn't even possible for Barica Abel to be dead in their minds.
"In addition," Cere continued, "to ensure peace between our two families, Kyle Abel will marry Lana Plantwell one week from today."
The hall erupted as almost everyone protested those words.
"You can't do that"
"She's not an Abel"
"That's a death wish!"
"Shut up!" Kyle raised his voice and little Kent roared as well. It sounded like a little lion cub trying to use a voice not yet mature at his age of four weeks.
Kyle couldn't help but chuckle and he reached over and pet Kent, telling him he was a good boy.
"What reason do you have for me to not marry the girl I love?" Kyle asked.
"You belong to Jessica!"
"I have never belonged to her and Blaine only did what he did as a matter of survival. Many of us did. Jessica is my sister and asking me to engage in such things with her is beyond vile. Anything else?"
There was no immediate response.
"Gerald, have the servants remove the coffin and take it outside. We burn the witch to ashes this evening before dinner."
Gerald gulped, "yes, Master Kyle."
To the group, "either I marry Lana with the blessing of the Abel Family or I'm not a member of the Family."
Bianca stood on shaky legs, "she's really dead?"
Kyle nodded. "Since I'm still in military school, I need to appoint people to handle family affairs for me. Father, you have always had a level head. Do you think you could handle running the company?"
Steven stood proudly, "if you think I'm up for the task, I will do everything I can to make you proud. I also approve of your union. Something tells me there's an interesting story there and I'd like to hear it someday."
Kyle smiled, "she's the reason grandmother is dead."
He then looked around the room. "The previous training of the children may take place but the competition at the end is now over. There will be no more children brought in. Once the children graduate from our training, they will be given the option of going to a private school or continuing the established training that grandmother instituted. The vile things are also over. The incest is OVER!" Kyle was growling at this point, "Everything related to that behavior dies with her."
Kyle glared at everyone to make his point clear, "if you want a partner, you must leave the island and court a person properly. There must be consent in all aspects of the relationship. We can build more on our island here to have more families living here or you can live where you want with your new family, it's up to you. I have been able to pay someone a huge amount of money to copy the family book. One copy will go to the person I choose to handle family affairs while I'm away. That will be determined by the time I get married. I suggest you guys start thinking about that. In the meantime, I'm showing my soon-to-be-bride around our house."
With that, they turned and left the room, leaving behind excited and scared chatter about their unsettled new future.
It took four hours for Blaine to show Lana and Cere around the house. Bianca ran to catch up to them and joined them on the tour. It was a total of 6 stories. The bottom three had barely any evidence left of the time the home was under water.
Lana was stunned by the treasure room.
"Tradition in the family is not to marry since the days of my grandfather. Mother was against it. We never understood and we never knew her family. She was an only child. She was the one who instituted the… rules. We never knew where the children came from. We had the best of education in whatever subject we wanted but we were also trained strenuously in strength of body and ability. If you are to be the first marriage in the family, to such a prestigious family, this needs to be done right," Bianca said to Lana.
She started picking out jewels, some were older than the mansion itself. Bianca held several to Lana trying to figure out which fit her best. Cere joined her and soon they had something figured out.
Cere and Bianca nodded to each other, "the dress must match these."
Lana's face turned red. The idea of wearing something so exquisite was beyond anything she could imagine. It was starting to set in what she was getting herself into. She refused to think about that much right now. They planned to return to school the next day. It sounded like things were going to be really busy for a bit.
The last place they stopped was a locked door that no one had a key for, one that not a single person but Gerald and Barica were permitted to enter. Lana grew a root in the lock and broke it so badly, the whole door needed to be replaced.
Gerald heard the commotion and came running, "Master Blaine, why didn't you ask me for the key?"
Lana replied, "this was more satisfying."
She was the first to enter the room. The first thing she saw was an easel with a painting that was obviously unfinished. The one face that could be made out was Blaine's. Lana's attention was then drawn to the walls, and she wanted to throw up. Every single one contained sexual content. Most were Barica with a man who looked old enough to be her father. Some had the two of them and a woman who looked old enough to be her mother.
Those closest to her bed had a different theme. All of them contained her and Blaine doing things that Blaine said never happened. His face was pale and he looked like he was ready to empty the contents of his stomach.
Cere found a computer in the room. She placed her hand on the top and quickly gained access. Soon a hologram was playing in which Blaine was protesting about intimate relations with his sister. His grandmother got violent with him, stressing refusal wasn't an option. A crying Blaine, not old enough for the act by the standards set by society, was then shown doing things he never wanted to do with a woman who never wanted him to be forced on her. He was her favorite brother. Their relationship was destroyed by a psychopath.