▌Prologue ─ A Game ▌

8 MONTHS BEFORE HARLAN'S 85TH BIRTHDAY

      ━━━━━ IRIS ARRIVED AT the mansion where her grandfather lived, she was alone with no fiancé or brother attached to her side. In fact no one knew she was visiting her grandfather, she had a mission to complete and it had to be done now. If it wasn't then her family would find a way to get what they always wanted.

She turned the car off and stared down at the wheel thinking of ways to tell her grandfather the things he needed to hear. One of the secrets that needed to be told involved her mother and father. Another secret included her Aunt Joni, and so on each secret somehow tied back to some member of her family.

She didn't want these lies to be the truth, but they were and eventually Iris would have to deal with it on her own time. She lifted her hand to her face wiping the single tear that had managed to fall down her face. Pulling herself together she grabbed her bag and keys, opening the car door she exited out of the vehicle.

Closing the door, she pulled out two sets of dog treats she always carried with her. The brunette kneeled down as her grandfather's dogs ran up to her, giving her licks.

"Hi babies, I brought you your favorite treats." Iris spoke, a smile resting on her lips.

She watched the two dogs sit down for her waiting to get their mouths on the treats. Iris lowered her hands to each of the dogs holding her palms open, allowing the dogs to eat the treats. The smile that had been resting on her face had become much bigger than before.

She stood up from the ground petting the dogs heads softly, then turned to the steps walking towards them. Fran, one of the house keepers, stood at the door, a smile resting on her face.

"Hi, Fran, how are you doing?" Iris asked, stopping in front of her.

"I'm doing great. Are you here to see your grandfather?" She questioned.

Iris nodded her head, "yeah I am. Do you know if he's in his study or in the attic?" Iris asked, moving past her. Fran had moved to the side, allowing the Drysdale girl to come into the mansion.

"He's probably in the attic room with Marta." Fran answered, soon going back to the work she was doing.

Iris moved towards the stairs that would lead her to her grandfather, as she placed her feet on the steps and moved up to the next level the set of stairs creaked. She didn't like the sound the steps made when people walked on them, but it was a mansion after all and there was nothing she could do about it.

Turning down the hallway, she came closer towards her grandfather's room, but soon turned heading up another set of stairs. The brunette lifted her hand up to the door, knocking on it loud enough for Harlan and Marta to hear.

Seconds later the door opened to reveal Marta, the woman sent her friend a smile who in return received a smile from Iris. She watched as Marta moved to the side allowing her to walk in, Iris' eyes fell onto her grandfather who sat in one of his favorite chairs in the room.

"Hi, granddad." Iris said, walking over to him, and placing a kiss on the side of his cheek.

Harlan stood up from the chair pulling his favorite grandchild into a tight hug. He placed a smile on his face, receiving this kind of love from his only grandchild was something Harlan adored more than anything.

"Hi Ris." Harlan said, pulling away from the hug to look at her.

"Why have you come to visit me? And where is that fiancé of yours?" Harlan asked, sitting back down in the chair.

"Well, I like visiting you. But, I had the day off. I needed to come and talk to you about some things that you need to hear." Iris turned her head slightly looking over at Marta who was placing things in the medical bag for Harlan.

"Marta, could you give us the room?" Iris asked mainly because what she would be talking about involved her friend.

"Uh, yes I can. Are we still on for lunch?" Marta questioned sending her a smile.

"Yes, we are. Don't worry I didn't forget." Iris replied, walking over to the stool and sitting down on it.

Marta nodded her head moving towards the door and she walked out of the room closing the door behind her allowing Iris and Harlan to talk alone. Iris turned her head looking back at her grandfather, he looked at her with a serious look resting on his face as he waited for her to talk.

"I think you should rewrite your will, maybe not now but sometime before your birthday." Iris announced. She knew very well that she had caught her grandfather off guard.

"What brought this up, Ris?" Harlan asked, leaning forward in his chair, curious to know what she was thinking.

"Dads having an affair, mom doesn't know. Ransom is turning into an asshole who thinks he's entitled to everything." Iris began to explain, still staring at her grandfather. "And there's some other dirt, I found on the rest of the family. I want you to look into it, granddad. If I do, and anyone finds out they'll think I betrayed them. Especially Ransom." Iris explained looking down at the engagement ring that rested on her hand.

"There's something else bothering you, Iris." Harlan said, causing his granddaughter to look up from her ring.

"There's something off with Fred. I don't know what it is, but I've been feeling this way for a while now. Probably since we got engaged, maybe even before we started dating." Iris announced wanting to break down and let it all out.

But she remained together, and her grandfather could see that. It was something he had always admired about her, how strong she could be even when she was facing difficult times. He sent her a small, but sweet smile in a reassuring way. Even if he never admitted to Ransom, Iris was in fact his favorite of the two.

"Iris, you've never asked me for anything. In your entire life you've done everything by yourself. I will find out anything I can on Fred, I can promise you that. You are my granddaughter and the only one that comes to see me on a regular basis. This I will do for you." Harlan said, comfort washed through Iris, but there was still something she had to tell her grandfather, something that needed to be taken care of.

"There's something else." Iris spoke.

Her eyes scanned the room as she prepared herself for what she was about to tell her grandfather.

"I really think that you should rewrite your will, I know I mentioned it earlier. I think Marta, her mother and her sister should be placed on the will and everyone should be taken off." Iris announced, turning her head to look at Harlan.

"What about you? You deserve to be on that will just as much." Harlan told her. Iris sighed, staring down at the ground for what seemed like forever, deep down she knew she had to do this to make things right so there could be a better future.

"I know, but I've gone all my adulthood without asking for your money and your help. I can handle myself, I have an industry that I established myself. I've paid off all my debts, I have control of what I'm doing. I don't care if I'm not on the will, I'm good. But, Marta... her mother could be deported at any moment and I can't even imagine what that would be like for her and her sister. I would be upset if something happened to Marta's mother." Iris explained, feeling happy that she had finally told her grandfather about what she had been feeling for the will.

"What do you suggest I do, Iris?" Harlan asked, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at her. She knew that the next set of words would damage her family but she knew it was for the best.

"Think of this as another book that you're going to write, and one thing I know you do when preparing to write a book is research, especially for each of the characters that are going to be in the story. Mom, dad, Ransom, Aunt Joni, Meg, Uncle Walt, Aunt Donna, Jacob, and Fred they're the characters of the story." Iris explained, watching her grandfather take in the information.

"All you have to do is further your research on them, then you use that information against them, and you rewrite the will and you do a reading so they can hear the will. I love my family, I really do but you need to do this. I couldn't stop thinking about it."

She really hoped that he would play the game. He stared at her, taking in the information that she had given him. Deep down he knew that she was right and it was what needed to be done. Harlan looked down at the ground briefly thinking about what his granddaughter was asking. He lifted his head, placing his eyes on the brunette.

"I'll do it, but as long as you help me with it." Harlan announced, watching his granddaughter.

"Yeah, I'll help. I can take off work any time." Iris said, smiling at her grandfather. He smiled back at her, soon he pushed himself forward.

"Let's play a game, shall we?" Harlan questioned moving up from the chair, he grabbed one of his favorite board games.

Meanwhile Iris's mind traveled to Fred, as she started to wonder why he had started dating her in the first place. Then she began to wonder why Ransom and Fred got along so well, when they were together they were real jerks and she didn't understand why she was with someone who could be so rude to people. But they worked together, and she loved him, she knew that Fred loved her too.

But, she wanted to know what the reason was behind why he had chosen her out of the woman he picked her. Why? That was one thing she hoped her grandfather would find out, upon his research. Iris placed a smile on her face to hide the fact that deep down she was in pain from everything that she had experienced the last few months.