Bridgerton - His One True Love

Chapter Four- Revelations

Upon hearing footsteps approaching both Jen and Anthony froze and looked to see who was approaching them.

Jen's anger tripled towards her brother at the sight of him, while Anthony was left feeling confused as to why his best friend would lie to him about not knowing where his sister was or about the fact she was very much alive.

Unfortunate for the Duke that he taught her how to fight because she punched him straight in the face, with such force he stumbled backwards. To say he was shocked would be a lie, he expected no less from his sibling. The Viscount on the contrary was not only shocked by what had transpired, but also amused because if what they thought had occurred as a result of Simons doing was true and Simon had kept them in the dark thinking neither wanted anything to do with the other, the Bridgerton too was about to punch the rake in the face but a hell of a lot harder.

"I must say if you plant a facer like that every time you are angered your grace, I shall ensure never to be the one to anger you" Anthony said, with a smirk, proud that the woman he loved was unafraid to hit her brother for being a bastard.

"It would be in your favour not to anger me Lord Bridgerton as that was only a small taste of what my brother has coming his way shan't he start explaining what he did and for what reason" Jen stated getting progressively louder with each syllable, growing more impatient at the fact her brother did not even try to hit back or defend himself by justifying his actions.

"Well, do speak brother, why did Anthony think me dead? Why does he say he never received my letter? The very one you said you would send with haste? Answer me Simon!" she yelled as tears began to fall from her eyes.

She was used to being hurt by the people who were meant to love her, her father being the prime example here. He was ashamed of her for being a girl and he wished never to be in her presence as she served as a constant reminder of her failure of a mother and a brother.

Not once did Jen ever believe Simon would betray her this way, especially when she had confessed her love for Anthony to him. The lies told for years with ease, she never once thought that the only family she had in this treacherous world would hurt her to this degree, but she was very much mistaken.

"Jen I never meant to hurt you- "

"Well splendid job you have done dear brother" she dryly laughed.

"You had to leave because f..father was trying to marry you off to someone you did not even know. Jen, I told you I would always protect you. Can you not see that is why I did what I had to?" he pleaded with his little sister hoping she could see things from his perspective.

"How on earth was not sending my letter or..or lying to both Anthony and I protecting me? You knew how I felt about Anthony, you watched me cry for months over the fact he did not reply brother. How was that protecting me?" she cried as her knees gave in and she fell to the ground wishing it would swallow her whole so that she could escape all of these feelings.

Anthony made his way over to her only to be beaten by Simon in his attempts to comfort her.

"I was protecting you from our father Jen, had he have assumed you alive he would have searched high and low in attempts to find you and drag you back here to marry that vile man so that he could be even wealthier. I could not do that to you! I had to let him believe you dead, so that meant everyone had to assume the same.... Even Anthony. The only person in London who knew otherwise was- "

"Lady Danbury..." Jen interrupted making the connection to who he meant, Simon simply nodded his head in agreement.

Thousands of thoughts bombarded her head as she tried to reason with herself that Simon was only trying to protect her from their vile father, but she still could not understand why she had been kept in the dark all these years.

"Could you have not told me of your plan brother? Save me from the heartbreak I endured daily thinking I was unloved? You watched me weep, when it could have been avoided by simply letting me in on your idiotic plan" she sighed hitting him in the chest.

"If you had have known you would have continued to write to Lord Bridgerton and then father would have known you were not dead Jen! Can you not see! All I did was to protect you! Like I promised mama I would. I could not let that vile bastard of a man hurt and destroy you like he did to me Jen" Simon exclaimed, on the verge of tears, which only resulted in sobs to erupt from Jen.

"I get that you did what you saw fit Simon, but one letter would not have alerted father that I was alive. I could have told Anthony to simply pretend I was dead so father would not know! But instead, you made that choice on your own brother." She said as she slowly stood taking her turn to leave the gardens and both her brother and lover behind, both calling for her to come back which only resulted in her running further into the night and straight into Lady Danbury.

"You bastard! You think you could lie to me and I would not find out?" Anthony shouts, throwing punch after punch straight at Simons gut and chest.

"All you had to do was tell me she was alive and well but that she was to remain in hiding because of your father! I love her and I thought I would never see her again, that my chances of happiness died with her because she was no longer in my life!" with each punch delivered by Anthony, Simon never once retaliated or tried to defend himself, he just let the assault happen. He knew he deserved this for breaking not only his best friends' heart, but for destroying everything he ever had with his beloved sister.

"I would have kept the secret; I could have lived happily knowing she was alive and that when your wretch of a father passed, I would have been able to see her once more. Instead, I have been miserable, drunk and just about functioning. I only continued because I am the head of my house Basset" with the last blow Anthony proceeded to walk away from the gardens leaving behind him his oldest friend in hopes of finding the girl he loved, but he was not so fortunate, instead he was met by his family informing him it was time to leave.

Simon opted to walk back to the Hastings estate contemplating how he royally screwed up. He hoped one day that they could forgive him for what he saw as the best option and that they could continue to be friends/family.

He knew deep down Bridgerton would forgive him quickly, after all what are best friends for. His sister however, she is a different case altogether. It could take anything from a week to never. He just prayed she would eventually forgive him for he cannot live without her in his life.