Page 4 of By His Vow

“Me?” Kingston pipes up with a smirk.

“Exactly,” I mutter.

“Just sit down and listen to what Dad had to say,” Miles demands, as Kingston makes himself comfortable in my chair, spreading his thighs wide, making the fabric of his pants stretch across his muscles.

I scoff, before ripping my eyes from the epitome of arrogance sitting there like he owns the fucking place and focusing on Richard.

It’s time to get this show on the road.

Laying pages out on our father’s desk, he begins reading.

As expected, the house and almost all his wealth will transfer to our mother, who continues to sob quietly throughout the whole ordeal.

Miles is to step into our father’s role as CEO of the Warner Group.

He talks about changes to other roles within the organization, but unsurprisingly, there’s no mention of my climb through the ranks.

I guess if I were being honest, there was a part of me that hoped he might just take me seriously for once and acknowledge that I am actually good at my job. But as his wishes about the future of the company come to an end, it’s clear that there is no promotion coming my way.

My heart sinks a little. It wouldn’t have made up for the years of feeling like the lesser sibling, the least important member of the family, but it might have sweetened it all a little.

Not that I have any intention of hanging around in Chicago long enough to even consider starting a new position. But the attempt to keep me here might have been nice.

I wait for my name to be mentioned, for the only thing I want from my father to be brought up. But it never is.

My heart starts to race and my palms begin to sweat.

He told me that it had my name on it. He promised me…

The room begins to spin around me as reality hits.

Was I really such an insignificant part of his life that he left me out of his will entirely?

“And that leads me to the final part,” Richard says, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Go on,” Michael says.

There’s something in his voice that makes me look over at him. I do a double take when I find a faint smirk playing on his lips.

He knows what’s coming.

I wish I could have been granted the same kind of warning, because I’m pretty sure the world being literally ripped from beneath me, would shock me less than the next words that fall from Richard’s lips.

“Tatum, as per your father’s wishes, you are to marry Kingston Callahan and finally merge the Warner and Callahan empires. Kingston and Miles are to work together to?—"

2

TATUM

“No,” I hiss, cutting off whatever else Richard had to say. He barely even glanced at me as he dropped that bomb. Did he think none of us were listening and that we’d allow him just to breeze past it? “There is no way on this Earth I’m doing that,” I state, marching straight up to Dad’s desk and attempting to snatch the paperback directly from Richard’s hands.

When he pulls it out of my reach, I see red.

“I don’t believe you,” I shout. “Show me. Show me the evidence.”

“Tatum,” Michael says softly from behind me.

“No,” I say, holding my hand up to stop him from approaching me—if he were even trying to. “This is bullshit. There is no way that Dad would have wanted me to?—”

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