Page 73 of A Constant Reminder

“Call her. Ask her. You want to know why I didn’t date after her? Because I didn’t want to get that attached to someone ever again. I didn’t want to get hurt like that. Then, I found Sam, and she made me want to try again.”

“She’s not good for you!” She said emphasizing every word in her thick Colombian accent.

“She’s perfect for me, and I don’t care what you say. I love her, and she’s not going anywhere.”

“You need to be with someone who has the same assets as you. I was never worried with Marisol because she had money, so I knew she wouldn’t be after yours.”

My voice was beginning to increase in volume. “You’re basically saying I shouldn’t marry someone below my ‘station’?” I held up air quotes

“Sure, if you want to think of it that way. Tyler, any woman who has no money is going to be after you for yours. I know how women are.”

“So, how’d that work with you and dad?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Your father and I both came from nothing. We fell in love and built an empire. Neither one of us was risking anything.”

She was so cold and calculated that I wondered if I could ever get through to her.

She sighed, this time louder. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but I guess I will. Your part of the Wendell company is wrapped up in Probationary shares. They’re meant to become fully yours after you graduate college. If you continue to make these reckless decisions, I’ll be forced to take them away since clearly you aren’t thinking straight.”

I choked on my drink. “So, either I break up with Sam, or you cut me off?”

She gave a simple shrug of her shoulders.

I stood up leaning over the table, my voice now low, and said, “If you think that I give a shit about that, you’re wrong. Take the money. I have something better. And remember one thing…if you cut me off financially, I will cut you off from every aspect of my life. You’ll never see me again. Payback will be a bitch.”

And I walked out without another word.

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