Page 53 of Ashton

“Yes, we get that. Such shame,” Archer retorted testily.

I grit my teeth together, trying to keep my anger at bay. The last thing I need is going off on this old asshole.

“Archer, let the girl speak,” Roan tells him.

I’m sure he knows where this is headed since he’s already sleeping with Serena.

“Since I’m his daughter, I’m the new owner.” I cut to the chase.

Archer slams his hands on the table. “Fuck this shit.”

Burnaby leans back in his seat, staying quiet.

And Roan stares at me, his eyes darkening, sending shivers down my spine.

“And as the new owner, Archer. I would be watching that mouth of yours because I can and will kick you off the board. I’m not my father, and I don’t care what you say. And your grandson will never step back in this school.”

His nostrils flared in anger. “This won’t last, Odette. A woman cannot run a school.”

I lean further over the table. “Tell that to the person who murdered my father. They should’ve thought about that in the first place. Sit the fuck down so we can talk about this shit. I have a class to get to.”

I’m going to say this is the anger stage of grief because I can’t handle this shit today. I should’ve known this would happen when I walked in here, but this much? Why Dad kept Archer on the board still bothers me. He isn’t helpful. All he does is bitch and complain. If it’s the money, that’s not a good reason to keep someone around. Legacy or not, he’s a useless douche.

I swear if Archer steps out of line one more time, he’s gone. I don’t need him anymore.

Dad’s office is the one place I haven’t been able to go back into. Considering I need to hire a new dean, I need things inside that office. The caution tape hanging from his doors turns my stomach. His heart is missing, the one thing that held the most love someone stole from him. I buried him without it.

“Odette?”

“Florence, can you go in there for me?” I swing around, coming face to face with Florence.

She shakes her head. “No, dear.”

My heart pounds in my throat. I can’t go in there; she can’t force me.

“Dear, we’ll do this together,” she said, clutching my arm.

We both inhale and push the door open. The room has a stale smell and nothing like how I used to remember it. Nothing in this office will ever be the same. I hate it already.

“Find what you need, and I’ll do the rest. We can’t go too long without a dean. Not to rush you or anything.”

“No, I know. It’s weird, that’s all.”

“The files you need are in the desk drawer; he never kept anything like that in his computer. He was old school like that.”

Swallowing hard, I move around the desk and make the mistake of glancing at the floor. The dark stain glares back at me. Why didn’t anyone clean it up? Isn’t that a part of their job? Bracing myself on the desk, I slide open the top drawer. A picture of Dad, Mom, and me as a newborn sits in a gold frame. I’ve never seen this picture before. Why has he never shown this to me? I look like my mom; her dark hair and green eyes are like mine.

“Dear? Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” I swallow the lump. “I—Dad never showed me this before.” I hold up the frame showing Florence.

She steps forward, gently taking it from me. “A precious moment, frozen in time,” she smiled sweetly as she said it.

“What am I gonna do now? I have no one.” Pain gripped my chest, taking my breath away.

Florence clutches my shoulder. “You are going to push on, be the strong woman your father raised. There isn’t anything you can’t do, Odette.” She places her hand on my chest. “He lives here.” Then, she moves her hand to my head. “And here. He will never leave you.”

I pull her close. “Thank you, Florence. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

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