Page 30 of The Price of a Promise

“Don’t start splitting hairs,” my mother warned.

“If you continue with this boy, you’ll have none of the conveniences you’ve come to expect at your disposal,” my father said with the air of someone discussing an upcoming business trip.“You’ll be on your own.All credit cards, drivers, housekeepers, trainers, allowances, and air travel will be revoked.”

Silence pounded the air around me.My father had more; I could feel it in the tense stretch of miles between us, tugging tight like the promise of a bungee cord at the bottom of the ravine.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.“What does it matter?I’ll step up for the company.I’ll work with Eli.Just let me be with Axel.”

“Absolutely not.”

“We’ll keep it a secret,” I said, the emotion making my voice come out strained and swollen.“Nobody has to know.”

“Oh, Cora, don’t be so daft,” my mother chided.“You’re in business school.Act like it.”

“You cannot have it both ways,” my father went on.“Because if you choose him, you are choosing failure.I will not permit that boy to be associated with my brand.With my livelihood.With everything I have fought my entire life to create, maintain, and uphold.If he is in any way associated with the Margulis name, I will make sure that he sinks.”

“What does that mean?”I asked, forcing my voice to be steady when everything inside me was crumbling.

“It means whatever it needs to mean.You stay away from him, and he is free to pursue his bad ideas with his own agenda in his own ways.But if he dares comes near my empire?I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure he doesn’t even touch the ground I spit on.Do you understand?”

I swiped at some tears that had fallen.“If I choose him and you ruin him, then you’re ruining me too.”

“So you do understand.”An eternal pause.“But if this man is so important to you, I’m sure that will be a small sacrifice,” my father said, the sarcasm dripping through the cell connection.

“I don’t understand why he’s so incompatible,” I finally forced out.“I know he doesn’t come from money.”I swallowed the hiccup of a sob that threatened to out my careening emotions.“But he’s driven.Just like you were.”

“His drive is laughable.Besides, this role requires you have an appropriate partner at your side,” my father said.“And the joke of a man you’re currently choosing is definitelynotappropriate.”

“He’s not a joke,” I forced out, moving down the hallway on leaden legs.“Just because he’s adopted doesn’t mean he’s worse.”

“He’s utterly inferior in every conceivable way.”My father’s voice came out a menacing hiss.“You don’t know what you’re getting into.I can share the police reports if you’re interested.The adoption records.The bankruptcy filings from his adoptive parents.Which documents would you like to peruse first?”

The weight of this conversation had forced me to sink down the side of the wall.I brought my knees to my chest, crying into my knees.

“You just have to make a choice.”My mother’s voice cracked, the first ounce of emotion I’d heard from her since the start of this conversation.“Choose your future.”

“You don’t have to answer now,” my father added.“Take your time to think about it, because once you choose, there is no turning back.This is an irrevocable decision.Life is full of hard choices, Cora.But choosing correctly is what separates the winners from the losers.We’ve groomed you to be a winner.To be the best of the best.There’s a reason you are where you are right now.And I don’t think you want to skydive from your golden perch right now, because you will hit the ground hard.You’re not ready to confront the reality of what awaits you at the bottom.”

“Think about it,” my mother repeated.“Please.”

“We’ll need an answer by Friday,” my father said.And then the line went dead.

My cell phone clattered to the floor, and I covered my face with my hands while the sobs rolled out of me.I hadn’t ever felt so profoundly trampled or betrayed by my family.Being with Axel had always been risky, but I’d never imagined they’d threaten my status as a family member.This felt like royal exile, worse than when Prince Harry stepped down.

It wasn’t the potential loss of the creature comforts that worried me.While I sat in the front hallway, crying and imagining the future without my driver or chef or trainer, I was confident I could hack it.My father might not believe in me, but who did he really believe in except himself?Sure, it would take some getting used to.I had never even really looked at my monthly budget before, but I could start, see what I could whittle down.

With Axel at my side, we could take it on.We could start our new reality.We would start our new business and be fine, just like Axel had always said.

But if I chose him, then I’d be ruining Axel’s future too.Axel was set on Fairchild Enterprises becoming a premier investment firm.He and his brothers could move to Mongolia, and my father would still be able to block them at every turn.My father’s reach, and network, was incredibly far-reaching.

And there wasn’t anything Axel wanted more than to make something of himself.To shoot for the stars and hit the next galaxy over, as he’d always said.If I took that away from him, the guilt would eat me alive.

Chris’s letter lingered unpleasantly in my thoughts.

This was my chance to honor him.To give him what he wanted for our family, that sparkling best-case scenario that he’d seen as the ultimate goal, even in his darkest moments.

I hadn’t helped Chris enough while he was alive.The only way I could redeem myself was to give him what he wanted for the Margulis family.

Choosing for Chris created my personal worst-case scenario.

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