Page 108 of The Passion

“Unlike the other man who came to see me before Flynn, looking to buy my shares as well. He was smooth and said allthe right words to woo me, but deep in his soul, I could see the darkness lurking. He didn’t love you, I could just tell.”

“Wait, who else came after me?” My mind catches up to what she just said.

“Fulton Anderson.” She doesn’t hesitate for one moment to tell me. “He is a fool if he didn’t think I knew that he played in those poker games with your father and associated with the men that my stupid late husband did too. I never knew about it until he passed, but something told me when I inherited these shares that I should keep them because sometime in the future there would a reason.” She places her hands on my cheeks. “You, my dear, are that reason.”

And now there is no holding back the tears. I’m sobbing on this beautiful woman’s hands, and she just wipes them away while fetching me a hanky out of her purse. There is something special about this woman that I haven’t seen before. But I know after today, although we will no longer be tied in the business, she will remain a dear friend.

“Men have not been kind to you in your life, but don’t let that stop you from keeping your heart open.”

As I start to pull myself together, she asks me one more question.

“Do you love him?” Her voice is so soft and gentle.

“With every beat of my stupid heart. I shouldn’t right now, but I still do.”

Nodding, she sits back a little to give me some space to breathe.

“And that, my dear, is the secret to a good marriage. You will fight for what is worth fighting over, but you will love harder because of it. Don’t push him away for this one mistake. Actually…” Her giggle is infectious. “He will make more mistakes in the future, he is a man, after all, but that is not to say we are perfect either.”

“I’m far from perfect. But I think you are right, we might be imperfectly matched. And maybe that is our secret to being happy together.”

With a little sigh, she pushes her chair back and stands, looking so elegant.

“My time here is done, but I will always be a shoulder for you, and I’m happy to share advice, not that it’s probably worth much to you. I’ve watched you grow up, young lady, and you will be just fine on your own.” Leaning down, she kisses me on the forehead.

As she reaches the door, she turns with a look of mischief in her eyes.

“Make him suffer but not for too long. I’m not sure that heart of his can take it. He is softer than he looks, but I think you already know that.” Winking at me, she gives me a little wave as she walks out of the room.

Sitting here alone finally, I take the moment to think.

My mind is racing, but for the first time since my world blew up months ago, I know I’m going to be okay.

Harper pokes her head around the door, looking worried. “You okay?” She steps into the room.

“Yes, I think I am.”

Standing up and straightening my clothes, I grab my phone and look at my face, dabbing my makeup with Luchia’s hanky, and it doesn’t look as bad as I expected. Thank God for waterproof mascara.

“Right, let’s get to work. First job, make sure that low-life scum is out of my offices.” Collecting my things off the table, I march toward Harper who has the biggest smile on her face. She knows me, and when I’m ready to take on the world, she is right there beside me.

“Yes, boss.” We embrace in the tightest hug and then get ready to conquer the world together.

“But what about Flynn?” she whispers.

“He can wait. He deserves a little pain for what he did, and if he’s lucky, I won’t make him suffer too long.” Luchia’s words echo in my ears as we both giggle and then head off to my office to start getting together our plan of attack.

Today has been long—productive, but long.

I spent all day making sure my father’s access to anything that relates to the company has been blocked. All paperwork has been lodged with the regulatory bodies to show my CEO status. I have hired a forensic accounting team to review all company accounts to make sure everything is clean, and if it isn’t, then at least I know what I need to fix.

The board meeting was tense at first, but then we finally settled into a good working rhythm and made lots of plans for the next few months to help with the transitions of things.

I personally wrote the media release to advise the public of the change of leadership and ownership and took the higher ground not to shame my father, even though I should have.

I spoke to my mother briefly, who cried when she finally knew everything that had happened. She blamed herself for not stopping him from hurting me. I told her it had nothing to do with her. She did the best thing she could have done for me by walking away from him a long time ago. Making sure I had some ownership that gave me the leverage I needed when he got dirty.

But most importantly, I promoted Harper to Chief Operating Officer of Kentwall Estates which makes her second-in-charge of the whole company. There is no one I trust more than her to look after things if I’m unable to. Of course, it came with a dramatic wage increase, and also so many benefits. To be honest, noamount of monetary compensation would ever be enough to repay her for what she has done for me over the years and will continue to do for many years going forward.

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