Page 132 of Finding Forever

Fern chewed on her lip as she considered the man’s words. From a normal, caring stepfather, it would seem like a reasonable request, but Granger didn’t care about her well-being at all. He never had. She knew he was up to something. But she also felt maybe sheshouldsee him again. To prove to herself that she no longer had anything to fear from him.

“What do you suggest we do?” she asked.

“We could arrange a meeting, at my office, with your—and his—attorneys present. Strictly supervised, of course. You needn’t be alone with him.”

Cade wasn’t going to like it. He’d worry about Granger upsetting her. But suddenly she really wanted to do it. She wanted Granger to see that she was thriving despite what he’d done to her. And she wanted him to know that it wasshewho had instigated theLambecrete deal behind his back and that she’d happily co-authored his downfall.

And most of all she wanted him to see that she was happy and unrepentant about the decisions she’d made to lead to this moment.

“Okay. I don’t mind doing that. But I’d prefer to keep Cade out of the loop on this one.”

“He’s not going to be happy to learn about it after the fact, Fern,” Cyrus said, sounding uncomfortable.

“He’ll be even less happy being in the same room with Granger. Trust me, you wouldn’t want that either. He hates Granger.”

“Oh, I’mquiteaware of that.” There was a wry tone to Cyrus’svoice that she didn’t understand. “You’re my client and if you don’t want your very overprotective husband to know, I won’t be telling him. But, Fern… I really thinkyoushould tell him.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, so I’ll go ahead and facilitate this meeting, I’ll contact you with the details later this week.”

“Thanks, Cyrus.”

She disconnected the call and met Beth’s curious gaze across the restaurant table.

Beth, and her friend Lucy Reeves—well Fern’s friend too now—had taken time out of their busy schedules today, to meet Fern after her first day of orientation week. A late lunch to celebrate the rite of passage.

To Fern’s shock, her late admission had been accepted by all three local tertiary institutions she’d applied to. Although, she knew she probably shouldn’t be shocked. With the kind of money she now had, as well as the publicity she’d been receiving lately, it would’ve been more shockingnotto be accepted. Yes, her academic record was stellar and she could easily have been accepted on merit alone, but she was realistic enough to know that this had probably not been the only factor they’d considered when accepting her application.

Still, she recognized her position of privilege and was already in talks with Cyrus about anonymously establishing a couple of bursaries to sponsor those less privileged than her.

“What was that about?” Beth asked.

“Granger wants a meeting,” she said with a roll of her eyes, speaking around the fry she’d just shoved into her mouth. She was constantly hungry lately.

“You’renotgoing to do it though,” Lucy said. “Right?”

Fern really liked Lucy. She liked all of Beth’s friends, even though she sometimes felt like a gatecrasher into their long-standing friend group. They called themselves aframilyandwere very close-knit. Fern and Cade had met most of them at the chaotic Christmas lunch at Gideon and Beth’s place.

Fern—who’d been a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people that day—had escaped to the spare room, only to find Lucy already there, wearing a pair of bright green leggings and a pink T-shirt with a sequined unicorn pooping a rainbow on the front of it. She’d been reading a graphic novel and eating popcorn. When she’d glanced up and spotted Fern, she’d merely said “Oh hey, you’re just in time. The dragon slayer is about to murder the fairy goblin. Wanna read with me?”

She’d patted the bed, and Fern had happily joined her. By the time a frantic Cade had found her half an hour later, they’d finished the entire bowl of popcorn and had gawked their way through a few intense, dragon slayer/fairy goblin sex scenes. Which Lucy had deemed “pretty hot for human adjacent hetero sex.”

They’d been firm friends since then.

Now, both Lucy and Beth were staring at Fern with equally concerned expressions on their faces.

“I think it’s a good idea to just meet him, get it over with and move on with my life. Call it closure,” Fern said in response to Lucy’s question.

Beth pressed her lips together in clear disapproval. “And you’re not going to tell Cade?”

“Only if I want him to shit a brick,” Fern snorted. Her friends didn’t laugh and she rolled her eyes again. “He doesn’t have to know. He’ll just make a bad situation worse. My attorneys will be there. I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Fern,” Beth began, looking seriously unhappily.

“Beth, I have to do this. I want Granger to know that I’m happydespitehim. That I’m stronger than he ever knew. I want him to realize thathelost tome.And I’d really, really appreciateit, if neither of you told Gideon or Cade about it. I’ll tell Cade afterward.”

Lucy mimed turning a lock at the corner of her mouth and throwing away the key and Beth sighed in resignation. She reached across the table to squeeze her hand.

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