Page 107 of Always Salty

“Money,” Chester replied harshly. “You don’t know what it’s like to be so damn poor that you’re living on the streets of Dallas like a rat. Then she found me one night, and I finally saw what it was to be happy. We’ve been together ever since.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “When we were old enough, we went into law enforcement to try to find a way to get Pettigrew out of prison in hopes that he would be thankful. Instead, he saw it as a personal affront, and refused to ever speak to us again, despite the fact that we were trying to help him.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed silent.

“For my entire life, I’ve watched y’all live the good life. With your happy brothers, and your great grandfather.” Natasha leaned forward in her chair. “But I think that should end. I think it’ll be the perfect little ending to see their perfect baby sister no longer whole.”

I blinked.

“I’d spent years trying to beg for any scrap of attention from our father. Every time he’d come over, I’d bat my big green eyes at him and beg him to notice me. But he acted like I wasn’t there. Then one time he brought you over, and I realized that I’d never get what I wanted. I had to get it some other way.” She leaned forward. “So I started planting seeds of doubt. When I was fifteen, I began my campaign to make your life a living hell.”

“Why?” I asked. “My life wasn’t good already. He was controlling as hell, and…” I didn’t want to tell her what else he did.

She smiled, though, as if she knew without me saying the words aloud.

“I started sending Alexander nudes of you.” She grinned. “I got really great at Photoshop.”

My stomach sank.

“Then I planted the seed of doubt in our dad’s mind. That you weren’t his.” She grinned. “Sent him evidence of his wife cheating years and years ago. Made him question everything.”

“He fell for it, too.” Chester shrugged. “I remember Alexander and him talking about it multiple times.”

I was sick to my stomach.

I’d always wondered what changed.

Dad had been controlling when I was younger, yes. But he hadn’t been what he’d been at the end.

I’d thought it was because I’d hit puberty, but maybe all along it was them.

“That was our first operation together.” She narrowed her eyes. “Truthfully, I was kind of happy to see him gone. Thought he went too quickly, though.”

My face felt like it was numb.

“That was our mistake. Your father died too quickly, and he wasn’t able to leave any of his fortune to Alexander like we’d intended for him to,” Chester explained. “But it was okay, because Alexander found a way to funnel money from Castanon Enterprises on his own. Until that one indiscretion that sent him to jail.”

Indiscretion.

Raping a girl was an indiscretion?

What the hell was wrong with these two?

If what they were saying was true, they were the reason that my own father had assaulted me!

“Alexander was set to get out in months, and he was going to give us everything,” Chester said, sounding delusional. “Then your boyfriend took him out, and all of his money went to Natasha’s mother.”

I looked at Natasha, who was rolling her eyes.

“Why not just wait for her to give it to you?” I wondered, my brain feeling a little bit too full as I tried to comprehend everything that they’d told me.

I was so confused.

I had no clue what the hell was going on.

It was like I’d come in the middle of a story, and was trying to play catch up.

“Because my mother would rather donate it all to charity than ever share it with me.” She shrugged. “My mom doesn’t like me too much.”

I couldn’t imagine why…

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