Page 65 of Sweetest Revenge

“Just that the rumors aren’t all that wrong,” he said. “Have you ever even bothered checking them instead of dismissing them right away?”

My back went ramrod straight.

There were just so many… horrible ones. I couldn’t even bring myself to read about it.

“Alec Mercer caught stealing money from employees and laundering it overseas!”

“Mercer caught lining his pockets with his employees’ medical deductions!”

“Savvy businessman or felon?”

I told Dad not to listen to them. After all… They were just too cruel for someone like him, right?

Maybe he had misplaced some money. Corporate greed was a thing, but my dad was someone who couldn’t even hurt a fly, let alone do the things the newspapers accused him of.

“If it makes you feel better… he did love you,” Maxwell said. “That was clear. But that didn’t mean he was a good person. Objectively, that might have actually made him the worst.”

This time, I couldn’t bring myself to react and just leaned back into the seat, my energy gone.

“Thanks for confirming about the marriage thing.” My tone was defeated.

Maxwell stood, fixing his suit.

“Anytime, Addi. If you need me to reach out to a few others to corroborate my claims, let me know.”

My gut turned to stone.

There were more.

Of course there were.

Having to sit next to another person confirming my worst fears about my father sounded like a fucking nightmare, but his sureness meant he was telling the truth.

“No, thank you, but… How many were there?”

He walked by me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Do you really want to know?”

No. But somehow, I feel like I needed to. At least to get this over with.

“Yes.”

“I personally know four, but I estimate he offered you to not less than fifteen people, considering his connections before his death.”

I let out a sigh. Maxwell squeezed my shoulder before letting go.

“One more thing, though,” he said. “Most of them were made after he was in hot water.”

That knocked the air out of my chest.

He tried to sell me to save himself.

“Thank you,” I forced out.

“Take care, Addi.”

He left without looking back, and I could finally let my tears fall. With shaky hands, I grabbed my phone and typed in Alec Mercer into Google.

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