Page 57 of Ruthless Financier
Nicole shoved a tissue at me as Georgie pressed her hand to her heart.
They’d talked about me? I swallowed and asked, “What?”
I squeezed the tissue in my palm, but didn’t move as Olivia said, “He’s like our dad, in a small way.”
My eyes widened. Seriously? No. My skin still tingled from the memory of Jacob’s touch and that comment just made me squeeze my arms together and look away. I said, “He’s nothing like Dad.”
Georgie took a sip of her coffee and said, “He took over like he had a say in helping our family, without even mentioning that he’d done anything.”
I relaxed in my chair and nodded as I said, “That doesn’t mean anything.”
Tears fell onto the table in front of me and Georgie said, “You’re crying.”
“No,” I said, but used the tissue in my hand to dry my face.
It was soaked through. Nicole put another in front of me and said, “Here take another tissue.”
I sobbed and lowered my head to the table. My sisters were all clearly wiser about being a girl than I was. I said between sobs, “I screwed everything up. It’s probably too late anyhow.”
Olivia took my hands in hers. “You never screw up anything.”
They had no idea how horrible I was. I lifted my face, with my hand covering my lips. “I left him a letter. I left without a goodbye.”
Nicole’s voice went from sympathetic to shocked as she asked, “Wait, what?”
I’d ruined my life with Jacob. I’d been so terrified that I’d transform into some Stepford wife who never worked or did anything without talking to her husband—like my mother had been, and like I’d secretly hated about her. I sniffed as I said, “He won’t forgive me for just leaving.”
Georgie’s face was pale as she looked at me and asked, “Why did you do that?”
“Because I don’t ever want to be like Mom,” I said.
She came over and hugged me. She was always the one who took care of us, the glue that held us all together. “You can’t be. You’ve never been abused or had to overcome what she did.”
True. Our mom had lived through trauma that I’d never imagine. I’d been coddled and raised to be financially secure. I took the hug, though, and said, “I need to be strong and take care of Mom’s shelters.”
Nicole put her coffee cup down and said, “Speaking of that, a twenty-five-million-dollar donation popped up this morning that will cover any financial calamity we might have to face.”
I froze. My heart began to race as I asked, “What?”
My lips didn’t quite close.
Nicole repeated, “Mom’s shelters received a twenty-five-million-dollar donation this morning from Sun and Moon Trust. It’s why I called you.”
I jumped to my feet, almost knocking into my sister, but she backed away in time. I paced as I hugged my waist and said, “Jacob.”
Olivia laughed and said, “We guessed.”
More tears fell. I had never cried like this in my life. I couldn’t stop it. I said, “I gave his money back to him this morning.”
Nicole stared with those big blue eyes of hers and blinked like I was crazy. “Huh?”
I dropped my hands at my sides. They were trembling, so I clutched the wall as I said, “He’d given me twenty-five million that I intended to use for the shelters. I sent it back this morning.”
Nicole said, “The money showed up at eight a.m.”
My tears were like rivers. He hadn’t accepted the money I’d returned. I’m not sure why, or what that meant, but I sniffled as I said, “After I left Florida.”
Georgie said, “He must still love you.”
