Page 98 of Lost Love

“But you chose the money.”

“I did, and there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about her and the life we could have had together.”

I looked at my father, and for the first time in my life, I saw another man—a vulnerable man with a heart that had been hidden from me all these years.

“You’re talking in the past tense. ”

“She died three years ago. She waited for me. She had waited for me all this time. And I never came for her. She never gave up on us, but I failed her.”

He looked up, his eyes brimming with tears.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” I said.

“That’s the first time you’ve called me that in a long time.” He blinked back the tears threatening to spill down his hollow cheeks.

“Well, that’s the first time in a long time you’ve actually spoken to me like my father.”

He nodded. There was no way I would forget how he treated me over the years, but today, for the first time, we had a common ground—love. Love makes you do strange things like risking an empire for a woman who is taken.

“So what now?” I asked.

He sucked in a breath. “Do you like running this company?”

“Surprisingly, I do. It’s giving me a purpose. But what I don’t like is a shadow.”

“Understood. Well, things here will remain the same then.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, son, I think it’s about time you take over from this old man and run this company with the same convictions you stand by and the same courage you just displayed to me.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“And what about the Cavendish family, you know, losing it all.”

“Please, we have the best lawyers in the country. There’s no way I’m giving a cent to that snake.”

I let out a dry laugh. “And mother?”

He shrugged. “We just go on existing. We’re both so late in life, we probably couldn’t get any better than each other anyway.”

“I see.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I still don’t know what just happened now.”

He laughed and got up. He extended his hand, and I took it in mine.

“You’re still an asshole.” I clasped my hand around my father’s, gripping it tightly.

“That’s where you get it from. Now fuck off and get your girl.”

“That ship has sailed. Pepper and Jake are together. She decided that clearly last night.”

He laughed.

Fucker.I glared at him.

“For the president of a media empire, may I suggest you read our paper?”

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