Page 90 of Ruthless Legacy

“So impatient,” he tsks, making me clench my fist on the desk. Punching him in the face is feeling really appealing right now. Slowly, he gets to his feet and meanders over to the bookshelf. He looks over his shoulder at me, blocking my view. The next second, a part of the bookshelf swings open to reveal a safe.

“Dare I ask how you know how to get into Wilbur’s safe?”

He arches a brow and winks at me. “Probably best if you don’t know.”

I snicker. “Trust me, I don’t want to know. You keep my secret and I’ll keep yours.”

He blocks my view again and I roll my eyes at his attempts to keep me from knowing the safe code. I get it. Knowledge is power, right? The safe beeps as the door releases and, standing back, Chester gestures to the open door. “Have at it.”

Jumping up, eager to get what I came for, I stick my head inside. There are several folders in here. The first one is some kind of business contract, which I immediately dismiss. The next few files are also business papers, and my heart sinks as I move down the pile. I stop still in my search when I see my name on the next file.

“What the fuck?” I pull out the file and take a seat back at his desk. Chester’s interest suddenly perks up and he walks around the desk and comes to a stop at my side.

I open the cover of the folder and my world tilts on its axis. The first item in the folder is photos of me at age thirteen in my school uniform. I turn the photos over only to find more photos of me. The next shots are a series of me when I was working at the local cinema in our last foster home.

“He knew. All this time, he knew where we were, and he never came for us. He left us in foster care.”

Chester whistles in surprise at the side of me. “Always knew Wilbur was a ruthless bastard, but even this is a shocker.”

I snap my gaze up at Chester and glare at him. He is enjoying this. “I wouldn’t look too smug. Once he gets fed up with your mum, the two of you will be out on your ear without a second thought.”

“Maybe,” he replies, “or maybe to win the game you have to play the long game and always be one step ahead.”

I shake my head, tired of Chester and his riddles, and concentrate back on the file. A report pulls my attention and I lift it out.

Subject currently lives with the Peterson family. Subject attends St. Cuthbert’s Holy Family School. She works every Friday evening and Sunday afternoon at the local cinema. Subject was recently put on birth control.

“The bastard,” I growl. “All this time. He left us to move from foster home to foster home.” Which leads to the next question. Why? “Why did he wait to claim us?” I ask myself aloud.

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” Chester comments, sitting on the edge of the desk and smiling down at me like he is enjoying every minute of my meltdown. “It didn’t serve his purpose to claim you until now, and why is that? Why are you valuable to him now, at nearly eighteen?” Chester stares at me as if waiting for some great revelation to hit me and when it doesn’t, he rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath, “And here was me thinking you were smart.” He stands up and stubs the cigar out in the crystal ashtray on the desk. “I have people to see. Make sure when you’ve pulled your jaw from the floor that you close that safe properly and leave everything as it was, love.”

When he’s gone, I allow myself to freak out. I pace the office and keep looking back down at the photos in the file. What am I missing here? Why leave us in foster care all this time? Why bother coming for us at all? There’s only one person I’m going to get answers from and that’s my dear old grandfather. It’s time for Wilbur and I to have a real honest conversation, whether he likes it or not.

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