Page 57 of The CEO's Revenge

“I didn’t raise a stupid daughter. Stubborn and willing to cut off her damn nose to spite her face, but her heart is in the right place.”

“I know that now.”

“Good. Now let’s figure out how to get Savannah to see the truth.”

“Robert didn’t pull this all off himself, though. He had help. He mentioned my previous secretary. She was fired shortly after my arrest, but I have hired a private investigator to track her down.”

“I’m rooting for you, Max.”

“Thank you, Priscilla. You have no idea how much good this conversation has done for me.”

“You’re welcome, Max. Now give me a hug and kiss.”

I took my leave shortly afterwards.

* * *

Monday morning foundme in a quaint little café downtown.

As I waited for Byron, my private investigator, I nursed a cup of coffee. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as he slid into the booth behind me. It turned out that Lillian lived just an hour away.

I left work early on Friday to beat the rush hour traffic and arrived at the address Byron gave me in good enough time. I parked across the street and waited.

It was getting close to dusk by the time I saw any movement from the house. A car pulled into the driveway and I craned my neck to see who it was. I made out Lilian’s wild curls immediately.

Just as I was about to approach the house, the door opened and Lillian emerged with a dog on a leash. Bruno. She still had Bruno. I gave him to her as a puppy. But look at him now.

I watched them as they walked down the driveway. Suddenly Bruno’s ears perked up and he turned and looked across the street. He sniffed the air.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“Come on, Bruno. Leave the squirrels alone.”

I rolled down my window.

“I think he smells me, Lillian.”

I watched as she tightened her grip on the leash with one hand while she reached into her pocket with the other.

I spoke quickly. “It’s me, Max. I just want to talk to you.”

I saw her defensive stance relax and I got out of the car. Bruno was now overcome with excitement and straining at the leash to get to me. I crossed the street and subjected myself to his excitement as he jumped all over me, just like old times. I laughed as he licked my face.

“Hey, Bruno old boy. It’s good to see you fella.” I patted his head and rubbed his neck a few times.

I turned to Lillian. “Let’s take this chap for a walk and have a little chat.”

There was silence for a few minutes as we simply walked. Bruno stopped a few times to mark his territory.

“How did you find me?”

“I hired a private investigator. We need to talk about what happened, Lillian.”

She nodded. “I know. It should never have happened. But I thought I didn’t have a choice but to do what he wanted. He said it was his company and you were stealing, but I think I always knew he set you up. I wanted to help, but then you confessed and I was confused.”

“I confessed because it was the only way I knew to free myself from him. I trusted him and signed all my intellectual output away to him. Now that I’m free, I’m hunting concrete evidence to take him to court.”

“Max, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I did. I really did feel like I didn’t have a choice. Terry in accounts was in on it as well, but I hear that he’s passed away. I hope he made his peace before he did.”

---