Page 99 of The Wicked

“I can’t control what you believe, but I’m telling you I’m not the enemy. It’s up to you what you do with that information.” He sighed. “Living in that house is a mindfuck.”

“Then why don’t you leave? I bet you’ve already met your stupid inheritance goal.”

“Because I like to win. One down, two on the ropes, one to go.”

Was he talking about the inheritance? I did the math. The one down must be Easton—he couldn’t make money from prison. Were the two on the ropes the twins? If they got sued over the peanut allergy, then LKB’s reputation would be in the toilet. Who was the one to go?

“Don’t you mean two to go?”

He shook his head. “You’ll be fine.”

Now I knew he was talking crap.

“How? How will I be fine? Grandpa added a codicil to his will, did you know that? It gave me better terms, and somebody stole it. It might even have been you, seeing as you ‘like to win.’”

“I didn’t realise you knew about that.”

“So you also know it existed?Didyou take it?”

Not that I expected him to admit it if he did. Parker had always held his cards close to his chest. At best, he was confusing, at worst, a duplicitous snake.

“That was EJ.”

“What?I mean, how do you know?”

And, more importantly, how did I know whether Parker was telling the truth?Never trust a Baldwin.

“Because I saw him put it through the shredder. It took me hours to piece it back together.”

Alert, alert, alert. Information overload.Parker’s quick-fire revelations left my brain so befuddled that all I wanted to do was sit in the corner and rock.

“So you…you have the remains of the codicil?”

“If anyone else ever asks me, I’ll deny it.”

“Then youarescrewing me over, just like the others. Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

“No, I’m not. Over the past six years, Saralisa Baldwin-Forlani has made someveryshrewd investments. Going forward, she’ll continue to collect interest on the $280,000 sitting in her brokerage account until it’s time to play show-and-tell with the executive trustee.”

Had I somehow fallen into the Upside Down and just not noticed? Was I in Wonderland? Had the roller coaster dumped me into an alternate universe where nothing made sense?

“I don’t have a brokerage account.”

I didn’t even know what a brokerage account was.

“Yes, you do.”

“Wait,youset up a brokerage account in my name?”

“Yes.”

“And you made $280,000?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would you do that?”

“Because you’re not like the others. Because EJ tried to cheat you. Because Grandpa always intended for you to inherit a portion of his estate. Take your pick.”