Page 72 of Grumpy Bossy Billionaire Enemy

Mother sat on the sofa adjacent to mine. “You aren’t depressed, are you?”

I shook my head, “No, Mom,” I answered. “I’m still sane.”

“Good. If you ever need to talk to a therapist, I just paid for a section on your behalf.”

“I won’t need to speak to a shrink,” I said. “I’m old enough to deal with my problems by myself.”

"Whatever you say, Henry," Mother said and stood. "I will be in my house; you can always find me there."

“I’m turning Maymont Park into a luxurious boutique. I thought I should let you know.”

My eyes widened at the news. “Not Maymont,” I protested. “That’s the only thing that reminds us of Dad.”

"That's the reason why I want it gone," Mom responded. "I've made my decision, Henry. You need to deal with it."

“Can we take a minute to think about this?” I pleaded. “Did Troy agree to this?”

“I don’t have to ask you for your permission. I have decided.”

“This is insane, Mom.” I paused and added, “Don’t you think you’re moving out of line?”

"No, I don't. The park belonged to my husband, and I have the right to do whatever I want with it."

"The park belonged to our father also," I replied. "Since he died, you have converted all his institutions into yours. The only thing left is the hospital and the park!"

“I’d like to keep the hospital around.” Mother went on, “but I want the park gone. This is not a joint decision. It is my decision.”

I took the therapist's appointment from the table and motioned for her to take it. "I think you need the therapy more than I do."

"You obviously haven't gotten over my father's death. Maybe this is some sort of coping mechanism to drown the emotions you feel over losing your husband. You want to get rid of everything that reminds you of him."

A week after Father's death, Mom had taken his things out of the closet and given them out to charity.I thought she just didn't want to see his things around, but she had also started changing any signage with my father's name on it to the family name alone.She'd gone ahead to covertly take Father's pictures from billboards, and she'd replaced them with either mine or Troy's.

Now, she wanted to take the only thing that reminded Troy and me of our father. It made me sick to the stomach.I had enough trouble already. I had lost a lot of money, and I was not ready to lose the only thing that held the precious memory of my father.

“Like I said, I choose to do anything I want.” Mother was holding her bag with her right hand. “Goodbye, Henry,” she muttered.

I watched Mother leave the house and sat helplessly on the sofa.When I checked the time, I realized that I was late for my meeting with my accountant and manager.My head banged as I held the steering wheel while heading to the biggest hotel. I had to either protect Father’s institution from being reformed or protect myself from drowning in debt.

I walked through the back door because the news outlets were there in droves. The journalists had crowded the front entrance, waiting for me to announce the bankruptcy.James, my accountant, met me in the hallway as if he had been waiting for me to step into the hotel.He put a call through to the manager as we walked to my office together.Jonathan, my manager, arrived a few seconds later, I wondered if he had run up the stairs. He had concern written all over his face that he might lose his job if this meeting didn’t go well.

Jonathan and James sat across from me. We all looked at each other in silence.

“I need to hear from you, James.” I turned to my accountant. “Is there anything we can do about it?”

James gave the suggestion I thought he would offer. He thought we should lay off some staff and sell a few of the hotel branches in town.

“Any other suggestions?” I turned to Johnathan; he shook his head in support of James.

That was a practical way to handle a bankruptcy such as mine, but I didn't want "practical". I wanted something realistic.I want to keep my staff and still get the money. “There isn’t any other suggestion, Mr. Robinson.” Jonathan replied. “This looks like the only thing we can do.”

I nodded, ran my fingers through my hair, and shut my eyes. “I will think about it,” I replied, knowing James and Jonathan had no better way of solving the problem.

"We don't have time, Mr. Robinson," James protested. "We need to act now. The press is going wild. They want to hear from you. The stakeholders are blasting the hotel's phone."

I looked up at Johnathan and ordered, "Find a way to speak to the press. Schedule a meeting with the company's stakeholders, and I will take a loan for the worker's salaries this month."

Jonathan and James looked at me like I had just said an unbelievable thing. James was more vocal about his thoughts.

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