Page 109 of Wicked Praise

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.

How dare he treat her like this! She was the rightful heiress of this enormous empire and she deserved more than a brief nod.

This was just a game to him.

Her mother had said he not only hurt her with his fist but with emotional abuse. Bella had to show him she wasn’t afraid.

Much.

“These are my lawyers.” Bella glared at him right in the eye as she introduced them. “I have forty minutes left, so let’s get started.”

“I have thirty minutes,” Randall countered, staring straight back.

Blake snorted and her father’s gaze drifted to him.

“Congratulations on your engagement. I hope you will be happy,” Randall sneered with as much genuine meaning as a server at a fast-food drive through. “However, I thought before you say your nuptials you might want to understand all the facts.”

“We have the trust documents. We have all the facts,” Blake said darkly.

“Thank you, Mr. Dufort, but I am addressing my daughter,” Randall said. “How’s business, by the way?”

Beside her, Blake stiffened, and she placed her hand on his arm.

He relaxed, knowing it was only for her he did so.

Randall smirked.

“My fiancé is correct. My lawyers have, and have had, the family trust documents for a very long time. Since I was born,” Bella said. “We know all we need to know.”

Bill pushed a document into the middle of the table.

Randall stared at it, then lifted his eyes to her.

“You have been misled by your mother. The trust was updated, and the shares you will receive on your birthday are nowhere near the amount you have informed the media of.”

Bella’s stomach dropped, and she felt herself pale as her legal team erupted.

“That’s incorrect.”

“We were never advised. We manage the Kennedy trust.”

“Show us the paperwork.”

Blake turned to her and slid his hand onto her thigh. She wrapped her fingers around it and he squeezed.

“If this were true,” Bill said. “You would have needed her mother’s signature.”

“Which I have.”

“That’s not true!” Bella erupted and again Blake squeezed her hand.

A silent message to remain calm.

Randall held up a hand. “I’m sorry she did not tell you. We both know she walked away from Kennedy Enterprises. Perhaps she didn’t want to tell you. The board and your mother signed the changes.”

A document was pulled out of a folder and slid into the middle of the table.

She stared as Bill reached out for it, then frowned as his eyes slid down the page. “I worked for Tina Kennedy for over three decades. Not once did she mention this.”

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