32. Lissie
Chapter 32
Lissie
“I’m rich.”
M ilo takes me home and lingers longer than probably necessary. But Letti was already waiting, as I asked her to come with me to the lawyer’s office. It’s not my lawyer I’m seeing, though, which has been really confusing. I got a letter in the mail the day before my birthday that was sent to my old address but was redirected to Letti’s.
Letti smirks when she sees Milo pulling away as she comes outside and unlocks her car door.
“So… anything you want to talk about?” She wiggles her brows at me.
“No,” I say, getting into the car. “But holy hell, who knew sex could be that good.”
“Oh, sex is amazing. But when the man knows what he’s doing… well, you know.”
She starts the car, and I nod. “Though I bet Milo is better than most, he’s so…”
I turn to look at her. “He’s so what?”
“Scary,” she says. “And I’ve known him most of my life.” She pulls out onto the road and drives us to the lawyer’s office just outside of town. Letti has somehow become like a guardian angel, one I never saw coming but am so thankful for.
“Should I come in with you?” she asks as I stare at the tall building.
“Would you mind?”
The letter didn’t tell me exactly why I needed to be here, only that I had to come to settle some old debts from my mother. At least, that’s what I took from the letter.
Getting out of the car, Letti comes over and grips my hand as we head to the building. I give it a squeeze before I let it drop as we walk inside. We take the elevator up to the tenth floor. When the doors open, I approach the receptionist and give her my name, and she guides us to an office. Letti stays by my side as we sit, and the man in front of us offers us a kind smile.
“It’s lovely to meet you. I was your mother’s lawyer a long time ago,” he mentions. “I guess you’re probably wondering why you’re here,” he says, and I nod. “I’ve actually been trying to reach you, but your husband said everything can go through him. Of course, I told him that isn’t how it works.” I glance at Letti as she shakes her head.
He continues, “You turned twenty-six yesterday. Happy belated birthday. I asked to meet you because your mother left instructions for me to pass on a letter to you when you turned twenty-six.”
His words hit me.
Hard.
My mother? I don’t understand. She’s dead .
He begins reading…
My little Lissie,
I’m not feeling well, and I’m sorry for that. I have made bad decisions in this life, but there was one that I never did wrong. And that was you. Gosh, how perfect you are. I’m sorry everything had to end like this. I’m sorry for everything. But you see, sometimes when someone is sick, nothing can help them.
I wanted your twenty-sixth birthday to be special because mine was. It was when I found out I was pregnant with you. The day before, your father left me and went back to his wife. He told me he would leave her, but he never did. I was hanging on by a string when I took that test. You saved me, Lissie, but in the end, I was just too broken.
Please take this money; it’s all the payments from your father. I kept every cent for you. I love you so much. Please always remember that.
Love,
Mom.
When he’s finished, he slides the letter over to me. I take it. I see it’s her handwriting, and attached is a photo of her and me when I was one.
I have no photos of her.
How have I not realized that before?
I pick it up and wipe away the tears that have started to fall. I can’t stop them.
“Elizabeth.” I look up to the lawyer. “Here is the check.”
He hands it to me, and I look down at it, wiping my eyes, as Letti breathes out the words, “Holy fucking shit.”
I gasp. No. Fucking. Way.
“It seems your father was rich and willing to keep you a secret,” the lawyer adds.
“Do you know anything about him?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, no.” He pauses. “But I do know a good private investigator,” he says with a smile.
Letti gets all the information as I sign some forms, and soon, I’m walking out holding a check worth a lot of money—seven figures.
I can leave.
I can finally leave.
I went straight to the bank.
No stops.
And now Letti is sitting in front of me, opening a bottle of wine.
“Do you think the investigator will find anything?” I ask, reaching for the glass.
“I hope so. It would be good for you to know who he is, you know?” She shrugs. “But even if he comes up with nothing, you’ll still have me.” Her smile is so warm and tender that I wish I would have become friends with her sooner. I wish I had people like her around when I needed them, and not Cody.
My phone rings, and we both look at it. The screen shows a private number.
“Answer it,” she says.
“It could be Cody,” I reply, biting my bottom lip.
“Or, it could be another check.” She wiggles her dark brows.
Picking it up, I press accept, and the detective’s voice comes through. “Lissie?” I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “Yes, here, sorry.”
“I found him. He didn’t do a good job of hiding, so that task was straightforward.” He starts to rattle off information, and I realize he only lives six hours away. I look to Letti, who is grinning.
“Did you talk to him?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says. “He would like to meet with you.”
“Meet?” I squawk. “Okay…”
The detective tells me my father’s information and that he would like to meet in a week if I can. I thank him and hang up the phone.
“So, we need a plan,” Letti announces.
“Letti.” I sigh. She already has a pen and paper out, ready to start.
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m going to leave,” I whisper, not believing the words that leave my mouth.
“Leave? Like a break?”
“No, like I think I want to leave town. Actually, I know I do. Nothing is holding me here anymore. I think I want to just go, and I have the money to do so now. I have never been in a position to do that before. What money I did have, I either gave to Cody, or he took it,” I say in a rush.
“It’s not that I don’t plan to come back one day. I would still want to see you. I think you are probably the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.”
She holds up her hand to stop me from talking. “Don’t explain yourself to me, Lissie. I’ll be sad to see you go, of course. But I’ve watched you over the years. You have been a shell of a person, and to get to know the real you… well, it’s been amazing. Wherever you end up, I’ll be visiting,” she says with a smile.
“Thank you.”
“Now, who’s going to tell Milo?” Just as she says his name, a knock sounds on the door, and Letti walks over to open it.
I see Mason on the other side. He nods to me before he leans down and places a kiss on Letti’s lips. I turn away and look back down to my cell as Mason speaks, “Lissie.” I turn back to him. “Milo is hunting your husband,” he says, and my eyes go wide. “He didn’t make payment and skipped town. I was sent here to ask you if you’ve seen him.”
“No, I haven’t,” I say, shaking my head. “Where is Milo?”
“He’ll be back later. He’s following a lead.”
A lead that might take him straight to my husband, I guess.
“Thanks,” I say as he kisses Letti again.
I head to my bedroom and sit on the bed, feeling the weight of the decision ahead. I start searching for plane tickets to my father, unwilling to endure a six-hour drive. After a few minutes of scrolling, I find a one-way flight leaving tomorrow. Booking it feels like the first step in a long journey ahead of me.
The check should clear in a few days, and I do have money saved. Fuck it!
Cody has clearly moved on, and I guess I have as well.
After buying the ticket, I press call, and Milo answers straight away. “Did you find him?” I ask, lying back on my bed.
“No. Any idea where he would be?”
“Maybe his mother’s, but I doubt it,” I tell him honestly. She always hated me, thinking I was the issue when it was always him.
“Hmm…” is all I get in return.
“Milo.” I hear the deep hum he makes at his name. “I’m leaving tomorrow. Thought I would let you know.”
He goes quiet for a moment before he says, “I’m out of town. I won’t get back until tomorrow.”
“I wanted to say goodbye in person, but I guess over the phone is how we will have to do it,” I tell him.
He doesn’t respond right away, and I think he’s hung up. “Goodbye, Elizabeth,” he finally says in a whisper.
Then the phone goes dead.
“Move over.” My body is gently nudged in the early hours of the morning. I wake slightly to feel Milo climbing in behind me. I know it’s him, without a doubt. His arms wrap around me, and he pulls me to him tight. As he grips me for dear life, I feel he has taken his shirt off but still has his jeans on.
“You’re here.”
“Rode all night,” he says into my hair. He brushes it aside, and I feel him kiss my neck. “Sure am going to miss you, Pretty Lady.”
I smile sadly. “I found my father,” I tell him. “Well, kind of. I’m meeting with him next week, so I just want to go now and find a place to stay and set up a little.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
And something in my chest hurts at his words.
“Milo, I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“You didn’t,” he replies, and I push myself back into him a little more. “Now, go to sleep. I’ll take you to the airport tomorrow.”
It’s not long before his breathing evens out, and I hear him softly snore as he holds me tight.
My decision weighs heavy on me as I drift off to sleep.