Chapter 27
Ijumped away from Eddie the second I saw my mother in a formal gown stomping toward my office, with Catherine a few steps behind.
The way the two women glared at me like I had committed some great offense, like turning down a Birkin bag or burning vintage Prada, made me realize I must have forgotten something.
“I think I should go,” Eddie said.
“Yes, quick, run, save yourself,” I said under my breath. She looked at me with the top corner of her lips curling into a smirk.
“You, trampy little secretary, leave immediately,” my mother said, scowling at her.
I stared at my mother, not wanting to give her the impression she had any control in my office. “Apologize.”
Mary’s lips twisted into a grimace. “I’m not apologizing to the staff!”
Eddie struggled to hold the misaligned pile of files and potential trial exhibits in her arms while also reaching for her pen and cell phone. “It’s not necessary.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I disagree. Apologize, Mother, or I’ll have you thrown out.”
Mary’s eyes widened.
The room was filled with tense silence for several heartbeats.
Then with an indignant huff and a dismissive twist of her wrist, Mary grumbled. “Sorry, whatever your name is, I didn’t mean to offend your sensitive blue-collar morals.”
I rubbed my eyes as I muttered to Eddie, “That’s as good as it will get.”
“Honestly, Harrison, it’s fine. If you don’t mind, it’s late, and I’m not going to be any more use to you tonight. Do you mind if we pick this up in the morning?”
I knew the question was purely for my mother’s benefit, putting me in a better position of power while still letting her escape whatever chiffon terror was about to go down in this room.
“Okay, get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning, Eddie,” I said.
She called down to the driver as she scurried out the door, pressing herself to the wall to avoid touching Mary and Catherine, who didn’t move to make way for her at all.
Catherine sneered at her as she overtly looked Eddie up and down, then called out to her retreating back. “Harrison? That’s Mr. Astrid to you.”
“What brings you to my office so late?” I interrupted.
“You were supposed to be at the Astrid Foundation Ball hours ago.” My mother stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips.
“I don’t recall RSVPing to any events,” I said. “I have work to do that benefits the people here.”
“You don’t RSVP to an event your family is hosting,” she said between clenched teeth. “Your secretary should have reminded you of your obligation. This was supposed to be one of the outings to further cement you and Catherine as a couple in the public’s eye. Have you even bothered looking at the wedding invitations yet?”
“My secretary is on vacation, and I choose not to have a temp replace her,” I said as I moved back to my desk and started separating the folders. Some would need to be on Eddie’s desk in the morning. Others I would handle myself.
I made a mental note to grab an air-gapped computer. We couldn’t risk it ever connecting to the internet, but maybe it would be better if we could use it to organize files digitally and store them on a hard drive. She was right. Doing this all old school was tedious, and the risk of losing a paper in the wrong file was a little too real.
“Harrison.” My mother scowled. “You knew about this event. You had agreed to go to this event to announce your engagement when we had lunch the other day.”
I thought back to a few weeks ago when I met Catherine for the first time, and we had worked out the details of our engagement. She was right. She had mentioned this event, and if Cynthia hadn’t been on vacation, then it would have been on my calendar, and I would have known about it. I relied on my secretary too much. I added a mental note to tell her to get herself one of the gift baskets when she bought one for Mrs. Lakeson.
“Catherine, dear, why don’t you go take a seat at one of the desks out there? Give me a moment to speak to my son,” my mother said sweetly, patting Catherine on the arm.
Catherine didn’t say anything. She glared at me, and then she looked around the room with her lips curled in disgust before she turned on her heel and walked through the bullpen.
My mother gently closed the door behind her and then turned to face me. The last shreds of a pleasant demeanor had vanished. All that was left was the real Mary Quinn Astrid, the hatred in her eyes, and the disapproving sneer. That look used to be accompanied by lines on her forehead and around her eyes and mouth, but Botox had taken care of that years ago.
“Harrison Phillip Astrid,” my mother said. “You are being incredibly stupid.”
“Excuse me,” I said, standing from my desk.
“You heard me. You know, I never thought that you would make the same stupid mistakes as every other man. I always knew you weren’t perfect. Lord knows I knew that. You have a temper like your father and are just as willful as your sisters.”
“I think you mean like my mother,” I spat back.
“No, I might get angry, but I don’t act irrationally. I don’t act out of stupidity and emotions like you’re doing. I think things through, which is why I told you that leaking the news about your true parentage was inadvisable. But did you listen to me? No, you didn’t. And what happened?”
I didn’t answer her. I wasn’t willing to vindicate her or give her the satisfaction of being right again.
“What happened, Harrison.” She leaned down, placing her hands on my desk.
“You know what happened,” I said.
“I know what happened, but do you? Because you dropped in public opinion. I told you that the scandal would turn voters against you, but you said no, the people wouldn’t care. It would make you even more approachable to the common man. Did it? No! It made you fodder for Page Six for a month, and now the voters don’t take you seriously. They look at you, and they don’t see an Astrid. They don’t see a master of the universe. They see another scandal right between the drunk pop star and the spoiled heiress.”
“What’s your point, Mother?”
“My point is that you agreed to let me fix this for you. You agreed to let me handle the public opinion and repair your reputation. The best way for me to do that is to show the people who you are, that you are not just another rich, lazy little bitch with Daddy’s money. No, you are a real person. I do that by marrying you off to Catherine, making a solid match, and then she will be able to make you likable again to put you back in our society’s good graces.” Her face got redder as she spoke, not that you could see it anywhere except where her thick foundation had started to crack.
“I know this. I have already agreed to marry her. What more do you want?”
“It’s not enough that you marry her. You have to be seen with her, you have to go to these events, and you have to get your things together. You are not stupid. You are not like your sisters, defiant little brats that they are. You are smart. You know what needs to be done. I need you to do it.”
I hated when she talked about Amelia and Rose like that. I hated how she looked down on them just because they were women. The hypocrisy and the misogyny were incredible. It wasn’t like she would ever allow them to work or to do anything outside the home other than be pawns and marry whomever my mother decided.
“Fine, I apologize for missing the event. I will not miss the next one,” I said.
“It’s not just this event, you stupid boy. You need to be seen with Catherine. You need people to believe that you two are a couple, and when it comes out that you’re sleeping with your secretary, no one will be able to save you from that.”
“Excuse me?” Now, she had gone too far.
“Are you not paying attention? Haven’t you seen what this ‘Me Too’ movement has done? It’s empowered these girls to think that if they bed a powerful man, they can blackmail them, and now people will actually believe them when they say that they were sexually harassed. There are ramifications for this even if you work in the public sector. You cannot be seen with her.”
“Are you accusing me of sexually assaulting my paralegal?”
“No, I’m accusing you of being stupid enough to let her lead you around by your pants. You’re being short-sighted and ridiculous. Even if everything is consensual, she could change her mind. She could start saying all types of things, and even if she doesn’t, even if she is a good person or she really likes you, now what’s to say that’ll stay the same when you get her pregnant?”
My heart started thundering in my ears. Pregnant. I had already thought of that. I doubted she’d had health insurance before working here, and I didn’t know if her insurance had kicked in yet. Even if it had, that didn’t necessarily mean she was on birth control.
She was right. This horrible shrew of a woman standing in front of me was right. My actions toward Eddie were undermining the wedding. My union with Catherine was a tool, but I had to wield it properly to reap the benefits. If not, it could backfire, and then there would be no saving my career, regardless of the criminals I got off the streets.
“Fine,” I said.
“Good, now that is straight. All you have to do is fire the tart, and you will be able to focus. Women like that don’t belong in this office anyway.”
Had she just left it alone, I wouldn’t have said anything. I would have let her have her little victory, but I would not tolerate her speaking about Eddie like that. Eddie didn’t need me to protect her from my mother, but I was going to do it anyway.
“Since I have you here, I think it’s high time we get a few other things straight.” I stood to my full height, and took a few steps closer to my mother, towering over her. “You do not dictate who I do and don’t work with. You have no authority in this office, and you will not barge in here unannounced again. I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the day or after hours. It will not happen again.”
“I am still your mother. You will show respect.”
“No, you are the slut who cheated on her husband and made me a bastard. You are also the conniving bitch who abused my sister and embarrassed my father. Don’t think for a second, I don’t have files and files of proof that you are also a criminal?—”
“I am a law-abiding citizen. You have nothing on me.”
“You committed financial fraud when you manipulated the purchase of several businesses to make it look like the Manwarrings were targeting the DuBoises. You were also a conspirator in the kidnapping of Olivia Manwarring. That is financial fraud, conspiracy in the kidnapping, and there is the little matter of insider trading. Not to mention the bruises you have left on Amelia her entire life.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, no. I would. I really would, but as it stands, bringing charges against you would be a headache for me as well as the people I care about. But if you ever speak disrespectfully to Eddie or anyone else in this office again, I will buy stock in Advil and press charges on behalf of the city of New York. I will also have a little sidebar with Manwarring Enterprises and DuBois Investments about suing you, and just for shits and giggles, I will get Olivia Manwarring to sue you for damages.”
Watching the blood drain from my mother’s face was even more satisfying than it was when a hardened career criminal realized it was over for them.
“You would only drag your own name through the mud.” Her lips trembled as she spoke.
“No, I wouldn’t. I have been paying attention, Mother. Just because I have refused to stoop to your level thus far doesn’t mean that I can’t spin this and show that I am the hero son standing up for justice, holding the aristocracy to the same laws as everyone else. I will get a statue in Central Park and a clear path to the presidency.”
I wasn’t bluffing. The files were already backed up to a secure drive.
“Son, you are making a mistake. I am untouchable.” She twisted her lips into a cruel smirk. “I have the best attorney in the state. He will mop the floor with you.”
“No, he won’t. Not when he reads the charges. The family lawyer represents the family. This goes public, the divorce filing will follow, and the lawyer stays with Dad. Your assets will all be seized. The only representation you will get is a public defender fresh from law school and wet behind the ears. He won’t even know how to argue for bail. Not that he’ll need to when I show how much of a flight risk you are.”
“You can’t.”
“I can, but I won’t unless provoked. Now get out of my office.” I turned my back to her and looked out the window. It was dark enough that the only things I could see were my mother’s and my reflections. A multitude of emotions flickered over her face: shock, doubt, anger, and finally, determination. She turned and marched out of my office.
Just when I thought it was over, shouts erupted right outside my door.
“This is all your fault, you stupid little whore,” my mother yelled. I didn’t think I had ever heard my mother yell like that at anyone who wasn’t staff with an NDA or family.