Chapter 8 #2
“It really has been an extremely difficult time, but uh…” she said, her voice softer before she trailed off like it pained even her to say any of this out loud.
“I’m not even sure where to begin, but the long and short of it is that Court Thayer, their father, was the CEO of Thayer Steelworks before Jane.
A few years ago, he was arrested and convicted of fraud, tax evasion, and a bunch of other nasty financial crimes. ”
My eyes widened. “Their father was in prison?”
“He still is.” She let out a sigh and shook her head. “Everything they owned was seized during the investigation. Properties. Trust funds. Bank accounts. Movable assets. You name it. If it was connected to Court, the government took it into their control.”
“Wow, that’s terrible,” I said quietly. “I can’t even imagine what they went through.”
“Yeah, but the financial fallout isn’t even the worst of it.
The public scrutiny was insane after the news broke that he was arrested.
People hated them. Their reputation went from pristine to wrecked literally overnight.
The family became outcasts, pariahs in circles they once dominated, and for a long time, no one would touch the company.
They lost almost all their big contracts.
Clients they’d had relationships with for years suddenly denied ever having worked with them. ”
My heart was hammering by now, my chest aching.
I thought of Colin and Jane, so vibrant and kind, going through all this, but Ashanti just kept going.
“Jane was the only sibling who’d received her trust fund at the time, so when everything else was taken, she kept the family afloat with her own money, but they’re fighting to have the others’ trusts restored now that they’re old enough to be entitled to them, and that’s just one of the legal battles they’ve been consumed by since. ”
“That already sounds like a big one.”
“It is, but their father also had a mistress, some homewrecker named Mallory, who worked for him as his secretary. Jane and Colin have always maintained that she’s the guilty party.
Frankly, they don’t believe Court would’ve been stupid enough to have done half the stuff he’s been accused of and they’re not wrong.
A lot of it was pretty sloppy and that’s just not like Court at all. ”
I frowned. “Is that what this court case is about? They’re trying to get him exonerated?”
“That’s part of it. They finally managed to find some evidence against Mallory, so she’s been arrested too and her trial is starting soon.
She fled from the States shortly after the bombs started dropping on Court, but she came back when she was trying to gain control of Thayer’s board through her new, older, very wealthy husband.
Thanks to Alex, she failed, but the authorities were also able to apprehend her. ”
“God,” I murmured, staring out across the museum floor and trying to process it all. “That’s awful. Just really, truly awful.”
“Yep, especially because Colin and Jane have been trying to rebuild the company and their family’s reputation, but people don’t just forget a scandal like this, and with Mallory’s trial coming up, the past is being dredged up in the public eye all over again.”
“That’s just crappy.” I shook my head. Family meant everything to me and the idea of being betrayed by a stranger was painful enough. Being betrayed by someone you loved and trusted as much as a father was impossible to imagine.
As much as my dad and his old-school ideas could make our lives more complicated than they needed to be at times, I just couldn’t picture him hurting us that way. It would change the shape of our entire lives if he were to shatter our trust like Court had done to the Thayers.
I thought about Colin and the restraint he showed in conversations, redirecting the attention away from himself when anything personal came up.
It occurred to be then that he’d been right when he’d said he wasn’t mysterious.
He was simply hurt, deeply. The course of his life had been irrevocably altered by the actions of his father and he was still trying to claw back the respect of the business community too.
“You know, Khaled really wants this merger,” Ashanti said after a few seconds. “I think it’s because of Colin. Khaled wants to work with him. He trusts him more than any of the other possible partners he’s met and it definitely helps that he thinks Colin is a great businessman.”
“That’s a strong endorsement coming from Khaled.”
“It is, but that’s why he’s pushing this forward so hard. He’s just really hoping your dad will go for it. The fact is that it’s the perfect move for White Water Lily, but Basel might not agree.”
“Colin seems like a great man in general,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them, but regardless of what Ashanti might read into the observation, it was true. “I’m sure my father will see it too.”
Everything I’d seen of Colin so far suggested that Khaled was right, but I also had a feeling there was more to Colin than what I’d seen so far. Layers of himself he kept under lock and key, perhaps for fear of yet another betrayal.
Then again, people rarely revealed themselves all at once. Especially when they’d been hurt so badly.
I suddenly found myself turning toward Ashanti, deciding to just dive in before I could second-guess my instincts. “Do you have Colin’s number?”
She froze, staring at me with such obvious surprise flickering in her eyes that I almost started backpedaling, but instead, I held firm until she finally frowned. “Why?”