Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jack
Hope walked out of the school and approached me with a sad look. Patting her head, I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m one of the top ten students in the school who made the final spelling bee round. It’s tomorrow for all the parents, and my mom can’t be there because she’s in the hospital.” She looked down and slumped her shoulders as we headed to the car.
I didn’t know what to say to her. She looked so sad.
“What time is the spelling bee? Maybe I can come and watch you.”
Tony looked at me through the rearview mirror.
She reached inside her backpack and pulled out a note, handing it to me.
“It says here that the spelling bee is at one o’clock. One o’clock is a good time for me. I’ll schedule you in.” I gave her a wink.
“Really?” she said in excitement. “You’ll really come?”
“Sure. Since your mom can’t be there, I will be. But do me a favor, let’s not mention this to her because she’ll feel really bad that she can’t be there, and we don’t want her worrying about it.”
“Deal.” She smiled. “Will you study the words with me after we visit my mom?”
“I think I can do that. But after we visit your mom, we’re going to have Mr. Tony take us to the store. We need to get some food for the house.”
“Okay.”
We arrived at the hospital, and Hope ran to Lorelei’s bedside and hugged her.
“I’ve missed you so much, baby.” She kissed her head. “Thank you for leaving Luna here to keep me company.”
“You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”
“A little bit better. How was school today?”
“It was great. Mr. Sutton forgot to pack me a lunch, but he sent one to the school with a cookie in it.”
Lorelei glanced at me, and a small smile crossed her lips.
“He burnt the eggs this morning, so we had to hurry and get breakfast from a diner down the street. We were late for school.” She giggled.
“I see. Well, at least you made it there.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out Lorelei’s phone and handed it to her.
“Thanks, Jack.”
“You’re welcome. Any more news from the doctor?”
“He said I’ll still be here for a couple more days.” She coughed as she rested her hand on her chest.
“It’s better that way, Lorelei. You need to get a hundred percent better. You don’t want a relapse.”
“That’s what the doctor said. How’s everything going at the office?”
“The office is fine. I don’t want you worrying about that. I brought you something else.”
“You did?”
“Hold on a second, and I’ll go grab it.” I walked out of the room and met Tony in the hall, where he handed me Lorelei’s sketchbook.
Her face lit up as I walked back into the room and handed it to her.
“I thought you would like to have this in case you get bored.”
“Thank you, Jack. I can’t believe you brought this.”
After visiting Lorelei for a while, Hope and I headed to the store. I knew nothing about grocery stores because I had never shopped. Madeline always took care of that for me. I grabbed a basket, and Hope and I walked around as she threw some snacks into it.
“What do you want for dinner?” I asked.
“Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.”
“A hot dog I can make. As for macaroni and cheese, I don’t know how to do that.”
She picked up the blue box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and handed it to me.
“The directions are on the side. All you have to do is follow them.”
I raised my brow as I looked down at her. “Is this stuff any good?”
“Yes. It’s one of my favorites.” She smiled. “You never had that before?”
“No. I haven’t. But if you say it’s good, I’ll take your word for it.” I winked.
When we arrived back at the penthouse, I grilled a couple of hot dogs and made the macaroni and cheese according to the box, while Hope sat at the island and looked over her spelling bee words. I set our plates down, sat next to her while we ate, and helped her with her words.
Suddenly, I heard the elevator doors open, and when I turned around, my mother walked into the kitchen with a shocked expression on her face.
“What is going on here? And who’s that?” she asked.
“Mother, this is Hope, Lorelei’s daughter. Hope, this is my mother.”
She walked over to the island and stared down at our plates.
“Are you eating hot dogs and macaroni and cheese?” she asked with a look of disgust on her face.
“Yes, we are.” I took a spoonful of macaroni and shoved it in my mouth with a smile.
“Oh for God’s sake, Jack. May I ask why this child is here in your home? Where’s Lorelei?”
“My name is Hope, and my mom is in the hospital with pneumonia.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”
“Mr. Sutton is looking after me while she’s getting better.”
“He is?” My mother looked at me.
“I am.”
She slowly shook her head in disbelief and then asked to speak with me in my office. Following behind her, I shut the door.
“What’s going on?”
“Bradley didn’t steal the money from the company. I had him put the money in an offshore account for Joshua.”
“Joshua? What the hell does he have to do with this?”
“He’s blackmailing me.”
There was a light knock at the door. “Mr. Sutton?” I heard Hope speak.
“We’ll be finished in a minute, Hope. Go study your words.”
“Okay.”
I turned back to my mother. “You better tell me what’s going on now!”
She took in a deep breath and took a seat behind my desk.
“He found out about something I did.”
I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes at her. “And what did he find out?”
She looked down and crossed her hands.
“Mother?”
“He found out that I had hired someone to go to work for Flourishing Fashion Magazine. I had them spy on Dee Sanders and then report back to me about their plans for their seasonal debuts.”
“What?” I gasped. “You sent in a mole to steal their ideas and report back to you?”
“I’m not proud. But you need to understand that they were a new, upcoming magazine that was taking off way too quickly, and Sutton magazine was suffering because of them. I wasn’t about to let the company I built from the ground up go into ruins.”
Anger riveted throughout my body. “So, you stole their ideas and ensured that Sutton Magazine’s issues went out first?”
“Yes, and I don’t have any regrets.”
“You were responsible for Flourishing closing their doors?”
“Yes. I suppose so.”
“My God, Mother. How can you live with yourself?”
“This is a cutthroat business, Jack. You know that. I’ve sacrificed my entire life for this company.”
“I know, and you also sacrificed your children.”
“That’s not fair, son.”
I ran my hand through my hair as I paced around my office. “So, Joshua’s blackmailing you to keep quiet about it?”
“Yes. He said he will go to the press if I don’t pay him the money.”
“I can’t talk to you about this right now. I have a little girl who needs me to help her study for her spelling bee. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“Our company could be at stake here, and all you can think about is that child and a spelling bee?”
“Yes. Because her mom is in the hospital and she needs someone. Just like I needed someone growing up. But unfortunately, Coco and I were always pushed to the side.”
“That child isn’t your responsibility, Jack. She’s your PA’s child, for God’s sake.”
“It doesn’t matter whose child she is. Now I suggest you leave. We’ll discuss this further as soon as Coco returns from LA.”
I opened the door and walked out into the living room. Hope was sitting on the couch with her spelling list in her hand.
“It was nice to meet you,” Hope spoke.
My mother turned around, frowned at her, and stepped into the elevator.
“She seems kind of mean,” Hope spoke as she looked at me.
“She is.”