Chapter 20 #2
“I doubt that. How do you even know about all of this? If what you’re saying is true, it happened years ago.”
“It may have started years ago, but I’m fairly confident your father is still doing things he shouldn’t.
I don’t have proof of anything that came after what’s in the file, but I’d bet a chunk of my fortune on it.
As for how I know as much as I do, your uncle kept highly detailed records on what he and your father had done.
I guess he thought he might need it one day.
Collateral maybe. If it was me, I would have destroyed the evidence, but your uncle didn’t.
Like I said before, he loved money, but he also loved my mother, and for whatever reason, he gave her the file for safekeeping.
Being the absolute dear she is, she never looked at it, just put it away in the loft. ”
Floyd adjusts himself on the seat, pointing to the empty one in front of the desk. I sit, keeping my back straight and my arms folded across my chest.
“After your uncle died, my mother, she never quite got over him, so she kept everything of his, including that file. Imagine my surprise when I was packing up her things to help her move, before Christmas, only to find a whole load of paperwork that could sink this very successful company?”
My heart races and I take a deep breath to try and bat away the panic rising in my chest. I’ve never had a panic attack, but it sure feels like I’m on the edge of one now.
“I still don’t get why you want to marry me? How do I fit into this?”
Floyd taps the desk, and I flinch at the sudden anger clouding his hard features.
“Because my grandfather fucked me over when he died. The bastard left me a significant amount of his wealth with one clear caveat. By the time I’d found the folder your uncle put together, I’d had the will looked over by my lawyers, only to find it was airtight.
At first, when I worked through all the documents I’d found tucked away in my mother’s house, it all seemed inconsequential until it hit me what I was looking at. ”
“You were going to blackmail my father for money.”
“Correct. You are as smart as you are sweet, boy.”
I grit my teeth to stop from swearing at the asshole on the other side of the desk.
“So why didn’t you?”
“That was my intention. Your father’s wealth is no match for the inheritance I was being cruelly denied, but it would have been enough. But then, shortly before Christmas, when I walked in here to put my offer on the table, I was greeted by this sweet photo.”
Floyd picks up a frame that I hadn’t seen lying face down on my father’s desk, though I know what it is. It’s a photo of me taken last year on holiday.
“And then there was the answer to all my problems. Your dear old dad, before he knew my true intentions for meeting with him, so kindly told me all about you. He even offered to introduce us.”
I shake my head, falling silent for a moment as I mull over Floyd’s words, and then the question I haven’t asked comes to me.
“What was the caveat? In your grandfather’s will?”
“Smart boy, asking the right questions.” He grins.
“My grandfather left me a third of his estate on the condition that I am married and cohabiting for two years before my fortieth birthday. Failure to meet that criteria and my money goes to charity.” He sneers at the word.
“Thankfully, my grandfather didn’t specify who I had to marry – I had my lawyer double-check – and this marriage isn’t about sex and love and all that shit, so I don’t care what either of our preferences are.
All I care about is that you, Darius Thorne-Sutton, are the answer. ”
This is all so fucked up, I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around it.
What my father did to build his company, what is being asked of me now.
It all feels like I’m suddenly a spectator in my own life.
It does at the very least answer why my father has been acting strange towards me lately – he’s been building the courage to break this news.
“Why would your grandfather do that?” I ask, still not grasping the why of all this.
Floyd stands and paces behind the desk. His icy demeanour is slipping with every second this drags on.
“My guess is that he thought it would finally force me to be more like him. A good husband and a devoted father. A man who valued family over affluence. He always said I was too selfish to care about anyone but myself, so maybe he hoped this would encourage me to change.” Floyd shrugs.
“He had to have known I would never succeed, because he’s not wrong.
I am selfish, but I don’t see it the same way he does – people are tiresome and needy – why would I want to waste my energy on them?
None of that matters, though, now that I have you.
He can rot in his fucking grave while I take what is rightfully mine. ”
“You don’t have me, Floyd. I’m not going along with this.”
Floyd smacks his palms on my father’s desk, but I don’t recoil. Instead, I stand, mirror his position, and say, “Fuck you.” His nostrils flare and his hands ball into fists against the wooden surface. But it’s my dad who speaks up.
His voice is raw with emotion, and I know the minute my name passes his lips that everything is about to change.
“Darius. If he releases those files to the media or gives them to the police, we will lose everything.”
I turn to face the man I’ve looked up to for years and place a hand on his shoulder.
“We don’t need the money, Dad. We have each other and will be fine without it.”
He shakes his head, his jaw tightening on his next words.
“You don’t get it; it’s not just the money! If this gets out, if what your uncle and I did becomes public knowledge, I don’t just lose what we spent years building; I go to prison.”
Fuck. That hadn’t even crossed my mind, and the reality of it has me lightheaded, forcing me to sit back down. With my elbows on my knees, I let my head fall forward, close my eyes and take deep breaths.
Oliver’s face is there behind my closed lids. I can’t do this. I can’t do what they’re asking of me. But when I remember the alternative, I’m not sure I can do that either.
Looking up, I ask Floyd, “Why not find someone to willingly marry you? There must be someone who would do it?”
“Firstly, I’m running out of time. I’ll be thirty-eight in a little over two months, and secondly, this is easy.
There’s far too much work in real relationships, and then there’s the fact that I don’t plan to share the wealth once it’s in my hands.
I’m not paying someone to do something you can do for me for free. ”
“Please, son,” my father whispers. He’s crouched down at my side. “It’s two years, and then you can go back to your life. Please.”
Two years. Oliver and I won’t survive that.
“I’m seeing someone,” I say quietly, tears burning at the back of my eyes. “I love him. No, I won’t do what you’re asking.”
“I’ve given you everything, Darius. Now, I need something from you. Do this for me. For us.”
“I can’t,” I choke out, hating that even to my own ears, the words no longer sound certain as my mind and heart war with each other.
“You’d pick some boy over your own father?” Floyd asks. “And here I thought I was the only bad son in the room. Have it your way, Darius.” Floyd picks up his phone and brings it to his ear. I have no idea who he’s calling, but I know in that instant my heart is going to lose.
“Wait,” I say. “If I say no, and you release those files, you’ll get nothing.”
He sighs, crossing his arms as if he hasn’t a care in the world.
“Do you really want to take that chance?” Floyd waves his phone at me. “I’m game if you are.” I can’t tell if he’s bluffing, but something tells me that if he doesn’t get his way, he’s likely to fuck us over for the sake of it.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I feel the first tear fall.
What choice do I have? The consequences for my family are too dire to say no.
Not to mention what happens to the employees of a company built on fraud.
My heart pinches painfully – I know the choice I have to make is going to shatter it, but worse than that, I know it’s going to break Oliver’s heart, too. I only hope he can forgive me.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll do it.”
My father finally makes eye contact. “Thank you. I’m so sorry this is on you, Darius.”
“But there have to be rules in place,” I add, because I’m not having this man take control of my whole life.
Floyd narrows his eyes. “What is it you want?”
“We’ll live in one of my father’s rental apartments.” Floyd nods. “And I want separate rooms.”
“Is that it?”
“There will be no physical contact between us. At all.”
My father aims a steely gaze at Floyd. “You will not touch him.”
“Rest assured, Ralph, your son is of no interest to me. But that won’t work,” he replies. “In the company of others, we have to sell the relationship.”
“Fine,” I huff. “In those instances – of which there better bloody well be few – I’ll play along.”
“I also want to see a copy of these files before anything else goes ahead, and I want your reassurance that all of it will be handed to me as soon as your inheritance is in hand,” my father adds.
“You’re making a lot of demands for a man whose freedom is on the line here.
But fine. I will agree. Now for my terms.” Rounding the desk, Floyd stands in front of me, a smirk plastered on his face.
“You will keep this between us; no one else can know. We have to make it look believable.” He reaches out a hand, and I recoil when he holds a finger centimetres away from the mark Oliver left on my neck. “And get rid of him.”
I fight away the sob building in the back of my throat at the realisation of what I’m about to do to Oliver.
I’m not going to choose him.
Because as much as I love him, I can’t see my dad, the only family I have, go to prison. I am no better than everyone else who’s let Oliver down. I may even be worse.