Chapter 33
Chapter
When I actually need to use the bathroom a short while later, I go on my own.
But I make the trip quick, not wanting to leave George alone at the venue that threatens to give him hives.
The fact that this event is happening here has me wondering how many people know about George’s fear of heights.
Is it something he normally keeps quiet? Keeps to himself?
Does him telling me mean that I’m special to him, the only one special enough to know?
Maybe it makes me heartless, but I kind of like that.
I stroll down the hallway heading back to the main area, only to hear a familiar voice, full of agitation.
George’s voice.
“This isn’t something that we need to talk about.”
I stop in my tracks, my footsteps silent on the rug beneath my feet.
“Don’t be naive.” The second voice is low, less familiar. “Your actions affect more than just you. What you do and who you fuck affect the company.”
Well, who George is fucking is me. Which means that this conversation is related to me. And, therefore, I don’t feel bad about inching closer to what I now see is a side room with the door cracked open.
Through the thin opening, I spy George, his jaw tense and his eyes icy.
Across from him is Mr. Bunsen, who looks like an older version of the man I’ve fallen for, only with a comb-over and a flushed face.
But what shocks me most about the group in the room is that my father is a part of it.
Karl Newton stands beside his business partner, arms crossed, glaring at George as if he has any right to be angry at the wonderful man who has treated me with more respect than he ever has.
“If you wanted to make Annabel jealous, you should have brought someone more impressive,” Karl says, a sneer in his voice.
What the hell does that mean? Why would Annabel care about George’s date? Why would he want to make her jealous?
Before I can theorize an answer to those questions, my father continues talking.
“I told you years ago, and I thought you were smart enough to listen. I don’t want you anywhere near her.
She’s going to get her money as long as she stays away from this business.
But it looks like you don’t want that to happen.
So maybe I should push it out a few years.
How do you think she’d feel knowing that she has to wait until she’s thirty to get her payout? ”
Her payout?
Am I the her he’s talking about?
A slow understanding dawns on me, like the rise of a terrible sun.
Did my father lie to George and tell him that I was getting a trust? Is that why George thought I had a fund set aside for me, like Shawn does?
Is Karl holding that over his head to keep distance between us?
I think back on years ago, the first time I ever encountered George. At Shawn’s housewarming party.
At the time, I thought the shock and discomfort on George’s face was related to my father naming me a pariah. And then more recently, I reasoned it was him wanting to keep his distance because of the screwup reputation he’d told me about. But now…
Did George keep his distance from me all those years so I wouldn’t risk losing out on an inheritance that was never going to be mine in the first place?
My knees wobble, suddenly weak under the weight of the truth, and I have to lean a shoulder against the wall just to stay upright. Shocked disbelief steals the strength from my body as I replay every single time that George put space between us.
All because he was trying to follow the rules laid down by Karl Newton.
Rules based off a prize that was never up for grabs.
And I’ve been corroborating Karl’s lie this whole time.
“He’s a monster,” I whisper to myself. There’s no other explanation for it. This man who would do everything in his power to keep me from touching something that is only a satellite in his life. I guess the most I can be thankful for is that he hasn’t taken out an assassination contract on me.
My hurt disbelief is replaced by frustration. But that mild emotion doesn’t stick around for long because it is overwhelmed by rage.
I stand up straight, my strength back. With a mighty shove, I push the door open so hard it slams into the wall behind it. I storm into the room, my eyes burning fire, fixed on the man who I am disgusted to share DNA with.
“You’re such a goddamn liar.”
He wants to hold fake money over the head of the man I’m falling for. Karl Newton wants to keep George from me because he is too pathetic to own up to the fact that he stepped out on his wife and sometimes that has consequences.
“There is no money for me. There never was,” I tell George, watching as shock and confusion flash across his face.
“Karl Newton wouldn’t hold out a hand to me if I was drowning.
If he ever told you I was getting an inheritance, that was a lie.
He’s never offered me a cent of money, and he never will.
He wishes that I didn’t exist.” I stalk up to George and fist my hand in the front of his button-up shirt. “Is that why you avoided me?”
His Adam’s apple bobs with a thick swallow. Then he nods.
“I thought it was me,” he mutters. “That he hated me for you.”
“No.” I let out a laugh, dry and without humor. “It’s always been me he hated.”
I stare into George’s face as I use my grip to tug him closer, and I hope he reads the word that’s in my eyes.
Mine.
I glare over my shoulder at the two pathetic men.
“You think people are toys that you can manipulate because you’ve got some cash in your bank.
” I stare at the scowling Mr. Bunsen. “You don’t deserve the son you have.
” Then I turn my attention to Karl Newton.
“Same goes for you. And if Shawn had any idea what you were really like, he’d be ashamed of you, too. ”
Still, I don’t have the courage to break my brother’s heart like that. Not until my hand is forced. And I hate this man all the more for making up the lie about my trust fund. Did he not think Shawn would find out?
“Shawn is my son,” Karl Newton snarls at me, his eyes bloodshot with rage. “You’re a selfish bitch, just like your mother. She was going to get rid of you, you know that, right?”
I flinch, but a second later, a strong set of arms wraps tight around my waist.
“Don’t you talk to her.” George’s voice is low. Menacing.
But my guess is that Karl Newton is used to dominating the room, and he assumes that the child of his business associate will always be cowed by him.
My father keeps his glare on me. “The only reason she didn’t go through with it is because she got jealous. Jealous of my wife and son. And Charlotte thought she could use you for a payout.” He sneers. “Don’t pretend like you’re not desperate for my money. Just like she was.”
The comforting hold of George’s arms disappears, but only so he can step forward, snatch my father’s collar, and slam him against the closest wall.
Honestly, what is most impressive about the move is that the closest wall is, in fact, another set of floor-to-ceiling windows. And George stands inches away from the glass, too enraged by my father to notice how close he is to the edge.
“Never again. You will never speak to her again.” George’s knuckles crack as he clenches his free hand into a fist at his side.
“Or I will ruin that fucking nose job everyone knows you got. And then I’ll tell Shawn every single thing that you’ve said to her.
You will lose your son. Don’t doubt that for a second. Because he loves Beth more than you.”
My heart clenches hard in my chest.
“Put me down now!” Karl sputters, his face turning reddish purple.
It’s not a good look for him.
“Release him, George!” Mr. Bunsen shouts, to no avail.
“Do you understand?” George presses, ignoring his father and keeping his hold tight.
“Fine!” Karl gasps.
George relaxes his grip, and my father slides down the glass, gasping and choking.
“Let’s go, Beth.” George is at my side, his hand pressed gently against my lower back. A vast difference compared to how he was manhandling Karl Newton.
“You’re making a mistake,” Mr. Bunsen snarls after us. “I thought your marriage to Annabel was bad. But taking up with her is a new low.”
Shock crystallizes into icy dread, although it doesn’t freeze me in place. George ignores his father’s words, guiding me out of the room and down the hall toward the elevators. We walk silently. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but I sure as hell only have one thought in mine.
Annabel is George’s ex-wife?