Chapter 21 #2
“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.
She shook her head too fast. “Nothing.”
Max shifted closer. “Missy?”
She let out a slow breath and picked up the phone again. “It’s Dad,” she said. “He’s called a few times today.”
Max’s expression darkened. “He’s been calling me too. I didn’t want to talk to him. Then you drove off a cliff.” He grimaced. “So we’ve been kind of busy.”
Missy hesitated, then opened her voicemail and hit play.
Gerald Sharpe’s voice filled the room, smooth, controlled, sharp around the edges.
“Melissa, you’re being emotional. This bakery phase is charming, but it’s time to think long-term. Levi is willing to forgive you. That kind of loyalty doesn’t come around twice. I’ve arranged for everything. It’s time you fell into line.”
She tapped the next message.
“You’re prolonging this divorce by being stubborn. Collateral damage happens in business. You understand that.”
My hands curled into fists beneath the thin hospital blanket as she hit the next message.
“I won’t be held responsible for the consequences of your decisions. You have obligations to fulfill. I’ve made promises and this is your last chance to make things right. Maybe now you’ll see the truth in the matter.”
Max let out a low, dangerous laugh. “Wow. He really said that out loud.”
“There are more,” Missy said quietly. “At least two dozen.”
“That’s enough,” I said. “You don’t deal with him alone.”
“He’s right.” Max nodded. “Call him back now. Put him on speaker. We’re here, let’s deal with him together.”
Missy’s fingers trembled a little as she hit dial.
Gerald answered on the second ring. “Melissa. I can’t talk long. My flight is boarding.”
“You called me first,” she said, her voice steady despite the shake in her hands. “What do you want?”
“I was giving you one last chance to make this right. To do what you should. You have the power to turn all this around.”
“What does that mean?” She shook her head and closed her eyes.
“I’ve had a contract drawn up. Since you refused to convince your mother to be reasonable in the divorce, I’ve decided that you’ll sign over your shares of Sharper Image to me instead.”
Missy’s eyes jerked open and widened. “I don’t have them anymore.”
“I do,” Max said calmly, stepping forward. “I bought them almost a year ago, and you can’t have them.”
“I sold them to Max and used the money to pay for my business, my building,” Missy added.
Silence.
“That’s… unfortunate,” Gerald finally said, his voice dropping slightly. “You’re both there?”
“Yes,” Missy said. “We’re at the hospital.”
“Cade was in a serious accident,” Max added. “He’s here too.”
A long pause.
“He… survived?” Gerald asked in an odd tone.
The pause that followed was too long.
Cold settled in my gut. He hadn’t said, Is he okay? Or, How bad is it? Just… He survived.
Max stepped closer to my bed. “Dad,” he said evenly, “what did you do?”
A sigh came through the line, heavy, and tired. “I made a deal I had intended to follow through with. Only now, new information has come to light.”
Missy sucked in a sharp breath as Max pulled out his phone and fiddled with the screen.
“Levi approached me a few months back,” Gerald continued.
“He claimed that he wanted to get back together with you. Since your mother wanted to pay me pennies for my half of the company, I had to look at other options. I knew I could use a little of his family’s capital and power to my benefit.
In order to do that, I needed to secure that permanent connection. ”
“Permanent… Me? You used me to get to them?” Missy whispered. “So, what? You were going to get money if I married him?”
“No, it was far more practical,” he snapped.
“After your marriage, I would use your influence to make a family merger. Business like that happens all the time. I would get security, you would get a husband and your old life back. You were already involved with him once. We both know he’s exactly your type.
All Levi had to do was stay in line, for a while, at least.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this. It’s all so… crazy.” Missy shook her head. “You planned on selling me off like livestock.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gerald hissed.
“What did you do, Dad?” Max asked again. “Where are you?”
There was a moment of silence. “I’m at the airport.
This morning, I found out some unfortunate news.
The Stantons’ firm has apparently been bleeding money for a few years.
Plus, Levi is currently under investigation for a few things and has made several…
poor investments over the past few years since taking over his father’s firm. ”
“His family is broke?” Max cut in with a shake of his head.
“No, not fully. However, Levi never mentioned the problems on any of our golfing trips. Apparently, he was using me in return. He believed that if he persuaded me to convince you to marry him, he’d get his hands on our family’s wealth. Can you believe that?”
Yes. I wanted to shout it. But instead, I watched Missy for her reaction. She was staring straight ahead blankly as if she didn’t understand any of it.
“Your greed is your downfall, both you and Levi,” Max said sharply.
“I own the majority of Sharper Image now. What little you and mother have left will be split fifty-fifty in the divorce,” he added.
“Trust me when I say that the buy-out that she and her lawyer have drawn up for you is the best deal that you’re going to get now. ”
“It’s not enough,” Gerald shot back loudly.
“You used me to get access to Mom’s money,” Missy said. “To pawn me off to Levi in hopes of getting his family’s money.”
“I didn’t care where the capital ultimately came from,” Gerald shot back. “Just that I secured it. I was due that and more.”
“And what about the break-ins at the bakery and the construction site?” Missy asked, her voice was shaking now. “Not to mention someone ramming Cade off the road and almost killing him?”
“None of that was in the plan,” Gerald said quickly.
“Levi apparently grew impatient and emotional. He confessed to breaking into your little business and Cade’s.
Minimal damage was done. I told him to back off and that I would convince you to go back to him, but you wouldn’t return any of my calls. So I headed up there myself.”
The last pieces slid into place with sickening clarity, and I felt my stomach roll.
It was ironic that neither of them had known the other had no real wealth any longer.
Missy’s voice broke. “You tried to sell me off to someone who had cheated on me. Used me.”
“I was trying to protect you,” he insisted, “from throwing your life away in that small-town hell-hole. That bakery is a joke. There’s no real wealth there. There never will be.”
Max laughed, sharp and humorless. “There’s more than you have. Trust me. You tried to trade your daughter to a scum bucket just to save your wealthy lifestyle.”
“The two of you brats ruined everything,” Gerald shouted now. “I never should have agreed to give you a percentage of my business in the first place. That was all Elizabeth’s doing. I created that business. I made it what it is today.”
“No, Mom did. Her parents put up the funds to start it, and her talent is what drove the business for years. Her skill as a choreographer and dancer. You were just… there,” Max spat back.
“I am due more.”
“So how did you see this playing out?” Missy said, her voice cracking slightly. “You would kill Cade, and then I’d go back to Levi after he was gone?” Missy cried. “You’re insane. You deserve to be locked up for the rest of your life. I’ll make sure you are.”
“You’re blowing this all out of proportion.” The line was silent for a moment, then it went dead.
Missy lowered the phone slowly as her whole body started to tremble. She pressed her forehead to the edge of my mattress as tears spilled freely down her cheeks.
I lifted my hand, weak, unsteady, and rested it against the back of her head.
“Hey,” I murmured. “At least we know everything now.”
She looked up at me with her eyes red, looking completely shattered. “I almost lost you. Because of them. Because of their greed.”
“But you didn’t lose me,” I said and kissed her knuckles.
Max straightened up and shook his phone.
“I recorded the whole thing. I think it’s time that I call the police and tell them everything.
I’ll give them a copy of Dad’s confession.
And then I’m calling Mom so she can call her lawyer.
There’s no way in hell Dad’s getting a dime of the business now. ” He headed out the door.
“Smart.” I said, my words slurring again. “Damn, I feel like I’m going to go under again. I want to be here for you…”
“Sleep, I’ll be right here when you wake.” She leaned over and kissed me.
“Hey, whatever comes next, we’ll face it together.”
She nodded and a tear fell from her cheek and landed on my hand just as everything went dark again.