Chapter 31
WREN
“F or Junior to be prosecuted, they would need to prove that he was aware of the illegal actions by Westom Holdings, and that’s an uphill battle,” MediaCorp’s legal manager in London says to us. He’s joined Junior and Darcy on the other side of this extremely long video call.
Our legal team went home because the crime occurred in the UK, and they couldn’t offer much insight.
So far, everything points to good news when it comes to the legality side of it.
“However …” Mr. Lawyer adds. I didn’t catch his name, and now it would be rude of me to ask.
“Goddamn howevers,” Junior says.
“There’s nothing to stop each investor you recruited to go after you in a civil court, and if that happens, the company could owe damages much higher than the cost of the plaintiff’s initial investment.”
“Fuck,” Toby hisses under his breath, but I can see on the screen my man has a plan.
“What are you thinking?” I ask Darcy.
“I’m thinking this is going to cost us, but we have the money to cover it. We need to find out how much money Westom Holdings swindled and who from. If we can get out ahead of this, pay everyone back their initial investment?—”
The lawyer stops him. “That’s shaky ground and could be seen by people as Junior admitting guilt. Then he really could be charged.”
“Not if we get Junior to do a press conference?—”
“What?” Junior’s panicked voice comes from somewhere off-screen. “We’re not going to bury it?”
Darcy turns his head, and I don’t need to see his face to know he’s glowering at our brother. “What happened to running an unbiased media company?”
Just when I think he’s going to call Junior a fuckup again, he continues.
“We’re better than that. And maybe paying off the victims of this scam is buying our way out of trouble, but if it puts a stop to it going any further, then we’ll do it.”
Oh, to have access to hundreds of millions of dollars at the snap of your fingers. Having grown up the way I did—not rich but not suffering—it’s crazy to me that I could snap my fingers and basically buy whatever I want.
I don’t think I will ever do that, and I hope there never comes a day where I’m so used to taking advantage of the money that I wouldn’t know how to survive without it again, but it’s comforting to know it’s there if I need it.
It really is true what they say: the people who say money doesn’t matter are the ones who have it.
If only there was a way to use my money to buy a future with Darcy, but that’s an issue even cash can’t fix.
“You should go home,” Darcy says to Toby and me. “Get some rest.”
He looks exhausted. Run-down. Stressed.
“When are you going to do the press conference?” I ask.
“First thing.”
I fold my arms. “Well, if you’re not going to bed, then I’m not going home to bed.”
Toby groans. “He’s going to break out in choruses of ‘We’re all in this together’ again.”
“Nah, Darcy’s right. You can go home and rest. We all should. But I know how stubborn your brother is, and the only way to get him to look after himself is to guilt him into it.”
Toby frowns. “Our brother.”
My face falls. “Huh?”
“You said your brother.”
My heart thumps loudly in my ears. “I … uh …”
Toby slaps my shoulder. “And after all you’ve done tonight, you at least deserve to call yourself one of the family.”
I try not to let my relief show, but it’s as if the huge gust of air that passes my lips is unstoppable.
“Yeah.” Junior appears on-screen. “Umm, thank you.” He averts his gaze. “For stepping in. And checking on me.”
I smile. “That was actually physically painful for you to say, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. And I’m never doing it again.”
“Okay, fine,” Darcy says. “How about we all go get a couple of hours of sleep, and then we’ll get stuck right back into it at six London time.” He ends the video call, and if I know him at all, which I like to think I do, there’s no way he’s headed home.
“Wow. He gave us a whole three hours to go home, sleep, and then get back in the office,” Toby says.
“It’s been a long day.” I stand. “You can have until tomorrow off if you need it. I’m sure all we’ll be doing is going over what Junior has to say to the press, and the legal team will help with that.”
“Are you coming back in?”
“I was thinking I’d work from home.”
“Can I … I don’t want to impose or invite myself to yours, but?—”
I grin wide. “I think someone’s beginning to love his big brother.”
“Pfft. Never mind.” He spins on his heel, but I yell after him.
“Come to mine. If you don’t mind that it’s not a mansion, I have a roommate, and?—”
He waves me off. “I don’t mind. I’ll be there.”
“Go home, try to have a power nap, and I’ll text my address for you to come over later.”
“See you then.”
While it’s been a long, exhausting day, I don’t know how I’m supposed to go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and force myself to get up at 10:00 p.m. to work. The hours are insane, but Darcy’s in a crisis.
I head home, and Remy’s not there, which means I can throw myself on the couch and call Darcy back to make sure he’s actually resting.
Surprising me when his face pops up on the video call, it doesn’t look like the London office wall behind him.
I gasp. “Could it be? You actually listened to me and went … home?”
His eyes are still tired, rimmed red, and he doesn’t even crack a smile. “I did, but not because I need to rest. We … we need to talk.”
My gut hollows because everyone knows nothing good ever follows we need to talk .
It’s never followed up with “I bought you a puppy” or “I have a new butt plug to play with.”
I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming before he even says it, so I try to cut him off. “Are you sure you want to have this conversation now when the company is in the middle of a crisis?”
“I don’t want to have this conversation at all, but after …
” He looks off-screen. “After everything that’s happened today, with the cleanup we have ahead of us, there can’t be any more scandals surrounding the family.
First, Father gets cancer and dies. Then, news of his illegitimate son gets out.
Now, Junior’s shitstorm of a business deal that’s putting us out two hundred and eighty-five million?—”
“Two hundred eighty-five million?” I screech.
“That’s how much Westom Holdings scammed out of people. I got the message a couple of minutes ago.”
“Is paying that off really going to save MediaCorp’s reputation?”
“Probably not.” Darcy sounds so damn defeated. “But it’s our best shot.”
“I wish I was there so I could comfort you.”
“It … it wouldn’t be a good idea. We can’t … You and I … we’re a mistake.”
“That’s your opinion.” My heart twinges, slowly breaking into a million pieces.
“Are you seriously saying you think we belong together? That the world would accept us?—”
“We’re not blood related. We aren’t brothers.”
“No, but we share brothers. Your DNA and my DNA runs through Junior and Toby’s veins. I’m Warren Ritcherson’s son by marriage. You’re his son by birth. We can’t be together, Wren. We have to end it now. End it before it gets too out of control.”
Doesn’t he get it? It’s already out of fucking control. I don’t think I’ve been in control since the moment I found out who he truly was.
Something started that night. Lines weren’t crossed; they were obliterated. Pandora’s box was opened.
“There’s no going back for me. How am I supposed to move on?”
Darcy’s eyes are glassy when he says, “You go out and meet someone who can love you the way I can’t. You have a chance to fall in real love. I …”
I grit my teeth. “You’re going to marry that Harvey guy? Really?”
“It’s my future. It’s the future that has been mapped out for me since I was born, and maybe now we finally have the answer to both of our questions. What would be different had Warren chosen your mother instead of mine? I’d be the one who had a chance at happiness.”
“Stop playing the martyr,” I snap. “You tell me I have everything? That I have a chance of happiness and you don’t? You’re Darcy fucking Ritcherson. You can afford the world. You can do what you want and be who you want. You’re just too scared to ruffle any feathers.”
“Incest isn’t ruffling some feathers!”
“We’re not related!”
“I’m sorry, Wren. I really am.”
And now I’m defeated too. “Maybe you don’t want to find a solution.”
“How can you say that?”
“Oh, maybe because when Junior got in trouble, you flew across the other side of the world to help. You’ve been working nonstop. We’ve all been working nonstop to fix it. But you don’t even want to hear anything about trying to make us work.”
Darcy sighs. “That’s because you can’t fix what’s impossible.”
Those are the words that seal my heart’s fate.
It crumbles away, burning like hot lead in my chest.
There’s no coming back from this kind of heartache.
To use his own words, you can’t fix what’s impossible.