Chapter 10 #2
“What Knight family—” She stops. “The ... Paul Knight? You mean his family? Those people?”
“Those people.”
“Holy smokes. That family! And Zach Knight is one of the heirs to that fortune?”
“I presume so.”
She gives me a cheeky grin. “Seriously, I’ll have him, if you don’t want him.”
I can’t help but smile. “Back then, they lived on a massive, sprawling estate.”
“An estate? Here in New York?”
“In Westchester. You had to see it to believe it. I still think of it sometimes. It was like a magical land in a faraway country. It sounds unbelievable,” I continue, “but it was so long ago. It feels like another time, another world. I don’t know what’s happened to it now, I don’t think they live there anymore, but it had a staff annex where my mom and I lived. ”
Fleur gapes at me in awe.
“It was amazing. They had such a big house, and gardens, but none of that wealth made up for his pain and suffering.”
“What pain and suffering?”
I tell her about his mother’s suicide and then discovering that his father had a mistress and a secret family.
She gasps loudly. “Shut up!” she cries. “You’re making this up.”
“I wish I were. It’s true, I swear. All of it is true.”
She lets out a long sigh, like she’s feeling Zach’s pain. “Poor guy.”
“He said I helped him.”
“You were there when it happened?”
“No. We came many years later. I guess he hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about it too much, but he opened up to me.”
“He has brothers, doesn’t he?”
“Two older ones.”
“Are they single by any chance?”
I swat her softly. “I have no idea.”
“You have history with this guy, and you never want to see him again? What are you, nuts?”
“He made a pass at my mom.”
“What?” She blinks, her mouth goes slack.
“She was cleaning the library, and he walked in. Then he walked closer, but she was dusting the bookshelf or something. Then he put his hand on her cheek and stroked it. My mother felt so weak, she said. He was a billionaire, and his wife had recently died, and here they were, just him and her. Somehow, my mom managed to get away, but he made another pass a few days later and my mom slapped him.”
“The dirty pig!” she shrieks. “I swear to God, sometimes I hate that I’m attracted to the male species. I have met so many losers and now, hearing what happened to your poor mom makes my blood boil more than it already did.”
“My mom is young. She had me when she was eighteen, and she’s pretty.”
“And?” She eyes me suspiciously.
“It’s like ... he could have anyone he wanted. He mixed in wealthy circles where I’m sure women would have thrown themselves at him, because he had money and power.”
“But your mom likely never looked at him,” Fleur offers.
“I’ve often thought about it. About why he’d risk such a thing, making a move on a member of his staff.”
“She was pretty, and young, and she was there,” Fleur offers, “and she never even looked at him, I’m guessing.”
I nod, my insides turning all dull and heavy at the memory of what my mom must have endured. “Men like him think they can have whomever they want.”
That’s why no matter how nice and kind Zach seems, I can never fully trust him or his motives now.
He was pure and so young when we kissed.
But men like him don’t grow up in a vacuum.
They grow up shaped by power and privilege, by entitlement.
By fathers who teach them that control matters more than honesty.
And knowing what I know now about his father, I’m terrified of mistaking sincerity for something else, and of trusting the son of a man who was capable of inflicting so much damage without ever looking back.
“A few days later, he accused my mom of stealing his late wife’s wedding pearls.”
“What?”
“He held this military tribunal in front of all the staff. They found the pearls in one of my mom’s cupboards. She denied it and insisted that they were planted there. My mom would never do such a thing. She was so honest. If she got too much change at a store, she’d give it back.”
“That’s awful,” Fleur whispers. “Then what happened?”
“He fired her.”
“I can’t believe this is real. It sounds like a fucked up movie.”
“It’s real. He fired my mom, so she could no longer work there and we couldn’t live there.”
“The bastard.”
“He wanted her gone, so that she wouldn’t report him, or sue him, or whatever.
We left immediately. But it didn’t end there.
He made it difficult for her to get a job.
As if humiliating her wasn’t enough, he spread rumors.
She couldn’t get work with any of the wealthy families.
She was ostracized her and that’s why we had to move far away.
She couldn’t work in Westchester, or in New York.
His reach went far. We moved to Scranton, but the money wasn’t great and we didn’t have staff lodgings anymore.
Mom had to pay rent. I changed schools. She was a single mom working long hours.
Life was hard. So hard back then.” I blink back tears.
Fleur comes over, crouches awkwardly by my side and wraps her arms around me. As awkward as it is, I still feel the warmth of her embrace.
“I had no idea, hon,” she murmurs.
“I didn’t tell anyone. You’re the only person I’ve ever told.” I wipe my eyes. Keeping it all in was hard, and I feel a little lighter now.
“Your mom is a brave, smart woman, and she loves you so much.”
“She’s my rock. She really is,” I say through sniffles. Fleur sits back down in her seat.
“Mom cried as she told me, but it made everything fall into place. I was angry and upset that we were leaving. I had no idea then what Paul Knight had done or accused her of. All I could think about was Zach, and that I was leaving him without saying goodbye, and not even letting him know where we’d be staying.
I understand it now, why my mom wanted to break all contact with the Knights.
Paul Knight did this to her. He changed our lives and made them worse.
He’s evil. He’s vicious. He’s a predator. And he’s Zach’s dad.”
I look at Fleur.
“Do you see now why I can never be with him?”