CHAPTER 24
The Last Test
Josh
The final challenge came from an unexpected place.
Josh's father showed up at the hotel. He'd flown in from New York, and he looked around the lobby like it personally offended him. He was dressed in an expensive suit. His hair was gray now, thinner than Josh remembered. His face was lined with years of anger.
"Son," he said coldly. "You've embarrassed this family."
Josh didn't react.
His father stepped closer. "I came to tell you that you're making a mistake. This woman, this hotel — it's beneath you. You had everything. A billion-dollar company. A future. And you threw it away for a woman who will never respect you."
Josh's jaw tightened. "You don't know anything about her."
"I know she's using you. I know she's taking advantage of your weakness."
"You don't know anything," Josh said quietly. "You never did."
His father's face reddened. "How dare you —"
"How dare I what? Tell the truth?" Josh stepped closer. "For once in my life, tell the truth?"
He could feel eyes on them. Guests. Staff. People pretending not to watch.
"I spent twenty years trying to be you," Josh said. "Trying to win your approval. Trying to prove that I was worthy of the Baylor name."
He paused.
"And I was miserable. Every single day. The money meant nothing. The success meant nothing. Because I had nothing. I was empty."
His father scoffed. "Emptiness is strength. I taught you that."
"You taught me wrong."
For a moment, something flickered across his father's face. Something Josh had never seen before. His jaw softened. His eyes lost some of their hardness. He looked almost sad. Almost like he wanted to say something different.
Then it was gone. The mask slid back into place.
"You've always been weak," his father said. "Just like your mother. She couldn't handle the world either. She ran away. She left us."
Josh went still.
"Don't," he said. "Don't you dare talk about her."
"She was weak. And so are you."
Josh's hands clenched into fists. The old anger rose up in his chest. But then he thought about Helen. About the garden. About the ballroom. About the way she looked at him like he was worth something.
He took a breath.
"I'm not weak," he said. "I'm just not you."
His father stared at him.
"You're not my son," he said finally.
Josh nodded slowly.
"I know," he said. "I'm something better."
He turned and walked away. Toward the garden. Toward Helen. His father called after him, something angry and cutting, but Josh didn't hear the words.
Helen was waiting on the bench by the fountain. She'd seen the whole thing.
"Are you okay?" she asked as he sat down beside her.
Josh nodded. He took her hand.
"I am now."
She squeezed his fingers.
"What did he say?"
"That I'm a disappointment. That I'm not his son."
Helen's eyes softened.
"And?"
Josh looked at her.
"And I realized he's right. I'm not his son. Not anymore." He pulled her closer. "I'm yours."
Helen smiled. "Good," she said.
And for the first time, Josh didn't look back.