Chapter 34
“I SHOULD’VE STOPPED it when I learned you had taken her to your cottage. Instead I ended up watching my son in a cockfight.” Chauncy’s heels clicked against the wooden dock before stopping at the bench Chris sat on. “Mind if I take a seat?” Chris slid to one end and gestured for his father to sit. “The laws of attraction don’t adhere to the rules of man, Christopher. Two caged birds set free can find each other in the wild.”
A moment of silence came and sat between them. It wasn’t uncomfortable; it was needed right now for Chris to process the emptiness Carrah had gifted him when she was a coward to her feelings for him. He had felt broken like this only once before, and it was after his mother had passed because he was utterly powerless to control his range of emotion. It was the same now. Was he mad, sad, or stupid? He felt all three.
His father pointed past the dock to the dark water. “The night hides everything and so do the depths of the water. Only for a time, though. You sat in my office the other evening pretending that young lady was what, a friend? Maybe still our rival? The day we went to Melvin’s, I saw your secret. As unexpected and unsettling as it was, I knew I couldn’t change it. The way the two of you looked at each other. It was the way I looked at your mother. However, it’s best if it not go any further.”
“Why?” Chris finally spoke. “The rivalry started because of a business deal. You are now embarking on a joint venture with them. This should change the way our families view each other.”
“I’m afraid that will never happen.” Chauncy got to his feet. “Our fallout with Melvin’s family was never simply about him manipulating a business deal to cut us out. The how and why are much more grim. Another secret that will hopefully remain buried at the bottom of the lake.”
His father moved away from the bench and began retreating. Chris couldn’t let him go yet. He needed answers. The woman he loved was still forbidden to him, and he had been willing to break all the rules—even befoul his mother’s memory—to have her.
“Dad, I can’t let you walk away from this like that. You once told me that being with Mom was like breathing fresh air for the first time. I feel like that when I’m with Carrah,” Chris confessed, and he saw the tightness in his father’s face fall.
“Ever since Mom died, I’ve felt like a part of me was locked away… lost. Carrah brought it back to life. I stopped only thinking of myself and expanding the firm. I watched Carrah be willing to sacrifice her own dreams to ensure Noir survived. Now, my mind lingers on the choices I’ve made regarding our family, Chenault Cosmetics, legacy… with her. So, for me to walk away from this… feeling, I need to understand why the relationship between our families is irreparable.”
His father came back to where he stood. He seemed to assess Chris as though he were screening him to determine if he deserved top secret clearance. Finally Chauncy let out a long sigh. “Melvin didn’t always have the money he has now. When I first met him in college, he sometimes didn’t know how he would make it through the week. Yet he was smart, resourceful.
“He befriended me. We became fraternity brothers, roommates, and ultimately were best friends. When I went home for the summer, I brought him so he, too, could intern at the company and make a little summer money. He displayed his genius to your grandfather and was offered a job at Noir.
“Coming from where he came from to seeing our wealth and way of life created a hunger in him, and he desired to have the same. So much so that he began seeing your aunt Hannah, whom he fell in love with.”
His father shook his head. The anger that crossed his face would’ve made Chris believe this tale had happened yesterday. “At some point Melvin realized he would never assume anything more than a good job, despite marrying into the family. So he entertained advances from your mother’s then best friend, Camille Chàvous, heiress to fifty percent of the Noir empire. She was an only child and her father craved a son, which he found in Melvin.
“Camille abandoned her friendship with your mother and aunt, and in no time she married Melvin. However, he left my sister very pregnant with Miles.”
“What?” Chris shot to his father. “Miles is Melvin’s son? Does he know?”
“No, he does not. That was your aunt Hannah’s choice. It’s the reason Miles never summered here. He resembled Melvin a lot as a child and that would’ve been too much scandal for a social family like ours. So, as you can see, Melvin not only took liberties with Noir. He did the same with our friendship and my sister. Your grandfather’s intuition feared he may attempt to manipulate Miles to gain access to Chennault Cosmetics, and prohibited all interaction as a condition of Hannah’s inheritance.”
Okay, so they had skeletons in the closest. What family didn’t? Everyone was grown now, and the animosity was no longer justified. “Miles should know who his father is, and Melvin should know he has another child who inherited his scientific genius, like Carrah.”
“Miles is only a few months older than their oldest daughter. Camille would be hurt. She transferred all of her power to that man to make him love her. Exposing her deal with the devil could cost us everything we’ve worked hard for.”
“Then why the venture, Dad? It makes no sense,” Chris scoffed, sliding his hands into his pockets as he intentionally pried to understand his father’s motivations.
“Revenge, Christopher. I have it on good authority that they are bleeding financially. The Butlers won’t give them any more money. Hell, they want some of it back. Melvin realizes they don’t have the resources alone to see this project through, and with Carrah declining a union with Trent, the gloves are off. Noir will be ours again. Now do you understand why it’s best you leave the Andrews girl alone?”
Chris glanced at the ground. He was ashamed of his father’s actions. Perhaps because of what he and Carrah had shared, and he understood her unwavering loyalty to her family. However, he knew there was little he could do to change Chauncy’s mind. Once his father spoke plans into existence, they happened. His mother often complained of the tactic she had spent the majority of her life fighting.
“Dad.” He pulled his head back up and met his father’s eyes. “Revenge won’t change the past or the fact that Miles has a father in this world that he should know about.” The brows of Chris’s face furrowed while the light bulb turned on. “This is why you never found Miles suited to run the company?”
His father nodded and then proceeded to leave the dock. Chris remained in step with him. “I cannot pretend to understand your logic, and I’m not sticking around to see how it turns out. I’m leaving in the morning.”
Chauncy’s steps broke. His jaws slack. “There is a month and some change left before the summer is over.”
Chris shrugged. “I care not to be here.” They continued their way up to the house. “I’ve neglected some things the last few weeks. I need to refocus and get back on track. Might be a good time for you to reconsider your feelings on Miles and leadership. I won’t be part of your revenge schemes.”