18. Capri
C apri~
After Ares had left me more confused and angrier than ever, it’d taken me a few minutes to compose myself enough to face Gina.
However, as soon as I had approached her desk, she’d thrown her hand up to stop my humiliating apology, then had lied about not seeing anything and had also mentioned how I was one lucky woman.
At any rate, needing to speak with my father, I had canceled my afternoon, gone home to shower and change, then had driven straight to my father’s home.
Though he was officially retired from Martha Holdings, he liked to believe that he still worked remotely from home.
While he was legally removed from everything about the company, he still had access to his email and our employees still took his phone calls, though that might change after this conversation.
As soon as the door swung open, Ines was smiling at me. “Capri,” she gushed as if she hadn’t seen me in years.
“Ines,” I greeted as she wrapped me up in her arms.
Pulling back, her smile lit up her face. “I’m so glad to see you. We need to make arrangements at the club for your wedding reception and-”
“Yeah, no,” I said, immediately cutting her off. “I’m not here for that, and even if I was, Ares would not be interested in a horse and pony show at the country club, Ines.”
As predicted, she looked crestfallen, losing out on the chance to showcase her new billionaire son-in-law. “Oh...well...I mean-”
“I need to see Dad,” I told her. “Is he here?”
She nodded. “Yeah, he’s in his office, but-”
Ignoring her disappointment, I stepped into the house, making my way to my father’s office, needing to get to the truth.
I had no idea what I was going to do if Ares had been telling the truth, but this was about more than just my father’s deception.
If he really did have a gambling problem bad enough to risk the future of our family’s legacy, then we might already be at the stage of an intervention.
Still showing him some respect, I knocked on the opened door before just walking right on in. No matter which way this conversation went, this was still his house. “Dad.”
“Capri,” he acknowledged as he leaned back in his chair. “What brings you by?”
“I need to ask you something, and I don’t care what the answer is as long as you don’t lie to me,” I told him. “I’m here for the truth, no matter what it is.”
His back straightened as he eyed me. “What’s going on, Capri?”
“Did TCC really set up Martha Holdings for a takeover, or were we about to lose everything because you gambled away your stake in the company?” I finally asked. “Do not lie to me.”
To his credit, he didn’t outright lie, though the expression on his face said it all. “I can explain.”
“Please do,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice even.
“While I don’t have a gambling problem, I may have...I supposed that I did put the company in a financial crisis with some...ill-advised choices,” he finally admitted.
I could feel my heart breaking at the inevitable shift in our relationship. “You...are you telling me that you let me...you let me marry a complete stranger just to cover up your...your deceit?”
“No,” he denied. “I didn’t tell you because your marriage to Cormac was what was best for everyone.”
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “It’s what was best for you .
By letting me believe that I was saving grandpa’s legacy, it also helped to secure your own financial future.
We were about to lose everything, and instead of owning up to your poor leadership, you let me marry someone that I didn’t know just so your wife could still keep her damn country club membership. ”
“Capri, you will watch how you speak to me,” he demanded as he stood from his chair. “I am still your father.”
“Are you kidding me?” I choked out. “What kind of father manipulates his daughter into cleaning up his mistakes?”
“Capri-”
“Not only did I marry a man that I barely knew under a false belief, but I also accused him of stealing Martha Holdings from us,” I went on, my voice rising with each word.
“I accused Ares Cormac of being unethical, Dad. I accused him of being shady and dishonest, and...and all along, it was you that was being shady and dishonest.”
“And you think that he’s not?” my father fired back. “You don’t become as rich and powerful as Ares Cormac by being a decent human being, Capri.”
“All the more reason that you never should have let me marry him to save your ass!” I yelled.
“Watch your tone, young lady,” he bit out. “I will not allow you to come into my home and speak to me as if I’m not afforded respect.”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “Respect? You gambled away Martha Holdings’ financial future, then married me off to Ares Cormac to save your skin, and you want to talk to me about respect?” I shook my head in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me right now.”
“I do not have a gambling problem,” he denied again, not realizing that his constant denials were proof of the complete opposite. “I just made some bad investments.”
With my heart broken and my disappointment in him nearly suffocating me, I said, “As of today, I am cutting off your access to Martha Holdings, and I will be issuing a company-wide memo that states your full departure from the company.”
“You can’t do that,” he snapped, still thinking that he had a say.
“But I can,” I reminded him. “However, that’s not all. I want the original contract of sale, and I am giving Martha Holdings back to The Cormac Corporation.”
Panic raced across his face, his financial future an uncertainty now. “Capri, just...just calm down and listen to me-”
“I want the original contract, Dad,” I said, cutting him off. “Now, I can either get it from you or TCC since, thanks to you, I can now access whatever I want from TCC.”
“Capri, I’m begging you...just...you’re just emotional right now-”
“Yes, I am,” I agreed. “I just found out that my father sold me like a bit of goods to finance his gambling problem, so can you blame me?”
“I don’t have a problem,” he snapped, and with his third denial, I was going to let it be Ines’ problem. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“Then it should be no problem to live comfortably off of your current retirement balance,” I shot back. “As of now, you will no longer get a dime from Martha Holdings.”
“You can’t do that,” he repeated.
“I can, and I am,” I informed him, doing my best not to scream the house down in heartbreak.
“Capri, think about Ines,” he said, changing tactics. “Do not punish her for something that I did. I mean, is that really how you want to reward her for raising you?”
That was the final nail in his coffin.
“Really?” I practically sneered. “Now I’m obligated to pay you back for raising me?”
“That’s not what I meant-”
“I want the contract before the end of the day,” I said, ready to leave.
“Capri, you need to think about what you’re doing,” he replied desperately. “What about your grandfather? What about the income that he still gets from Martha Holdings?”
“He’ll still get it,” I assured him. “Even if it comes from my own paycheck.”
After a few seconds, he proved just how delusional he was, and I could see how hitting rock-bottom was the only way that he’d ever admit to having a gambling problem. “It’s obvious that you’re too upset to talk any sense into, so I’ll give it a day or so, and then we can talk about this some more.”
I shook my head, the pressure behind my eyes making it hard to stay here another second. “There’s nothing more to talk about, Dad.”
Before he could say anything more, I turned, then left his office, practically racing to my car in a bid to avoid Ines.
While I didn’t feel as if I owed her anything for taking responsibility for marrying a man that’d had a child, I still didn’t want to hurt her with the truth about her husband.
Besides, she’d learn soon enough when he got in over his head, which he would like most addicts did.
Once I was sitting in my car, I let the tears flow.
My father had sold me to Ares, and there was no coming back from something like that.
Even if I did choose to forgive him later on, our relationship would never be the same again, and that loss felt significant enough to make me feel as if I were in mourning.
I also owed Ares an apology, one that I wasn’t looking forward to giving.
Even though he deserved it, I’d never felt like such a fool, and that was saying something when you considered how I’d been handling my marriage.
Nonetheless, Ares was owed an apology, and he was also owed Martha Holdings, free and clear.
Again, I was not a gold-digger.