“Ye
s, I’m absolutely positive.” I shook my head angrily.
“I just—I thought it was stress or something. I was afraid we had put too much pressure on her and she…” Sarah hesitated for a moment.
“She what?” I walked close to the window and leaned against it.
“She told me that she was having second thoughts about being a lawyer.” Sarah’s voice cracked, and it sounded like she was about to start crying. “She didn’t want to say anything to you because you were so proud of her…”
“Fuck me…” I put my hand on the window and resisted the urge to punch it. “Okay, I’m at the airport. I’m going to see her. I’ll call you when I know something.”
“Bryant…” I could hear a sob echoing in Sarah’s throat. “Please take care of our baby.”
“I will…” I pulled the phone away from my ear and ended the call.
Sarah may not have loved me anymore, but she still loved our children. The divorce didn’t change that—nothing could. It’s why I could never find it in my heart to hate her. I walked over to one of the seats in the terminal and sat down. It felt like my life was falling apart. My relationship with Taylor was obviously over. My daughter was on drugs. The cherry on top—the disgusting, rotten cherry—was Alexis Devereaux’s proposal. If you could even call it that. She controlled my daughter’s future, and the only way I was going to be able to keep the video from seeing the light of day was to enter into unholy matrimony with her.
She sure as fuck went to a lot of trouble just to pillage half of my fortune—but I think she’s won this battle. Shaina’s young and she can overcome this, but that video could ruin her damn life—even if she doesn’t want to be a lawyer.
I stared at the wall and seethed until it was time for me to board my plane. I rarely flew first class, even though I could afford it, but I simply didn’t want to be bothered by anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. I knew the people in first class would ignore me—and as luck would have it—there weren’t many people flying up front. I got a drink as soon as it was offered and sipped it slowly while I watched the clouds go by. My phone connected to the Wi-Fi and immediately lit up with a message from Cassie. I had an email from my lawyer—it was the purchase agreement for Alcott Inc.
Mary’s lawyer accepted the proposal. All I have to do is sign some paperwork to make it official—but that could be a problem if I’m forced to marry Alexis.
I had no doubt that if Alexis’ motivation was money, she would have her lawyers tear into my assets to make sure she got a shot at everything when she was ready to cash out of the marriage. My agreement with Jon would be worthless—hell, she could pull the same shit his wife pulled and force me to sell Benson Enterprises. I wasn’t going to have enough liquid capital to avoid that after I bought Alcott Inc. Benson Enterprises was worth too much, and all of my investments were in the general fund. I was fucked no matter which way I turned, and it could bring Jon down too. I couldn’t do that to him after giving him a semblance of hope.
Maybe hate isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel about Alexis Devereaux. That bitch is the devil incarnate…
Chapter Nineteen
Taylor
I stayed out as late as possible after breaking up with Bryant. I came home after everyone was in bed. I was so exhausted that I collapsed into a dark, dreamless sleep. I woke up the next morning to a little bit of chaos that made me temporarily forget what was going on inside me. My mother got a call from her old boss and he told her that there had been a mistake—or a misunderstanding as he put it. She was cleared to return to work immediately, which meant she had to scramble to get ready. Anna and I let her get ready first, and then we rushed to get ready after she was done. I was just pretending—because I didn’t have anywhere to go. I made a deal with the devil, and the rewards were already coming my way—if I could even call them that. One wrong was put right—at least my mother was happy.
“Okay, I have to go.” My mother looked around the kitchen.
“Good luck, Mom.” I walked up and hugged her.
“Thank you.” She smiled and nodded.
“I’m glad everything worked out.” Anna hugged her as soon as she took a step back from my embrace.
“It’s about time for you to go to school too isn’t it?” I gave Anna a nudge as our mother rushed to the door.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she sighed and grabbed her backpack.
As soon as they were gone, the emotions caught back up with me. I sat down at the kitchen table and started crying. My future hadn’t been fixed yet. I had to hold onto the bit of hope that it would be. Alexis rectified the situation with my mother—that was a good start. I drank a cup of coffee and tried to figure out what I was going to do since I didn’t have to go to school. The tears didn’t last long—I think I was all cried out at that point. I was still trying to decide between moping around and trying to watch a movie on Netflix when my phone started ringing, and I saw that it was from Carson Cove University.
“Hello?” I lifted the phone to my ear.
“Ms. Abernathy? This is Dean Richart,” a gravelly voice echoed on the other end of the line.
“Yes sir…” I couldn’t help but hesitate—I had no idea why he was calling—he said I would get a call from his secretary, so I wasn’t expecting to hear from him directly.
“I just wanted to let you know that your hearing is at noon. We are done with our investigation and we’ll review your case—your attendance is required,” he exhaled sharply.
“Of course, absolutely.” I felt a glimmer of hope as I replied.
Maybe my situation is going to be resolved today as well…