I heard noise outside the office. A lot of noise. “What the hell?”
My office was quiet. Employees kept their voices low. Because it was so quiet, no one had to talk above a loud whisper to be heard. Things got quiet, and a moment later, my office line rang. I picked it up. “Yes?”
“Uh, sir, there is someone here to see you,” my receptionist said.
“Who?”
“Tell him it’s his father!” I heard a man shout.
I smiled. “Send him in,” I said with a great deal of satisfaction.
I didn’t expect to get an in-person visit. I expected an angry phone call or maybe an email. This was going to be very satisfying. My door was thrown open. It bounced off the wall as my father stepped through. I was glad to see he still had some energy. He looked so weak when I saw him in California.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he boomed.
I didn’t bother getting up. “Can you shut the door?” I asked Carly.
She looked terrified as she pulled the door closed.
“Did you hear me?” my father shouted.
“The entire office heard you,” I said calmly.
He grabbed the chair across from my desk and jerked it back before sitting down. “Why in the hell would you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You know what you did, you little shit,” he snapped. “You think you’re so smart. I want it back.”
“What do you want back?” I asked nicely.
“My company!”
I smiled and leaned back in my chair. “Ah, my company. I’m sorry, but that company is on its way to being dismantled.”
“Why would you do that? Why are you fucking with me?”
“I’m not fucking with you.”
“Where do you get off buying my company out from underneath me?” he snapped.
“It was never your company.”
“The hell it wasn’t.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Nope. When you started your company, you didn’t have the money. You had to use investors. Your investors had the majority share. They weren’t happy with the return on their investment. You made a lot of bad decisions. Buying them out was easy. They were more than happy to sell their shares.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I wanted to take away the one thing you had,” I said. “You walked away from me and Mom for that company. You gave all your time to that company and what good did it do you? If that company had been mine, I would have turned over a profit ten times what you have by now.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true,” I said. “Look around you. This is all mine. This is a fraction of what I own. I can buy and sell you a hundred times over if I want to. You thought you were so smart but look who’s laughing now.”
“You did this on purpose?”
“It wasn’t an accident,” I said with a sardonic laugh.
“Why? Why my company?”
“Because I want to take away what’s important to you. I want you to know a fraction of what it was like for me and Mom. We lost the house and had to live in a shitty apartment with no furniture. We had nothing. You know she followed your career. You got a write-up in the paper when you made your first million. Mom read it and cried. You made a million dollars, and we were left with nothing. I’m taking it away from you. Brick by brick, I’m going to take it all away.”
“Get over it,” he sneered. “You always were such a whiny brat. Your mother coddled you. I knew she was going to ruin you.”
“Yep, I’m ruined,” I said with a smile and held my arms out wide.
“You think you’re hot shit.”
“I know I’m hot shit. It’s too bad you can’t see it. You should be really proud of me. That’s all I wanted back then. I wanted you to look at me and be proud. I wanted you to tell your friends about all my successes.”
“What the hell have you ever done that was worthy of me being proud?” he asked as he got up from the chair. “You think because you’ve made a little money you’re something special?”
“Yes,” I said.
“I made twice as much as you did when I was your age,” he said with a great deal of satisfaction.
“And you lost it,” I shot back. “Your business acumen leaves a lot to be desired. That’s why it was so easy to buy you out.”
He snarled at me and walked to the door. I hoped he would leave, but I wasn’t so lucky. He always had to get in the last word. “I thought you were a sniveling brat back then. I couldn’t stand to look at you. You were always crying about something. I told her I never wanted kids. Your mother though, she insisted. She got herself pregnant and thought it would change my mind.”
“It’s physically impossible for her to have gotten herself pregnant,” I said. “You were there. Your little swimmers created me, and as much as I hate to say it, I have inherited too many of your genes to deny you are my father. I wish to god Mom would have cheated on you. I wish I could have any other man as a father.”
He jerked open the door. “You are not my son. I’ve never thought of you as my son. I’ve never even liked you.”
“Good, because you’re not my father. You have no reason to call me. You walked out thirty years ago. Keep walking. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
“Fuck you,” he shouted.
“Already did that,” I said with a laugh.
I was still laughing when Saige stepped into the doorway. The laughter died on my lips.
“That was interesting,” she said. “Was that daddy dearest?”
“In the flesh.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “No father should ever talk to his son like that.”
“I guess it’s a good thing. I’m officially disowned. That’s the best news I’ve had all day.”
She stayed in the doorway. “Do you have five minutes?”
I nodded. “I do. Come in.”
She walked inside and closed the door behind her. “Thanks.”
“Would you like to sit?”
“Yes, please.”
She was obviously nervous. I was a little nervous myself. “What brings you by?” I asked casually.
“I think you know. We have to talk.”
“Yes, we do,” I said.
“I want to start by apologizing. I made a mess of things. It was never my intention to screw this up. I thought I was protecting Jace. I realize now that I might have made a decision that wasn’t mine to make. I never intentionally meant to hurt you.”
“Why wouldn’t you give me a chance?” I asked.
“When you told me you didn’t want a family, I took it to heart. You sounded very serious about it. I had just found out I was pregnant when you told me that. I realized I had no claim to you. You were on your way to the top and I didn’t want to get in your way. I did change my mind at one point. I was going to text you and let you know. Then I saw you were getting married.”
“Were you pissed at me?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I wasn’t pissed at you. I was hurt. I’ll admit it. I got it in my head that you really didn’t want a kid. I thought I was saving you. I didn’t want you to be burdened with any of it. You dumped me and I thought it would look like I was trying to trap you.”