MI
ng a betrayal just like my father had said.
*
p, the servant had delivered
your presence in his o
that
ne they used when
in for twenty-three years, that never for once felt like home an
I was
desk, and across from him loung
a shiny forehead and small eyes buried in folds of flesh that w
whiskey to his lips, and when he smiled, I saw yellow te
wn," my father s
ars of conditioning had taught me that defiance
er began, folding his hands on the desk in front of him, and I felt
ll inherit Ainsworth Global Holdings." The words hit me li
co
lf-br
en given everything while I was given scraps. He had sat in my chair at the brea
usly calm. "Your son. The one you did
ood. My heir. It's time the family
I could stop myself.
ne shifted uncomfortably in his chair,
t. I've sat in on meetings. I've memorized every deal, every subsidiary,
lle," my father said,
loyalty will transfer to another family. That is
ath the desk, my nails digging into
marrying?" I asked. "Because I assume that's what this is. You're
ying that my fathe
Harold has been a loyal friend to this family for two decades. He
e, and he was already watching
d him, and his smile wide
what I want." He res
wenty-
es
I may guess...sixt
just a n
ur last
ckered, just
ssed away in a t
ories about his three wives, two dead and one catatonic, about his connections an
said to my father, not as a
this family." He replied with t
damp and his fingers thick and heavy. "Don't be nervous, my dear,"
of it, the warmth of it, the violation of it...and I filed it away in the co
up. "Are w
frowned. "
g the wedding. A wedding takes t
wet unpleasant sound. "See
hink he was waiting for me to scream, to cry, t
years seen me for who I really was
finally, and I walked to the
ound. "You were always going to serve t
e door and
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