Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 141385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
And this… I understand. This is what family is. It’s being accepted, being included, being loved for who you are. In this place, there’s no judgement. Not one of these three men brings up my missing years. They aren’t interested in the qualities I might not possess. They don’t care if I’m not perfect. They don’t care for things they could use against me.
Instead, they’ve invited me into their family. They’ve brought me into their world without question, accepting both the good and not-so-good sides of me. They don’t question me, they don’t doubt me, they don’t fear me, they don’t underestimate me.
They just accept me.
And it is the strangest feeling.
I don’t have to prove myself to any of them. I simply am. I can just be.
It’s the same with Beatrix and Louis, even Rowan. Nobody expects anything of me. It’s an acceptance I’ve never really experienced, and to an extent, it feels as if I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve to be loved or cared for like this. I don’t deserve this acceptance. I don’t deserve this family.
Yet… I have it.
It’s mine.
And I want to be worthy of it.
I want to cherish it. I want to nurture it. Protect it.
Oscar’s phone pings, and he reaches across the table for it. “Oh. Interesting.”
“What is?” I ask.
“Your father.” He looks over at me, his lips tugging to one side. “He’s trying to get access to the palace to speak to you, but Aunt Beatrix won’t permit it. He’s concerned about you, apparently.”
“So concerned that it’s taken him all day to reach out?” I tilt my head to the side. “Bullshit. What does he really want?”
“If I had to guess,” Alec said slowly, grabbing his own phone and tilting the screen towards himself. He swipes, leaving us all waiting, and taps a few times before putting it back down and looking at us all with a smile. “He wants to know why ACN Industries withdrew their investments this afternoon and what your connections to them are.”
Finn snaps his head around. “You didn’t.”
“Who and what is ACN Industries and what does that have to do with me?” I flick my attention between them all. “Is that you?”
Alec’s smile never falters. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Alec,” Finn warns.
“Oh, fine. Yes, it’s one of my companies. It was previously my uncle’s, and he passed it to me when he retired a couple of years ago. He made some substantial investments in your family’s business about fifteen years ago, and it’s always been a good return, so I just let it be. Now… Well, I have plenty of money, and it’s an easy way to mess with him.”
An easy way to mess with him.
Like he isn’t talking about an actual business with an actual cashflow and actual repercussions for an entire company.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Oscar says with a shake of his head. “At least nobody knows it’s you.”
“I don’t care if they do.” Alec shrugs and reaches for the bottle of wine to refill his glass. “Jasmine hitting Harriet did some damage to his business, especially since she didn’t publicly apologise, and all ACN has done is react to that. I pulled a couple of others at the same time, and I’m technically only the chairman with no real power on paper, so even if it’s traced back to me, it won’t hurt Harriet in any way.”
“Is that because you’re scared of me or because you like me?” I grin, propping my chin up on my hand.
“Bit of both.” He smirks, laughter flickering in his dark eyes. “Also, I just don’t like your father, and I enjoy the thought of him squirming right now.”
He could say that again.
I pause, then look from Finn to Oscar. “I’ll speak to him.”
“Hattie.” Finn sets his hand flat on the table. “You don’t have to. Not after what happened when you went home.”
“I want to.” I hold his gaze, my resolve hardening with every second that passes. “I want to ask him why he hasn’t denied this story about me. He doesn’t know I have the DNA test results, so there’s no reason for him not to respond to it. He could easily put an end to it. He’s only here because it’s affecting his business. He clearly thinks he still has some kind of control over me or he wouldn’t be here, so it’s time I put that to an end.”
“The last time you were alone with him, he moved to hit you.” His tone darkens. “I’m not leaving you with him.”
“I’ll speak to him somewhere you can stay close. He’s an idiot, but he’ll be panicking.” I drop my gaze to my half-finished plate. “He’ll keep himself under control because he won’t want to risk anything getting out that could lose him more money.”
“That’s going to happen regardless. Once we reveal the truth about Jasmine and Rosalyn, the business is going to crash,” Oscar says.