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