Chapter 3 - Why My Father Hid Everything
I took Dad into a private lounge.
The wedding planner followed.
Fiona tried to.
I closed the door before she could enter.
“Start talking.”
Dad sat down slowly.
He looked exhausted.
Not embarrassed.
Tired.
“I know that.”
“You know the small company.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know what happened after.”
Apparently, Henderson Contracting became a subcontractor on a highway project.
Then another.
Then Dad invented a modular bridge support system with an engineer he met on a job site.
The patent sold.
He reinvested.
Built a holding company.
Kept his personal life separate.
“Why?”
“Because your mother hated money changing how people treated us.”
I stared.
“Mom knew?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Everything.”
That hurt.
Not because she knew.
Because I had spent years believing Dad worked himself to death because we had no choice.
He saw it on my face.
“We did struggle in the beginning.”
“You skipped meals.”
“Yes.”
“You worked double shifts.”
“Yes.”
“And later?”
“You let me think we were broke.”
“No. I let you think we were normal.”
“That is not the same thing.”
He lowered his eyes.
Fair.
“It was your mother’s.”
The anger softened.
Only a little.
Then I remembered George.
“You reviewed his bid?”
“Yes.”
“For Lakeview?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to reject it because of what happened out there?”
“No.”
I stared.
Dad continued.
“I’m going to reject it if the numbers justify rejection.”
“That sounds too calm.”
“I’m angry.”
“You don’t look angry.”
He gave me the smallest smile.
“You know better.”
I did.
His quiet voice was always worse.
Fiona.
“Blake! Open this door.”
Dad looked at me.
“You need to decide what happens with your wedding.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“No?”
“I already did.”
I opened the door.
Five hundred people were waiting.
May you like
So was the woman I had loved.
And I was about to tell them there would be no wedding.
