When their laughter had died down, I took a slow sip of my wine, deliberately unimpressed as Eric pursed his lips.
“So,” he continued, switching gears, “tell me…what’s the son of a billionaire doing spending all his time making art? I assume your father would be grooming you for business.”
“When the time comes, I’ll inherit it. But for now, he’s shouldering the responsibilities.”
He smirked. “You know when I was working at the firm, I had Gavin right by my side to make sure he knew exactly what to do when it was time to pass it down to him. I guess the times have changed, huh?”
My fingers tapped against my glass once, my eyes never leaving his. “Well, Gavin and I are different in many ways…Rosenna will be the first to tell you that.”
Eric’s expression stiffened just slightly. “Oh, is that right? Well… you seemed to have mydaughterall figured out then.”
“I’ve done my due diligence to get to know her as aclient.”
“A client,” Eric repeated, swirling his glass. “Well… she’s always been an impulsive one. Stubborn. You must have the patience of a saint.”
I smiled faintly. “‘Patience’ isn’t the word I’d use.”
His brows lifted. “No?”
“No,” I said smoothly. “I’m not the patient type.”
“Sounding more like Gavin by the minute,” Patrick muttered.
I could only let out another smirk.
Eric was silent. Then, slowly, he smiled—though it never reached his eyes. It looked as though he wanted to say more; however, a commotion of voices upstairs grew louder, cutting our conversation short. Taking the lead, Patrick made a move to the steps and I gave Eric a final lingering look before I followed suit.
Chapter fifty
Rosenna
“GavinandIaregetting a divorce.”
“You only said you two were having problems...” my father remarked, his eyebrows furrowing.
I shook my head. “It sounds a bit better on the ears to hear that than to hear we’re in the process of separating.”
Nancy shook her head, seeming annoyed. “God, all of this sounds absolutely ludicrous. You’re throwing away a perfectly good marriage all to satisfy some female empowerment vision in your mind. It makes no sense whatsoever.”
I turned to her. “Tell me, Nancy, do you honestly think I’m happy? Has it ever mattered if I was or should Gavin be the beginning and end of my life regardless of how he’s treated me?”
She scoffed. “He has treated you with nothing but love for your entire marriage.”
“He hasliedto me, manipulated me, and subjected me to feeling like I was beneath him for five fucking years.”
“Rosenna—” my father interrupted.
I snapped my head over to him as I practically seethed. “Not now, Dad.”
Nancy continued, her voice dramatic as she mocked me, “Oh, be the victim. That’s all you’ve seen yourself as.”
“Because that’s how I’ve felt my entire marriage. Do you think I want to feel hurt? Do you think I asked to feel unwanted by my husband? To feel used or not ever good enough?” Tears threatened to leak from my eyes.
The room was quiet. Beckham seemed ready to come over to comfort me, but he remained still, the anger evident in the tenseness of his shoulders. Patrick seemed uncomfortable; his lips pressed into a thin line as his wife’s expression was pinched, her face flushed with what I could only guess was a mix of rage and disbelief.
Grace, on the other hand, was still utterly calm. I didn’t want to imagine why she seemed so relaxed in the face of such a heated argument. Or why she and Nancy seemed rather close. Or why her son struck an uncanny resemblance to the man I once loved... or thought I loved.
“Rosenna... calm down. Let’s think rationally about this,” my father advised, stepping closer to me.
