AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sitting down, I pressed the button on the large flat screen monitor. The computer opened. A password was needed. Shit. I’d never get in. I tried his birthdate. Tried his wife’s name. I tried a few other combinations and even tried my own name, but nothing was working.
Call it a gut feeling, but I felt there was something important on the computer. I tried one last name before giving up. Darla. My mother’s name.
The computer sprang to life. I was in. A smile spread and butterflies fluttered through my stomach. Now what? A detective I was not. I didn’t have the first clue as to what to look for. But, I pressed on. I clicked and clicked until I saw a document titled: Croix.
St. Croix. It was an island in the Caribbean, and as I clicked on the file I held my breath, silently praying this was my answer. It wasn’t.
But, it gave me an idea.
I looked through all the remaining files.
That’s when I saw it…
A file titled: Darla.
My heart raced as I opened it.
Stunned, I read the file over and over. This file contained document after legal document of something he hid from me. Something I had no idea existed. Something which gave him every reason in the world to control me. An inheritance.
My mother left me everything she had, which amounted to far more than I could fathom. Astronomical. It was to have been turned over to me at the age of twenty-five, a year ago. My hands shook as I read file after file and clicked print. My father used this money for all of ‘his’ investments. Including the Lopa. He used my money which meant I owned it. I owned all of this. A laugh bubbled out of me. How ironic I was trying to find a way to save something I owned. Even better, the frosting on the shit cake, was being forced to marry a man so he could run the company that had been built with my funds.
I leaned back in the chair. If they wanted to play dirty, I could too.
Maybe I was my father’s daughter after all.
***
“What are you doing here?” my father asked.
I leaned back in the large leather chair behind the desk. “Why don’t you have a seat,” I said, motioning to the chair across from me.
He crossed over to me. “What the hell is going on, Penny? Why are you at my desk?”
I leaned forward, tapping my finger on the stack of papers in front of me. “Well, actually, according to these papers, I think this is my desk.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I can explain.”
“Explain what?” My voice rose. “How you stole my inheritance? How you tried to force me into a marriage with a man I hate?” I stood and picked up the stack of papers.
“Penny,” he started, “your mother never wanted this life for you. I was protecting you.” He crossed over to the large window and looked out. “Dex found out about the inheritance and threatened to tell you if I didn’t force your hand in marrying him. That’s why I did what I did.”
Desperation was a funny thing. It made you say and do anything. My father was clearly desperate if he was playing the protective father card. “She may not have wanted this life for me, but she knew I could make a better one and do something good with that money. I wouldn’t have used it to hurt people.”
His lips pressed into a thin line as he thought about what to say next. I cut him off before he could say anything. “So you made all those threats against Theo for what reason?”
“Because you’re stubborn, just like your mother. If you thought he was going to lose the Lopa, lose his daughter, then you would do what I asked. I knew you would do anything for love, just like her.”
I nodded. “You’re damn right, I will.”
A knock sounded on the door. I smiled.
“Come in,” I called out.
The look of surprise on Dex’s face when he came in was comical.
“Why are you here, Penny?” he asked.
“Can I say something?” I set the stack of papers down. “You are so fucking rude. Do you realize that?”
