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The photographers start clicking as I stop because they can sense the profoundness of my statement.
Could this really be it?
Could I have put a stop to it all then and there.
There’s silence.
“Before you leave thinking maybe this is all over, I have a question,” I hear a voice and my heart falls. I look over to the voice and Wanda. “Maybe you’d like to explain then why you didn’t stop any progress on moving toward Red Lion Aviation?”
I don’t know what to say.
“Or why Red Lion Aviation executives are able to swear under oath that they’ve been directed to wire the funds back to you once your father’s money hits the corporate accounts overseas,” Wanda continues.
What.
The.
Fuck.
“You realize that despite your statement about wanting to be daddy’s little girl, you’ve committed tax evasion and fraud, right?” Wanda says. “You’ve abused your position as head of the foundation to enrich yourself.”
“That’s enough!” Carter says. He can see that I’m frozen. He can see that my mind is working for an answer and to give me room, he interjects himself into the debate. “Eliza has done nothing wrong.”
Wanda gives him a smile. “You’re one to talk, aren’t you?” The evil is permeating from her in waves. She looks around the reporters. “Maybe you want to explain to them how your company is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. And how you’re hoping to get a cut from Eliza’s embezzlement to save your own self.”
Carter’s face goes red. I know about his company problems, but we’ve never thought that it would spill out like this.
“You two thought you had a nice little thing going, didn’t you?” Wanda asks and I can see the reporters and photographers giving her a circle to do her talking. “You thought you’d come back to New York, embezzle a few billion dollars, save a hedge fund, fuck a ton, and then leave the rest of the family out in the street, didn’t you?” Acid drips from her words.
“That’s not true at all,” I say into the microphone.
“You’re delusional, Wanda,” Carter says. “Either that or you’re lying.”
Wanda bristles. “Careful, Mr. Blake. I think I know your honesty or lack thereof quite well. Or did you forget that I was married to you?”
Carter bristles. He’s angry.
But one thing I know about Carter Blake.
He would never ever lie. Not to me. Not to the public. Not about something like this.
“Your question that you should be preparing to answer,” my stepmother says, drawing out her words with a smirk. “Is figuring out whether you’re going to deal with tax evasion charges or fraud charges first. And how the two of you are going to communicate from jail.”
There’s murmuring going through the crowd at this point. Reporters taking pictures of the two of us. I can just imagine what the New York Daily Journal is going to have as its tabloid headline tomorrow. Or what Good Day USA will have to say about us. Honestly, though, you ever notice that they seem to go through anchor people like every show? They’re replacing them like every day.
That’s how crazy my brain is right now. It’s focusing on the smallest things because it doesn’t know how to deal with the issue of Wanda advancing toward us.
“Jail is probably the least of your worries, actually,” she says. “Not after the having your names dragged through the mud for the thieves that you are.”
She’s smirking. She’s enjoying this. I could—
Wait.
“The only one who should seriously be worried about jail in this farce, Wanda, is you,” a voice calls out.
I knew it!
I knew he was here somewhere. The crowd starts murmuring and parting.
And standing right there with a bad boy smirk on his face is none other than Derek Stackford.
“What? You guys started the fucking party without me?” Derek asks. And I feel nothing but relief.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Derek
“What? You guys started the fucking party without me?” I ask, and I can see Carter roll his eyes and Eliza take a breath. She’s startled. But her eyes show relief. Like she was expecting me?
Nah. Can’t be. Because I didn’t even know I’d be here.
I mean, I knew I had to do something.
But then again, I’ve known I have to do something for quite some time now.
The trick was planning out exactly when.
You’re probably wondering what the fuck I’m talking about, aren’t you?
Well, don’t worry. I’m about to explain to you. Real fucking good.
I can see that the crowd around me is looking at me like what the fuck also. They’re all wondering what’s going on.
What is this crazy fuck going to do now, huh?
Yeah, I can tell that’s exactly what they’re thinking the moment photographers start taking snapshots of me.
I don’t fucking care.
My eyes turn toward Wanda, who’s standing on the sidewalk where it naturally raises in an effort to distinguish herself from the crowd. She’s facing the podium that Carter and Eliza are at.
