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“I shouldn’t.” Violet tried to hand the folder back to Scarlett, but she put up her hands.
“Keep it. Burn it. Give it to JT. I don’t care, but I don’t want it back in my possession.” Scarlett glanced at Harper who was glaring at her smartphone. “I’m already the keeper of more secrets than I’m comfortable knowing.”
Violet knew Scarlett was referring to the file she’d found on Harper’s mother. The one with the potential to turn Harper’s life upside down. From her calm demeanor, Violet suspected that Scarlett hadn’t yet decided to share with her half sister what was in the file.
“I have to go,” Harper said, getting to her feet. “I emailed Ashton another round of head chef candidates and he has fifteen minutes of free time to talk about them.”
As soon as Harper left the room, Scarlett fetched another file from her desk. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m uncomfortable with the secrets I’m keeping.”
“Are you planning to tell her what you discovered about her mother?”
“I’m going to tell you what’s going on and I want you to help me decide.”
“Very well.” When Violet had first found out about the file on Harper’s mother, she’d sympathized with Scarlett’s dilemma. Now she had a similar problem—what to do with the files on JT and his father. “What did Harper’s mother do?”
“She had a brief affair during an extended period of time where her husband was away on business.”
“Penelope?” Violet couldn’t believe Harper’s uptight mother could have done anything that rash. “It’s so unlike her.”
Scarlett opened the file and displayed the black-and-white photos of a young Penelope Fontaine and a handsome man in a hot embrace.
“Apparently being married to our father could push even the most conservative person into reckless behavior,” Scarlett remarked, sounding more tired than wry.
“I’m sure Harper will be shocked and embarrassed by her mother’s actions, but it was a long time ago.” Violet wanted to reject what her eyes were seeing. “But I don’t understand why you think it will devastate her.”
“Because she was born nine months later.”
It took several seconds for Scarlett’s meaning to penetrate. “You mean...?”
“Harper isn’t a Fontaine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Scarlett closed her eyes. Pain raced across her features. “How can I tell her that?”
When Harper found out the truth about her parentage, she’d be destroyed.
“I don’t think you should,” Violet said at last.
Harper had the education and the business savvy to run Fontaine Resorts and Hotels, not to mention the ambition and a seemingly inexhaustible store of energy, and she’d spent her whole life preparing to run the family business. In the last five years Violet had learned enough about Harper’s character to guess she’d bow out of the contest to determine the next CEO.
A year ago Violet would have been excited at the prospect of moving into the lead. She had Harper’s ambition and drive, but of late she’d been thinking less about her career and more about her personal life. The transition had been subtle, but she suspected it had begun around the time JT started showing up at Baccarat.
As for Scarlett, the former child star had recently decided to return part-time to acting. Splitting her time and attention between L.A. and Las Vegas meant she’d already decided not to actively compete for the CEO position. Nor was Violet convinced Scarlett had ever truly given herself props for the work she’d done to make Fontaine Richesse the standout hotel it was.
Scarlett nodded somberly and returned the photos to the file. “It’s what I think, too. No good will come of telling her.”
With too many secrets weighing her down, Violet left Scarlett’s office and headed to her suite to find a dress to wear to her belated wedding reception. She’d been so preoccupied with the details for the party that she’d forgotten all about herself.
In the back of her closet was a pale pink chiffon dress embellished with blush and silver sequins on the bodice. Three years ago, she’d bought it to wear to a charity event that at the last minute she’d been unable to attend. Despite having spent a fortune on the dress and the matching pink slingbacks, Violet couldn’t bring herself to return the ensemble. She knew eventually she’d be attending a party where she could wear it. Her wedding reception fit the bill.
As she was exiting her suite, her gaze fell on the files Scarlett had given her. She hadn’t decided what to tell JT yet. He’d been through so much already. But she didn’t want to go behind his back on something as serious as his father stealing another man’s identity. Leaving JT’s file on her home office desk, she slipped Preston’s and the one containing information on Charity Rimes into her briefcase and exited the suite.
