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A hand reached out and clamped Arnold’s shoulder hard enough that it ended his tirade.
It wasn’t security—it was my husband. His expression was furious and he looked ready to tear Arnold’s head off his body.
“You’re done, asshole.” He met my gaze as he grabbed Arnold, ready to carry him out of the room if necessary. “I’ll make sure security escorts him from the building.”
“Thank you,” I said to Bones.
Before Arnold left, I leaned in close to my stepfather and whispered, “I know what you did to my father.”
I watched his expression; his eyes narrowed and color bloomed across his cheeks. “You’ll never be able to prove that.”
Bones roughly escorted Arnold from the room.
Oliver closed the door behind them.
A few board members rose from their chairs and left without saying a word, and others began coming up to me, congratulating me on my marriage and expressing their excitement that I was finally Chair of the board. I couldn’t help but notice it was all men who’d known my father.
Joyce surprised me when she came up to me and hugged me. “We’ve been waiting for this for a while, Hayden. Your father’s passing was hard on all of us who knew him, and we want his vision to succeed. With you at the helm, that can happen now.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
My mother hadn’t risen from her chair. Instead, she’d swiveled it and was now staring out the window as the last of the board members left the room.
I looked at Oliver. “Thank you. For everything.”
“My pleasure,” he said. “I’ll ensure Mr. Dalton has no trouble coming back up. And I’m sure there are things you want to speak to your mother about…alone.”
I squeezed his hand and then watched the elderly man stand erect and nearly skip to the door. “Feels good to clean house, doesn’t it?”
I smiled. “It does.”
The door shut quietly behind him. I turned back toward my mother and slowly approached her. I pulled out the chair next to her and took a seat.
“What just happened, Hayden?” she asked, rotating the chair to look at me.
“There are some things I need to tell you. Things I’ve purposefully kept from you.” I paused. “I need you to be strong for me, okay? I need you to hear me.”
“For the love of—I’m listening, Hayden. Just tell me why you got married and didn’t tell me, and why you went behind Arnold’s back—just tell me everything.”
I’d doctored my life for so long when it came to my mother, but I realized what a disservice I’d done to us both.
Time for the truth.
“A few weeks ago, a man pulled a gun on me,” I began. “We thought it was just an accident—the police said he was a tweaker looking to rob someone and get his next fix. But a few nights ago, a man broke into my home. There was no sign of forced entry and the security alarm had been disarmed.”
My mother’s face paled.
“He was there to kill me, Mom. Bones shot him and then went after him, but he got away. Then we started to put the puzzle pieces together. Bones didn’t believe it was a coincidence and the more we discussed it, the more it became apparent they were both attempts on my life. There’s a lot going on here, but it all pointed to Arnold. Mom, he was the one with Dad when he died. The only one…and as soon as Dad was gone, he took control of the board and married you. And then Bones found out that he’s the one who scared off Tyler. He was preventing me from getting married and taking my seat on the board. With Arnold’s shares, plus yours and the interim Chair position, he gained full control of the company.”
The look of shock let me know she’d heard every word.
“He killed my Kellen, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but we can’t prove it.” I paused, and then tried to put myself in her position for a moment. “This is a lot to dump on you.” I took her hand. It was warm in mine.
She gave my hand a squeeze. “I don’t know how to process it. I’m so sorry, darling. I had no idea such a monster lurked beneath the surface. I feel like a fool.”
“He fooled us all,” I said quietly. “This isn’t your fault.”
