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His question felt like a slap in the face. Atlas narrowed his gaze on his brother, perhaps truly seeing for the first time who Oliver was.
“How many times have you cheated on Christina?” Atlas asked.
Oliver jerked his attention back to him. “Why the fuck does that matter?”
Atlas let out a breath. That answered that question.
“That is not the problem here. The problem is she had the baby and now that child is entitled to our money,” his father argued.
Atlas shook his head, disgust roiling in his gut.
“Maybe you can say it’s yours.” Oliver turned towards him; his eyes brightened.
“We have to pay her off. Keep her quiet so your grandfather and the tabloids don’t get wind of this,” their mother interjected.
If Oliver had any hope of staying a part of this company and being in their old-fashioned grandfather’s good graces, he had to make this disappear—make Zoey disappear.
“And if she doesn’t take the deal?” Atlas asked.
Jasmine didn’t seem like the type, but he’d been wrong about so many things when it came to her. Did he even know her at all? She’d known the moment he walked into the inn who he was. But she tried to tell me before we slept together. Hadn’t she? It didn’t matter. Trying and doing were separate things. In the end, she’d been like every other person in his life, manipulating him for their benefit. Just like I did to her.
“Then we threaten to take full custody of the child and ruin her. We’ll go after her business, her family. We’ll ship the child to a boarding school in Switzerland or something,” his mother said, her voice monotone.
Atlas shot to his feet. “Zoey!”
All attention diverted to him.
“What?” his father asked.
“Your granddaughter’s name is Zoey. But I guess that doesn’t matter to you since you’re going to ship her off to another continent anyways,” he growled, heading towards the door.
“What has gotten into you?” his mother asked.
“Fucked if I know!” He left.
But the truth was, he couldn’t stand another moment listening to his family dehumanize that little girl. She was nothing but a victim of her parentage. And despite the turmoil with Jasmine, he loved Zoey. He wouldn’t let his family hurt her.
