Page 111 of Emergence and Ascendance

"How am I mishandling the name?"

I fully entered his office, crossed the room, and dropped my purse on his desk before I planted my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"Crescent Falls?" he grunted. "Who in the hell even knows where that is?"

I kept my composure because my father was a predictable man. He did his research and knew exactly where Crescent Falls was and how the city was thriving and growing. The Blue Ridge resort area was bringing in forty percent return annually which was double the average of what most resort areas earned. The city was affluent and rivaled some of the larger cities across the east and west coasts considered travel hot spots. Developing the area I purchased meant the potential to bring in what the Blue Ridge area grossed and more. Beachfront was prime real estate, and with shopping and restaurants, I had a gold mine.

"If no one cares, then why are you challenging me?"

His eyes narrowed on mine. "I'm challenging you because Whitney is a brand. We have a reputation to uphold and this little project of yours demeans everything we've built."

"It doesn't."

"It does." He slammed his palm down on his desk. My father pushed his chair back and stood, walking around it. "I don't understand you, Scotlyn."

"Because you don't want to understand me."

"You're right, I don't. What I want is for you to be grateful that I let you have a voice in the company. I've given you more than enough. The least you can do is stay out of the way and stop complicating my life."

"Let me have a voice? Given me enough? You haven't given me a gotdamn thing. I've earned it. When you handed over the development division, which you had no plans of truly letting me run by the way, our revenue was down thirty percent. We're up three times that and you still can't show me the same respect you give Alex."

"Why would I? I built this company. It's my vision, my idea, my-"

"Fuck you and your vision. You can have it. I'll resign right here and now. I can do this on my own. The only reason you haven't pushed for that is because you know what I'm capable of. With me here, you can manage my abilities. You would rather have me as an employee than as a competitor. Don't think I'm not well aware of that shit."

My chest was heaving but he seemed unbothered when he smiled smugly and shook his head. "You're truly your mother's child. You are everything I loved and hated about her. Your mother was brilliant but emotional. She didn't know how to separate her feelings from business. Feelings, sweetheart, interfere with objectivity. For years I told your mother that whenshe babied all of you. At least Alex learned to be a man after she died and stopped influencing him. You're just like her and that's disappointing because…"

I blinked several times before I fully processed what he was saying and everything in me snapped. I slapped my father so hard I felt the sting in my hand. "You are selfish, hateful, manipulative, and sad. I don't understand how she ever loved you. I wonder if she ever truly did. She didn't want us to be like you. She wanted us to be happy. This…" I waved my hand in the air, "Means nothing if it's all you have. I hate you. God, I hate you so damn much for making me waste so many years working three times as hard as Alex so one day you would really see me and appreciate that I'm your daughter." I laughed bitterly. "But you can't because you're just that fucked up and cold and honestly I'm not your daughter. I'm my mother's child. I never was yours and I'm grateful for that. It should have been you, not her. God, I wish it had been."

My father smiled arrogantly and just stared at me like my words didn't mean a damn thing. "See, this is exactly what I mean. You're just like your mother, too fucking emotional to separate your feelings from what's important. If the board votes in my favor, and trust me, they will. You're done with this little project, Scotlyn."

He turned his back to head back to his desk, but his steps faltered. When he grabbed the desk, I frowned, realizing something was wrong. Before I could get to him, he dropped to the floor.

I froze but seconds later I heard Alex. "Shit, Scot, what happened?"

"He… we were arguing and he…"

Alex dropped to the floor and started shaking our father. Everything around me blurred. People were in and out of the office.

"Call 911."

"Shit, he's not breathing."

"There's no pulse."

"Get a gotdamn ambulance here, now."

"Scotlyn, sit down, honey. Come with me." I felt hands on my waist. I stood there blinking, not processing what was happening, but my mind was on a loop.

I wished he was dead…

...and now that was what was happening.

"Hey…" Alex entered my living room looking exhausted, but his expression was also tight when he sat on the sofa beside me. He dropped an arm over my shoulders and I leaned into his side, tucking my legs beside me. "You okay?"

"No," I answered honestly because this was Alex and I could.

"Yeah, me either." He kissed my forehead and sighed. "This shit is so fucked up."

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