Page 150 of Collateral Damage
“This is your last chance to back out,” he warns, looking me dead in the eyes. “Once this is in motion, there’s no stopping it.”
I motion to my right pant leg. “I think I understand lasting consequences better than most.”
Dad’s face clears of any hesitation. “Okay, then.”
We stare at each other for a long moment, communicating without words.
When I went to him pissed off at the Laurences and asking how we could get revenge, he told me about Arden’s true parentage and the old contract he and Gregory had drafted years ago. I asked him why he hadn’t brought all this up sooner, and he said he was waiting for things to align, but he wasn’t sure he was willing to put Ethan through the truth. I wasn’t sure I was willing to, either. I thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that I needed this.
What happened with the Laurences—at Sybil—eats me up every day.
And what will Ethan care? He’s going to stay married to Arden no matter what happens. Their love won’t be shaken by this.
Besides that, Arden deserves to know who she really is.
Doesn’t mean I’m not uneasy about it.
Doesn’t mean I’m not worried.
“Are you going to make the announcement, or am I?” Dad questions me.
“You are,” I remind him. For this to work, he has to be the bad guy.
Nobody can know my involvement with any of this until it’s over.
Tonight is step one of many.
It’s going to suck to see people I care about get hurt, but it’s a necessary evil when love and hate belong to opposite edges of the same knife.
Dad encourages me to befriend Sybil again. That’s going to be the hardest part, but I can do it knowing that in six months, this will all be over.
Step one, reveal Arden’s true parentage and the marriage contract.
Step two, use the company shares to leverage Laurence into working with King.
Step three, befriend Sybil, and get her to trust me.
Step four, screw over the Laurence family, making them look incompetent in front of their board, essentially ending their rein.
That last step I’m still not sure about, but Dad has assured me he has the right contacts to make it happen.
Dad leaves, and I stay to gather myself for a moment, wondering if this is worth all the trouble. Do I really want to go through with this?
Once it’s done, Sybil will hate me. Any possibility with her will be destroyed forever.
I never saw myself as the kind of person who’d go to such lengths to hurt someone else, even if it’s someone who hurt me.
This isn’t a choice I can unmake.
There’s still time to stop Dad from the announcement. We can take the secret of Arden’s parentage to our graves.
I lean against the wall and groan.
Shit, I think I’m getting cold feet. I don’t know if I can do this.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, the perfect excuse to give me one more minute to hide in this hallway.
I quickly read a text from one of my old flings. My heart drops with each word, a sourness filling my stomach.
