Page 155 of Collateral Damage
Mom sighs. “He must have harbored a lot of shame for having children with me while simultaneously getting my sister pregnant.”
My heart hurts, knowing our past and everything Dad tried to keep hidden. He loved someone he couldn’t have, and the consequences eventually took his life.
“Where are you going with this?” Conrad asks, but his usual bravado is gone. He’s a husk of his normal self.
Cooper turns to his father. “Momneverhad an affair with Gregory Laurence.”
Shock—pure and utter and complete shock.
We blink like goldfish, our mouths hanging open.
“The whole thing was fabricated by Lance Vale to get Laurence and King to stop doing business together,” Cooper explains. “It helped him leverage his position within Laurence and get to COO faster.”
“Oh God,” Mom whispers. “We were played.”
Cooper nods. “What do you think would it take to get someone like Gregory to agree to such a damaging lie? To give up his best friend and business partner? To jeopardize his family?”
“Arden,” I whisper.
Arden was the pawn used by powerful men that none of us knew was even on the game board.
“Lance Vale did a lot of digging on Gregory, looking for a pain point to exploit, and he found exactly what he needed.”
Conrad drops his head into his hands. I wonder what he’s thinking. For years he believed his late wife had cheated on him with his best friend, and now Cooper is saying that never actually happened.
“Here was this girl in foster care, living in Massachusetts that Gregory had fathered with his wife’s late drug addicted sister,” Cooper says. “As hard as the fabricated affair with mymother was on his family and marriage and business, Gregory knew theArdensecret getting out would have much harsher consequences, so he let Lance manipulate him into going with the lie.”
Mom nods, her voice hollow. “I forgave him for Victoria. It was hard, but I forgave him…” She wipes a stray tear from her face, her wrinkles deepening, as she continues. “But after he’d kept my sister’s only child a secret from me, I’ve been angry. It’s been over a year, and I still haven’t forgiven him for that.”
Dad willingly allowed Arden to grow up in poverty without a family—something Momneverwould have accepted had she known. I’m sure he felt deep shame about his actions later in life. Either way, he was going to get revealed for having an affair, but I guess the real one carried more risk than the lie. I wonder if he regretted his choices?
“He was right to assume I would never forgive him for it,” Mom goes on, her voice sharp. “Even though he’s dead, I don’t think I can, and I don’t think I have to.”
I take Mom’s hand, my vision blurring with unshed tears. I know exactly how she feels.
“I don’t think I can forgive him for that either, but I can move past it. We both can.”
I’m not going to let any of this ruin my life, and I hope she won’t let it ruin the rest of hers. Mom squeezes my hand, and I know she gets it. She’s in the same place I am—angry with someone we desperately miss.
Conrad’s head is still in his hands. This is a lot to process, and I think the man might be in shock. As far as I know, he was a devoted husband. Now he’s on wife number three, not seeming to care about his love life the way he did with Victoria.
He’s a hard-ass businessman in every sense of the word, and I’m livid at him for what he pulled withTop of the World. But I can recognize the pain written all over his face.
I feel sorry for him. Nobody deserves this.
“You’re sure she didn’t cheat?” He finally looks up, watery gaze on his son.
“I have plenty of proof. I’ll send everything over.” Cooper’s voice cracks. “She never lied.”
“I’ll kill him.” Conrad flies out of his chair, his face blotchy and his eyes wild.
“I felt the same when I found out,” Cooper replies. “I thought you might beat the life out of him right here in front of a dozen witnesses, which is why I had him sent away before I told you.”
Conrad strides from the room, presumably to hunt Lance down and beat the shit out of him. Or maybe he’s done showing vulnerability and needs privacy. Either way, I think I know exactly how he’s feeling.
Duped.
Stupid.
