Page 55 of Two of a Kind
She had vague memories of him when she was very young; fuzzy images of him teaching her how to ride a bike and taking her along with him to his company softball games where she was the honorary “bat girl.” Those memories were the good ones, the ones she wished she could hold onto better.
Other memories were clearer, like the shouting matches her parents used to have late at night after she had gone to bed. Patricia would complain about not having enough money; her father would say he was working as hard as he could.
The older she got, the more she understood. Back then, she had taken her mother’s side more often than not, wanting the pretty, expensive things her friends had. She hadn’t realized how fleeting those things were, how little they mattered.
Her father had been a good man. His biggest flaw was that he had fallen in love with her mother.
Maybe Patricia was right and she really was like her dad.
She could only hope.
Kayla exhaled heavily as her mother stomped off into the guest room.
“Well, that went well,” she murmured. Her hand was shaking slightly as she poured a glass of water from the tap, the stress of the morning’s events catching up to her.
She had never spoken to her mother like that before, but it was long overdue. If she wanted her mother to respect her as an adult and treat her as such, then she had to start acting like one. Step one was taking control of her own life and to stop trying to live by everyone else’s rules.
Her new plan, the one that had been steadily taking shape since her visit to Dumas Industries, was as terrifying as it was exciting, but she was going to do it. She’d had enough of living day to day, content to exist but nothing more.
Summoning her courage, Kayla grabbed her phone and her laptop, and began putting her plan into motion.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Walking away from DumasIndustries was easier than he had thought it would be. A bit scary, yes, but liberating, too.
He had prepared well, so it wasn’t as if he would be living out of a box or standing in line at the soup kitchen anytime soon. Despite his father’s glaring lack of faith and confidence, Spencer did know a thing or two about running a business and making smart investments.
Sate was his passion, and he was going to focus all his attention on that for the foreseeable future. He was done being a puppet; finished with being manipulated and underappreciated.
Out of courtesy, he had called Chelsea Chamberlain and informed her of his decision. The fact that she seemed neither surprised nor particularly disappointed was further confirmation he had made the right choice.
Afterward, he had called one of his contacts at the local paper and “leaked” the news of his resignation and cancelled engagement. Gerry Brenner had always been one of the more open-minded journalists when it came to rumors of his “scandalous behavior,” so Spencer had been happy to provide him with an inside scoop that would earn the guy some visibility. The story hit social media within hours, and now the DI public relations team was scrambling to put a positive spin on things. It was with no little sense of satisfaction that Spencer noted DI stock had plummeted by nearly fifty percent by the time his private plane left Pine Ridge behind for good. It would come back up again, no doubt, but the sharp drop suggested that some people thought he had done well at the helm.
He hadn’t bothered to try to contact Kayla. She was probably busy scoping out new locations and dreaming up ways to spend her newly acquired fortune. Hopefully, she found herself a good financial advisor. If she was careful and invested wisely, she should be set for life. And if she was really smart, she would give her mother a monthly expense account and set herself free.
His initial hurt had slowly turned into numb acceptance. He might not like Kayla’s decision to take the offer, but he could understand it. Financial security and an opportunity to live a life’s dream were powerful motivators. She was just looking out for herself, and that made a hell of a lot more sense to him than the romantic notions that had temporarily clouded his judgment. He was still leaving DI, still moving forward with his plan to pursue his own lucrative interests, but he would be doing it alone.
