PART 5
For the first time since dinner, I wondered whether the Bradfords’ behavior had been about social status at all.
Maybe the arrogance was a distraction.
Maybe Richard hadn’t been trying to determine whether Michael was wealthy enough.
Maybe he had been desperate to find someone wealthy enough to rescue a company that was already bleeding.
And if Christopher had been taking money…
Then there was a much bigger problem.
That afternoon, Michael came to my apartment.
He looked exhausted.
“Jessica wants to see you.”
“Why?”
“She found out about the money.”
I stiffened.
“What money?”
“The country club.”
I frowned.
“What about it?”
“Her parents told her.”
“What did they tell her?”
“That you’re worth a lot more than they thought.”
I sighed.
“I see.”
“She wants to talk to you.”
“All right.”
Twenty minutes later, Jessica arrived.
She sat at my kitchen table.
No makeup.
No expensive clothes.
No polished country-club smile.
Just Jessica.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“I do.”
She looked down.
“My parents were wrong.”
“Yes.”
“But I wasn’t completely innocent.”
I waited.
“I knew my father cared about money.”
“Most people care about money.”
“Not like him.”
She swallowed.
“He taught me from childhood that financial security was the foundation of happiness.”
“And do you believe that?”
“I used to.”
“And now?”
She looked at Michael.
“Now I think security is knowing the person beside you won’t abandon you when things get difficult.”
I nodded.
“That’s a better definition.”
She smiled faintly.
“Your son is stubborn.”
“Very.”
“He refused to let me pay for his apartment when he was struggling.”
“That sounds like him.”
“He told me he’d rather live in a tiny place and know he earned it.”
I looked at her.
“That’s why I never gave him one.”
She understood.
“You were teaching him.”
“I was trying.”
She reached across the table.
“I want to marry him.”
“I know.”
“But I don’t want your money.”
That surprised me.
“Good.”
She laughed softly.
“I mean it.”
“I believe you.”
“I don’t want you to buy us a house.”
“Good.”
“I don’t want a business.”
“Excellent.”
“I don’t want a trust fund.”
“You’re making me like you more every minute.”
She smiled.
Then her expression changed.
“But I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
She looked nervous.
“My father isn’t the only person who has been worried about money.”
“Who else?”
She lowered her voice.
“Christopher.”
I became still.
“What about him?”
“He’s been asking my father for money.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why?”
She shook her head.
“He said he had investments that went bad.”
I leaned forward.
“When?”
“About two years ago.”
My stomach tightened.
Two years.
That was around the time the suspicious consulting payments began.
“Jessica.”
“Yes?”
“Did Christopher ever mention a company called Bradford Strategic Advisory?”
Her eyes widened.
“How do you know that name?”
I said nothing.
She looked frightened.
One Comment on “PART 5”