I thought about Sheridan a lot. About how she knew about Dani and Brant. I’m not going to lie, it kind of hurt. It felt as if everyone was in on some joke but me; and worse, I was the punch line. Which reminded me I needed to send an email to Dominique. I was thinking maybe it was a tender mercy that Giselle and Carter hadn’t signed the deal yet. Perhaps I should take their offer and walk away. I knew running away wasn’t typically a good answer, but I thought in this situation, exceptions to the rule could be made. Bankruptcy would be easier to deal with than being partners with Brant right now. My only hesitation was my employees. Surely, they would understand if they knew. Not that I could tell them, or anyone for that matter. I would come up with some other sob story. It would never rival the truth, but despite what Dani had done, I would never put her through the humiliation of airing her dirty laundry in public. The media would crucify her and Brant. And I refused to give Jill that satisfaction.
I felt sorry for her fiancé. He was in for a lifetime of misery. Maybe I was too. I felt like I was damned if I did, damned if I didn’t, no matter what I chose. With that thought, I turned on my laptop and logged in. I needed to at least let Dominique know I was thinking about taking Giselle and Carter’s original offer. This way I had a choice. A really crappy one, but at least it would be mine.
I rubbed my head while my laptop came to life, thinking about Brant and Dani’s choice. The thought of it made my stomach roll. Their words screamed in my head—Dani asking me not to blame Brant, and Brant asking me not to blame Dani. So, who was to blame? Could I blame anyone at all? I had zero claim to Brant when it happened. I had zero claim to him now, except that he said he loves me. That he’d wanted me for years. How could that be true? He had planned to marry Jill and he’d slept with my sister. I couldn’t wrap my head around all three things existing at the same time. I knew there were other forces in play, like John Holland and the Copeland family. Even grief. But amid all of that, there was choice. Brant and Dani had made a choice, albeit one I knew they regretted. Unfortunately, it didn’t take the sting away from me. I say sting—it was more like thousands of stings.
I got out of my head long enough to send an email to Dominique. I even managed to get some paperwork done and update our social media pages announcing this week’s specials. By that time, employees started to arrive. We usually did decent brunch business on Sundays.
With more people there, I braved opening my door. Everyone’s happy faces made me feel guilty for even thinking about walking away. But they had no idea the turmoil brewing in my life. Nor would they ever. I had always believed sex to be a sacred and private matter. It was Dani and Brant’s choice to divulge that secret, not mine. I couldn’t imagine that they would be making any announcements. Dani was a wreck as it was, thinking the press would get ahold of the news. For that, I felt terrible for her and Brock, and even Brant.
However, Brant had taken the files Jill had given me. He believed there was nothing incriminating in them. Even Jonah had said the doctor’s notes meant nothing other than her being cautious for future reference in case Dani were to get pregnant again. Dr. Paulson hadn’t been questioning Dani’s due date or Dani herself, for that matter. Jonah had said, like most things, predicting a due date isn’t an exact science. Every woman and pregnancy are different. Still, I wouldn’t want my personal records to be put through the public court of opinion.
Jill should be arrested for what she had done, or paid someone to do. Brant swore she would get what was coming to her. The only thing I could do to get back at her was to keep my mouth shut, and that’s what I intended to do. Sure, she could bring up my reaction from that awful night, but it would be her word against mine.
It was all just so shady. I no longer had the luxury of being naive to the ugly side of politics. Not like I thought it was rainbows and sunshine, but I hated knowing the reality of how truly bad it could be. The depths to which people would go. Edward owned John and who knows how many others. My bet was that he also owned Ronald Dallinger, who Jill was engaged to. Then, in turn, John had to own Dani and who knows who else to make sure he met the demands of Edward. It sounded like a vicious never-ending cycle. It was one the Hollands intended to end. But could they? Would it even matter? So much damage had already been done.