What the hell did he mean no?
“You’re nothing but a gold digger,” my father said.
“What?” I asked.
“The only reason you made my son marry you is because you wanted his money!” my father roared.
“Can it, Dad. That isn’t what happened,” I said. I could not believe the words coming from his mouth. I would never
allow her to be spoken about like that.
“You have no idea if it is or is not true,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, and with the guy who pined over some barmaid before throwing an elaborate party just to find her again before taking her out on every date imaginable doesn’t paint her in the light of a gold digger?” I asked.
“You watch your mouth when you talk about Jessica,” he said.
“Then you sure as hell better watch your mouth after barging into some unknown woman’s apartment and throwing around accusations like that,” I growled.
“You had no right to take advantage of my son the way you did. No right! And you won’t get a cent out of the divorce. You’ll be left with nothing!” my father exclaimed.
“Both of you get out of her apartment. Now,” I said.
“He’s got a point. For all you know, she got you drunk and married you so she could get to your money. You don’t even know her, Everett,” Lucas said.
“Oh, and you knew Jessica when you fucked her in the hot tub of the mansion we were renovating?” I asked.
“What?” my father asked.
“Yeah. If you’re going to barge in here and yell in the face of someone you don’t even know, then at least level the playing field with your other son,” I spat.
“Mr. Wilder, I did not marry your son for his money,” Andrea said.
“The hell you didn’t,” my father said.
“You can believe me or not, it doesn’t matter. But I didn’t grow up caring about the wealth of other people when we were struggling to put food on our own table. The point of all this is that the both of us were taken aback by what happened. And whether or not you choose to believe it, I have just as much to lose in this fight as your son does,” Andrea said.
“Oh, really? You’ve got billions to lose?” my father asked.
“No. Just my life’s work,” she said flatly.
I wrapped my arm around Lucas and dragged him back to the doorway. He kept hanging back from my father, clearly not wanting to answer to the fucking family drama he created in the first place. I slammed him against the wall as Andrea and my father continued to go back and forth as my eyes locked onto his. It took all the strength I had not to break his nose or rip open that scar on his stomach with my bare hands.
“I don’t know where the hell you get off thinking you can do this, but you can’t. You had no right to pin Jessica down the way you did to get that information and you had no right storming in here. This is your fault, and I expect you to get Dad to step down so you can fix it,” I said.
Lucas shrugged me off before he narrowed his eyes at me.
“My fault? Your getting married is my fault? You’re the one who’s been unfocused. You’re the one who keeps turning a blind eye to things that are important. I mean, insurance, Everett? You forgot the fucking insurance on the house?” Lucas asked.
“That has nothing to do with Andrea!” I exclaimed.
“It has everything to do with Andrea! I talked you into going to Vegas because you were clearly too wound up. The one-night stands weren’t doing it for you, so I figured some drinking and some gambling would! No one fucking forgets insurance unless their mind is too clouded to think. I planned Vegas for all of us with you at the forefront of my mind. And then you go and pull something like this? Was this really the release you needed to get your mind back on track? Because all I see is my brother screwing around with some woman after receiving the worst news of his business career!” Lucas yelled.
“That fire happened way before any of this shit happened! You can’t blame that on her! You can’t blame that on our weekend trip! And if you recall correctly, you were the one pushing Vegas on everyone. I was the only one who didn’t want to go.”
“All of this is your fault, Everett.”
“No, Lucas. It’s not. This situation is your fault, however. You had no right to demand Andrea’s address and you had no right to call Dad and you sure as hell had no fucking right to barge into her damn apartment and accost her the way the two of you are!” I exclaimed.