“I am. I always will be. I want the Butlers to suffer. I’ve told you that our history goes way back. The jury is out on what your parents know. I don’t give a fuck about them.” Her smile dimmed. “That’s the truth. My only concern is you. If you want to keep fighting this contest, I’ll be your biggest supporter.”
“I don’t want you to throw good money after bad.”
“Wade isn’t publicly traded. The headline was more clickbait than accurate information.”
“So the value of Wade hasn’t plummeted?”
“It’s a perceived value, affecting secondary indicators of worth, such as borrowing power, market share, and the willingness to invest. My people are working this, checking with the other investors.”
“Those SPACs?”
I nodded. “We want to know what their stance is on this. Are they wanting to sell or buy?”
“How will you know?”
“I’ll use some of my shares as bait. It’s already in motion.”
Julia’s eyes opened wide. “If you sell…”
“I’m not selling. I’m testing the waters.”
“But if the press finds out, it will look bad.”
I couldn’t help but smile at Julia’s understanding. Each moment, she confirmed that she truly was born to oversee Wade. “Donovan Sherman isn’t selling,” I said. “Neither is Sherman and Madison. The shares are wrapped up in shell companies. No one will know their origin.”
“I trust you.”
“To figure out what motivated today’s shit show, we need to go back to the beginning.”
“How far back?”
A smile came to my lips. “A blizzard.”
Julia’s smile grew, sending sparkles to her eyes. “I’d love to go back to there.”
“It’s obviously the beginning of our relationship and my interest in Wade, but maybe for recent events, we only need to go to our engagement announcement. Phillip began calling my office following the announcement.”
“And you never mentioned it.”
I reached for her hand. “I underestimated him. I never imagined…”
“Tell me what you did about his calls.”
“I had Rob, my PI—”
“The one who takes pictures of Brooklyn,” Julia interjected.
I swallowed. Julia deserved to know the truth about Brooklyn too. It would take a lifetime for me to confess all my sins. Nodding, I went on. “The PI lost track of Phillip. I’d had him searching in Texas. All I knew for sure was that Brooklyn was staying with my sister.”
“Olivia,” Julia said.
“Yes. Yesterday, Connie told me that Phillip had called her private number.”
“How did he get it?”
I shrugged. “I’d had enough. Calling Connie’s private phone was a bridge too far. I called him.”
“Yesterday?”