“We were going to lose everything I’d worked for. Everything your grandparents started was going to crumble to the ground, be sold off to the highest bidder. But I couldn’t let that happen.
“Enter Carl Pierce, a smart but ruthless man that knew that energy and food were keeping this country running. He was already on his way to a mass fortune from his company going worldwide, but he wanted more. Still wants more. The greedy bastard,” she mumbles, lost in her story. “So, when I talked to him about investing, he was very interested.
“He wanted to have a huge share, fifty-one percent, but I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let anyone know I’d sold out to someone outside the Leads family. But I needed his cash. Needed him to save me. So, I made a deal that he could have interest soon, a written promise.” She pauses, pursing her lips. “I was stupid. But I never wrote down anything. I took his money on my good faith and promised to pay him back.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.” She nods absentmindedly, keeping her eyes on her mug, her hands fiddling with the handle. “I did. With ten percent interest. But it wasn’t enough.”
“What do you mean?”
Her eyes well with tears and she looks at me, then says, “Jane. I don’t want to tell you.”
“What?” I shake my head, letting out a deep breath to maintain the frustration that roared from deep in my gut. “Why won’t you tell me? What’s the big deal?”
“He knows… things.”
I practically growl when I say. “What things? Just tell me!”
“He knows who your father is!” she shouts at me. “Okay?”
I slump in shock. “My… father?”
“Yes. He knows that I… that one that…”
“The one you loved?” I shake my head, my brows furrowing in confusion. “He… but he… wait—”
“I was pregnant when he met his wife.”
“What?” I rub my head with my hand and tears spring to my eyes. “You told me I was a test-tube baby. That you had me through artificial insemination.”
“I lied,” she whispers, her eyes tearing up. “I thought it better for you to believe you didn’t have a father than to know that I was just… tossed aside. That he left me and found someone who was willing to do what I hadn’t been.”
“So… wait. He didn’t want to come back when you told him?” My chest compresses at the thought.
“He…” She shudders with a sob. “He didn’t know about you.” She clasps her hand over her mouth and lets the tears run.
I, however, sit in a mountain of shock. “He doesn’t know I exist?”
She shakes her head and I press my hands to the table, needing something—anything—to ground me to this moment.
“I tried… I tried to get him back. But I didn’t want to tell him in case he only wanted to come back to know you.”
Selfish. It was so fucking selfish of her to do that. To deprive me of a chance to have a father.
I didn’t know what to say.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her head still bowed.
“What…” I clear my throat and gather my thoughts, trying to wade through the crazy that is happening right now. “What does this have to do with Carl Pierce? Why does he care? How does he know?”
“He’s his best friend.” She looks at me, finally, and devastation is written all over her face. “He’s best friends with your father.”
“Which is who?” I ground out, letting my frustration get the best of me. But can you blame me?
“William Ivers.”
Chapter Fifty-Two