BREAKTHROUGH (Love's Not Easy Series Book 2)

by Nicole Rickman

  He wasn’t exactly innocent in all of this; he was telling people she was attending the University of Richmond in the fall. She had never discussed that as an option. How he even managed to have her enrolled, baffled her. Some way, she was going to get answers to all her questions.

  Prayer is always the answer, which is what Gran always told her when she was younger and scared. Aimee lowered her head down to pray: God, please help me. I am so confused right now. How and why is this happening to me? Help me find my way through this pain. God, I feel I don’t belong here. That this is not where I need to be, please guide me. Amen

  Her prayer came to an abrupt halt when her cell rang. The ID showed it was Tara, and, for a split second, Aimee thought of not answering her call; but, she realized this was not Tara’s fault. “Hey.”

  “Aimee, are you ok?”

  “Not really.”

  “I wanted to tell you, but your dad made it very clear, no one was to say one word to you until he…”

  “Tara, it is ok, I am not mad at you. He should have told me what was going on, and he should have never agreed to this.”

  “He is looking everywhere for you. Word spread fast that Tanner let the cat out of the bag.”

  “I can’t look at him right now.”

  “I know what you mean, I am hiding from your dad. So, I don’t have to answer his questions about what happened, and I don’t want to look at him either. Where are you?”

  “On the way back to the house.”

  “How?”

  “Dad’s limo.”

  “You took your father’s limo? Aimee, if he decides to leave and finds out, he is going to be furious.”

  “Guess what, Tara? I am furious right now.”

  “This is not going to go well at all.”

  “Definitely not. Can you do a favor for me, and tell dad I took the limo home, and I will send it back to the country club?”

  “I will tell him for you, but are you sure you’re ok?”

  “The shock is wearing off, and I am into my furious stage. I cannot be in a car alone with the two of them right now.”

  “I love you, Aimee. I am here for you, ok?”

  “Thanks, Tara. I love you too, and I will call you tomorrow.”

  Aimee checked the time on her cell. It was eleven pm, so it was four am in Neahovia. Too early to call her friends. Aiden would be up shortly, and she could call him when she gets home and settled in her room. She was in need of a friend.

  When the driver dropped her off, Aimee was planning to go straight to her room. Miss Akers {the kid’s nanny} was in the kitchen and noticed Aimee walking by and called for her.

  “Yes, Miss Akers?” She wanted to get to her room fast.

  “You are home early. Where are your parents?”

  Aimee bit her tongue. “Dad and Deandre are still at the Gala. I needed to leave early, but I sent the limo back for them.”

  “Are you ok, dear?”

  “I’ll be fine. Good night, Miss Akers.” Aimee didn’t know her well enough to confide in her, so she ran up the stairs.

  She went to her room, changed her clothes, and sat in her floor. She laid her head on the side of her bed, as she pulled her knees to her chest. It was nearly midnight, she decided to chance it, and see if Aiden was awake.

  “Aimee, are you ok?” He answered on the first ring.

  Aimee started sobbing, as she told Aiden about the Gala and the things the others had told her Deandre was up to. He listened to her and did not interrupt as she vented her pain to him.

  “Aimee, what they are doing is not right. Do you remember when you told me that people need to trust me because I am a Prince?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Ok, I think the same principle applies in this situation. You have every right to tell them how wrong it is to use your mother’s memory as a sympathy vote.”

  “I agree, Aiden, and the thing is, Deandre has never been there for me. Do you remember me telling you about Mrs. Opal, my Gran’s friend that lives on the plantation?”

  “Yeah. I remember her, why?”

  “She is the one who has been there for me for everything. I learned about the facts of life from her. When I had a problem, I went to her and she would help me through it. Deandre could never wait for me to go back to the plantation or boarding school.”

  “And now she wants to take credit for raising you.”

  “I have too many morals for her to have had a hand in my raising. She doesn’t even raise her own children, their nanny, Miss Akers, does it all.”

  “Aimee, we both know how dirty politics can get. Has your father not considered that when his opponent learns what you just said about Deandre, he will bring it up? Then they will expose him as a liar; which, would tarnish him in both his senate race and his business affairs.”

  “Good point for me to use. I am so mad I haven’t even thought about that. I haven’t told you everything yet. He also enrolled me into the University of Richmond and is telling everyone I am attending there in the fall.”

  “What?” Aiden was astonished.

  Just as Aimee began to talk about the Richmond lie to Aiden her bedroom door swung open and her dad and Deandre barged in. She didn’t even have time to tell Aiden to hang on or she would call back before Deandre started yelling at her.

  “Young lady, do you know how much damage you caused this family tonight?”

  Aimee held tight to her phone and stood up. “Excuse me?”

  “The way you ran out of the club has everyone talking. You should have come to us...”

  “And what, Deandre, ask you in front of all of your society friends why you are spreading lies around about my dead mother, or how you lied about adopting me? This is the most disgraceful thing you have ever done to me.” Aimee was yelling back.

  “Aimee, lower your voice. I will not stand for you speaking to your stepmother in that tone.”

  “My what? Have you two went nuts? She is not even thirty years old, and you want me to call her my stepmom?”

  “Aimee that is enough. When we got married, Deandre stepped into the role of mother with you.”

  “What role, evil stepmom? If she had her way, I would have been treated like an outcast. She never did one motherly thing for me. I was twelve when Gran died, and until then, she raised me. Mrs. Opal and the boarding schools did the rest.”

  Deandre was walking toward Aimee. “I will not stand in my home and allow you to talk to me that way. It was not easy becoming an instant mother to a teenager, and you need to be grateful for all we have done for you. The clothes, the cars, and all those boarding schools are not free, and to be studying in…”

  Aimee turned to her father who was standing with his arms folded not moving an inch to stop Deandre. “Deandre, you never worked a day of your life for that money. I guess it is hard to be a mother to a teen when you are barely out of the teenage years yourself. As for the boarding schools, those had been taking care of by mother, before she died. So, don’t hand me that load of crap, about how much money you spend on me.” Aimee turned to her father. “If you don’t want me here, I can leave; but, I have a feeling that may interfere with your Richmond plans.”

  Clint moved over to Deandre. “Go to our room, I will be there in a few minutes to talk to you. Aimee, will stay in this house for as long as she wants. She is my daughter, Deandre, you have no right to say a thing like that to her. We are not going to let people think you adopted, or mothered her in any way, because no mother would say the things you just said to her.”

  Deandre turned and glared at him. “I will talk to you in our room.”

  Aimee sat on her bed and looked out the window. “I know she has never liked me, dad. I remember telling you before you married her that she was jealous of me. You said I was the jealous one, and you know what I did? I prayed about being jealous of her for months.”

  “Aimee, honey, I know things got out of control. I never gave her permission to go this far.”

 
“Morgan said this was her idea. How did she talk you into tarnishing the memory of my mom?”

  “I am behind in the poles.”

  “I am glad to know where I stand in your life.”

  “Look, Aimee, you are the one who chose to go away to school. Yeah, your mom had the boarding school stuff in place before she died. It was your choice to go, though. Just like you have chosen to go off to Neahovia for college, so it is not fair to say Deandre doesn’t want you here.”

  “Dad, did you honestly think I would want to live here with her, and be treated the way I was when we went vacation or when I was home for summer breaks?”

  “Aimee, I have no clue what you are talking about.”

  “I know, because you were always too busy working, or socializing, to notice me or anything else going on at home.”

  “Aimee, we did things together.”

  “I am not arguing about this. I am over that part of my childhood anyway.”

  “Fine. We can talk about Richmond, when I get home from work tomorrow.” He turned to walk away.

  “I am not going to Richmond. I am returning to Neahovia, my tuition is paid for. I have signed my rent agreement, and paid my part of the security deposit for a flat. I am an adult now; and I am capable making my own decisions.”

  ,

  “So, you think that you have it all figured out? Well, Aimee, you see, I control your finances. So, you sleep on that tonight.”

  Aimee waited for him to leave the room before she checked to see if Aiden was still on the line. He had stayed on the phone and heard the entire conversation. She was glad that she did not have to tell him everything. She did not want to relive the conversation.

  Aimee curled in her bed. “Aiden, I wish you were here with me. I need a friend right now.”

  “Hey, I am here. It is not the same as being there to hug and hold you, but I am here. I have no plans today, so I can stay on the phone all day with you, if that is what you need.”

  “Thanks, what I need to do, is calm down and think rationally. I don’t want to stay here for the rest of the break, so I need to think about what I want to do.”

  “I have a few questions. Have you ever seen your mom or Gran’s Will?”

  “No. Why?”

  “I don’t want to upset you, but you need to look at them, to see at what age you take control of your finances.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t believe you have never thought of this. You inherited the plantation, correct?”

  “Yeah, we transferred it to my name on my eighteenth birthday.”

  ”

  “Is it still a working plantation?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Aimee, when you inherited the plantation, I am sure you inherited the family business. You need to see at what age that money is yours.”

  “I haven’t thought about that. I have always taken my dad’s word on those things.”

  “Aimee, I am so sorry, but your dad isn’t being honest right now.”

  “You’re right. I have felt like they were up to something ever since I arrived here.”

  “The other thing we need to know the answer to is, what Deandre is really trying to gain from all of this.”

  “And, why she wants me to leave.”

  “Nothing is simple when it comes to you. Mystery seems to follow you around. We have the mystery of your mom in Neahovia, and now, tonight, we have stumbled upon an American mystery as well.”

  “I guess I have a new phrase to describe me. I am a mystique person.”

  “Dear, you are a walking mystique paradise. I say this, because no matter what type of mystery is following you, you are still beautiful inside and out.”

  Aimee had to laugh at Aiden. “You know we don’t have normal nineteen year olds conversations.”

  “That is because there is nothing normal about either of our lives. We do not have the families of normal nineteen year olds.”

  “I guess not.”

  Aiden stayed on the phone with Aimee until after three in the morning. They talked about whatever she wanted, as long as it helped her calm down. He finally calmed her down enough to where she felt she could get some rest. He was afraid when she awoke, it was going to be a bad day for her.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Aimee awoke at nine am and the house was quiet for this early in the day. She freshened up and went down the stairs. Her dad left her message near the coffee pot warning her they would talk when he came home from the office.

  Deandre and the kids were not in the house. Aimee checked the garage to see if Deandre’s car was there. When she verified it was gone, Aimee took her coffee and went to her dad’s office. She had an old lesson book from church with reproducible pages; if anyone came in, she would pretend to be making copies to send to Wise Chapel.

  She went to her father’s desk and sat behind his home computer. Her dad was still old school when it came to certain types of technology. She put in the password she remembered he had when she was at home. Lucky for her, he had not changed his passwords like most people. She started looking through his files.

  He was not very good at hiding files either. She found one labeled ELA records and opened it and found there was a link to a bank account. Aimee clicked on the link and found out the money was for her. It was not added by her dad, instead it was added by a different account and bank.

  She searched for any other files that may match the account number and found one initialed REF. It was full of scanned receipts for Aimee’s tuition, rent, cars, and other expenses she had accrued since her eighteenth birthday.

  The only document not a receipt, was a copy of this year’s tax return. Her dad had brought it to her when he came to visit in March. He told her it was a formality and now that she was eighteen, he needed her to sign them. She didn’t question him. She trusted him and did not read the papers.

  When she looked at her gross income for the year, she nearly fainted. Aimee was a nineteen year old multi-millionaire. She had to stay seated for a moment to let the information sink in. Then, she printed herself a copy of everything in the folders, closed his computer, and left his office.

  She needed to think of what to do next and fast. She went to her room to find a hiding place for the files and then took a shower. Once she dressed, she went downstairs and found out Deandre had returned. Aimee prayed for God to help her stay calm.

  “Who were you on the phone with for four hours last night?” Deandre was eating fruit, while Miss Akers took care of the kids.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I checked your phone records. The number is blocked, but I was able to see that you were on your phone for four hours.”

  “Why are you checking my phone records?”

  “Answer me, Aimee.”

  “No. Who I talk to is my business. You need to stay out of my business, Deandre.”

  Aimee went to her room, grabbed her purse, her phone, and the files she copied; no way was she chancing Deandre searching her room. Aimee knew what her first move was now, and she was heading to the cell phone store to get her own account.

  Setting up her own account was easy, and she was even able to move her phone number to the account. She was so happy that she got to keep her phone as well; and, she had the tech help make sure that no one, but her, had access to her new account.

  Next, she went to her Aunt Libby’s and talked to her about last night. Tara and Mindy were so happy to see her. They told her how they had been telling her dad for months that using Lillian was a bad idea. Her aunt, which was her dad’s sister, never liked Deandre and always felt like she was an opportunist.

  Libby asked Aimee to stay for dinner and they used Aimee’s mother’s favorite cookout menu. Her aunt handed her a cookbook of Lillian’s favorite American and Neahovian recipes; and, Aimee made an apple pie using the recipe from the book and it tasted just like her mother’s. After dinner, Libby took Aimee to her study to talk to her alone about her dad. Aimee told her a
bout the argument last night.

  “Sweetie, I know it hurts to see your dad react this way. He has not been himself since your mom died.”

  “Aunt Libby, I can’t figure out, for the life of me, why he married her.”

  “I thought the same thing for years, until Grandma Pittman cleared it up for me. I think it is time I do the same for you. Your dad fell in love with your mom instantly. Your mother and you were his world. When Lillian was killed, he was devastated. He started burying himself in his work. Especially while you were with Edna.”