by Piper Knox
Copyright © 2021 Piper Knox
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Prologue
Gone. Even as I stared at the coffin in the grave, I expected him to come up behind me and jostle me forward with his gangly frame. But he was no more. My brother was gone and for the first time in seventeen years, I felt alone. Is this how people feel when they lose their twin?
I felt a squeeze on my shoulder and gazed at my mother. She held me as if she would fall at any moment. Her eyes were dry. She had cried out all her tears. What was left was a sadness I wasn’t sure would leave her.
I held her close to me as we staggered away from the grave and back to the cars. I had been oblivious of my surroundings until a familiar figure in the distance caught my eye.
“What is she doing here?” I had said it more to myself than to anyone, but my mother said, “She came? I’m glad.”
“I’m not. She is the reason he’s no longer here.”
“Caiden.” Her weak hand squeezed me again. “It was an accident. She’s grieving like you.” I scoffed. “You should be consoling each other and not…”
I didn’t hear the rest of the sentence. I was already making a beeline towards her. She was standing a little further away from the crowd. No doubt it was because she didn’t want to be seen. When she saw me coming over to her, she turned and started making her way out of the cemetery. I picked up my pace. She would not run away from me.
I grabbed her by the shoulder as she neared the exit.
“Aren’t you a long way from home,” I said. She slowly turned to face me. Her eyes were red and blotchy. I refused to believe that she was feeling what I was feeling. I hated seeing her like this. It made me want to do something so wrong and so off base that it only intensified the hate. I wanted to console her. The irony!
“Your fake tears aren’t necessary.”
“I’m sorry.” She sniffed. “Caiden I’m so sorry.”
“Turn yourself in if you’re so remorseful.”
Her mouth opened in shock. “You know I can’t do that. My father--”
“What about me? Can you at least tell me the truth?”
She shuffled on her feet, casting her gaze down. “I can’t remember.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what happened. One minute I was getting into the car, the next I woke up in a hospital.”
“Bullshit. I don’t want to hear your fucking excuses if you can’t even attempt to tell me the truth.”
“It’s true!” Her hand went to mine, and I swiped it away as she was about to take hold of me. She flinched.
“Did he mean nothing to you?”
Her big eyes were glassy with tears. Ignore them, I told myself. She probably put eye drops before she came here. Her lies were so transparent. And to think I used to see her as the good one. At the end of the day Hailey was like the rest of them. A Lyndell. Putting herself first, damn everyone else.
“He saw you as his best friend. You were his favorite person.” And his first love.
“He was mine too!”
“No, he wasn’t!” I was done with her. “If I ever see you again, I will kill you with my bare hands. Go back to your palace.”
“Caiden.” She reached for my hand again.
“Hailey.” My voice was shaky with anger. She stiffened, and at last she turned and walked away. I watched as she got into her car.
They will pay. The entire family will pay for what they did to my brother. But her? Her, I will leave my revenge for last.
1
13 years later
When words like contentious, mean, and bitchy, are used to describe you, haters are inevitable. But I was done with them. New me wanted none of those words hanging around me. I had decided to become a better person, and I was going to do everything I could to accomplish it. But when I received a text from my brother asking, “Can you attend the next board meeting” I typed a simple, “No,” then thought better of it. I added a heart emoji. It was the best I could think of while trying to beat my morning run personal best.
Next thing I knew, my phone rang. I let it go to voice-mail. He called again. And again. Fucking hell. Can a girl get some morning time alone? On the fourth call I picked it up, “You need to be there H. Dad says so,” he said.
“Hello to you too.”
“I have no time for bullshit pleasantries. Come home now.”
Now? Now? I resumed my jog, picking up my pace, which gradually turned into a run. I could feel myself grow angrier and angrier by the minute. I didn’t have to do everything Dad says. “I’m no longer on the board. Sold my shares and everything. Don’t you remember?”
“Doesn’t matter. You need to be there, regardless. That’s what he said.”
“I don’t want to.”
“If you do, he’ll give you your inheritance back.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around. I had passed my turn-around point and had been running down the street oblivious to everything around me.
“Mom’s inheritance?”
“Mom’s inheritance.”
“Liar.”
“You can ask him if you want to.”
This could change my life. I could finally be free. I could—Bryce loved playing pranks on me, “Are you serious?”
“All you need to do is to attend the meeting.”
“I’ll do it!”
“And uh, wear something nice. Like really nice.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know H. He wants you to look good. I gotta go.”
The line went dead; I put my phone back on my wrist and resumed my jog. I tried to contain my excitement. Knowing my father, it probably meant the offer came with strings attached, but still, it was something. I jogged with more fervor.
Someone, a man walking the opposite direction, spit onto my path after giving me a glare of death. I barely noticed it. I was too excited and it no longer bothered me as much as it used to. Being one of the most hated people in New York had its perks. One being people screaming insults at you when you make a public appearance, or paparazzi following your every move. Hate had simmered now that the scandal was dying down, but occasionally there would be one or two people who still loved to show me the extent of their hate.
Now that I was no longer being photographed every night dancing on a table in a bar, I was yesterday’s news. The paparazzi would have a field day if they saw me now. Getting back to my brunette hair and ditching the platinum blonde look that had been part of the brand made me barely recognizable.
I slowed down as I reached a corner to read the newspaper headlines on the newsstand that was there, “Lyndell troubles continue as the big man refuses to let go,” one business newspaper read. Another read, “Blood Emeralds: Conditions Akin To Slave Labor In Lyndell Mine.” I jogged a little faster, my face red. No wonder the man had spat on me.
◆◆◆
“You lied to me.” I jabbed Bryce in the sternum. His attention was on his phone. He was furiously texting and his brows furrowed. He appeared as if he hadn’t heard me. I jabbed him again. Harder this time. He looked up, a little annoyed. I didn’t care. I was more annoyed than him.
“What the fuck? This isn’t a board meeting.” I
looked around. Gesturing at the large glass table that was sticking out in the mid-century style library and the nine chairs surrounding it and pointing to my dad’s slimy cronies, “I don’t remember Jeff and Lenny being board members.”
He smirked, “Wow, I’m surprised you even know names considering your utter lack of care for the family business.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Why am I here?”
He was back to his phone, but he still responded, “Dad wanted you.”
“That’s it. That’s all I’m going to get?”
“You’ll soon find out,” he smirked, “A little warning since you attempted to show up; you will not like it.”
I wanted to claw out his sneering face. “You sound a little comfortable for someone who’s near the head of a tanking company.” He bared his teeth. I crossed my arms. He didn’t intimidate me. Bryce looked like he was about to say something, but he instead looked me up and down in disdain and walked over to Greyson, my other brother. He was a little more tolerable than Bryce, but I hated him all the same.
I glanced over at my father. He was speaking to his favorite cronies. The Legal Counsel and CFO, to be specific. The CFO, Denis, was leering in my direction as my father was gesticulating something to him. The man had a creepy ability to make me feel like I was naked even when I was dressed in a pantsuit as I was. I looked away from him and tried to shake off the icy feeling he gave me. Yep. I wanted to be out of here as soon as this meeting, whatever it was, was over. When was it starting, by the way?
Dad soon answered my question. He asked us all to take our seats. We all obeyed like sheep and I watched as he marched out of the room only to come back a little while later with a few more suits in tow.
My jaw dropped to the floor. My heart began racing. What the fuck was he doing here? What the fuck did he have anything to do with dad? He was my enemy. Hell, he was the family’s enemy. My father hated him with the passion of a thousand suns. If there was one person I would rather not see now, it was him. He was the person who hated me most in this world. Caiden Scott.
My gaze went to him as soon as we walked in. He looked the same as he did in high school. Tall, handsome, and ready to do damage. The years had been kind to him than to some of us. He seemed to have become a better version of himself as he had grown older. His features were more defined. His dark pinstriped suit was well-tailored and made him look like the personification of the devil himself. He had changed, grown older and harsher. It made him even more devastating. He had also made a name for himself in the luxury goods industry. Caiden the Conqueror, they had called him for his savvy acquisitions and great business deals. The person next to him, I barely noted, but I knew who he was. His best friend since high school. Axel Reid or Ax as he liked to be called.
They both took the two empty seats.
“Quite a group.” Ax said as he ran his gaze around the table, “If we had known, we would have brought our own calvary.”
Dad laughed. He was the only one who did.
Caiden sat directly opposite me. And even though my entire body had registered his presence; he looked through me like I was invisible. Without taking my eyes off him, I leaned into Greyson, “What’s he doing here?”
“He’s the reason we’re all here.”
“What the fuck do you mean?”
Dad cleared his throat and began the meeting. The longer it went on, the more I realized they had duped me. It wasn’t merely a board meeting. It was a sell off. And Caiden was here to buy. The company on offer was Celeste. One of the most profitable jewelry companies under the Lyndell umbrella.
“What I mean is,” my father said in his burly, gruff voice, “the offer that’s on the table is adequate. It’s low. Lower than the market rate.”
“It’s going to be worth even less next week,” Ax spoke. He was the one who was doing all the talking, but even I could tell he was simply parroting whatever Caiden had told him. Axel was known to be as brutal as Caiden, or so I had heard. He was just as handsome too. Manhattan’s Most Playful Playboy, Page Six, called him. But you wouldn’t have guessed that from this meeting. “You’re hemorrhaging cash fast as you flail around the market. No one will buy you. Your recent scandal has turned off most of your customer base, you have nowhere to go. Our offer is good enough.”
“Why am I here?” I whispered to Greyson after some time. What they were talking about seemed to be stuff that had nothing to do with me. So what they were selling part of the company? I’ve never cared for it. Greyson squeezed my thigh to shut me up. I slapped away his hand.
“I’m not moving,” Dad said.
Ax leaned into Caiden as he whispered something to him. He leaned forward and began collecting his papers, “We are out, if that’s what you want.”
They were about to rise when Dad shouted, “Wait. Sit down. I get it. You drive a hard bargain. How about I sweeten the deal for you?”
Caiden spoke up for the first time. His voice was quiet and commanding. “I’m listening.”
“How about I add one of my children in an advisory capacity to make the deal better?”
He scoffed, “Your incompetent brutes? No thanks.”
“Their knowledge will make the transition easier.”
Caiden was quiet. For the first time during the entire meeting, he focused his gaze on me. It was arresting, and I felt frozen in my seat. He hadn’t been oblivious; he had been aware of my presence. The realization was unsettling. I squirmed in my chair. I glanced at my father. He was staring at both of us. He had a mischievous gleam I hadn’t seen in a while. “Maybe there’s someone else I might offer. You certainly used to like her.” I glared at him. He could not be serious. What job could I do at KMVH? I wasn’t in the luxury industry. Deliberately so.
“If you want to buy Celeste, a Lyndell has to be part of the package, no negotiations.”
Caiden’s gaze, which had hardly left mine, flared. I could see his face become angrier and angrier the longer father talked. “What are you implying, old man,” Caiden growled.
“Marry my daughter and I’ll sell Celeste to you.”
The room went quiet. Time seemed to slow down as Caiden seemed to be seriously thinking this over. In the end he said, “Fine.”
“You can’t be serious,” I blasted. Its human bartering. It was insane. Anyone would think it was bonkers. “Why would anyone agree to this?” I looked around the table. Everyone was silent. Bryce was nodding, nodding his little head in agreement to this sham deal. Ass kisser. Greyson was twiddling his thumbs. The cronies had the decency to bow their heads down.
They had planned this. They had planned this all along, and I didn’t have any say in the matter. No one bothered to give me a heads up or a warning. I was a trifling piece of furniture to them.
“Looks like we’re in agreement,” my father said, as if I had said nothing.
“We’re not!” I screamed at him; my eyes wide.
“Hailey!” he started. He looked annoyed at me as if I was a kid running around at a grownups’ party. I didn’t care. He could blow up a fuse if he wanted.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t want to marry him! This isn’t the medieval era.”
“Calm down H, it’s not as if you’re being sent to the gulag.” Bryce said.
“Oh, my fucking god!” I turned to the man at the head of the table, “Dad! Tell him it’s impossible!”
My father didn’t blink. He didn’t even look remorseful, the asshole. My own father truly had sold me off as part of a business deal. He turned to the room. “Can I have one moment with my daughter?”
Chairs scrapped the floor as everyone else shuffled out until it was the two of us left. I marched towards my father, “You’re out of your mind. Both of you.”
“You didn’t use to think so when you’re were young. I remember you having a crush on him.”
My cheeks turned red. I felt caught out. That was his tactic. Destabilize the other, strike the fatal blow, is what h
e once said. “That was then. My feelings are the exact opposite now.”
He shrugged, “Seems like he likes you though.”
I let out a choked laugh. I had no idea why Caiden had agreed, brain worms probably, but that man hated my guts. He hated me more than he hated Dad. And I’m pretty sure given the chance to kill Dad and get away with it, he would take it. What he would do to me, I dared not think about.
Dad got up and strolled over to where I was standing. He took hold of my arms. His eyes were glimmering, “Don’t you get it? This is good for us!” Nothing I said had gotten through, “We could use that to our advantage,” he continued, shaking me with vigor, “Think of all the intel you could get from him.” He was losing his mind. He let go of me and began pacing, “We could take back our division and take over his company.”
I sighed. I knew very little about business, but even I knew how delusional that was. KMVH was twice the size of Lyndell. But it was possible. Buy enough stock and he could get a seat on the board, then he might make changes. But Lyndell didn’t have that much cash lying around. It needed cash. Besides, Caiden would never let something like that happen.