Getting in to see him wasn’t as easy as I had expected it to be, though. The receptionist’s job description must have included the term “guard dog.”
“I’m sorry,”—except she didn’t sound even the tiniest bit apologetic—“but without an appointment, there really isn’t any way you’ll be able to get in to see Mr. Wentworth today.”
“You don’t understand,” I breathed out heavily. “He’ll definitely want to see me.”
“It’s okay, Sandy,” an unfamiliar masculine voice said from behind me. “I’ll handle this.”
I turned to find a short, portly man standing there. He had a receding hair line, and a shifty look in his eyes that were in contrast to the expensive suit he was wearing. He offered me an insincere smile and lifted his hand to wrap it around my elbow.
“Miss Brooks, is it?”
“Yes,” I replied warily.
“Thanks for coming in. You saved me a phone call and a trip out to see you.”
“Um, okay.”
“If you’ll follow me this way.”
He didn’t really give me a choice, not without causing a disturbance, so I allowed him to lead me into a corner office down a long hallway. After he settled me into a chair, he walked around his desk and plopped down into his own seat. While his back was turned I sent off a quick text to Ethan, letting him know where I was since there was something about this man that made me uncomfortable.
“I’m Marcus Chesterton, Samuel’s lawyer.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I whispered, in an attempt to be polite since it most definitely wasn’t nice. My dad apparently had a slimy lawyer on staff. How wonderful.
“I wish I could say this was going to be a friendly conversation,” he sighed. “But what I have to tell you isn’t going to be pleasant.”
What the heck? I didn’t appreciate his patronizing tone, and I had literally no idea how he could have something unpleasant to discuss with me. “Pardon me?”
He yanked open the top drawer of his desk, pulled out a sheaf of papers, and laid them down in front of me. “This is your father’s will. If you’ll read through it, you’ll notice that there’s no mention of you anywhere in it. Lola, as his fiancée and eventually his wife, is his sole beneficiary.”
I shoved the papers back towards him. “Not that the money matters to me, but he didn’t even lay eyes on me until four days ago. It’s not as though he’s had the time to think about changing his will.”
“I can understand why you’d like to look at it that way,” he conceded. “But he’s known about you since your mom turned up pregnant. Yet, in all these years, he’s never made any arrangements for you in the case of his death.”
“He didn’t?” I wasn’t willing to admit it to this man, but that part hurt. A lot.
“I’ve drawn up each and every one of his wills, and there has never been mention of his possible offspring in any version. Samuel’s worth millions of dollars, and I’ve done an excellent job making sure you would never be able to lay claim to a penny of it . . . at his repeated request. I’ve tried to talk him out of it time and time again, but he wasn’t willing to listen to reason.”
“No,” I cried, shaking my head. “It isn’t possible.”
I wasn’t upset about the money. I couldn’t care less about that. But I felt sick knowing the extent to which my father had gone to cut me out of his will. I’d convinced myself that my mom must have been mistaken somehow, that my father would never have done what she’d accused him of. But this new information made me question my decision to let him into my life.
“Look, Ms. Brooks. I’ve known Samuel his entire life. He’s never wanted children. It doesn’t make him a bad man, he’s just not the fatherly type. You’ll do much better on your own, out of this town, and away from his influence.”
“I can’t leave town. This is where Ethan lives. He has a business here. We can’t just pack up and go.”
“Ethan?” he parroted with a stunned expression on his face. “Ethan Parker?”
“Yes.” I held up my left hand and turned it so he could see the ring. “We’re engaged to be married. Surely you can see why what you’re suggesting is impossible.”
“It’s even worse than I thought, you poor girl.” He heaved a deep breath, stood, and walked around to my side of the desk. “Ethan is Samuel’s best friend, and quite protective of him. He’d do just about anything for him—including taking care of the potential issue of the long-lost daughter who suddenly turned up.”