Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(30)

"But since my father died, none of that happened, right?"



"It gets better," Phillip said. "James filed a countersuit claiming   slander. When the first case went to court, your father had already   passed. Miraculously, witness statements and supporting documents had   gone missing from his attorney's office."



"Was that attorney a friend of James Hunter's by any chance?"



"Better yet," Seth said. "He was a gambler and a cheat and Father knew   all of his deep, dark secrets because they had worked together for   years."         

     



 



"Oh no!"



"Oh yes," Phillip said. "I spoke with the other attorney today. His name   is Paul Goddard and he has been retired for five years. He told me the   truth about what happened back then. He has gone through alcoholics   anonymous and gamblers anonymous over the past few years. He was going   to come to you eventually. He has been trying to "make amends" for his   past sins. I told him that I wouldn't promise whatever he told me   wouldn't be used against him. I'm not sure how far you plan to take   this. He said that he didn't care anymore; he was tired of living with   things on his conscience. It seems he's admitted a lot of his wrongs   against a lot of people."



"He got rid of the evidence?" I asked.



"Worse," Seth said. "My father blackmailed him and threatened to ruin   his career. Paul gave him the original witness statements and original   documents …  financial documents that your father had collected to use   against mine in court."



"Wow …  I didn't realize how far his reach was."



"Neither did I," Seth said. "The good news is that Phillip told me   something very interesting about my father today. He told me that James   Hunter is a narcissist. I guess I've had to always know that, but I   never wanted to admit it. It's hard to think of one of your parents as   incapable of loving anyone other than themselves. "He also told me that a   narcissist would "keep trophies" of his wins because he thinks he is   way too smart to get caught." Seth laid down some more paperwork in   front of me. It was copies of the witness statements, all of the   evidence my father had compiled against James.



"Oh my God. Seth, you're amazing." Phillip cleared his throat and I   looked up at him and smiled. "You too, Phillip of course. You're both   incredible. I'm so lucky to have you in my corner."



"At the risk of sounding like an infomercial I have to say, "But wait!" That's not all."



I couldn't help but smile at my beautiful man as I said, "Please tell me what else there is."



"Well, as you can see there, my father countersued for slander. Because   this evidence never came to light, and your father was dead he won that   case. That's how he obtained your company. He was awarded a lot of  money  from your father's estate. There wasn't enough cash so he took  the  other assets …  the house, the furnishings, the business … "



"So he was granted all of that in court. Does that mean I don't have a legal right to any of it any longer?"



"It would, if we couldn't prove he hid evidence and that was the only way he won."



"So we're going to do what with that evidence?"



"We are going to use it to persuade my old man to walk away from Hunter Corp …  after signing the deed over to you, of course."



"Oh wow. Do you think that he will agree to that?"



"We will make sure he doesn't have a choice," Seth told me.



I got up and hugged them both. I don't think I could ever put into words   how much their help meant to me. "Thank you both so much!" I saw the   top of Phillip's head flush as I kissed him on it. Seth looked amused.



"You're welcome," Phillip said. "I can't wait to hear what his reaction   was when you two confront him. I'm going to go home now and get some   rest. It's late for this old man to be out." I thanked him profusely   again. I was so happy.



Once Phillip left, I looked at Seth with the adoration I was feeling. He   grinned at me again. I could tell that he was feeling pretty proud of   himself. That was okay by me, he deserved to be.



"Are you hungry?" he asked me.



"I am starving," I told him. "I'm also highly aroused. It's like all of   my senses are heightened all of a sudden. This spy stuff is kind of   fun."



He laughed, "Yeah, it is. But you know what is going to be more fun?   Walking into YOUR company that first day knowing that no one can ever   take it away from you again. You came a long ways from that little girl   who was all alone in the world. You have so much to be proud of  yourself  for."



"Thank you, baby. I also have so much to be thankful for. I've made some pretty amazing friends along this wild ride."



He waggled his eyebrows at me and said, "You want to see a wild ride, wait until after dinner."



After we ate he took me to his townhouse. His father was at the main   estate for the night and Seth said he wanted to "show me something."   When we got there he showed me into a room that looked like a spa and   said, "There are some bathing suits in that big closet over there that   used to belong to my mom. A lot of them are brand new with the tags   still on. I bet you could find one to fit."         

     



 



I laughed. "What on earth would I need a bathing suit for at this hour for?"



He leaned in and kissed me softly. "Slip one on and meet me downstairs and I'll show you."



He started to walk out as I was standing there confused and when he got   to the door I said, "Wait! Downstairs? Aren't we on the first floor?"



"Yep," he said. "Take the elevator down. I'll see you there."



Shaking my head, I opened the closet in front of me. It was definitely a   glimpse into Seth's mother's life. She obviously liked to do two   things: shop and swim. The closet was literally full of swimwear and as   he said there would be, one whole side still contained the tags. I  found  a yellow two piece that I liked and held it up to me. It looked  like it  was just my size. I told myself it wasn't weird to wear it  because  obviously Seth's mother never had. Once I had it on and looked  in the  mirror, I loved it so much I was afraid I might not ever be  talked out  of it. I found a yellow sarong and tied it around my waist.  Slipping  back on the black heels I'd worn with my dress for dinner, I  took one  last look before seeking out the elevator. I wasn't used to  the whole  high heels and swimwear look, but it was different for me,  and fun.



The elevator was right next to the stairs at the front entrance. I   pushed the "B" and when the doors slid open to the basement, my breath   was taken away. I was confronted by shiny white marble floors and thick,   gold wallpaper. The walls surrounded an Olympic sized swimming pool   that was made out of white marble and inlaid with gold. Seth was sitting   at the edge in a pair of blue swim trunks, dangling his feet in the   water.



"This is …  wow!"



He smiled. "Swimming was my mother's favorite thing to do." He pat the   tile next to me and took my hand, helping me sit down. I'd slipped off   the heels before I stepped out of the elevator. I stuck my bare feet and   legs in next to his. He looked at me then as if he'd just noticed what  I  was wearing. "You are so damned gorgeous."



"Thank you. Tell me about your mother," I said.



"She was a swimmer in college. That's how she and my father met. She was   competing at the college he went to and when he saw her, he said he  had  to have her. I used to think that was romantic until I found out  how  extremely possessive he was. But anyways, when they redecorated  this  place the first time, there was nothing down here but storage.  Father  wanted to put in a theatre but mother wanted a pool. I remember,  I was  only five or six …  I heard them arguing one night. I didn't  understand a  lot of what they were talking about then, but at one point  she told him  he had taken her dignity from her when she caught him  with "that woman."  She started to cry and my father was trying to  comfort her …  I guess.  The whole argument spiraled down into my mother  talking about how she  gave up everything that was important in her life  to be in his and he  didn't even appreciate her. She even said that she  didn't think he even  loved her most of the time. My father told her  she was being ridiculous  and then he said something like, "Look around!  I've given you  everything. What more could you possibly want?" Back  then, I didn't  understand the dynamics of a dysfunctional relationship  the way I do  now. But I heard her say, "I want a swimming pool." He  caught me  listening then and sent me to my room, but the next day the  workers  showed up and within a month, my mother had her pool. They  didn't fight  for a while after that but that may be because she spent  so much time  down here. It kind of became our private spot. Father  didn't swim so  this was where she and I could hide out from all of the  pressures he was  always putting on us."