My brows shot up my forehead, not because I didn’t believe my grandfather would do that but because I’d never figured out that’s why my parents had gotten married. It all made so much sense in that instant. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t guessed before.
“Because of the bylaws,” I said knowingly.
Her head whipped up, and she met my gaze. “Felix told you?”
“He didn’t mention that’s why he married you, but he tried the same trick with me. The bylaws say the company can only be led by a family member or someone who marries into it. I didn’t want anything to do with Lansford Development, not that he ever asked. A few years ago, he handpicked the man he wanted to groom to eventually be his second-in-command and one day take over. Then he manipulated me into an engagement.”
“Oh, Magnolia,” she said as if she gave half a crap about me. “I had no idea?—”
“Of course you didn’t,” I snapped. “How could you when you disappeared from my life?”
“I didn’t realize you were married.”
“I’m not.” I hadn’t anticipated how trauma-filled this visit would become so quickly.
She frowned. “When are you getting married?”
“I’m not. Initially I agreed to the engagement. Rick was not a love match, but he was good-looking enough and charming and attentive at first.”
“At first,” she said as if she’d been through the same thing. “When I first married Felix, I foolishly thought maybe we’d find our way to love.”
My mother and I had more in common than I’d ever guessed. “Same. I’ll give him credit. Rick went all out in the early months. Charm, gifts, kindness. He wanted to marry quickly, but I insisted I needed at least a year to plan a wedding. Turns out Rick couldn’t be sweet for that long. Or to be more accurate, faithful.”
“I wish I could say I was surprised. So what happened?”
“I called him on it.” I thought back to the night more than two years ago at the bonfire, when I’d caught Rick texting some woman suggestive messages. “He had absolutely no remorse. He knew I was trapped and didn’t care one little bit about my feelings.”
“No,” she said. “They don’t. So did something happen to Rick?”
That she would assume something happened to him rather than that I stood up for myself was so telling. “I happened. I refused to go through life with a husband who was so inconsiderate of me. Cheating itself would be bad enough, but the fact that when I caught him, he showed no remorse? And we weren’t even married yet?” I shook my head with emphasis. “I couldn’t live like that. I broke off the engagement. Dad disowned me that night. Kicked me out with nothing but two suitcases of clothes and toiletries and my car. He paid an after-hours locksmith to change the locks.”
My mother nodded knowingly. “That’s how he is. Controlling and manipulative. I’m so sorry you went through that.”
“I’m not,” I said with no hesitation. “Being free of him is worth it. Free of both of them. You must understand that since you also broke free.”
“Not entirely.” She averted her eyes again. “I left, but I’m still married to him. Still under his thumb.”
I mentally reared back. They were still married? Why, if she went to the effort of getting away from him, was she still legally tied to him? “Why didn’t you divorce him?”
My mother leaned back in the chair and reclined her head, eyes closed. “We made an agreement when I left.”
“What? He told me you left without telling him, but if you made an agreement…”
She straightened and opened her eyes. “He knew very well I was leaving and how to get ahold of me. He had to in order to send me monthly stipends.”
“What’s he paying you for?”
“Keeping his secrets, primarily.” She shook her head. “Our relationship was so toxic, Magnolia… It still is.”
“You still have a relationship with him?”
“Only financially. I suspect I won’t after today.”
“What is today?”
“Today is the day I tell you everything. Or at least the relevant points.”
She looked scared or as if she might get sick, piquing my curiosity. “Okay.” I drew out the word and sat back in my chair, settling in.
