Someone didn’t want her there.
Jenny was sleeping. Meg sat by the bed for half an hour, wishing she could erase the last few weeks and go back to the time before she knew Hartwell existed. She wanted to curl up under her fluffy red blanket and hide from it all. From her mother’s illness, from the Ashworths, from the lies Jenny had told her throughout her whole life.
‘Mum,’ Meg whispered, when Jenny stirred. She observed Meg with a faraway look in her eyes. ‘Do you remember the man who visited you?’
Jenny glanced at the door, then back to Meg. ‘Who?’
Meg showed her the printed page. ‘This man. You don’t remember?’
Jenny squinted at the grainy image. ‘No,’ she said, and closed her eyes again.
Chapter 40
Issy was still reeling from her visit to Kilmore when Malcolm’s email arrived.
She’d been replaying the conversation with her mother over and over since she’d left the day before, dumbfounded by Heather’s advice. Confiding in her had been a mistake. The visit had done nothing to reassure Issy that everything would be okay. Was her mother really suggesting she should overlook the cheating? It’s one thing to forgive a minor indiscretion after fifteen years of marriage and three children, but to knowingly marry someone who isn’t even faithful to start with? That wouldn’t be pragmatic. It would be insane.
To make matters worse, that morning there was an article about Spencer and Hugh in theFinancial Review. Hugh! Felix had sent her a photo of the article. She opened the image on her phone again and zoomed in. Her fiancé and her brother were seated side by side on a velvet sofa in an industrial warehouse with exposed beams and professional lighting. When had this photo shoot taken place? She bit her lip as she read the article.
Since joining Ashworth Property as a young lawyer with a background in corporate property law, this rising star has enjoyeda meteoric journey through the ranks to the most senior levels of the business. His recent engagement to TAG heiress, Isobel, only cements his central role in the family business.
Heiress! The rest was even worse.
She was reading the article for the third time when she got another text from Felix.
Check your email.
She swiped to her inbox.
Sender: Malcolm Ashworth
Subject: Succession Plans
With a sense of doom, she clicked on the message.
Given I’ll be eighty this year, I’ve decided the time has come for me to step back. None of us is invincible, after all. Even me.
I’ve made some key decisions regarding the future of the business. There’s a lot of detail involved, but the long and short of it is that Spencer will take over from me as CEO of the Ashworth Group, effective immediately. Felix, you will have access to a line of credit to be used for start-up ventures and investments, once approved by the TAG board. Isobel, you will be Head of Marketing & Communications for the corporate office, effective immediately. Spencer will be appointed to the board, obviously, in his capacity as CEO.
Issy’s heart pounded in her ears. What the hell was going on? How had all this been decided? When? There must have been numerous conversations between Malcolm and Spencer. Malcolm and the lawyers. Spencer and the lawyers.
Her phone rang. It was Felix.
She swiped to answer. ‘What the actual hell is happening?’
‘Dad’s lost his mind.’ He let out a cynical laugh. ‘So I’ll have to go to Spencer to ask for capital? How the hell will that arrangement work?’
‘And he’s sticking me in the corporate office with a fancy title but no actual impact on anything!’
‘What a joke,’ Felix scoffed. ‘No prizes for guessing who’ll take over from Spencer at Ashworth Property.’
Oh, she hadn’t thought about that. The top job in the property arm of the business would now be open. ‘Who?’ she asked, not following.
‘You think that article this morning was an accident?’
‘Hugh?’ she whispered.
‘If I was a betting man, which I am, that’s where my money would be.’
