“We are the best lawyers in the state, and it’s only natural that Peter Morgan is our client.How could you miss this?”He hisses in that raspy voice of his.
My hand rubs the back of my neck.I pull in a long breath and hold it.Oh shit.
“Is this what I think it is?Are your hands on that money too?”My heart sinks as the truth clicks into place.
“Well, he’s our client and that money obviously comes from his operations, but who cares?The important thing is I defend him in my professional capacity as a lawyer.Nothing illegal with that.”He pauses for a second.
“Look, you should be on my side, assisting me in settling these charges.We can fight Malcolm Golden together.Don’t you hold a grudge against him for taking your mother?”He inhales sharply, ready to unleash a speech he’s probably practiced in front of a mirror.“Wake up.That man is the reason your mother left you.Left us.He’s a home wrecker.”
I stay silent with one hand over my mouth.My breath, rough a moment ago, starts to steady.He keeps talking, circling his old wounds, his bitterness, his obsession with image, and that endless nonsense about how he wants me to succeed with someone of equal status and equal money, like it’s the only thing that matters.
“Laird?You still there?”He finally notices I stopped answering.
“Yes.”
“Then it’s settled.You go to London tomorrow.Bring back Lord Hawksmoor to assist us here.He knows those Irish well.”His tone turns commanding, like he thinks he’s royalty.As if any sane person would keep listening after everything he just said.
My jaw clenches.I hold out as long as I can.I take a deep breath.My eyes close, and I pray a little that God helps me hold my ground.I bite my bottom lip.
Come on.How hard can it be?I got a bullet in my stomach once.No threat scares me anymore.I press the record button.“No.I quit.”
“Pardon?”His voice jumps.
I let the silence stretch before I say it again, the decision I’ve carried for months.Something I should’ve done right after I graduated.“I quit.”
“What do you mean quit?”He stammers.
“I’ll send my resignation letter to Rebecca now.”My fingers grip my phone so tight.I hold back the raging breath in my chest, trying to steady myself.I can do this.Fenella deserves the best version of me, and the Laird Evans controlled by his father will not cut it.
He growls.“What the hell are you talking about?Don’t you dare.”
“It is what it is.”My voice stays firm.
“Laird!”He snaps.The fury in his voice crackles through the speaker.“If you do it, I’ll fire Rebecca for accepting your resignation letter.”He spits the threat like he enjoys dragging her into this.He’s always like that.Never changing.I snort.
“Yeah, you should’ve fired her a long time ago, Dad.She harassed every living person walking on this sick earth.”
“That’s a baseless accusation.”He tries to sound calm now, like he can still control this.
“No, it’s not.There were too many victims for it to be baseless.You knew about it, and you kept your damn mouth shut.Then you pressured her to behave toward me, but that didn’t fix how she treated everyone else.I’m done with your double standards.”
“Stop it.Keep going with this nonsense and I swear I’ll make your girl miserable.Her mother too.Her friend—”
“Sure.”I smirk.“And I’ll spread this recording as evidence to sue you for a lot of charges.Imagine the millions we can get out of you.”
His breath hitches, and another long silence stretches between us.He grunts on the other end, maybe steadying himself.“Listen, son—”
“No, you listen, Dad.I quit, and that’s final.”
I hang up.My steps move on their own toward my desk.I sit, open my email, and send the message to Rebecca with the resignation letter I’ve kept for way too long.
Finally, I’m free.
Without looking back, I walk out of the office.
39
Little Happiness
