“The rest of the estate—the house, the cars, all investments—are left to his wife,” Mr. Tartt says.
“Paul, what would you pay for my dad’s company?”
“As a married couple, all property would go to the couple.”
I ignore the lawyer. “Paul?”
“How much do you want for it?” he asks. There’s a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
“One million,” I say. “But I want something else more.”
“What is it?”
Leaning forward, I drop my elbows to the table. I have him right where I need him. “I want you to sign the damn divorce papers. And when I start the process of taking you off Poppy’s birth certificate to list Kade as her father?—”
“What?” Mom interrupts.
“I don’t want a single issue out of you. I want you to sign the papers so you will be out of our life. You are not my husband and you are not Poppy’s father,” I finish, ignoring her.
“Presley, are you saying Paul isn’t Poppy’s father?”
“Yes.” I turn my attention to her. “She’s Kade’s. I was in love with him, and Dad made damn sure that I never got to bewith him. When I found out I was pregnant, Dad didn’t know, but he’d already decided Kade wasn’t worthy of me and didn’t want me to throw my life away on him.”
She shakes her head. “Your father would be so disappointed in you.”
“He didn’t know me. He didn’t know what I wanted in life.”
“He didn’t want this for you. To throw away your life on a man who can’t provide for you.”
“I don’t need anyone to provide for me. I’ve been doing it for Poppy and myself these last few months. I’ll keep doing whatever I need to do for my daughter. Something you never did for me.”
She scoffs, shaking her head.
“This is what you want, Presley?” Paul asks.
“Yes. I don’t want King Properties. I want to live a life with the man I love and my daughter without having to worry about pleasing others that don’t care about me.”
“One million dollars. That’s all you want?”
“And signing the papers, Paul,” I confirm. I’m putting myself and my daughter first. I don’t want these people in our lives anymore. Them or their money.
“Done,” he says. “You’ll have your money and I’ll have the company.”
“No. I want you to put it in a trust fund for Poppy. She can access it when she’s eighteen, and I’ll manage it for her. That way she never has to worry about a thing in life.”
“Presley Ann King. Why are you throwing away your chance at a future?” Mom asks.
Disdain drips from her voice. I don’t even recognize her at this point, but I’m done. If she doesn’t want to be in our lives, then I’m done trying to be the perfect daughter that she always wanted.
I want to be someone that my daughter is proud of.
“Because all my choices were taken away from me. Youand Dad made all my choices and for once, I’m doing what I want.”
I loved Kade and was ready to marry him, but they didn’t deem him respectable. Paul was forced on me, and I did what I had to.
But I’m done. I am not going to be that person.
“I am not going to let you control me any longer. I want to be with Kade, Mom,” I address her. “If you don’t support me, that’s fine, but if you side with Paul, you’re not going to see me or Poppy ever again.”
