My father’s eyes were wary. We hadn’t talked about Chandler since our big fight, and I hated to bring him up now, but I wanted him to know we weredone. At least it could be one thing that eased his mind.
“I don’t know who is doing this, but I am going to find out,” I said insistently. “I’m going to do whatever I can to get to the bottom of this.”
“It’s a shitshow, Gabriella…” he started.
“I don’t care, Dad. I want to help. I want to save the company. Please.”
He sighed and looked down at our hands still weaved together.
“If we don’t figure out who is doing this, I’m afraid there won’t be a company to save.”
I swallowed hard at that, realizing everything he had built could be gone just like that. It wasn’t right.
“We will, Dad. Everything will be okay.”
“I’m not so sure.” He shook his head, his glassy brown eyes looking at me. “If we don’t, the SEC will tie up all our assets. As owner and now acting CEO, I’ll be the one to go down with the ship.”
“You won’t,” I said, squeezing his hand. He was right, though. Now that Chandler was no longer CEO, my father had to step in. How ideal for Chandler to step away before the shit hit the fan. The shit that he had caused. Even though he wasn’t the one who had been stealing from the company, he did something unforgivable. He could have at least given my father a chance to look into things internally, but he just had to get his last dig in.
“I’m going to go grab some files that haven’t been seized yet and we are going to start poring through them, okay? I don’t care how long it takes. We will stay here all night. All tomorrow. We are going to find this asshole and make them pay, okay?”
My father chuckled. It was like music to my ears.
“There’s my fiery girl,” he said, a hint of a smile reaching his lips.
I smiled back before getting up and heading back into the hallway to find anything that might help us that wasn’t already in the hands of the SEC. I motioned for his attorney to come back in, knowing we would need his help through this.
I was able to find a few boxes in storage that the SEC hadn’t gotten to yet. They had left around 5 p.m., promising to return the next day and warning us not to do anything questionable. I knew our time was limited. My father and I went throughthe files, carefully inspecting each one. Looking for anything suspicious. As much as I hated to admit it, it would have been nice to have Chandler’s accounting firm here. They were the ones who had found the discrepancy in the first place.
“I’m getting hungry,” said my father, leaning back in his chair and patting his belly.
“Want me to order Chinese?” I asked, glad that he had an appetite. It looked like he hadn’t eaten in days.
“That sounds perfect.”
“Egg rolls coming right up,” I said with a grin as I pulled out my phone and dialed the Chinese restaurant down the block. After placing our order, I hung up and found my father looking at me.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?” I asked.
“Taking care of me.”
“Of course. You’re my father.” I shrugged as if it were obvious.
It didn’t matter that we were in one of the biggest arguments of our lives, I still loved him. I still cared for him. It was why the past few months had been so difficult. Ever since he announced Chandler as CEO, leaving me questioning everything, thingshad been rocky. They only got worse when he found out about Chandler and me sleeping together, and the baby.
The baby.
My stomach churned with unease. Hours ago, I had thought I had everything figured out for my future. For the baby’s future. I had actually been excited, feeling hopeful for the first time since finding out. Now, I was back to being alone and facing raising my baby as a single mother. What Chandler and I had was fleeting. A flicker of what could have been, and now it was gone as quickly as someone blowing out a candle.
“And you’re my daughter,” said my father, reaching his hand to my face and stroking it gently with my thumb.
“I’m sorry things have been so weird between us,” I said remorsefully.
“I am, too,” he said.
“I hope you know that I never meant to disappoint you. That’s the last thing I would ever want to do. I’ve spent my whole life just trying to make you proud…” I said, my voice cracking slightly.
