He cleared his throat again. “For how long?”
This mother fucker. For real. I glanced at him over my shoulder and bared my teeth at him. “I don’t know? At least six months from the last article or interview of one of his affairs to start. Let’s see how long that takes and go from there. Maybe you can make him into a decent person over that time, but I doubt it.”
I was childish and closed the door back in his face making it clear he should go for a walk. It was comforting to see the otherAlphas actually agreed and gave disgusted looks at the door like they couldn’t believe how Vex was acting.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” I muttered as I went back to the notes for the press conference they were about to hold.
“Onyx handled it badly, but he made it clear the emotional abuse was bad,” one of the Alphas muttered. “I suffered something similar when I was younger. We’re trained to accept so much to not stir up trouble that we’re not taught the line of when we need to recognize we’reintrouble. It—I made sure my children never suffered the same. You will as well.”
I nodded that I heard him but was glad when they left it alone beyond that.
The press conference went well. Beyond well even from the questions and reception. It was hard not to be bitter how differently the press treated and responded to themaleAlphas compared to when I spoke. I was there, but I let them all speak mostly because we needed this to go over well.
How pathetic was it that I couldn’t get involved for that to happen?
At least the reports later were that I was smart enough to know when I was in over my head and to outsource it to competent people. Yes, that was what was said.
Like Iwasn’tcompetent enough to handle it.
And assumed I was in over my head. Not that I just delegated to my Alphas as the system was set up.
Fucking assholes. Even when I was “praised” they tore me down.
There were a few quips that I was being greedy demanding all of the elders’ wealth for myself and my family. I was glad when people being interviewed immediately fought back on that saying I deserved what I deserved. Even older males saying ifelders got fat off my family, then that money and property were mine.
So in a sweeping declaration of unity against the elders, I now had twenty-five new properties in the capital… And everything in them. All mine.Plus, the millions I’d already taken from them for the cost of living so many years in the castle and sponging off my family. This was extra.
And the ones who facilitated the embezzling and stealing from my family that led to the neglect of the planes? I was bankrupting them. I was takingeverything.
That wasn’t as popular, but a lot of people came out and said they’d do worse.
Oh, I planned to as well, but… It was a start.
Dray made a comment during the press conference that the families wouldn’t need the money anymore because it was clear they’d all be in prison anyways. Pretty much.
However, that was now twenty-five properties to handle. Do things with, and I doubted they were all in great shape when the elders had been living at the castle.
I was not that lucky. So really, it was more expense for me.
Butthere was only a handful more debts to be paid off. However, they were the biggest ones… Though luckily with friends of my parents who had figured out something had truly been up and were very understanding. They didn’t think the royal family had actually been broke but now assumed the elders had been tying my parents up in knots financially.
Like with the banks and using their influence to hold my parents’ money hostage as with so much else while they were busy running a country.
I honestly wondered if that was how things had started and just snowballed into the mess I inherited. Either way, I lied and said that was exactly it when I talked to them directly. Thatundoing it all would take just a bit longer with the estate passing to me, but Father had had it mostly handled before his death.
Why was I giving him the credit?
I really wasn’t sure. He didn’t deserve it. Maybe just to make sure there wasn’t a leak later after all the hard work I’d put in?
Myriam had asked me as well, but I’d shrugged it off and simply focused back on what I’d been doing.
Maybe, no matter how much I told myself I only saw my parents as my king and queen, I was just as full of shit as everyone else? Who knew.
Life was complicated like that.
More complicated for some of us than others.
22
