“If you ask me,” she says, “they should be thanking you. What if our father had taken a DNA test to squirrel out any kids he didn’t know about? What ifhe’dgotten to them first?”
“And that’s why I have to finish what I’ve started. I need him to know in no uncertain terms that it’s time to pay for his sins and disappear from the public eye. Forever.”
She tilts her head at me. “Justice will always find a way, even if you don’t help it along.”
“I need to help it along.”
“You taking over Aurora Gardens?” Oliver asks me.
“That was the plan.”
“Was?”
“I’ve been planning this for four years. Since—since our parents demonstrated in no uncertain terms that they don’t know the real meaning of family.”
“Margot,” Daph whispers, her eyes going shiny.
I sling an arm around her shoulders and give her a side hug. “I was always Team Daphne. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“Stop making me cry and finish your breakfast.”
“Whatever you’re still planning, I’m in,” Oliver tells me. “I’m Team Daphne too.”
“Don’t really expect I can do much, but same,” Bea says.
I stare down at my half-eaten breakfast. “I don’t know what I’m planning anymore.”
Oliver heaves another gigantic, exaggerated sigh. “Fine.Fine. You can use my brain to help figure this out.”
Daphne’s wiping her eyes. “My brain is hardly useless, you two jackasses,” she mutters. “And I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve fantasized about how fucked our father would be if you just quit. You could buy a few smaller hotelchains and build them bigger and better than Aurora Gardens, and you could do it in your sleep. He thinks he’s so smart, and he thinks he’s so in control, but he never made you sign a noncompete, did he? And any nondisclosures only mean you can’t share company secrets, right? There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from using everything he ever taught you to beat him at his own game.”
I swallow and tilt my head at my sister. “You know about the lack of a noncompete?”
“Being uninterested in business doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“Daphne. I don’t think you’re stupid.”
“Smarter than half the rest of us put together,” Oliver murmurs.
She grins. “It’s nice to finally be recognized.”
“I get why she’s not allowed to come to the city now,” Bea murmurs.
“Same, but I don’t dislike it as much as I probably should,” Oliver says.
“So. First we destroy our father, and then we get you your man back,” Daphne declares. “Easy-peasy. When do we start? Or do you want to get your man back first, and then destroy our father?”
Now my eyes are stinging again. “I’m not getting my man back.”
“Margot.”
“I’m broken, Daph. My heart—it doesn’t work right.”
“Clearly, Ms. Spent Four Years Planning to Avenge Your Sister,” Bea murmurs.
“Revenge isn’t—it’s not—revenge isn’t good. It’s not?—”
“Justiceisalwaysgood,” Bea says. “Is itjusticeto let powerful people who hurt others for sport stay in their positions when you can take them down? Calling it revengeinstead of righteousness doesn’t make it any less honorable and admirable.”
