Chapter 1 - THE CALL ON SPEAKER
Nobody moved.
My father was still standing on the lawn with one hand pointed toward the street when the managing partner’s voice came through his phone.
“Richard, why is your daughter’s acquisition team calling us about Jason’s unauthorized access to her company files?”
Dad slowly lowered his hand.
Jason’s face lost every trace of that smug little smile.
“What company files?” Dad asked.
I looked at Jason.
He would not meet my eyes.
The managing partner, Evelyn Shaw, sounded irritated.
“Source code. Acquisition documents. Confidential investor records. Their counsel says the access originated through credentials connected to this firm.”
Dad turned toward Jason.
“Tell me she’s mistaken.”
Jason swallowed.
“I may have looked at a few things.”
“A few things?” I repeated.
He shot me a warning glance.
That was almost funny.
Five minutes earlier, Dad had been throwing me out because I had supposedly failed at life.
Now my brother looked terrified because he had apparently been digging through the company I had built while everyone else was busy mocking it.
Dad covered the phone.
“Mia, what acquisition?”
I lifted my duffel bag from the grass.
“The one I was going to tell you about tonight.”
“What did you sell?”
“My software company.”
Jason whispered, “Mia…”
I ignored him.
Dad stared at me.
“For how much?”
I could have walked away.
Part of me wanted to.
But after years of being compared to Jason, years of being told my work was a hobby, I decided one truthful answer was enough.
“Nineteen million dollars.”
My mother’s coffee mug slipped from her hands.
It shattered on the porch.
Mrs. Hill stopped pretending to water her roses.
Dad stared at me like I had suddenly started speaking another language.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
Jason closed his eyes.
That was when I realized he already knew.
Evelyn’s voice came through the speaker again.
“Richard, we have another problem.”
Dad brought the phone back to his ear.
“What now?”
“The access log wasn’t only tied to Jason.”
She paused.
“It was also authenticated through your partner credentials.”
May you like
Dad looked at me.
And for the first time in my life, Richard Bennett had absolutely nothing to say.
