Chapter 5 - THE GRANDFATHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Willow laughed once.
It came out strangely.
“Lucas’s grandfather has been dead for sixteen years.”
“That is what Richard announced.”
Michael stood and walked to a cabinet.
He removed an old newspaper.
The headline read.
STERLING PATRIARCH DIES AT 78.
There was a photograph of Nathaniel Sterling beside Richard.
Willow had seen it before.
Every Sterling office displayed some version of that family history.
Nathaniel Sterling.
Founder.
Visionary.
Industrialist.
Philanthropist.
Michael tapped the article.
“No funeral was open to the public.”
“So?”
“No death certificate was ever entered in Cook County.”
Willow frowned.
“How do you know?”
“I looked.”
“Maybe he died somewhere else.”
“That’s what I assumed.”
Michael pulled out another envelope.
“Until three months ago.”
Inside was a photograph taken through what appeared to be a car windshield.
An elderly man sat in a wheelchair outside a stone building.
Willow stared.
He looked impossibly old.
But she recognized him.
Nathaniel Sterling.
“Where was this taken?”
“Wisconsin.”
Helena leaned in.
“What kind of building is that?”
“Private nursing facility.”
Willow looked at Michael.
“Why would Richard tell everyone his father was dead if he wasn’t?”
“I don’t know.”
Michael paused.
“But Evelyn trusted Nathaniel.”
Willow remembered Richard’s reaction at the hotel.
“You knew this tonight?”
“I knew Nathaniel might be alive.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was trying to confirm it.”
Willow pushed the photograph away.
“Everybody has been protecting me by lying to me.”
Michael flinched.
She regretted the words immediately.
But she did not take them back.
Her phone buzzed.
Lucas.
She ignored it.
It rang again.
Then again.
Helena glanced at the screen.
“That’s eleven calls.”
Willow finally answered.
“What?”
Lucas’s voice was quiet.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“Willow, this has gone too far.”
“You hit me.”
“I lost control.”
“In front of six hundred people.”
“I apologized.”
“You have not apologized.”
Silence.
Then Lucas exhaled sharply.
“My lawyers are here.”
Willow looked at Helena.
“Why are your lawyers there?”
“Because you left the party with your father after creating a public scene.”
Something in Willow’s stomach tightened.
“What are you doing, Lucas?”
“Protecting myself.”
“From what?”
“From whatever story you’re planning to tell.”
Willow stood.
“You think this is about publicity?”
“I think your father has spent years resenting my family.”
Michael heard the sentence from across the room.
His expression did not change.
Lucas continued.
“And I think he finally convinced you that you deserve something from us.”
Willow almost admired the speed with which Lucas had rewritten reality.
“What do you think I want?”
“Money.”
She closed her eyes.
Five years.
Five years loving this man.
Five years defending him.
Five years convincing herself that he was softer than Richard.
“I don’t want your money.”
“Then sign a statement saying tonight was a private marital disagreement.”
Willow opened her eyes.
“No.”
“Willow.”
“No.”
Lucas’s voice became colder.
“Then understand what happens next.”
“What happens next?”
“Our attorneys will prove you’ve been unstable for months.”
Willow froze.
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve seen a therapist.”
“After my miscarriage.”
“You’ve taken medication.”
“For three weeks.”
“You’ve had emotional episodes.”
“I cried when we lost our baby.”
Michael’s head snapped toward her.
Willow had never told him about the miscarriage.
Lucas continued as though discussing quarterly numbers.
“We have documentation.”
The room went silent.
Willow whispered.
“You’ve been collecting documentation on me?”
Lucas did not answer.
She understood.
This had not begun tonight.
Maybe it had not even begun with the slap.
“Goodbye, Lucas.”
Before she disconnected, he said one final thing.
“You should ask your father why Sterling attorneys have been paying the mortgage on his shop for twelve years.”
Willow slowly lowered the phone.
Michael had gone completely still.
She turned toward him.
“Dad?”
Michael said nothing.
Willow looked around the garage she had believed belonged to him.
May you like
Then she asked the question Lucas clearly wanted planted between them.
“Who really owns this place?”
