Chapter 5 - MEREDITH FIGHTS BACK
By noon the next day, the story was everywhere.
BILLIONAIRE EVERETT SLOAN CANCELS WEDDING SIX WEEKS BEFORE CEREMONY.
FIANCÉE FORCED FROM BOSTON ESTATE.
The headlines were embarrassing.
Everett didn’t care.
Then the second wave arrived.
Sources close to Meredith Vale—incorrectly calling her by Everett’s last name—claimed Everett had suffered “emotional instability” since his wife’s death.
Another article described him as an absentee father.
That one hurt because it wasn’t entirely false.
Photographs appeared of Everett boarding private jets.
Entering hotels.
Attending conferences.
Meanwhile, Meredith was described as the woman who had “raised Daisy while Everett built his empire.”
Everett stared at the article in his office.
Rebecca sat opposite him.
“This is deliberate.”
“I know.”
“She’s creating a defense.”
“For theft?”
“For everything.”
Everett read another line.
A source says Meredith became concerned about Daisy’s emotional behavior after the child showed an unhealthy fixation on her deceased mother.
His hand tightened around the phone.
“Unhealthy fixation?”
Rebecca took the phone away from him.
“Don’t respond publicly.”
“She slapped my daughter.”
“And if you start shouting that into cameras before law enforcement finishes gathering evidence, Meredith’s attorney will say you’re manipulating a child.”
Everett stood.
“So I say nothing?”
“For now.”
He hated it.
He had spent his entire career controlling narratives.
One bad review in a flagship hotel could trigger three executive calls.
One rumor about an acquisition could move lenders.
Now strangers were discussing his daughter like she was a public-relations problem.
Rebecca continued.
“We have more important news.”
She opened a folder.
“The account holding the proceeds from Natalie’s property.”
“What about it?”
“Money moved out yesterday morning.”
“How much?”
“Seven hundred and forty thousand.”
“To where?”
“A company called Northstar Family Consulting.”
Everett frowned.
“Whose company?”
“Meredith’s brother.”
He stared.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Everett knew Daniel Price.
Thirty-eight.
Smooth.
Always talking about investments.
Always launching something.
Never apparently succeeding.
Rebecca continued.
“We believe Daniel helped create the fake household account.”
“Then call the police.”
“We have.”
“What about the cedar box?”
“Nothing yet.”
Everett paced.
His phone rang.
Daisy’s school.
His heart jumped.
He answered immediately.
“Mr. Sloan?”
“Yes?”
“This is Principal Harding.”
“Is Daisy okay?”
“She’s physically fine.”
Physically.
Everett hated that word now.
“What happened?”
“A reporter approached parents outside the school this morning.”
Everett’s face hardened.
“What?”
“They asked questions about Daisy.”
“I thought security was there.”
“They were. The reporter stayed on public property.”
“I’m coming.”
Daisy was waiting in the principal’s office when he arrived.
She sat beside Carmen.
Her backpack was on her lap.
“Daddy?”
He crossed the room.
“Hey.”
“Am I famous?”
His stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“A boy said I’m on the news.”
Everett crouched.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He almost smiled.
No avoiding the question.
“You’re in a story people are talking about.”
“Because Meredith hit me?”
He glanced at the principal.
She discreetly looked away.
“Yes.”
Daisy’s face tightened.
“I don’t want people to know.”
Everett’s chest ached.
“I know.”
“Can you make them stop?”
The billionaire who could close hotels, fire executives, buy buildings, and move millions of dollars with a phone call had no answer.
“I can try.”
Daisy looked down.
“Meredith said everybody would think I was bad if I told.”
Everett sat beside her.
“Some people may say things because they don’t know the truth.”
“What if they believe her?”
“You know what happened.”
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“Carmen knows.”
“Yes.”
Daisy looked at him.
“Is that enough?”
Everett took her hand.
“It has to be.”
He took Daisy home for the rest of the day.
By evening, the house had changed.
The grand portrait of Natalie was still missing.
So Everett printed a photograph.
Not glamorous.
Not formal.
Natalie was sitting on a beach with wind in her hair, laughing because Daisy, two years old, had dumped sand into her shoe.
He framed it and placed it in the living room.
Daisy noticed immediately.
“Meredith wouldn’t like that.”
Everett looked at her.
“Meredith doesn’t live here.”
Daisy stared at the photograph.
Then smiled.
That night, they ate grilled cheese on the floor of the music room.
No piano.
Just an empty space.
Everett handed Daisy Natalie’s letter.
Not the entire thing.
Only the last paragraph.
Daisy read slowly.
“If Daisy still wants hot chocolate when it snows, let her use the blue flower mug.”
She looked up.
“Mommy wrote that?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“She remembered?”
“Everything.”
Daisy touched the paper.
“Can we fix the mug?”
“I called someone.”
“You did?”
“There’s a woman in Cambridge who repairs ceramics.”
Daisy smiled.
“Will it look new?”
“No.”
Her smile faded.
Everett continued.
“You’ll be able to see the cracks.”
“Why?”
“Because she said hiding them makes the mug weaker.”
Daisy considered that.
“Like people?”
Everett stared.
Children had a terrifying way of finding the truth without needing ten years of therapy.
“Exactly like people.”
The doorbell rang.
Marcus entered a few minutes later carrying a package.
“It came by courier.”
Everett frowned.
“From?”
“No return address.”
Rebecca had warned him about opening anything unexpected.
Security checked it first.
No danger.
Inside was a small digital recorder.
And a note.
YOU SHOULD HEAR WHAT YOUR FIANCÉE REALLY WANTED.
Everett pressed play.
Charles Landon’s voice came first.
Nervous.
“You can’t keep taking things from the house. He’ll notice.”
Then Meredith.
“He notices hotel occupancy percentages. He doesn’t notice his own daughter crying.”
Everett stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
Charles said, “What happens after the wedding?”
Meredith laughed.
“Then I stop asking permission.”
“For what?”
“For anything.”
A chair moved in the background.
Then Charles asked:
“And Daisy?”
Meredith’s answer came clearly.
“Westbridge in September.”
“She’ll hate you.”
“She already does.”
“And Everett?”
“He’ll be in Asia for three weeks. By the time he realizes she’s miserable, she’ll already be enrolled.”
Everett’s hands shook.
Daisy stood in the doorway.
He stopped the recording immediately.
She had heard enough.
“Was I really going?”
Everett stood.
“No.”
“But she thought I was.”
He went to her.
“Yes.”
Daisy looked toward the empty music room.
“Did you know?”
The question gutted him.
“No.”
“Would you have let her?”
“No.”
“But you let her do other things.”
Everett closed his eyes.
There was no defense.
“Yes.”
Daisy’s eyes filled.
He crouched.
“I should have been here.”
She began crying.
“I tried to call you.”
“I know.”
“She said hotels needed you more.”
Everett pulled her against him.
“They didn’t.”
“You went anyway.”
He held her tighter.
“I did.”
For the first time, Everett stopped blaming Meredith long enough to face the part that belonged to him.
Meredith had lied.
Manipulated.
Controlled.
But she had only been able to do it because Everett was always somewhere else.
That night, after Daisy slept, he called the Sloan Hospitality board chairman.
“I’m taking a leave.”
The chairman nearly choked.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Everett, we’re closing the San Francisco acquisition.”
“Someone else can close it.”
“This company is your life.”
Everett looked through the open doorway at Daisy sleeping with Natalie’s blue scarf beneath her cheek.
“No.”
May you like
He answered quietly.
“It isn’t.”
