Chapter 7
"He said, 'Anna, I'm sorry for what I did to you and your mom. Now that I'm back, I want to make it up to you. I'm planning to make it official—Vivian and the three kids will be part of the family. They'll be your siblings, and from now on, we'll all take care of each other.'"
Family.' Anna repeated the word in her mind.
Those three words again.' Anna couldn't help but notice.
"What did you say?" I asked.
Anna set her glass down.
"I told him, 'Mr. Grant, I've only ever had one mother. As for siblings, I have nothing to say. But as for making it up, after twenty-five years, I don't need it anymore.'"
"How did he react?" I asked.
"His face turned bright red. Vivian Woods kept trying to calm things down, saying, 'Anna, your dad's been struggling overseas all these years.'"
"Do you believe that?" I asked.
"He had a wife, kids, and a career overseas. My mom was here, starting from scratch all by herself. Who do you think had it harder?" Anna replied.
I patted her back.
"Alright, you've seen him and said what you needed to say. If he wants to meet up again, it's totally your call," I said.
"I'm not going," Anna said.
"Alright," I said.
After Anna left, my phone started ringing. Edward Grant was calling.
I hesitated for a couple of seconds before picking up.
"Evelyn," Edward said.
"Yeah," I replied.
"About Anna today," Edward started.
"I know," I cut him off.
"She really resents me," Edward said.
"She has every right to," I replied.
There was a long silence lasting maybe ten seconds or so.
"Evelyn, about that agreement," Edward finally said.
"If you're sure, go ahead and sign it. If not, just forget it. No rush," I replied.
"I'm not signing it. I don't agree to the divorce," Edward said.
"Legally, we're already divorced. Whether you sign it or not only affects how the assets are split," I replied.
"Then I'm not signing it. I just can't accept this," Edward said.
"Suit yourself," I said.
I hung up.
The moon outside was beautiful.
He could never bring himself to say those three words: "I'm sorry."
Or maybe, even if he did say it, it would be so empty, so insignificant, that it wouldn't even deserve a reply.
*****
After Charles Grant got into the Royal Crest Club, he felt like he'd finally cracked into Capital City's elite circles.
That weekend, he hosted a gathering, booked a private room, and brought along over a dozen of his latest batch of friends.
Frank Quinn, as usual, gave me the rundown.
"He spent over 26,667 dollars on that dinner," Frank said.
"His money, his business. I don't care how he spends it," I replied.
"The thing is, after he got drunk, he said something in front of everyone at the table," Frank said.
"What did he say?" I asked.
"My dad's Edward Grant, the head of Grant Group. From now on, in this city, just remember the Grants," Frank repeated.
I took a sip of my tea.
"And then?" I asked.
"There was someone from Prime Capital Investments, Mr. Zane. He just laughed and said, 'Charlie, these days when people hear 'Grant,' your dad's not the first name that comes to mind.'"
"Mr. Zane sure is blunt," I said.
"Charles asked who he meant. Mr. Zane just said, 'Go ask your dad,' and walked off. Now Charles is running around trying to figure out what that was all about, but so far, nobody's given him an answer," Frank said.
"Just let him be. He'll figure it out sooner or later," I said.
Mr. Zane was obviously talking about Anna.
After Anna married into the Sinclairs, the Sinclair Group shot up to become one of the top twenty companies in the country.
In the business world, the name "Grant" only carried weight because of Anna.
Definitely not because of Edward, who spent twenty-five years abroad, running a company that couldn't even make the cut for the second-tier firms back home.
"Oh, and one more thing," Frank paused for a moment. "Vivian Woods got a law firm to start digging into what Edward owns here."
"Did they find anything?" I asked.
"All Edward owns here is the old family house. No company shares, no savings. Except for the over one million dollars you returned," Frank replied.
"She must be getting anxious," I said.
"Yeah. She called Edward a bunch of times this afternoon, and she sounded pretty upset," Frank replied.
I leaned back in my chair.
Vivian thought that coming back with Edward meant stepping into a massive family legacy.
She had no idea. The Grants did have a solid foundation twenty-five years ago.
But in my hands, that foundation grew into a towering empire; in his, it shriveled down to nothing but a stump.