The Property Brokers by Sandi Lynn
Chapter 35
Myles
I stood there in shock as I stared at the woman who walked out on our family twenty years ago. A sickness formed in the pit of my stomach. Normally if a person hadn’t seen someone they knew in twenty years, they’d greet them with open arms. But the only thing I felt was rage.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I came to see my son.”
“Does Grant know you’re here?”
“No. Not yet.”
“I’m going to go,” Bella said as she grabbed her purse.
As she walked by me, I lightly took hold of her arm.
“Don’t mention this to Grant. Please.”
“I won’t,” she said as she walked out of the office.
“She’s seems like a lovely girl,” Olivia said. “You look good, Myles. The years have been good to you.”
She looked the same, only older.
“What the hell do you want, Olivia?”
“I want to see my son, Myles.”
“You haven’t bothered to see him in twenty years and now you think you can just waltz back into his life as if you never left? I hate to tell you, but it doesn’t work like that. Now you need to leave.”
“Myles, I know you’re angry with me and you have every right to be.”
“Angry!” I shouted. I’m beyond angry, and I will not allow you to disrupt my son’s life!”
“He’s a thirty-year-old man. He can make that decision for himself.”
“Who the hell do you think you are coming back here after what you did?” I pointed my finger at her. “It’s been twenty years, Olivia. Twenty goddamn years. Not one birthday card or Christmas card! And you think he’s just going to welcome you back with open arms? He despises you for leaving him! And so do I.” I looked away from her.
“I had to leave, Myles. I was struggling inside. You knew I was having difficulties.”
“And I tried to help you!” I shouted.
“Your help wasn’t enough. I needed to get out from everything.”
“And take everything. By the way, thanks for leaving me three hundred dollars when the rent and Grant’s tuition was due.”
“What was I supposed to do, Myles? I had nothing.”
“So you leave your husband and your child to starve and almost become homeless?”
“I felt trapped! Trapped in a marriage I didn’t know if I wanted anymore and trapped by motherhood. I felt as if I was an empty shell wandering around a meaningless life.”
“That’s nice, Olivia. Real nice.” I narrowed my eye at her. “I see you’re wearing a ring. What name are you going by now?”
“Scott. He’s a wonderful man and he takes care of me.”
“You know what? Get out. Get out of my building before I have you thrown out. Grant and I put our lives back together after you left, and you are not going to swoop in now and tear it apart. You stay away from Grant. I’m warning you. Go back to your perfect life and leave us the hell alone.”
She shook her head and stormed out of the office. I called down to the lobby and spoke to James, our head of security, to tell him she was never allowed in the building again. When I stepped out of Grant’s office, the entire staff was staring at me.
“Show’s over. Get back to work. And not a word of this to Grant,” I spat as I went back up to my office.
Grabbing my briefcase, I left and headed to the bar. It had already been a shit day as it was with Cassandra, and Olivia showing up was the icing on the cake. As I was sitting at the bar, kicking back one scotch after the other, my phone dinged, and I had a text message from Grant.
“Hey, Dad. I need to talk to you about something. Can we meet up later?”
“Is it important? I have plans.”
“It can wait until tomorrow.”
“Alright. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
* * *
Grant
I walked into the penthouse and found my beautiful girlfriend standing in the kitchen bent over, looking in the refrigerator.
“Damn. Now that’s a sight for sore eyes,” I said as I set a bag on the counter.
“I swear I had one more yogurt in here,” she said as she turned and looked at me. “Did you eat it?”
“Oh — was that yours?” I bit my bottom lip for I knew it was.
“Ugh, Grant,” she whined.
I walked over, shut the refrigerator door and took her in my arms.
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“No. It’s fine. I just wanted something to tie me over before we meet Ami and Lamar for dinner.”
Letting go of her, I opened the bag and pulled out a delicious looking fruit parfait cup.
“Will this do?”
A bright smile crossed her face.
“You bought that for me?”
“I did. I stopped at that coffee shop on the corner because I know how much you love their parfaits,” I said as I reached in the drawer and pulled out a spoon.
“You are the best boyfriend ever.” She grinned as she kissed me.
“I know.” I gave her a wink. “I’m going upstairs to change.
She took the lid off the parfait and followed me up to the bedroom.
“Did you by chance talk to your dad?”
“Not yet. I sent him a text telling him I needed to speak to him, and he told me not tonight. He said he has plans.”
* * *
Bella
I sat on the edge of the bed and watched as he changed out of his business suit. The fact that Myles didn’t tell Grant about his mother yet bothered me. He had a right to know, and I couldn’t keep it from him. Myles would have to understand that. But tonight wasn’t the night because we were going to dinner with Ami and Lamar. I’d tell him tomorrow morning. I sighed at the thought because I already knew how this was going to go, and I was prepared to clean up the damage Olivia was going to leave behind.
* * *
Grant
“I’m going to head downstairs.”
“Okay. I’ll be down in a few. I just want to freshen up before we go.” She smiled as she kissed my lips. “Can you take my parfait cup and throw it away, please?”
“Of course.” I kissed her forehead as I took the cup from her and walked downstairs.
The intercom buzzed, so I walked over and answered it.
“Mr. Roman, there’s a woman here to see you.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Mrs. Scott and she said it’s urgent that she speak with you.”
“Okay. Send her up, I guess.”
I stood there in confusion because I couldn’t recall knowing someone with that name. Especially a woman. Standing at the door of the elevator, I waited for it to come up. When it reached my penthouse, the doors opened, and a sick feeling washed over me as I stared at the woman looking back at me.
“Hello, son.”
“Mom?” I asked in shock as I threw my hand against the opened door to prevent it from shutting.
She pursed her lips as tears formed in her eyes.
“It’s so good to see you.”
“Wha—what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” She stepped into the foyer.
She went to give me a hug and I slowly backed away.
“Okay. I understand. Maybe it’s too soon.”
“I—I don’t—” I stuttered for I was in complete shock.
“Look at you. All grown up into a handsome man.”
“Grant, who are you—”
“Hello, Bella. It’s nice to see you again,” my mother spoke.
My eyes widened as I looked at Bella and saw the nervousness in her eyes. Suddenly, the shock wore off and an anger tore through me.
“Grant, I—” Bella started to speak.
“The two of you have already met and you didn’t tell me!” I shouted at her.
“We just met today, Grant,” my mother said. “At your office.”
“At the office?” I cocked my head.
I needed a drink and I needed it now.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I spat at Bella as I walked past her and over to the bar.
I poured myself a scotch and downed it as fast as I could.
“Grant—” my mother began to speak, and I interrupted her.
“I am going to ask you for the last time, what are you doing here?”
I could barely look at her. All the memories of when she left came flooding back like it had just happened yesterday.
“I wanted to see you. To see the man you’ve become.”
“Twenty years later?!” I shouted.
“I know my leaving must have been difficult for you, but I had no choice. I knew your father could take better care of you than I could.”
“That’s where you’re wrong!” I shouted as I pointed at her. “You always have a choice. I could understand if you wanted to leave Dad. Shit happens with couples. But to leave your child, your only child, without as so much as a goodbye.”
“You wouldn’t have understood. You were only ten years old. How could I explain to you that I felt trapped, like I was suffocating? I was eighteen when I found out I was pregnant. I had just graduated from high school and hadn’t even begun to live life yet. Then I married your father and had you. Suddenly, I was a wife and a mother. That was all I became.”
“Bella, go get my violin so I can play it for my mother,” I spoke, and her brows furrowed. “Everything you’ve said here is about YOU!” I pointed at her. “Did you ever stop to think about how I would feel? How my father would feel? Do you know the chaos you caused after you left? Do you even care?”
“Of course, I care, Grant! I’ve had to live with it for twenty years. And there hasn’t been one single day that has gone by that I didn’t think about you.”
“Really? Where were you for my birthdays and holidays? I’ve had twenty birthdays and twenty Christmases since you left and not one single word!”
“I’m so sorry.” Tears streamed down her face.
“Does Dad know you’re in New York?”
“Yes. I saw him at the office earlier.”
“And?”
“It didn’t go well.”
“I’m not surprised. This is the last time I’m going to ask you why you came back here, and I want the truth.”
“I was hoping that by the grace of God you would forgive me, and we could reconnect.”
I let out a roaring laugh.
“You have no idea what you’ve done to me.” I shook my head. “I lost that woman over there once because I closed myself off to ever having feelings or a relationship with a woman because of you. For fear they’d leave me and hurt me like you did. It was a miracle that Bella walked back into my life and forgave me for what I had done to her all those years ago. So no, I don’t forgive you and I never will. We will never have any type of relationship. Not only because I think you are the most selfish woman on the face of the earth, but because I would never betray my father. The man who loved me, raised me and stuck by me through everything. You are nothing to me. You’re only the woman who gave birth to me and nothing else.”
“Grant, don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth, Olivia. As far as I’m concerned, my mother died twenty years ago. Now, get out of my house.”
I turned and headed up the stairs.
