Chapter 142

"Is that why you’re so keen to employ people from disadvantaged backgrounds?" Dave asked.

"Absolutely. They sometimes just need someone to believe in them." She tapped her hand on the table for emphasis. "To give them a fighting chance. My mother didn’t have anyone in her life who believed in her potential."

"What was your father like?"

A flash of anger lit her grey-green gaze and her mouth tightened. "He was a brute and a bully but my mother got completely taken in by him because he promised to give her a better life. He said all the charming things she wanted to hear but they were empty promises. She thought because he called her “babe” that he actually loved her. But when he started to show his true colours, she didn’t have the strength or self-esteem to stand up to him. The worst part was she drank and used drugs to escape his behaviour but in doing so became more like him."

She released a ragged sigh and looked back at the candle flickering on the table, a hot flare of anger stil