chapter 5

Alexander

I stare at the photos of my father in my inbox and tighten my grip on the phone in my hand. This time, he’s in Tijuana with two blondes half his age.

“You know the deal,” I say, my jaw clenching involuntarily. “Make sure these photos never see the light of the day.”

“Of course,” Elliot says, rattling on about the costs to make these photos disappear. “I don’t care,” I tell him. Elliot is one of my closest friends and he might well be the best hacker alive. Thanks to that, he has no qualms about extorting me in return for keeping shit like this off the internet. “Just make sure my mother never sees this. No one can ever see this.”

I end the call, annoyed. My father is no longer even trying to be sly about his affairs. There are no excuses anymore, no more made-up business trips, no more lies. Now he just disappears for months on end, leaving my mother heartbroken, over and over again.

I have spent over twenty-thousand dollars trying to keep his affairs hidden, but there’s no way my mother doesn’t know. I click the email away, revulsion settling in my stomach. Their supposedly happy marriage is all a sham.Everymarriage I know of is. I can’t even think ofonehappily married couple.

I check my watch and grimace when I realize that it’s almost time for my weekly lunch date with my mother. It never gets easier to hide these things from her. It eats at me, like a slow-acting poison, a disaster in the making.

I sigh and grab my suit jacket, straightening my tie as I walk out. I drive home in my Aston Martin, the car I drive every single Wednesday—purely because it’s a convertible, and my mother loves the way the wind blows through her hair as I drive her to lunch. It’s the one time a week that I know I’ll put a smile on her face.

She’s already waiting for me when I pull up in front of our mansion. I get out of my car and walk around it to open the door for her, and she smiles at me.

“Hello, darling,” she says.

I press a kiss to her cheek and smile. “Hey, Mom. Ready for lunch?”She nods and sits down as I run back around my car. My mother grins when I lower the roof, and my heart warms. The happiness she’s radiating right now… yeah, there’s no way I’m taking that away from her.

I’m lost in thought the entire way to the restaurant, barely even present as we sit down. It isn’t until my mother calls my name that I snap out of it.

“You’re absentminded, sweetie,” she says. “I guess you heard the news?”

I blink, realization dawning upon me. “Even you knew about Matthew and Jennifer?”It looks like I was the last one to find out. Looks like everyone has been tiptoeing around me, and I hate that. I hate being pitied.

“Alec,” she says carefully. “Jennifer isn’t like us. It was never going to work.”

I smile wryly. “Not like us? What? Because she isn’t rich?”

Mom nods, and annoyance crawls down my spine.

“Dad wasn’t either,” I snap. “Grandpa made Dad take your surname because he was anobody. Everyone might act like they’ve forgotten, but that doesn’t change the truth. If he was good enough for you, then why are you looking down on people just like him?”

Mom looks hurt, and I regret my words immediately. “Mom, I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “I shouldn’t have said that. I apologize, truly.”

She nods, a tight smile on her face. I can’t help but wonder if she’s so opposed to people outside of our social circle because of Dad. I worry she tries to excuse his behavior by telling herself that all their issues resulted from them being from different worlds, and I don’t think that’s what it is. I don’t have one pleasant memory of my father. Not one.

I look at my mother with a heavy heart. Her hair is perfectly blonde, not a single strand out of place. I don’t even see the tiniest wrinkle on her face. My mother maintains a perfect facade. The perfect wife, the matriarch of the Kennedy family. The mask she wears carefully crafted throughout the years. Each time my father walked out on us, another part of her facade was crafted. Sometimes I wonder what she sees when she looks in the mirror. Does she see the woman she once was, the one my father destroyed? Or has she started to believe her own lies?

Mom grabs a familiar manila folder from her bag, and I swallow down a groan. She opens it and starts to lay out photos on the table. “These girls and their families are all interested in forming an alliance with the Kennedy family. The Vanderbilts are my top pick. They’re offering a merger if you marry their oldest daughter.”

She smiles tightly, a pleading look in her eyes. “Just meet them, Alec. You never know whether you might fall for one of them.”

Fall for one of them? Even after all these years, all the pain she’s been through, all the times my father has abandoned her,us, she still believes in love. She refuses to see it for the curse it is.

“Besides, your grandfather’s deadline is looming. Right now, the battle for his position of chairman is between you and Dylan. If you aren’t married by the end of June, the position is automatically Dylan’s, no matter how much more you deserve it. Do you really want the company falling into your cousin’s hands? Dylan isn’t half as smart as you are, and he hasn’t worked as hard as you have, either.”

I sigh, my eyes dropping to the photos. “Mom,” I say, my voice soft. “Can’t you talk to Grandpa? You’re his only daughter—you know he has a sweet spot for you. Won’t he reconsider? I’ve worked myself to the bone for our company, unlike Dylan. Dylan only ever puts in the bare minimum, and Grandpa knows it.”

Mom shakes her head. “I’ve tried, honey. He won’t budge. He still firmly believes in family virtues above everything else, and he won’t bend the rules for you. Any member of our family that wants to take their seat on the board must be married. That includedme too, sweetie. That has always been the rule, and it always will be. He might have made an exception for you if the position you were after wasn’this. His successormustbe married, Alec. He won’t change his mind.”

My eyes fall to the photos, my entire body numb with resignation. There’s no way I’ll let the company fall into Dylan’s hands. There’s no way I’ll let all my hard work go to waste. I’ve spent my entire life in anticipation of inheriting my grandfather’s role, and I’m not about to give up on my goals now.

I sigh and nod at my mother. “As you wish, Mother,” I murmur. “Go ahead and start arranging meetings with the girls you deem eligible. I’ll choose one of them to marry.”