Page 17 of Caden the CEO
A long, hard breath escaped her.
“It wasn’t my fault, and I shouldnotbe held responsible for that.”
“Did you or did you not invite that man into your home?”
“Well, yes, but?—”
“And did you ask him for money in exchange for your daughter?”
“Yes, but, I?—”
“Then it is your fault. So again, how soon can I expect my payment?”
Tina’s head shook as she stood and began to pace. “What are the other options? There’s no way in hell I’m paying that.”
“I’m not sure what I said that made you think you had a choice.”
“Can I work it off? Or better yet, can Dru work it off? This is her fault anyway. Had she not stuck her nose where it didn’t belong, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
For a while, Caden didn’t respond. It disgusted him to watch a woman take no accountability for the fucked up shit she’d done, the fucked up shit she’d done to her daughters, or the fucked up shit she’d allowed other people to do to them.
The more he looked at her, the more Dru’s actions made sense. He saw why she didn’t want to be in a relationship. He saw why she worked so much. He saw why she didn’t mind losing her job to show up for her sister. Who else would? It was clear neither of them could depend on their mother.
“Why don’t you just take Dru?” Tina offered. “She can work for you, or you can do whatever the hell else you want with her. This was her idea, her debt, so she should pay. Not me.”
With a sigh of disappointment, Caden stood as he saw Lorenzo’s head shaking out of the corner of his eye.
“Instead of taking any responsibility for this, you’re offering your daughter to a man you literally just met, to pay off your debt?” Caden confirmed as Lorenzo and Cezar stood.
“Yes,” Tina agreed, chin jutting in that defiant way he’d seen Dru’s do once or twice. “I’m going to pay you what I owe you, and that’s it. Take her the fuck off my hands. She’s always caused more trouble than she was worth. I should’ve aborted her fucking ass, but I thought she’d be a meal ticket for me. Bastard ass father did the bare minimum until she was eighteen. Now, he doesn’t even do that.”
Unable to hear her disrespect Dru anymore, Caden decided, “Fine, I’ll take her as collateral. She will come live with me. Youstill owe me that fucking money, and you have two months to pay up.”
“But, Caden, I?—”
“I don’t want to hear no fucking excuses, Tina. Sixty days. Dreya is coming with me too.”
“No! You can’t have her. She’s under eighteen and my child—not Dru’s. Dreya stays here with me, and I promise I’ll get you the money in sixty days. You have my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me,” Caden made clear.
He knew Dru would be sick without Dreya, but since she was a minor, there was nothing he could do. His plan was simple: get the money from Tina and give it to Dru to do with as she pleased. After sixty days, she’d be free from her mother and capable of living the life she wanted, the life she deserved. As simple as it sounded in his head, Caden knew Dru was going to give him hell for it. She’d likely see it as a betrayal, and Caden would handle that when the time came.
“Why didn’tyou tell me sooner?” Marilyn, Dru’s grandmother, asked.
Marilyn’s eyes were red and puffy from how much she’d cried. That morning, Dru woke up early, determined to keep her sister safe while she looked for a job. When she was a child, Tina drilled in her head that what happened in their house, stayed in their house. She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what was going on, not even their family. With Dreya, things were different. Dru couldn’t sit around silently and watch Tina damage her sister the way she’d done her. So for the first time, Dru decided to be honest with her grandmother about what had been going on.
She had Dreya pack a couple of bags, and she took her to Marilyn’s house. After Marilyn heard about what had been goingon, she broke down. Not only did she cry, but she apologized and begged for their forgiveness. When Dru was younger, her grandparents didn’t want Tina to not be a responsible mother, so they stopped helping as much as they did previously. If only they would have known what they were setting their granddaughter up to silently suffer through.
Marilyn agreed that Dreya could stay with her until her suspension was up, and she also offered Dreya a room there for as long as she wanted to stay, even after she graduated high school. She knew Tina would have something to say about that, but she felt like Tina would agree if it meant having the house to herself and not having to pretend to be a mother. There was also the threat of going to the police and letting them know that Tina had been, in essence, pimping out both of her daughters for years. Marilyn wanted her daughter to be punished, but more than that, she wanted Dreya safe. She was fully prepared to agree to not go to the police if Tina let Dreya stay with her permanently.
While Dreya appreciated the offer, she made it clear she wanted to stay with her grandmother until she could stay with her sister, and that was all the motivation Dru needed to find a second job and get her own place. If she didn’t have to worry about paying her mother’s rent, she could easily find something smaller and cheaper for her and her sister.
“I thought I could handle it and keep her safe,” Dru confessed, feeling guilt. “I didn’t know that was happening still. Tina promised me she’d never do that again when she let me move back in the house. I should’ve known she couldn’t be trusted.”
“It doesn’t even matter now. Dre is here, and she’s safe. And you know you can stay here too.”
Dru smiled as she tightened her grip on her purse. “I appreciate that, Granny. I might have to. She’s going to be so mad when she finds out I brought Dreya here to you.”
