Page 133 of Snow

“Answer me.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter how I found out. What matters is that you transferred ownership to me. You did it because it benefited you, and I’m sure you never considered the possibility that I would actually do something with it. Well, until I married Rick and gave him half of it so it could cover your debt to Merrick.”

Leonard shoved his chair backward and stood, but Nova didn’t flinch. Two weeks ago, maybe she would have. She would have immediately started thinking about how to calm him down or what she could say to keep the argument from getting worse. She didn't feel that urge anymore.

“Also, as of tomorrow morning,” she continued, “I’ll no longer have any ties to Hart and Associates.”

Her father’s face went blank. “What?”

Nova glanced at Rick. He gave her the smallest nod.

She turned back to Leonard. “I sold it.”

“To whom?”

“To me,” a man said as he walked through the door.

For a moment, Leonard didn’t react at all. But then, when it registered who the man was, the color drained from his face.

“You did what?”

Nova smirked. “Mr. Zern and his brother presented me with a very generous offer. It was too good to pass on. The sale will be finalized tomorrow morning.”

Mr. Zern and his brother were Nova’s dad’s biggest competitors in Salt Lake City. This was a huge blow to her dad’s ego.

Her mother immediately demanded to know why Nova would do something so reckless. Merrick began firing questions at Rick, who calmly reminded his father that he had nothing to do with Nova’s business decisions. Leonard was talking over all of them, demanding that Nova undo the sale.

The only people who weren’t shocked were sitting farther down the table.

Sophia looked delighted. Wallace wasn’t even pretending not to smile anymore, and Rob leaned back in his chair with his arms folded, looking like he could happily stay there all afternoon and watch their father lose his mind.

There was one other secret nobody in the room knew. Rick was a silent partner in the purchase.

That had been his contribution to their little rebellion, and Nova had to admit it was a damn good one. Rick wanted the investment, but he didn’t want his parents knowing anything about it, particularly when their habit of involving themselves in his finances was one of the many things he was finally putting an end to. He also said that he would handle the engagement announcement debacle. Well, the retraction statement would come from their parents admitting that they got ahead of themselves.

Leonard slapped his hand against the table. “You had no right to sell my firm!”

That finally got Nova’s attention. She looked at him for several seconds.

“You put it in my name, Dad. That’s the part you still don’t seem to understand. You were so sure you could control me that it never occurred to you I might stop letting you.”

Her mother stared at her. “Nova, you’re destroying this family.”

Nova felt the words hit, but they didn’t cut nearly as deeply as they once would have.

“No, Mom. I’m just done letting you and Dad destroy me.”

That was enough. She stood and picked up her purse.

Her father stared at her. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.”

“We’re not finished here.”

Nova looked around the room, at her furious parents and Rick’s equally unhappy ones, then at her siblings. Sophia gave her a small smile.

“Yeah, Dad. We are.”