Page 133 of The Last Goodbye

“I know the magazine article is going to be in stores everywhere next month, and Flora sent us all a digital copy. The cover surprised me, as I expected her to use the family photo of the four of us, but she went with the photo of just you and me, and she used your quote on the cover: ‘I will remember that day like it was yesterday.’ And the headline read: ‘After two decades, a father and daughter find one another.’”

He puffed air through his nose, and his face twisted. “Yes, I saw that. What does this have to do with the hotel deal?”

“I mean, the article really painted a picture of this poor man who’d been kept in the dark about having a daughter. And now we’re this big happy family, right?”

“Are you just going to review what the article said? I believe we all read it. There’s no need for a recap.”

“I’m just pointing out what it said, since your words are being shared with the world—but the truth is, we aren’t one big happy family, are we?”

“I think we’re as happy as any family can be,” he said, and a sarcastic laugh escaped Denton’s mouth.

“That’s a bit of a stretch, Dad.” Denton crossed his arms over his chest.

“Your wife despises me because I’m a reminder of the affair you had all those years ago, so no, we are not one big happy family,” I added.

“So what do you want, Briar. Do you want to talk to someone, see a therapist? No family is perfect, but I’d say that you both have very nice lives. Is that what this is about? You’re mad that I’m not doing what you want in Blue Sky Bay, so you’re both going to whine because you think our family is flawed?” He shook his head with disbelief.

“Nope, that’s not it, Dad.” I forced a smile as I stared at him. “This is about the fact that you’ve lied to me and to the whole world about not knowing that you had a daughter: ‘poor William Winchester, robbed of the first twenty years of his daughter’s life.’ It must be exhausting, keeping up with all the lies you’ve told.” I pulled the letters from my purse. “I’ve read these. I know the truth.”

His panic was brief, but I clocked it. The fear in his eyes, the way his jaw went slack the slightest bit—before he straightened. “Are you snooping through my things now?”

“I gave them to her,” Denton said. “She deserved to know.”

“My wife…” he said before turning to Denton and glaring as he pointed his finger at his son. “Your mother!” he said, his voice booming. “She wanted me to cut ties with Josephine. I certainly couldn’t have a relationship with Briar without having one with her mother. So yes, I knew I had a child, and I chose to save my family.”

“Pfffttt…you’ve had more affairs since being married to my mother than I can count. I know it. She knows it. So don’t act like you took the high road. You took the easy road, Dad. You robbed me of having a relationship with my sister for the first twenty years of her life. And you continued to be unfaithful to Mom anyway, which is why she’s a miserable woman now.” He shrugged, and I was shocked by what he’d shared. “You just didn’t claim Briar, because then the world would have known that you’d had a child with another woman. And that wouldn’t look good for you. But the way you’ve spun it all these years later, you’ve managed to paint yourself as the victim.”

“I’m not here to discuss my marriage or my reasons for doing what I did. That is my business, not yours. Is there anything else you need to say to me? Because it’s time for me to get back to work.”

His voice sounded completely indifferent, yet I could tell that he’d been rocked by the conversation from the way his hands were clenched so tight that his knuckles were white and his shoulders were slightly slumped.

“Yes. I actually have plenty to say.” I waited for him to look at me. “The original hotel plan is what we’re going to move forward with—however, there is one little hitch, but we can add it to the contract before we draw it up.”

“Why would I go with the original deal when there’s a company that’s willing to pay us a hell of a lot more money than we would make with your proposed plan?”

His confidence was shaken—he was no longer making demands but asking, which was very telling.

“Because I will release these letters to the media. Flora gave me her card that day she was at the house. I wonder if she could tell there was more to the story?” I shrugged before continuing. “I will tell the truth, which won’t fare well for your image, will it? I mean, a wealthy man doing an interview about how he was robbed of being a father to his daughter…only for the public to find out he knew about her the whole time? Her mother worked at a diner to pay the bills, and he never contributed to the first twenty years of her life. It’s not a flattering story, Dad.”

A chuckle came from beside me, and my father glared at Denton.

“So you’re blackmailing me now?” His gaze met mine, and I held it.

“Absolutely.” I smiled. “Turns out, I have a little bit of William Winchester’s business savvy in me after all.”

“And what is the hitch that you want added to the contract?” he asked.

My chest was pounding hard, making it difficult to appear calm and collected. But I couldn’t believe this was actually working. I’d never blackmailed someone before, nor been in a business negotiation that was so heated and so personal.

“The hitch is, Winchester Investments will pay to build the hotel, and I will oversee the renovation while living in Blue Sky Bay. And once it’s complete, the hotel will be owned by both Winchester Investments and its partner, me, Briar Sinclair. Fifty-one percent of the Blue Sky Inn will be in my name, and I will run the hotel once it’s open. It only seems fair that I have the largest ownership, as I will be making all decisions moving forward regarding that property.”

He gaped at me. “You’re serious?”

“Dead serious. I’m relocating to Blue Sky Bay, and it will be a great project for me to oversee and eventually run.”

“You’re taking advantage of the situation, and that’s disappointing, Briar,” he hissed.

“That’s rich, coming from you. Do you know what’s disappointing, Dad? You. You are a huge disappointment to me. You turned your back on my mother, and you turned your back on me. You then tried to convince me that she’d lied to me, and that you hadn’t known about me this whole time. So, consider this your repentance. You never paid a day of child support, nor did you help my mother financially in any way while raising me. And now, you’re going to allow your daughter the opportunity to own fifty-one percent of a hotel that she’s going to pour her heart and soul into. It’s a win-win for both of us.”