Page 79 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men

“We agreed to more transparency going forward,” Dominic says. “You need to know what we’ve been up to regarding your inheritance issue and your incredibly toxic family.”

“Okay. In that case, tell me what you’ve been up to.”

“A number of projects actually, but you’ll have to see for yourself.”

I nod and look out the window, lost in thought.

“Tell me about Matthew,” Dominic says. “What was he doing at your place?”

“He wanted us to get married after all,” I reply. “He’s in deep financial shit, and he wanted to get married without a prenup so he would have access to my money.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

I laugh. “My reaction precisely.”

“I think you need to start from the beginning.”

“Crystal only wanted him while he was with me. As soon as he dumped me, her interest in Matthew began to fade, whereas Matthew really thought he’d won and he and Crystal were going to be together.”

I tell him more about his financial crisis and the real motive behind marrying me or Crystal. The more I talk, the greater the amount of disgust settles across his face.

“And he didn’t take it kindly when I told him to fuck off. Said he wasn’t leaving without a yes.”

“He was never known for his capacity to take no for an answer, Phoebe. My only regret is that we didn’t see the signs sooner. I promise you, we would’ve stopped him from even proposing to you had we known.”

I shake my head slowly. “It’s fine. It was all part of a lesson I needed to learn on my own, and it was a lesson well learned, in the end. I’m grateful for the way things turned out. I just wish...”

“That your family was more supportive,” he finishes my thought.

“Yes.”

“You’ve yet to make your peace with that.”

“It’s hard,” I exhale sharply. “Matthew was one thing. A chapter of my life. He came and went. It was a different kind of attachment. But my own mother and sister… I don’t know, that’s a harder pill to swallow.”

We pull up outside a massive office building with black mirrored windows and black marble steps leading up to carousel glass doors. There’s a list etched into the glass beside the entrance, listing the many companies occupying units or entire floors.

“It’s about to get even harder,” Dominic says.

“Why are we at Penny’s firm?”

“There’s something you need to see.”

The way he says it sounds downright ominous. I’ve got a feeling that today is about to take a turn for the worse.

Dominic offers his hand and I take it. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.

24

PHOEBE

“So, after some digging and promising a few favors to a couple of SEC clerks,” Penny says, “we managed to put together a pretty accurate profile for Baldwin Corporation.”

Penny has been telling me and Dominic about her independent investigation into how my mother and sister have damn near run my father’s company into the ground. For the better part of an hour, she’s gone over SEC filings, testimonies, and interviews. I think I blanked out a couple of times along the way because I simply can’t fathom what I’m hearing.

“It’s not looking good, is it?” I mumble, my fingers scratching at the seam of my leather chair’s armrest.

“Not one bit,” Penny says.