Page 66 of Secret Revenge

He hadn’t mentioned anything about this to me, as was probably obvious to my parents by the confused look I gave him at the invitation.

Travis veered off the highway into a suburban neighborhood with young trees lining the streets. He parked on the street in front of a massive house with a short hedge wall.

“Here we are,” he announced delightedly. “We shouldn’t be long.” He opened the car doors for my parents and led us up to the house. He knocked and then opened the door, ushering us inside.

I gave him a curious look, wondering whose house this was. We turned in to the living room and my heart almost stopped.

On a massive banner that covered the entire wall, was written, “WELCOME HOME, MR. AND MRS. SKYE.”

My parents froze, looking up at the banner with their name on it in shock. Travis produced a file and a pen, seemingly from thin air, and held it in front of my dad.

“Congratulations. The house is fully bought and paid for in your name, and all you have to do is sign here.” He indicated with the pen. “It’s a short drive from my penthouse, so you can see your daughter whenever you want.”

I could hear Travis speaking, but his words didn’t make any sense to me. My parents were still frozen, and my stepdad’s hand shook violently as he took the proffered pen.

Travis kept speaking as if he didn’t notice that we had all lost our tongues. “The house is fully staffed, and there’s a trust set up to pay the staff so you don’t have to worry about that. The car out there in the driveway belongs to you as well. It comes with a driver, an ex-Marine. For your convenience and safety.”

My mother blinked in confusion and finally managed to speak. “We can’t accept this,” she whispered, still staring at the banner. “No, Mr. Ross. We can’t accept this. It’s… too much.”

I agreed with her. This was all too much. It was too much to swallow. Too much to process. We would feel indebted to him forever.

“It’s not,” Travis replied frankly. “I’ve done the math. If your husband’s business had succeeded.”

He looked directly at my mom, “You would probably be millionaires by now. My father took that away from you. But I’m fortunate enough to have it in my power to give it back.”

My mother looked like she needed someone to pick her jaw up off the floor.

Before any of us could speak, Travis pulled out another folder. He handed it to my stepdad. David blinked rapidly, looking from the folder to Travis and back to it again before accepting it from Travis.

“In there is a receipt for the full payment of all your outstanding medical bills. I’ve also transferred your treatment to a private hospital, and your medical bills have been fully paid for there. You’d find all the details you need in there.”

My mom started crying first. My stepdad flipped through the file in his hands slowly, still in disbelief. When he finished going through all the papers, the tears poured out of his eyes too as the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders.

He hugged my mom and together they wept. They laughed and cried at the same time, but they said no words. There were no words to be said.

In ten minutes, Travis had changed their lives forever. He’d changed all our lives. I turned to look at him and saw he was watching my parents, smiling to himself. The deed was its own reward.

I finally understood why he had set out to do all those reparations. It wasn’t just to ease his conscience as I’d initially thought. He did it because it pleased him to give back to people.

“Thank you,” I said, taking his hand. My vision blurred and I felt the tears flowing, hot on my cheeks. “This isn’t me thanking you as your girlfriend, but as a person. Thank you so much.”

“Hey, come on.” He pulled me close into a hug and wiped my face. “It’s alright… It’s alright.”

I wrapped my arms around him as the dam collapsed. The tears flowed freely and all I could say to him over and over again was “thank you.”

EPILOGUE

EMILY

Six months later…

“I couldn’t eat another bite,” I said, easing back into my chair with a satisfied sigh as the waiter cleared away the remnants of our meal..

Travis chuckled. “Tell me about it. Think there’s space in your belly for some dessert? Their pastry chef here is an absolute genius.”

“Only if you have plans to carry me unconscious, up to our room,” I countered. “It’s a challenge just trying to breathe as it is.”

“Your loss.” He shrugged and swirled the wine in his glass before taking a long sip.