Dirty Revenge: A High School Bully Romance (Hawthorne Holy Trinity Book 3) Read online

  “She had her problems, but when Paul met her he fell hard. He kept trying to talk her out of the lifestyle, but his and Dane’s father, your grandfather, I suppose, kept pressuring him to leave … uh … as he put it, to leave the trash alone. I think he really wanted to be with her, but his father kind of forced his hand and threatened to take away everything.”

  I stare out the window at the passing trees and try to keep my voice level. “Seems to be a common thing, with his type.”

  I haven’t even met him yet, but I already dislike my grandfather … even if he’s probably already dead.

  Good. Jerk.

  He was just like Astor’s parents, demanding that their son only date rich girls from the right families and places. It’s why Astor refuses to be with me. Stupid rules of society. I’m nothing. I’m trash, and Astor couldn’t be with me because of it. It doesn’t matter that inside I’m a good person. If not good, then at least … trying to be good. Or trying to be right.

  Either way, the only thing that matters to them is the money, and Astor is doing exactly what his parents expect of him. Just like my father.

  Eli has continued the story, but most of it just sounds like noise. My mother got pregnant with me, obviously, but never told him. He was forced to keep a distance from her and then he found out that she had died of a drug overdose. There was never any mention of a baby. At least, as far as Eli could find out.

  He looks straight at me while we’re stopped at a light, and I can see how serious he is. “If he’d known about you, Teddy, he would have moved heaven and earth to get to you. He’d never have let you stay in an orphanage or foster home. I’m sure of it.”

  I feel like I’m going to throw up. All this time. All these years. Someone was out there who actually wanted me, and he was taken away from me yet again. Just before I got to meet him. Just before I had a chance at being in a real family for the first time.

  I can’t stop the tears from coming again, so I turn to look out of the window and pretend to watch the world go by as the car slides through it.

  We stop at the same cemetery where Sadie White was, and I guess still is, buried.

  There’s a long line of glossy black cars, and no end of a stream of people all dressed to match. I think back to Sadie’s funeral, and how small it was in comparison. Her parents didn’t want anyone to know that she had died of an overdose. It was one of the reasons that it worked out for me to pretend that I was Sadie; no one knew she was dead.

  Now I’m back here again at this same place. It’s another funeral, but the same family. My family now, I guess. It’s so weird that it doesn’t even feel real. Eli stays close as he walks with me to Mr. and Mrs. White. They look as if they’ve lost the whole world. Again.

  The two look up and see me with Eli, and then share a glance. I feel a ball of anxiety ignite in my core. It’s almost like a little ball of electricity; zapping me in random places and trying to take me down from the inside. They were kind to me the last time we spoke. I don’t know if that same kindness will extend to me now that they know I’m the bastard niece sired by a hooker.

  Oh shit. Do they even know?

  Mrs. White comes toward me with her arms outstretched, and I realize she must know. She might actually even be okay with it, judging by the sorrowful look on her face.

  She embraces me and I try to hug her back, but it’s a little awkward.

  She lets me go and then she steps aside, and Mr. White faces me. He’s got such a strange, unreadable expression, but I can clearly see the pain in his eyes. I expect him to yell again, since that’s been his MO in the past. Instead, he just reaches for me too and wraps me in a tight hug. The embrace feels strange. The whole thing feels strange. All of this.

  When he lets me go, he looks at me directly and seriously. “You’re our family now. Please call us Aunt Ellen and Uncle Dane. Or Just Ellen and Dane. Whatever you prefer.”

  I nod, not really knowing what else to do. “Okay.” I hesitate and then add with some uncertainty, “Thank you, Dane.”

  It sounds right. Uncle Dane sounds too … familiar. I’m not there yet, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever be.

  My new aunt, Ellen, takes my hand and leads me to their seats in the front row before a big, beautiful black casket.

  It’s odd to say a casket is beautiful, but it is.

  It’s open, and I stop dead in my tracks for a moment, torn between looking in and seeing my father dead, and never having a chance to look on my father with my own eyes again.

  I decide to go for it.

  I don’t really remember what he looked like when he was so close to me on the night of the party, standing there behind Eli as Eli tried to get my attention. I was so focused on what was going on with everyone else that I missed the chance to meet my father; to talk to him while he was alive. Even if it had only been for a few moments because the blast that was going to come anyway, it still makes me sick inside. That moment is gone forever.

  Like him.

  I walk up to the side of the casket and look in. He’s not exactly handsome, but he might have been once. I think he must have broken a lot of hearts in his day, whether he knew it or not. He has black hair with little bits of silver at his temples and just barely around his forehead. I can see a little bit of myself in his face, and it makes my heart ache.

  I stare. This is where I come from. This is one of the two people who brought me into this world. This is my father, and it’s the last time that I will ever see him again. My heart feels like it’s in between beating right out of my chest and stopping, frozen in place. I am brimming with so much emotion.

  Not knowing what to do or how to feel, I turn away from the coffin and look at my new aunt and uncle.

  Ellen pats the seat beside her. “Come here, Teddy. Come and sit with us.”

  I nod and go to her. It’s strange to be here, to be suddenly thrust into this family that I once stole an identity from, but it’s also comforting in a strange way.

  We listen as people speak, and I soak in all that I can, realizing that I’m getting to know my father at his burial service. When it’s done, Ellen and Dane insist that I ride back to their home in the limousine with them, and Eli follows us in the car. I’m not sure which vehicle I’d rather be in. It all feels so unbelievably strange.

  The whole time, I just avoid looking at any one thing too long. If I keep looking away, the tears can’t threaten to spill over and onto my cheeks.

  We arrive at the White’s house, and it’s massive. It’s the biggest house I’ve ever seen, and I can’t imagine only one family living in it. It’s a marble and stone palace, almost. A mansion among mansions, not that I’ve seen a lot of mansions.

  Tons of people stream into the home, and the White’s talk with them, feeding them and visiting with them until everyone finally filters out. They introduce me to endless people as Paul’s daughter, and everyone is appropriately shocked. I catch several judgmental looks, but no one can deny the resemblance.

  Eventually, I just hide from everyone. I stick to corners and shove finger foods in my mouth every time someone tries to ask me how I fit into it all.

  I’ve been so confused about how to deal it with the entire time. I don’t know what to say. Maybe I should have brought Wills and Blair along after all … but then, I’d rather not have to explain that too.

  My new aunt and uncle aren’t exactly the most gracious hosts—but I don’t blame them. I’m not the most gracious guest. I just wait until the last of the mourners drive away, leaving a strange, hollow feeling inside.

  I don’t even know we’re alone until I wander back out to the main hall and spot Ellen and Dane sitting at the bottom of a curved staircase. I imagine the great hall here has seen better days. They look exhausted—weary and red-eyed, when I clear my throat and peer back at them from the dark piano room to the side.

  As I watch, my new aunt rests her head briefly on his shoulder. She looks older, tired. He pats her on the arm and she too
leaves, complaining of a headache. I don’t blame her. I wish I could slip away too, pop an aspirin or something stronger, and just forget all this.

  Now it’s just me and Dane.

  “Should I go now too?” I ask, bluntly. This whole thing is so strange. I don’t know what’s the right thing to do. I don’t know if there is a right thing to do.

  “Not yet,” Dane says, spotting me and getting to his feet. “Not until we talk about your inheritance.”

  Dane has me sit before his desk in his massive oak office, and he takes his big, fancy chair behind it. Eli came along as well, which I’m grateful for. I’m still struggling to wrap my head around what he’s trying to tell me.

  I stare at him and blink stupidly. “My … my what?” I know I heard him wrong.

  Dane leans forward and rests his elbows on his desk. “My brother, Paul, left everything to charity in his will.”

  “Oh,” I say, my mind still reeling. “I mean, I didn’t think—”

  He holds up a hand to stop me. “No, please, you misunderstand. Let me finish.”

  My uncle begins to chronicle a bit of my father’s life for me.

  “Paul was a good man. A truly good man. He was fair and kind to everyone he ever knew. He never held his wealth or his position over anyone, and he was the first person to lend a hand if there was someone in need. He had a generous soul and a keen mind. One of the best minds this world has ever known.”

  My heart feels like it’s going to drop through the floor. I listen and the image of my father begins to form in my mind. Between the speeches earlier at the funeral, and this, I think I’m beginning to know him.

  “As soon as Paul found out, he was desperate to meet you. He was devastated that you spent your life so far in foster homes. It broke his heart.”

  He glances down now at his hands, and he looks guilty. “I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled when we found out. I told him to leave it be. To forget.” He clears his throat. “I’m glad to say that he didn’t.”

  Dane slides one of the drawers on his desk open and pulls out a file. He looks at me even more seriously, if that’s possible. “As soon as he found out you existed and that you were indeed his daughter, he made legal changes regarding his estate immediately. You are now his sole heir.”

  I still just sit here, dumbfounded. An heir. My inheritance could be fifty dollars and a bottle-cap collection, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I’m an heir. I have an inheritance.

  I cannot believe what I’m hearing.

  I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand what that means.”

  Dane takes a deep breath and explains. “It means that everything that he had is yours now. When he passed away, it all came to you.”

  I lower a brow. “What came to me?”

  “Your father was quite a successful businessman. You now have all of his estate. All of his assets … and they are quite considerable.”

  “Sorry,” I say, taking my turn to cut him off. “Considerable means very different things to different people. What kind of ‘considerable’ are we talking about?”

  Leave it to the little greedy street-urchin in me to get right to the money.

  Dane nods and slides an itemized list across the top of his desk towards me. “That means that you have his condo on 5th Avenue in New York City. You also have a rather large beach house in the Bahamas, a palatial villa in Italy, and an apartment on the left bank in Paris.” He pushes another paper to me. “And those are just the properties.”

  I know that I must be dreaming. I wonder if I’m the one who fell into a coma at the Christmas party and I’m not actually awake and none of this is real.

  I blink and decide to run with the madness. I mean, I’m here. Why not.

  “So, what are you telling me? Am I a millionaire or something?”

  My uncle shakes his head. “Oh no. You’re a billionaire.”

  I break out in nervous, uncontrollable, embarrassing, confusing, laughter.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, as soon as I’ve gotten my heaving shoulders in check. “I just, it’s too much to believe.”

  He leans forward, closer to me, though there’s still a desk between us. “But you must. Your Aunt Ellen and I have lost … a lot, in the last year. Between Sadie and now Paul,” here, he has to pause, “our family has grown considerably smaller.”

  That sobers me up.

  “We’d like you to become a part of our lives, Teddy,” Dane says. “You need to learn about this family and how you fit into it. You’ll have a prominent place in society, if you want it. There’s a lot for us to go over, and to teach you. Your whole life has just changed, but you’re not going into this new world alone. Your aunt and I will be there at your side to guide you through it.”

  I’m completely amazed. “This is the first time in my life that I’m not going to be alone.”

  That seems so foreign to me. It’s like I’m not even on the planet or in my own life anymore.

  Dane frowns slightly. “Who are your friends at school? Who are you socializing with?”

  “Mostly I’m around my best friend Dana Rutherford, and my boyfriends Wills Stryker and Blair Rashnikov.” I draw in a deep breath, I guess there’s only so long before they found out.

  He lifts a brow. “You have two boyfriends?”

  I nod.

  He makes an odd face. “And that’s not going to change?”

  I shake my head. “Not a chance.”

  He smiles a little at my response, and I wonder if there’s more to Dane than meets the eye. “I suppose I should probably tell you then that Wills’ father is on the board of one of your companies. So technically, he works for you now.”

  I can’t help but smile a little bit too. “Okay.” I’m not sure what that means for Wills’ family, but it’s kind of funny.

  “There’s something else,” Dane says evenly.

  “There’s more?” I don’t know what else there could possibly be. Part of me thinks this is where everything turns out to be just another cruel, elaborate joke.

  “As you are well aware, Ellen and I no longer have an heir. We’ve talked about it at great length, and we’ve decided that when the time comes, you will also inherit our estate as well. One day, Teddy, you will be the sole heiress of the White family fortune.”

  I cannot believe what he’s telling me. The whole thing sounds like some crazy dream. And yet, all this time I did look exactly like Sadie. Like a twin.

  It has to be true. Eli Hamilton did the DNA test. He has the proof. One day, maybe today, I’ll ask to see it—just to be sure.

  But everything, everything, it’s too much. I’m the only living young person in the White family. The sole heir. I’m a billionaire. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around that. It just doesn’t seem real to me.

  “This is all so weird,” I murmur as I lean back against the chair and try to make myself understand it. I imagine the numbers in my head, and I decide there are a lot of zeros in a billion dollars.

  Dane holds his hand up. “I do want to clarify one thing for you, though.”

  I knew it. There’s a catch. There’s always a catch. “What’s that?” I ask, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  “Most of Paul’s estate is in a trust, so that’s going to take some time to work through before we get it all in position for you to take over, which won’t fully happen until you graduate from college. You’ll need some help from us to make sure that things are all handled as they should be. But, in the meantime, you’ll have some benefit.”

  “What kind of benefit?” I ask.

  “I’ve set up a discretionary fund for you. A trust, if you will. It’ll take a couple weeks to get in order, but you’ll be well taken care of in the meantime. I’m open to some discussion, but I think a cool half a million should do for now.”

  My jaw falls open, and I have to stop him a moment to take it in. “Five-hundred thousand dollars?” I ask, astounded. “I wouldn’t know how to spend tha
t kind of money.”

  I do a quick calculation in my head. That’s over a hundred grand a year until I graduate.

  “Yes, of course,” he says. “It’ll be a good trial period. If you end up spending more than that each year, then we might have a problem.”

  “Hold on a second,” I say, pressing my palm flat on the table. “You’re going to give me that much each year?”

  He glances up at me. “You think it should be more?”

  I’m at a loss for words.

  “No, no …” I say, shaking my head vigorously. “It’s more than enough.” I giggle a little, nervously. “I think you’re overestimating the kind of lifestyle I’m accustomed to.”

  He just grunts and goes back to filling out a page.

  “Of course, things will go smoother if you decide to take on the White name. Paul wrote you in his will as Theodora White, not Price.” He glances up at me again. “It is, of course, your choice.”

  My head spins. “I don’t know,” I say, honestly. “Can I have some time?”

  Dane leans back in his chair and nods.

  I have to close my eyes and drop my face into my hands. How many times did I dream that my real parents were rich, wonderful people who were going to come and save me from my horrible life at any time? And it never happened. I grew up, discovered what life really held for me, and those dreams faded. And then somehow, it happened after all.

  It’s more than I can take. I grow lightheaded all of a sudden.

  “Are you all right?” Eli asks, speaking for the first time since we came into the room.

  I lift my head and nod. “Yeah … I guess. It’s just a lot to take in,” I say, looking from him to my uncle.

  Even though I’m in complete shock, there’s one thing that won’t leave the back of my mind. There’s one underlying emotion that has stayed constant with me.

  Anger. Outrage. Fury.

  Victoria Waldorf killed my father. She took him from me right before my very eyes. For all the years that I was alone with no one to love me, I would trade every penny I just inherited, every single one of them, to have him back and have a father who wants me.