The Paradise Problem (103)
Alex Weston: “My father stalked and harassed employees. Liam never engaged in any predatory or illegal activities.”
“Whoa,” I mumble. “That happened way faster than I expected.”
Liam turns me back to face him. “What do you mean?”
“I saw the PISA stuff on the news and flipped out. The only number I had other than yours and Jake’s was Reagan’s, and I assumed Jake was on a plane. Blaire answered and told me everything, including about your foundation. That’s when I realized I had to test my theory that your siblings would follow the money.”
Liam laughs. “Well, you’re right.” He lifts his chin to the screen. “He’s still in Singapore.” That’s why it looks familiar. He’s outside the Crowne Plaza Changi. “He realized Dad really was going to bring me on as CEO and I think he finally snapped. He didn’t get on the plane. And then, apparently, Blaire called him, screaming about the loophole. She said she’d stay married to him, but not if they were broke.”
“Holy shit. And Alex gave a press conference?”
“Well, conference is a generous term,” he says, laughing. “There were only a couple journalists nearby when he had the comms team alert the media, but it’s picked up everywhere now. He said, basically, that while I did develop the software, none of the surveillance of personal data or harassment came from my computers. Dad had his shady lawyer drop the news before Dad got on the plane. But Alex responded by having the tech team release the IP logs.”
“That was a big gamble for Alex,” I say. “Your dad won’t react well to this when he lands.”
“I don’t think it matters. The board knows. And soon the Fed will know that Dad dumped a huge amount of stock just before he did this. Dad is out as CEO, and in a shitload of trouble.”
I stare up at Liam and he gazes down at me, his amber eyes gleaming. “How do you feel?” I ask.
His face moves through a few expressions—a smile, a wince, and then he closes his eyes and my heart twists painfully when his face just… breaks. He cups a hand over his brow, shielding his eyes, and his voice comes out thick. “I feel really fucking relieved.” He pulls in a jagged breath. “This has been my biggest fear for years. That Dad would drop the worst of it, that it would leak, that it all would get pinned on me again and it would destroy everything I’ve worked for.”
I don’t know what to do with all of these emotions, but some bodily instinct does, because I step close, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my face to that perfect space between his neck and shoulder. “Oh, sweetie.”
“I knew there was more, you know?” he says, and folds me into his arms. “My family didn’t talk about it specifically, but I always knew there was much worse stuff out there. He used me the first time and it was just horrible. My name was kept mostly out of the press, but everyone in our circle knew who it was. Professors in my business program looked at me differently.” He swallows. “I switched majors. Decided to turn to academia. I knew my dad could totally ruin me again, and worse, but I never really thought he would. I just thought, ‘If I can keep my distance, if I can find another career, if I can be married, settled elsewhere, he’ll move on. I can do good from the outside, with the foundation. He won’t expect me to come back.’ I realized at the wedding that I was wrong. He hadn’t moved on, and he still had that leverage.”
“Not anymore,” I say.
He exhales a huge breath and laughs through tears. “Not anymore. Because of you.”
“And the trust?”
“Dad might want to get the lawyers involved and make things messy, but something tells me he has much bigger problems. He’s going to want his kids on his side, and that won’t happen if he challenges Grandpa’s trust.”
I am so happy for him. So relieved, so grateful that Alex—someone I’m sure to feel conflicted about for the rest of my days—actually did something brave and useful. For money, sure, but credit where credit is due.
Liam leans our embrace to the side so he can reach for the front curtain and peek out. The reporters are all still there.
“Are you going to go out there and talk to them?” I ask.
He turns back to me. “Probably.”
“What are you going to say?”
“That it’s true I created the software and modified it at my father’s instruction, but I wasn’t behind the surveillance activity. That I hope the family company can move on from this and I know that we’ll be doing everything we can to handle it in a way that feels transparent. That we plan to immediately hire a consulting firm to conduct an internal culture assessment.”
“?‘We,’ huh?”
“My grandfather founded this company because he loved his family,” he says. “I’d like to think we can make something good of it.”
“I hope that includes finding a way to disconnect love from money,” I tell him. “Your grandfather tied the two together with good intentions, and your father with terrible intentions, but in the end it doesn’t matter what the intentions were: It has made everyone in your family devalue love. It has made loyalty and servitude the bargaining chips that keep the money flowing.”
Liam cups my face and bends to kiss me. I leave my eyes open for just a beat and catch the way his fall closed and the utter devotion on his face when our lips meet. “I want to deserve you,” he says when he pulls away.