Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“You received nothing?” he clarifies.
“That’s right,” Ezra responds for me.
“Well, it seems this is a bigger issue than I first realized.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Ezra was right in his assumptions,” Martin tells me. “Your brother left his whole estate to you. Money, cars, properties, his royalties earned from the band. Everything belongs to you and was officially signed over to your name shortly after his death.”
“No. That couldn’t be right,” I say. “I haven’t got a thing.”
There’s silence for a moment, and I hear the soft sounds as Martin flips through some paperwork. “Okay, I have copies of the letters that were sent to your address, and documents signed by yourself.”
“What? No. I didn’t sign anything.”
He digs a little further. “I have banking details for you for where your brother’s funds were allocated, and the transfers of his assets into your name.”
I shake my head, meeting Ezra’s confused stare. “What address were those letters delivered to?” Ezra questions.
“I have an address in Michigan,” Martin confirms as the blood drains from my face.
“My father,” I breathe, my hands starting to shake as realization dawns on me. “He received the letters and signed on my behalf. He stole my inheritance, everything Axel worked for. He stole it from me.”
“Fuck,” Ezra grunts, reaching for my hand. “What about the assets that were transferred into her name? Does Rae still hold the titles?”
“I will have to do some title searches, which may take me a few hours,” he tells us. “I’ll get my associates started on this. In the meantime, I’ll look into the funds transfer and find out where your inheritance is, and once we have something concrete to work with and some answers, we can start putting a case together. Don’t worry, Miss Stone. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Okay,” I say, letting out a shaky breath.
Ezra wraps up the rest of the conversation as I just sit here, unable to take in another word.
My father has already stolen so much from me, and to realize he’s taken everything of Axel’s as well is beyond devastating. Axel would never have wanted this, and granted he didn’t know just how vile our father had become, their relationship was strained since the moment he came home drunk and told us that Mom was never coming home.
He hated our father, and if he knew who he really was, I have no doubt that Ax would have ended his life.
Years later, and the asshole is still fucking with me. When is it going to end? He should be incarcerated by now. He should be locked up with the worst of the worst, spending the rest of his miserable life suffering at the hands of the men he’s imprisoned with. But instead, he’s out there somewhere living the high life off the money my brother left for me.
Fuck. I’ve never hated someone more.
Ezra’s hand falls to mine, bringing me out of the torturous thoughts circling my mind. “You good?” he questions.
I let out a heavy breath and shrug my shoulders, not willing to let on just how much this has messed with me. “I’ll never escape him,” I admit. “Even a million miles across the globe, and he’s still right there, taking anything good in my life. He’s not happy unless I’ve been stripped of everything that’s worth living for.”
Ezra pulls me in closer. “He can’t hurt you, Rae. You’re the one who has the power here. You’re not some scared sixteen-year-old girl anymore. You’re a woman now, and I won’t let him take your power. This is your chance to finally take him down. I know you’ve always hated that you’ve never had the evidence of what he did to you in that house, but we can get him for inheritance theft, and he’ll be sent away for the rest of his pathetic life.”
“I want him to suffer,” I tell him.
“Don’t you worry about that,” he promises me. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Ezra swipes his thumbs across my face, wiping away tears I hadn’t realized were tracking down my cheeks. “Come on,” he murmurs. “Game face on. Let’s get this meeting done, get to the stadium, get the show over with, and then I’ll spend the rest of the night loving you.”
A stupid smile pulls at my lips. “You better make it worth my while.”
“Just you wait, baby.”
We make our way back to the function hall, and just as the door opens, Lenny’s words flow through to us. “The paps are searching for a story, and we won’t be the ones to give it to them,” he says. “We’re here to put on a show, not to insert ourselves directly into Raleigh’s story. She’s been through enough to have to worry about one of us feeding the media about her past.”
Ezra pauses by the door, his gaze shifting to me, his brow arching and silently asking if I’m ready to walk in there, and I let out a sigh. “What did I tell you?” I murmur, stepping over the threshold to the function room. “I can’t escape it.”