Page 137 of See You Maybe

“My father was notorious for his relationships. Except for the women he had children with, at almost exactly the year mark, no matter who it was, he always ended the relationship.”

Olivia made a face.

“To be fair, he was upfront with the women he dated, and was extremely generous during that year… But there were plenty of women who thought they would be the one to change him.”

“Courtney?”

Declan nodded. “My father and I were no longer close when he got involved with her. Too many years of battling over business.” His lips quirked sadly. “In some ways, he and I were very similar. We both wanted to do things our way. It led us to… We were barely speaking by then.

“When my father abruptly announced he was marrying Courtney—right at that year mark—we, my family, were shocked. Cara even said she had seen signs he was close to ending the relationship.”

“What did he say his reason was for the change?”

Declan’s jaw hardened. “He didn’t. He refused to discuss it with Cara. The twins weren’t really talking to him either.” Olivia lifted her eyebrows. “That’s a story for another day. He and Courtney married quickly, and soon after, my father became ill. Before the next year was out, he was dead. I immediately suspected Courtney had killed him, but his doctor, Chris Keller’s father, signed the death certificate as natural causes. When they read the will, we learned everyone had been disinherited. Courtney got everything.”

Olivia’s mouth hung open. “That’s the plot of a TV movie. Wouldn’t that be easy to challenge?”

Declan shook his head. “They were smart. The only witnesses to the will were people my siblings and I trusted. Luke and James were convinced it was our father’s last ‘fuck you’ since we wouldn’t let him control us anymore.”

“Chris was a witness,” Olivia murmured.

“And his father. They didn’t inherit under the will, so on paper it looked legit.”

“Wow.” Olivia let out a slow exhale. “That was genius. You and Chris were friends, and he gained nothing by the will, so why would you suspect him?”

“Exactly.”

Olivia frowned. “What does this have to do with the car accident?”

“My father would never have married Courtney of his own volition. After the accident they, Courtney and Chris, manipulated some photos, with the help of Courtney’s son, to make it look like I was the one driving.

“Courtney blackmailed my father with the photos, and he married her to keep me out of jail… Though it is just as likely he did it to protect the Bloom name and his precious company,” he said bitterly.

Declan explained to her how he’d eventually convinced his siblings of the murder, and how they discovered the truth about the blackmail and Courtney’s secret escort service.

Olivia pulled out the bottle of whiskey she’d bought for him and poured two glasses while he revealed how Cami discovered that Courtney’s son Trey was a murderer and tricked him into confessing on tape. Caught up in bragging about his mother, Trey had revealed the details of how Chris and Courtney forged David Bloom’s will and poisoned him in order to inherit.

By the time he was done, Olivia was horrified.

“And your father… He…”

“Believed them.” Declan’s voice was grim, refusing to acknowledge the dull pain that spread through him every time he thought about his father’s lack of faith in him.

“Not in the end, though,” Olivia insisted. “As ill as you say he was, your father wouldn’t have risked traveling to Ireland to get the photos if he didn’t believe something was wrong with them.”

Declan snorted. “You sound like Cara. She still wants to cling to her vision of him—that he wanted to put things right. It’s more likely that he was interested in protecting his legacy and wanted to keep the photos from coming to light. Under the terms of the will, his widow Courtney would have been the next one to open that vault.”

“You’re wrong. Your father didn’t write that will,” Olivia reminded him. “Courtney did. You said Trey confessed. Your father would have assumed whoever inherited under the old will would receive the pictures.”

A crack formed in the wall he’d constructed around his feelings about his father.

“You know the will was forged now,” she continued. “Maybe he figured out what Courtney was doing in the end, and wanted to fix things with you before he died.” Olivia’s voice gentled. “He didn’t know he had so little time left.”

Declan's ribs squeezed over his pounding heart. He’d been so caught up trying to prove his father murder, and getting the company back, he hadn’t really taken the time to process what everything they’d discovered meant.

Could Olivia be right? Would his father have reached out to him? Declan rubbed at his chest.

Things had been a disaster between them for years. Once David Bloom realized that installing his son as president didn’t mean he would still be running the corporation de facto, the battles began. When he was named CEO it only got worse. His father had assumed that Declan would still follow his lead. When his father finally grasped that wouldn’t be the case, it eventually led to a nuclear level fight and subsequent estrangement.