I’m furious.
Sarah has never spoken to me like that.
She’s never defied me.
And now she’s threatening to disrupt everything; the family, the company, the legacy I’ve spent my life building.
A child.
Alexander has a child.
Out of wedlock.
With a waitress.
This is a disaster.
I call my lawyer.
“Find out everything about Lily Anderson.
And the child.
I want to know where they live, where she works, everything.”
I hang up and pour myself a drink.
I need to think.
I need to control this situation before it spirals out of control.
I think about Alexander.
I think about the way he used to be before Lily.
He was happy.
He was hopeful.
He was in love.
And I destroyed it.
No.
I didn’t destroy it.
He destroyed it.
He chose to deny the child.
But I know, deep down, that it was my fault.
I’m the one who told him he’d ruin everything.
I’m the one who made him afraid.
I take a long sip of whiskey.
It burns going down.
My phone rings.
“Sir, we’ve located the child.
She lives in Willow Creek with her mother.
Her name is Sophie.”
Sophie.
My granddaughter’s name is Sophie.