Chapter 11 A legal inconvenience
Timothy
I got into the car and slammed the car door harder than necessary.
“Drive,” I barked. “Now.”
The engine roared to life, tires biting into the gravel as the gates slid open. My jaw ached from how tightly I was clenching it. I stared straight ahead, hands fisted on my knees, every word from breakfast replaying in my head like a bad echo I couldn’t shut off.
Beside me, Rowan shifted.
“Jesus, Tim,” he said flippantly. “Want to slam that door any harder? Maybe tear it off it’s hinges while you’re at it?”
“Fuck off, Ro.”
“What’s the problem?,” he asked mildly.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, come on bro. You tear in here like the Hulk and I’m tryna…”
I exhaled sharply through my nose. “Her,” I snapped. “Loretta’s sister. Helena. She’s…”
“Hannah,” Rowan corrected.
I shot him a glare. “Whatever.”
“It’s not whatever,” he said, being the asshole he always is. “You married her. You should probably know her name.”
I scoffed and gritted my teeth, turning toward the window. “Don’t remind me that I married her. That marriage is a joke. A legal inconvenience.”
Rowan studied me in silence for a beat too long. “Well, how are things… at home?”
“Don’t, Ro,” I warned.
“I’m just asking.”
“She’s exactly what you’d expect,” I said bitterly. “Playing victim. Pushing. Acting like she doesn’t know what she did.”
“And you really think she orchestrated all of it?” he asked, very casually, turning to his tablet and scrolling through it though it was obvious he was waiting for my answer.
I hesitated. Just a fraction of a second.
Rowan noticed anyway, glancing up at me.
“That pause,” he said. “That’s interesting.”
I straightened. “It’s nothing. I do believe she orchestrated this whole thing. You weren’t there. You didn’t see the timing. The way everything fell into place.”
“Or fell apart,” he countered. “People get roofied, Tim. It happens.”
“She was there,” I snapped. “I was there. You weren’t. She’s got the most benefits out of everything.”
“I know, I know, bro.” Rowan asked. “I never said otherwise. It’s clear who’s the cause of the whole thing here. She basically stinks of having a hand in all this. I just wanted you to be sure and always remember that. Yeah?” He clapped me on the shoulder.
My fingers twitched. “Drop it,” I said coolly.
Rowan lifted his hands. “Okay. Fine. Not crossing that line again. End of topic. Noted.”
The rest of the drive passed in tense quiet. We both buried ourselves in our devices, emails and messages demanding my attention and I was glad to throw myself into. Numbers blurred into number and words.
Yet I could still see flashes of Hannah’s face when I’d told her to stay in the dark where I wouldn’t have to see her. A tiny bead of guilt rose in me and I gritted my teeth and pushed it down.
Good. She deserved it. No matter how good she was at the whole damsel in distress thing. Like Rowan said, I’d never forget this whole thing
Blackwood Enterprises soon loomed ahead, glass and steel scraping the sky. The car pulled into the private entrance, and we rode the elevator to the top floor in silence.
As soon as I stepped into my office, my secretary, Rinda stood.
“Good morning, Mr. Blackwood. You have a message from Mrs. Blackwood, Yvonne. She called twice and sent three emails. She’s requesting a meeting.”
My mood darkened further. “Of course she is.”
Rowan arched an eyebrow as he leaned on my desk. He rolled his lips in his mouth before he asked, “Stepmother trouble?”
“She’s trying to one-up me,” I muttered, loosening my tie. “As always. Always has been. Everything she does is for Donald.”
Rowan hummed as he drummed his fingers on my desk. “Your half-brother. How’s he been anyways?”
I laughed humorlessly. “Who knows? He’s a drunk. A dealer. An immature womanizer who thinks the Blackwood name entitles him to everything I worked for. Probably has a whole barrel of bastards by now.”
“And your father?”
“Indulges him,” I said sharply. “Yvonne wants Donald handed things. I want him to earn them. He won’t.”
Rowan hummed, unreadable, his eyes fixed on me. When I raised my brows, he looked away. He opened his mouth to say something else, but my secretary cleared her throat. “Sir, your ten o’clock is here.”
“Send them in,” I said.
Rowan nodded and clapped me on my shoulder as he straight and headed to the door. “I’ll catch you later.”
“Yeah.”
As he left, I called to Rinda. “Actually, wait.”
She turned.
“Have flowers sent,” I said. “And the bag collection. The one from Milan. To Loretta.”
My secretary nodded. “As usual?”
“As usual.”
She nodded and left.
Once alone, I sank into my chair, rubbing a hand over my face. Loretta’s face filled my thoughts, her laugh, the way she looked at me like I mattered before all of this went to hell. I knew our relationship wasn’t perfect. It was honestly quite toxic but we’d been together for years.
I just needed time.
Time to fix things. Time to work around the mess. Time to get the divorce finalized quietly, cleanly. Then this mistake, this marriage would be over.
Hannah was just a temporary obstacle.
I straightened as few people milled in and the meeting began, forcing my focus forward.
This wasn’t forever.
Soon enough, I’d be with the sister I was meant to be with.