Chapter 87: Never Told Her

Sarah looked at him pointedly but didn’t answer.

“I guess I am right,” Carson pushed.

Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you. I am jet-lagged and emotionally exhausted. I need some sleep before I can come to any decision.”

The last thing she needed was to make a rash decision after taking years to build her life on logic and away from drama.

The sleep she had wanted from the moment she landed had long eluded her. She tossed and turned in the cushy hotel bed, remembering only the good times she had spent with William and the bad ones seemed to meld in and only fall on Wendy and Vera Kincaid’s head.

She reminded herself that there were a lot of conflicts that they had. And that no matter how handsome he was when he tried to manipulate her or seduce her, at the end of the day, they would not work out and she would be left devastated once again.

Carson was right, she couldn’t spend too much time with William. But she needed to spend some time with him so that she could wrap up her mission and then never see him again.

It was four in the morning when she came to a decision.

-I am on board. Let’s share notes.

With that formal message sent, she put her phone into silent mode and sighed. Sleep came soon and despite the ringing of her phone, Sarah didn’t wake until late the next morning. The room was still dark and the morning call was unanswered. She awoke naturally and trudged to the window.

She opened it in one go and hissed when the bright daylight hit her eyes. She squinted as she looked down at the bustling street. Within fifteen minutes, she was seated in front of her laptop with a coffee mug in her hands.

Her phone was overrun with messages from William. He was interested in meeting her immediately, but more so because he wanted to ask how she had his number.

Her phone was new and all her accounts were closed. In a world where no one remembers anyone else’s phone numbers, Sarah remembered his. It is said that apart from your parents and house phone, one rarely remembers any other numbers. Sarah didn’t have a family to speak of. That was probably why—

She stopped the thought before it became too pressing.

The knock on her door was not surprising. She had expected William to be there the minute he thought was a good time. But what surprised her was the old man on the other side of the door.

“Miss Mitch,” George Colton greeted. “Or should I call you Miss Stone, now?”

Sarah smiled and without hesitation, called the man inside. “I go by neither of those names any longer, but whichever you are comfortable with,” she said politely.

George took the seat she had been occupying previously and glanced at the laptop screen. “Your demeanor has changed greatly in the past few years. You look like you come from great pedigree.”

Sarah wasn’t offended. “I just needed to step into it, I suppose,” she retorted.

George hummed. “I hear that your company is doing very well. I can see from your project proposal that you will be surpassing William in no time,” he scoffed.

“Mr. Colton,” Sarah started, “if you are concerned about me being with William or hindering his path to success, I will dissolve them immediately. I have no wish to be in a relationship with Chairman Colton.”

George looked disappointed. “I didn’t come to convince you to stay away from him or be with him. I will be on my son’s side, no matter what he chooses.” He sighed. “I only feel regret that I treated you poorly when I first met you. You were truly impressive as an employee but—”

He was ashamed to say more.

“Yes, you were condescending. But I didn’t mind,” Sarah said simply.

George cleared his throat in embarrassment. “I should thank you for your effect on my son. He had been a happy kid and rebelled terribly after his mother passed away. He partied a lot and it took a lot of pressure for me to put him to work.”

Sarah had never heard this story. She knew William liked to party and drink but never the reason why.

“He always thought I was a tyrant and would do anything to throw me off and take my position. That was probably why he was so stubborn when I insisted he needed to find your mother and you. We realized pretty early that your mother was dead, god bless that woman. But you… he needed to find you to be the chairman.”

Sarah shifted uncomfortably.

“But I could see he was sincere to you. He found you but didn’t tell me.”

“I know he told you before. I heard the two of you call me an illegitimate child,” Sarah said point-blank.

George was thoroughly confused. “What do you mean?”

“I heard you saying that allowing an illegitimate daughter would be a shame.”

George was even more confused. “Why would I call you illegitimate?”

Now Sarah was equally confused. “Why wouldn’t you?”

George had a spark of inspiration. “Don’t tell me. You thought your mother… No, no! Your parents were married when you were conceived. Vera Kincaid pulled a lot of tricks to make them divorce. I was not in the country at the time so I couldn’t talk her out of it.” He sighed.

“Did the Cavanaugh family never tell you?”

Sarah shook her head. She knew her mother was with Phillip Stone against their wishes but she thought it was because he was already with someone else. Now, she realized that she had understood it all wrong!

“But you were definitely talking about my father and an illegitimate daughter.” For a second, she wondered if George thought she was someone else’s daughter.

George fell into deep thought. “I remember now… That day we found out that Wendy is not your biological sister. We figured out that Vera was pregnant with her after an affair with Barn.”

Sarah gasped.

“Don’t tell me… you left William because of a misunderstanding?”