Chapter 5 - The Choice Richard Made
Edward Bennett’s smile disappeared.
“Who are you?”
Daniel looked directly at him.
“His son.”
For once, Edward had nothing to say.
Richard watched his uncle carefully.
“You’re finished.”
Edward laughed.
“With what evidence?”
Richard tapped his phone.
“Thomas gave the police everything.”
Edward’s confidence faltered.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Try me.”
Edward walked toward the door, then stopped beside Laura.
“You should understand something. Men like Richard don’t change.”
Laura held his gaze.
“Maybe.”
Edward smiled.
“You think you saved him?”
“No.”
She looked at Richard.
“He saved himself.”
Edward left.
Three months later, prosecutors formally charged him in connection with Richard’s crash and financial conspiracy.
Richard refused every suggestion that he use his influence to settle things privately.
“Let the courts handle him,” he told Laura.
It was the first sign that Richard Bennett was trying to leave his old world behind.
The second came when he called his attorney.
“I want to sell.”
The attorney stared.
“Sell what?”
“Everything that requires men to whisper when they say my name.”
“That could be half your holdings.”
“Then sell half.”
Laura was standing by the window.
After the attorney left, she asked, “Why?”
Richard looked at her.
“Brandon asked Daniel yesterday what I do for work.”
“And?”
“I didn’t know how to answer without lying to an eight-year-old.”
Laura smiled slightly.
“That bothered you?”
“More than federal investigators ever did.”
He moved closer.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“I’m starting rehabilitation again.”
Laura’s eyes widened.
“You said the doctors told you—”
“They said improvement was uncertain. I interpreted that as impossible.”
“Those aren’t the same thing.”
“I know.”
Richard held out his hand.
“Come with me?”
“To therapy?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because when I complain, you annoy me.”
“That’s romantic.”
“I’m working on it.”
She laughed.
Rehabilitation was brutal.
Some days Richard managed tiny movements.
Some days nothing.
Laura never lied to him.
When he failed, she didn’t say he had succeeded.
When he wanted to quit, she reminded him exactly what he had told her on her first day.
“You can leave,” she said.
Richard glared at her.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Immensely.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“No.”
His expression softened.
“I really don’t.”
Months passed.
Brandon recovered completely.
Laura and the children moved out of their leaking apartment—not into Richard’s mansion, despite his repeated offers, but into a comfortable house nearby that Laura insisted on paying for herself.
Daniel transferred to a university in Chicago.
He visited Richard constantly.
Their relationship wasn’t magically repaired.
They argued.
They misunderstood each other.
They learned.
One afternoon, Daniel sat beside Richard after therapy.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Are you in love with my mother?”
Richard nearly dropped his water.
“You could ask about business.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Daniel waited.
Richard sighed.
“I loved her when I was nineteen.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Richard looked through the rehabilitation center window.
“Yes.”
Daniel nodded.
“You going to tell her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She deserves a choice that isn’t influenced by money, gratitude, history, or guilt.”
Daniel studied him.
“That might be the first intelligent thing you’ve said.”
Richard looked offended.
“Get out.”
Daniel grinned.
That evening, Laura arrived.
Richard was waiting outside.
“Why are you sitting out here?”
“I wanted fresh air.”
She stood beside him.
Richard looked at her.
“I need to tell you something.”
Laura waited.
“I’m not asking you to stay.”
Her smile faded.
“What?”
“You don’t need this job anymore. Your contract ends Friday, and I’ve arranged severance.”
Laura stared.
“You’re firing me?”
“I’m freeing you.”
“From what?”
“From feeling obligated.”
Richard’s voice lowered.
“Anything that happens between us after Friday should happen because you choose it.”
Laura understood.
“And what exactly are you hoping happens?”
Richard looked suddenly less like a feared boss and more like the nineteen-year-old boy beneath the railway bridge.
“I’d like to take you to dinner.”
Laura folded her arms.
“Richard Bennett is asking me on a date?”
“Yes.”
“After firing me?”
“Technically.”
“That is possibly the worst proposal I’ve ever heard.”
“Is that a no?”
Laura let him suffer for several seconds.
“No.”
His face fell.
Then she smiled.
May you like
“It’s not a no.”
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