Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 127

As soon as he was gone, I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, downed the last of my drink and did the same thing Desai had done—tossed my glass to the ground and watched it shatter. Thanks to the music and general milling about, no one noticed.

Truth be told, I was scared. I thought my bluff had worked on Desai, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. What if he woke up tomorrow and decided to reveal everything? What could I do? Henry was working on Ryo, but I doubted the little toad had all that much information… his father didn’t seem to trust him. I guess Desai could confirm with Tanaka, but would he want to let Hiro know that I’d threatened him like that? While Desai had come on the old man’s behalf, I didn’t have the impression that they were close friends. Even if Desai did tell Tanaka, what were the chances that they would know for sure what Ryo knew? The younger Tanaka hadn’t proven himself to be a straight-shooter to his old man; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone off-*********** and tried to kill me.

There were just too many variables to know anything for sure.

Hannon’s team had the laptop from my grandpa’s office for a month, but they hadn’t reported any breakthrough with data retrieval.

My grandpa had left me with untold wealth, sure, but he’d saddled me with a bomb—a lifetime of secrets and dealings that could go off in my face… and I was starting to wonder whether its detonation was only a matter of time.

Surely, I couldn’t be sent to prison for decisions made decades ago, but that wasn’t my only concern—everything I’d enjoyed the past month could be taken away from me.

Losing it would suck, but I’d survived for twenty-eight years without extreme wealth. I could probably get used to living a normal life again, but I wasn’t the only one I had to consider. There was Bobbi. I was basically her meal ticket now. If my money were gone, whatever happened to her was on me. I’d taken her job and altered her life. She was free of drugs, but she was hardly free.

There was Helen to consider. Would she keep her position at YVP if I lost everything? Would she stay with me? Would she still be my ‘good girl?’

I’d just taken responsibility for Phoebe and Nate. What would happen if I could no longer provide for them?

What about Erin? Surely she wouldn’t leave, right?

I sighed. The truth was, I had no idea what any of them would do if I lost my wealth.

And that was an extremely lonely realization to come to.

I dropped back down in my chair, desperately trying not to spiral as fear, guilt, and loneliness clawed at me as I watched everyone else dancing, drinking, and laughing with each other. Rajesh Desai had completely ruined any chance I had of enjoying the rest of the evening.

“Hey, M.”

A gentle hand dropped to my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. I looked up to see my sister smiling down at me.

“Hey, Em,” I said, giving her a weak smile.

She dragged Desai’s chair so that it sat next to me, and then eased herself into it, still looking at me. Unlike almost everyone else, her eyes were clear and focused… not clouded over by alcohol.

“Saw what you did to that glass. Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, not meeting her gaze as I rubbed at the back of my head. “Well… maybe.”

I decided right then to tell her about the entire exchange between me and Desai. I didn’t leave anything out.

“Jesus,” Emily breathed. She’d hugged one knee to her chest, resting her foot on the edge of the chair. “And you don't have any of the info your grandpa had?”

I snorted. “No! The old man left me with everything, but explanations or instructions. Don’t get me wrong… I’m grateful for the money, but a little clarity would’ve been nice. Between the attempted killings, kidnapping, and blackmail, it’s like some kind of corrupted wish. You know… like when the evil shopkeeper gives you something cool, but it also does something nasty—like make you irresistible to women, but you lose your sex drive, or something.”

“Yeah,” Emily said. “But he’s not the Devil. He didn’t do that.”

“How do you know?”

“Why would he do something like that to a kid he never met?”

“I don’t know… maybe I was a reminder of his son’s weakness or something. Or maybe he was just a racist.”

Emily looked at me, disbelief etched in every line. “You know it can’t be that simple and stupid.”

“Of course, but what other explanation could there be?”

My sister looked around the rooftop, as if trying to find the answer among my guests. “I don’t know… maybe he died before he could finish setting things up. How did he die?”

“It was unexpected,” I said dismissively. “I don’t think anyone saw it coming.” Then I remembered something. “Chloe thinks he was murdered.”

“Well, that’s an important detail!” Emily said, her eyes wide. “Murdered?”

“Poisoned,” I said, sitting up a bit straighter in my seat.

To be honest, I hadn’t thought about my grandfather’s demise all that much since hiring Chloe.  I remembered mulling it over when she first told me about her suspicions, but then it got lost in the shuffle of everything else. Soon after, Natalie dropped the bomb that she was dating someone else. Helen and I were starting to mend our damaged relationship. Someone had pulled a gun on me, and then I’d gone to Vegas and gotten myself kidnapped. While I hadn’t exactly forgotten about Colin Gerrard’s possible murder, it took a backseat in light of everything else.

It didn't exactly provide me with a solution to my Rajesh Desai problem, but for some reason, the idea that my grandpa hadn’t been playing some cruel joke made me feel better. Emily could very well have a good point—perhaps my grandpa had been murdered before he could finish setting up the handoff. Which meant that there could be things out there intended for me that I hadn’t received… like useful information that my lawyers could use to defend the estate, or dirt on his enemies.

Or my enemies.