I meant it.
I had helped Ryan because Claire loved him.
I wanted his company to succeed.
“What did my father promise you?”
His expression shifted.
“Nothing.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
I turned my monitor toward him and showed him Dad’s email.
He read it.
“Jesus.”
“What development opportunities?”
He stayed silent.
“Last chance.”
Finally he said, “Your dad said you were planning to move the company.”
“Where?”
“Florida.”
I laughed.
“I’ve never considered moving the company to Florida.”
“He said you were tired of Connecticut taxes. Once you relocated, he said you’d start selling local properties.”
The pieces fell into place.
Dad had expected my Connecticut portfolio to become available and positioned Ryan to benefit.
“He told you he could control my properties?”
“Not control,” Ryan said. “Management contracts. Redevelopment work. Referrals.”
“And excluding me from Claire’s wedding helped how?”
Ryan looked ashamed.
“He said you needed to understand the family could function without you.”
There it was.
Dad had turned Claire’s wedding into a demonstration of power.
And it had worked.
For three weeks, I had questioned myself.
Wondered what I had done wrong.
Whether building my company had made me distant.
Whether I had become someone my own sister didn’t want beside her.
Dad knew exactly what exclusion would do to me.
Ryan leaned forward.
“I didn’t know he lied about the invitation.”
“But you knew he wanted to isolate me.”
Silence.
“That’s enough.”
I called my assistant.
“Michelle, please ask security to come upstairs.”
