Chapter 4 - The Secret Brendan Never Expected
The scandal didn’t stay private.
By Tuesday morning, reporters knew Sterling Meridian had removed four senior executives.
By Tuesday afternoon, they knew my name.
For eleven years, I had avoided cameras.
That ended at 4:15 p.m.
Arthur entered my office.
“There are thirty-two reporters downstairs.”
“Thirty-two?”
“Thirty-four now.”
I looked through the window.
“Wonderful.”
“There’s something else.”
He placed an envelope on my desk.
It contained copies of emails recovered during the audit.
I read the first.
Then the second.
Then I stopped.
“Brendan knew?”
Arthur shook his head.
“Not about your ownership.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
I pointed at the screen.
“He knew Diane was manipulating my divorce?”
“Yes.”
Months earlier, Diane had convinced Brendan that I was planning to demand millions from him.
She had pushed him to hide assets.
She had encouraged him to move money.
And she had repeatedly told him my pregnancy was an attempt to “trap” the Morrison family.
But one email mattered more.
Once the divorce is final, Jessica can take Cassidy’s place publicly. We need someone appropriate beside you if you want the presidency.
I stared at Arthur.
“The presidency of Sterling Meridian?”
“Yes.”
I almost smiled at the absurdity.
Brendan had divorced the owner of the company partly because his mother believed a different wife would help him become its president.
Arthur’s phone rang.
He checked the screen.
“Brendan.”
“Put him through.”
Arthur hesitated.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He placed the call on speaker.
“Cassidy?”
“What do you want?”
“I saw the emails.”
“So did I.”
“I didn’t know Mom was doing all of that.”
“You replied to her.”
“I thought she was exaggerating.”
“You wrote, ‘Once Cassidy is gone, everything gets easier.’”
Silence.
Then Brendan said, “I was angry.”
“You were always angry whenever I stopped being convenient.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Yes.”
“I want to fix them.”
“You can’t fix our marriage.”
“I’m talking about our daughter.”
That made me pause.
His voice softened.
“I want to be there when she’s born.”
I looked at Arthur.
He quietly left the room.
“Brendan, being her father is not a corporate title.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get it because your name is Morrison.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to disrespect her mother and then demand access to her.”
“I know.”
That third answer sounded different.
Less defensive.
I sat down.
“What are you asking?”
“A chance to earn it.”
For the first time, I didn’t hear entitlement.
I heard fear.
“Then start with accountability.”
“How?”
“Tell the truth.”
“To who?”
“Everyone.”
Two hours later, Brendan walked into a press conference without Diane.
Without Jessica.
Without a lawyer speaking for him.
Cameras flashed.
I watched from upstairs.
A reporter shouted, “Mr. Morrison, were you wrongfully terminated?”
Brendan approached the microphones.
“No.”
The room quieted.
“My termination was justified.”
Another reporter called, “Did Cassidy arrange your dismissal because of your divorce?”
“No.”
“Did you know she owned the company?”
“No.”
“Would you have treated her differently if you had?”
Brendan stared at the cameras.
“Yes.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
He continued.
“And that is exactly the problem.”
The reporters went silent.
“I treated my ex-wife as though her value depended on what I thought she had. I allowed my family to humiliate her. I participated in financial decisions I knew were wrong. Yesterday, I lost my job because of my own conduct.”
A reporter asked, “What about the incident at your mother’s home?”
His jaw tightened.
“It happened.”
“Did your mother pour dirty water over Ms. Cassidy?”
“Yes.”
“And you laughed?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
The admission spread through the room like electricity.
“I’m ashamed of it.”
He stepped away.
I turned off the television.
Arthur stood behind me.
“Did you ask him to say all that?”
“I asked him to tell the truth.”
Arthur nodded toward the dark screen.
“He did.”
“Yes.”
May you like
But telling the truth was only the beginning.
Because forty-eight hours later, Diane Morrison entered my office with information that threatened to bring down far more than her own family.
