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according to my mom. He pursued her, and she fell hard for him. He was charming, wealthy, and
promised her the moon. About the time they met, my grandfather passed away and there was a huge
race for the company. It should ve gone to my dad. His brother, Milton had zero interest in the
corporation, and my dad had been working there for years, Damien started.
Sierra was fascinated by the intense look on his face. She still didn t understand what any of this
had to do with the Anderson s, though.
Joseph and George are twins, the only sons of Milton, my father s nephews. When my grandfather
died, they both rushed home to get their greedy hands on what my father had worked so hard for. The
board of directors chose Joseph to run the corporation and my father was left with nothing. His own
dad didn t leave him a dime in the will. The corporation was all he had. The old man left what he had
to charity s, saying the boys needed to build their own wealth, that they d appreciate it better in the
long run. Well, Milton didn t have to build his own wealth. He had a nice little ranch that his father
bankrolled for him, while my father had nothing, because he d been sure he d take over the Anderson
Corporation.
Damien s eyes narrowed as he told a story Sierra was sure he d heard a thousand times. Sierra
knew there was no way it could be true. Even a young Joseph couldn t be a monster. There had to be
more to the story and she was determined to find out what it was.
Were you able to verify if all of this is true? she asked, afraid of his reaction, but still having to
ask it.
Of course I verified. I found the old newspaper articles. There was a fight for the CEO position.
In the earlier papers, apparently Joseph was playing it cool, because they said he didn t seem
interested in taking over his grandfather s reign. Apparently, he d already amassed a huge fortune.
However, greedy people always want more, and Joseph was no exception.
How do you know it was about greed? What if he wanted to run the business his grandfather put
so many years into?
If that was the case, why did he leave in the first place? Why wouldn t he have stayed and learned
how to run the business like my father had? Damien asked with bitterness.
Don t you think the best way to get answers to those questions is to ask Joseph?
Why? So he can tell me lies? The story doesn t end there. My father was so upset about his losses
that he quickly went downhill, started drinking himself to death. One night he drank too much and lost
control of his car. He was dead before the paramedics arrived.
Oh, Damien, I m so sorry, she said, sincere sadness draping her words.
I was only a few months old at the time, and later my mother found out she was pregnant with my
sister. She went to the Andersons for help. Even though begging from anyone was against everything
she believed in, she did it for my sake mine and my sister s. She showed up at their door, and they
laughed at her, told her they didn t believe her story, that they were glad my father was dead, and then
they shut it in her face. She had to leave my sister in the hospital s care, and my mother lived a rough
life from that moment on, he said, pain evident for the mother he d lost at too young of an age.
Sierra could relate to how he felt. She missed her mom every day. She always imagined how
differently her life would ve turned out had her mom been there. She may have actually been a normal
child. She d never believe the things her father said about her. She hoped her mother was far happier
wherever she was, and the only thing that kept Sierra from falling apart was knowing she d someday
see her again.
Sierra set down her empty glass of wine, surprised she drank the entire amount. It really had been
good. She then wrapped her arms around Damien, not able to give him the cold shoulder when he was
obviously fighting such a ferocious internal battle.
I m fine, he said, not letting his walls down, but he didn t push her away. She took that as a good
sign.
What do you plan to do? This time he didn t try and pretend he didn t know what she was taking
about.
I ve already started. The Andersons have a lot of different divisions to their vast empire. I ve
been working for years to take away the one thing that matters to them their income. They have
several shipping yards throughout the world, so I m building my own shipping company. I ll supply
the same products at a lower cost, taking away their business. If they have a mall in a city, I ll build a
bigger, better one with lower rents. Every market they re invested in, I ll come behind and undercut
them. In the process, it will most likely break me, too, but I don t care. I ve lived with nothing before,
and I can live that way again.
I think you re making a mistake. I know them, Damien. They aren t anything like my father.
They re good people. If you d just talk to them
No! You have no idea what you re talking about, he interrupted.
Sierra didn t know what else to say. Her heart was broken at his internal turmoil and she felt like
she was being torn in half between him and her loyalties to Bree and the Anderson s. She knew
without a doubt that she was falling for him, and she also knew they had no chance of a future
together. He was too angry, too set on revenge, and the people he wanted to hurt were the people she
loved most in the world.
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