“Maybe your parents would have, in a similar situation,” Vivian finally said, choosing her words carefully. “But mine wouldn’t. Trust me on this.”
Cooper wanted to shake his head and deny it. The whole idea of parents—whose whole job was to love and care for their kids—being so unforgiving and so unwilling to allow their daughter to pursue her own happiness…it was completely foreign to the way Cooper grew up. His parents never had any money, but their house was full of love and laughter, until his dad got sick.
Breathing out the grief of that with the ease of practice, Cooper slanted a look at the woman beside him. Her classically perfect profile was as familiar as the shape of his own hand, but had he ever truly known her?
“For a long time, I wondered why you left,” he said. “We were in the middle of senior year, but you even transferred to another school to get away from me.”
She sighed. “My parents insisted. And I didn’t transfer. I just never went back and finished my degree.”
Some of the leftover anger and betrayal from that time period colored his voice when he asked, “Did they also insist that you marry that other guy? Whatever his name was.”
“Gerald Findlay.”
The name was almost familiar, but he was distracted from placing it by the realization that Vivian hadn’t answered his actual question. Cooper glanced at her sharply, narrowing his gaze on her guilty face. “Are you serious? You let your parents pick out your husband for you?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around her torso, as if the wind had just kicked up. “I didn’t think it made any difference. If I couldn’t be with you, I thought it wouldn’t matter who I actually married, and I might as well make my parents happy.”
“Lucky guy.” Cooper felt an unwelcome stab of sympathy for the poor schmuck who’d married into that dysfunctional family mess. Had the guy thought he was getting a wife who loved him?
But Vivian was shaking her head, a small and completely humorless smile flattening her mouth. “Believe me, Gerald didn’t care. I looked the part, and I expected nothing from him, which left him free to get back to what he really loved—his business dealings. Which were the reasons my parents wanted me to marry him, in the first place. They wanted to get in on his investment scheme. I was basically collateral. I didn’t know it at the time but they were on the verge of bankruptcy, and Gerald offered them a way to hold onto their lavish lifestyle.”
The offhand way she said it, as if she hadn’t expected more from her parents, made Cooper frown. “Is that why you divorced him?”
That wary prey look came over her again. “I divorced him because he abandoned me. Three years ago. You really…you never heard about this?”
Dread crept up the back of Cooper’s neck. “What should I have heard?”
Under the cold-reddened cheeks, Vivian looked pale and wan but she squared her shoulders. Tilting her chin up determinedly, she said, “It was all over the news for a while, because so many people were affected.”
“By your divorce?”
Vivian blew out a gusty breath that fogged the air in front of her. “No. By the fact that Gerald’s investment company turned out to be a sham. He fled to the Maldives with the cash, after cleaning out everyone who invested with him.”
Reeling with shock and sudden recognition—he had heard the name “Gerald Findlay” before—Cooper said, “Including your parents?”
She flinched, but kept her voice steady as a rock. “Actually, no. As it turned out, my parents were in on it with him. They steered their wealthy, high society friends to invest with Gerald…and when it all came crashing down, they were safely ensconced in a penthouse in Moscow, sitting on piles of money. They sold out all their friends and cashed in, then retired to a country with no extradition to the U.S. So they can never be forced to return. They didn’t leave
Cooper wanted to shake his head and deny it. The whole idea of parents—whose whole job was to love and care for their kids—being so unforgiving and so unwilling to allow their daughter to pursue her own happiness…it was completely foreign to the way Cooper grew up. His parents never had any money, but their house was full of love and laughter, until his dad got sick.
Breathing out the grief of that with the ease of practice, Cooper slanted a look at the woman beside him. Her classically perfect profile was as familiar as the shape of his own hand, but had he ever truly known her?
“For a long time, I wondered why you left,” he said. “We were in the middle of senior year, but you even transferred to another school to get away from me.”
She sighed. “My parents insisted. And I didn’t transfer. I just never went back and finished my degree.”
Some of the leftover anger and betrayal from that time period colored his voice when he asked, “Did they also insist that you marry that other guy? Whatever his name was.”
“Gerald Findlay.”
The name was almost familiar, but he was distracted from placing it by the realization that Vivian hadn’t answered his actual question. Cooper glanced at her sharply, narrowing his gaze on her guilty face. “Are you serious? You let your parents pick out your husband for you?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around her torso, as if the wind had just kicked up. “I didn’t think it made any difference. If I couldn’t be with you, I thought it wouldn’t matter who I actually married, and I might as well make my parents happy.”
“Lucky guy.” Cooper felt an unwelcome stab of sympathy for the poor schmuck who’d married into that dysfunctional family mess. Had the guy thought he was getting a wife who loved him?
But Vivian was shaking her head, a small and completely humorless smile flattening her mouth. “Believe me, Gerald didn’t care. I looked the part, and I expected nothing from him, which left him free to get back to what he really loved—his business dealings. Which were the reasons my parents wanted me to marry him, in the first place. They wanted to get in on his investment scheme. I was basically collateral. I didn’t know it at the time but they were on the verge of bankruptcy, and Gerald offered them a way to hold onto their lavish lifestyle.”
The offhand way she said it, as if she hadn’t expected more from her parents, made Cooper frown. “Is that why you divorced him?”
That wary prey look came over her again. “I divorced him because he abandoned me. Three years ago. You really…you never heard about this?”
Dread crept up the back of Cooper’s neck. “What should I have heard?”
Under the cold-reddened cheeks, Vivian looked pale and wan but she squared her shoulders. Tilting her chin up determinedly, she said, “It was all over the news for a while, because so many people were affected.”
“By your divorce?”
Vivian blew out a gusty breath that fogged the air in front of her. “No. By the fact that Gerald’s investment company turned out to be a sham. He fled to the Maldives with the cash, after cleaning out everyone who invested with him.”
Reeling with shock and sudden recognition—he had heard the name “Gerald Findlay” before—Cooper said, “Including your parents?”
She flinched, but kept her voice steady as a rock. “Actually, no. As it turned out, my parents were in on it with him. They steered their wealthy, high society friends to invest with Gerald…and when it all came crashing down, they were safely ensconced in a penthouse in Moscow, sitting on piles of money. They sold out all their friends and cashed in, then retired to a country with no extradition to the U.S. So they can never be forced to return. They didn’t leave
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