Part 29 (2/2)
”Birdie.”
”What?”
”Mrs. Easton sent the checks.”
Taddy stared, tongue-tied. ”I didn't know.”
Irma nodded. ”Birdie and I argued over it. She stopped talking to us and vowed to look in on you going forward.”
All the horrible resentment toward Lex's mother over the years had been misdirected.
”Why would Birdie do such a thing?”
”We both became pregnant at the same time. Birdie always treated you as if you were her own baby girl. I admired many things about Mrs. Easton.” Irma turned to Warner. ”We were best friends throughout our twenties and thirties. Birdie and I did everything together. She was the best friend I always wanted.”
”I see.” Warner gripped Taddy's hand.
Irma shrugged. ”Eddie refused to have more babies. He wanted to tour and sing for the world. He never wanted a family. Contrary to his desires, Birdie felt it selfish to have only one child. She wanted more and took to you just as Joseph did.” Irma sipped from her teacup, hands shaking. Was she nervous? ”People say the meanest things about that woman. Her demons and drug addictions were horrible. But when Birdie sobered, she became a great mom to Lex-and you.”
”Yes, when we were younger. I have some fond memories of Birdie's sobriety. She just relapsed so often it was hard to trust her.”
”Birdie tried to show me how to parent you. I couldn't get my head around mothering,” Irma confessed dryly.
”Obviously.” Taddy couldn't help but raise her voice.
Warner released Taddy's hand and patted her right knee, probably to calm her down. ”She needs time to think about your request. We're not going to get anything resolved here today.”
”That's understandable.”
”I'm open to talking again.” Taddy sat on the edge of the chair. Their time together was coming to an end. She took a deep breath.
”Good.” Her mother leaned forward with antic.i.p.ation. ”I need to figure this out,” Irma muttered in a low voice, almost as if she'd slipped.
”Figure what?”
”Us,” Irma replied. ”You and me. Our future together.”
”No, that's not what you meant.” Taddy had heard enough. ”You need to settle up with Dad. But you can't do that until I agree to support you. That's it, isn't it?”
”Don't put it that way, please-honey.” Irma's voice cracked.
”I'll never give you any money.”
Irma's body stiffened and her right brow shot up. ”I feared you'd respond as such. I will make the support worth your investment.”
”How?”
”I will answer your most essential question. The one you asked in each and every letter you wrote me.”
Revulsion struck Taddy with a ma.s.sive blow. ”I won't dignify your offer with a response.”
”I don't understand,” Warner questioned, focusing on Irma.
Before clarifying, Irma adjusted the pin on her brooch, fixing the needle straight through the jeweled royal ornament. She relished the attention they were giving her. It wasn't going to last long. ”If you help me divorce Joseph, I'll tell you who your real birthfather is. Who I carried on an affair with for many years. Who I should've married.”
Blood pumping, rage boiling, Taddy Brill, Manhattan's number-one public relations professional, who'd penned over a thousand client speeches, trademarked the world's best taglines, owned a repertoire for every conundrum-didn't know what the f.u.c.k to say. But she figured calling the woman who sat across from her a selfish, cold-hearted, narcissistic b.i.t.c.h would be a really good start!
Chapter Twenty-One.
Sheldon Truman's Fudge b.a.l.l.s Warner had learned many things since becoming a billionaire and moving into the ranks of the world's one percent. Some behaviors he admired, such as financial contributions made by fellow billionaires Mike Bloomberg, Cargill Corporation heiress Margaret A. Cargill and Dietrich Industries chairman William S. Dietrich II. Their donations for education, feeding the underprivileged, and research inspired him to continue with his philanthropic work for bone cancer.
But there'd been others he didn't admire. Women similar to Irma for example. Some called them leeches. Irma's behavior toward her daughter stunned him more than when the doctors had told him his late wife was dying and more than when Rielle had faked her pregnancy. Witnessing Irma invite Taddy, whom she'd cast aside as a teenager, back into her life only to hold on to the posh lifestyle she wanted outraged him.
”Do you not want to learn who your father is?” Irma persisted.
”We're done here, Countess.” Warner stood, extending a hand to his girlfriend. ”Ready?”
Pupils dilated, Taddy gazed at him and managed, ”Uh-huh.” Her face regained its coloring as she found her footing.
”Mr. Truman, you're being rude. Let my daughter answer.” With her hand on her hip, Irma marched over. Her initial frailness at their introduction earlier had all but faded.
”One minute.” Taddy motioned for Warner to pause. She stepped over to Irma, placing her hand on her mother's shoulder. Warner hadn't noticed the contrast in their physical stature until now. ”I came today for answers. Now I'm leaving more confused than imaginable. I'll never be able to justify your choices, Mother.”
”What do you mean?”
”Why you threw me away.” Taddy's voice rose. ”Why you kept me from seeing Dad all these years. Why you're now blackmailing me into giving you money.”
”I am doing no such thing.”
”What else would you call making me pay you to tell me whose DNA I share, Mother?”
”Tabitha Adelaide, please.”
”My name is Taddy and you've never cared about me as your daughter. But I'll be okay. I have my real family. I have Lex, Vive, Blake-”
”And me,” Warner added. ”You have me.”
Taddy smiled at him and confirmed, ”I'm loved, Mother. For the first time in my life, I know how love feels,” her arms came wide, indicating the Brillfords' apartment, ”and this isn't it.” She grabbed her purse and slipped her arm around his.
He led her to the door.
She turned, facing Irma one last time. ”The day you dropped me off at Avon Porter, I never got to say my farewell.” It was unfathomable as a child, but today, Taddy as an adult was different than the girl she'd been all those years ago. ”Goodbye, Countess.”
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