The security guard steps forward . “Mrs. Worthington, I must insist that we leave. Mr. Worthington doesn’t want—”
I raise a hand to cut him off. “In a second.” My eyes never leave Alex. Anger and impatience tightening my chest. “Now, Alex. And no more lies.”
He hesitates briefly, glancing at the security guard before stepping closer. His eyes lock onto mine, deadly serious.
“Our father updated his will nine months ago,” he says quietly, urgency threaded through his voice. “He named ten men—all of them from powerful families. Whichever son—me or Benedict—married into one of those families first would become CEO of Worthington Enterprises. And inherit everything.”
Shock ripples through me. Before I can process fully, Alex continues, dropping a heavier bombshell.
“Your father, Kylie—Reginald Bettencourt—he was one of those men. Actually, he was the richest man on the entire list. One of the wealthiest, most influential men in the world. My father would do anything to be connected to him.”
My stomach flips violently, breath catching painfully in my throat. “He’s my father? That-that’s impossible. I've never even heard that name before.”
My mother and I barely talk about my father. She always says she doesn’t know who he was. That he was just some one-off, one-night stand.