“This is all my fault? Is that what you’re saying? That I never treated him well?”
“Have you?” I raised my eyebrows. “Whether you want to admit it, you created the conditions that made us find each other. You have all the right to be mad with me, but Ozzie doesn’t deserve your anger. In fact, I’ve been weighing my words because I don’t want to seem as if I’m blaming you. I know the part I played in this, but you treated him like garbage, so can you blame him for moving on with someone who actually sees him?”
Carter’s face flamed a bright red. At least he had the decency to look ashamed of the way he treated Ozzie. “Did you plan all this?”
I frowned. “What?”
He snapped his fingers. “It all makes sense now. You never wanted me to get my hands on my inheritance because you don’t think I’m ready for it. Why did you insist on me having the wedding here? Admit it, Dad. You sensed things were shaky between Ozzie and me, and you drove a wedge between us to stop me from inheriting that money.”
I scowled, jumping to my feet. “Do you realize how ridiculous that is? I invited you to the ranch for your wedding because I thought after you got that money, you wouldn’t come around anymore. That way, I’d at least have this last memory of you here.”
Carter snorted. “Nice try, but I’m not buying it.”
I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms. “You just said things were shaky between you and Ozzie. If you knew that, why did you insist on marrying him? My hunch was true, wasn’t it? You were using Ozzie to get your inheritance.”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it? You made sure I’ll never get my hands on it.”
Bile rose, leaving an acidic taste in my mouth. “You’d use him that way? And have the gall to be upset that he found someone better?”
“You think you’re better than me?”
I gritted my teeth, took my phone out of my pocket, and opened my banking app with my fingerprint. “Just so you don’t do anything this selfish again and ruin somebody’s life for personal gain, there, I sent you the money I promised you and Matty when you got married and started your own family. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
Carter swallowed. “You sent the money?”
“It may take a couple of days for you to get it, given the amount, but it’s done.” My voice was as cold as the arctic wind.“I just have one request, Carter. Can you at least pretend, for Ozzie’s sake, that you cared about him even a little?”
“Of course I cared about him.”
“That’s good. Pretend just like that. I don’t want Ozzie to ever know all he was to you was a bank balance.”
On heavy feet, I trudged toward the door. I didn’t want to talk to Carter anymore. He might be my son, but I didn’t like him very much at that moment.
I opened the door. Ozzie stood in the hallway.
“Oh, that self-righteous act is hypocritical coming from you, Dad,” Carter shouted from behind me, his voice ringing loud and clear. “It still doesn’t negate the fact that you thought you should help yourself to my sloppy seconds.”
Ozzie’s gasp echoed off the walls, a chilling sound that made my heart clench. He was pale, his eyes wide with shock, disbelief, and hurt. Carter looked just as shocked as if he wasn’t the one to utter the words.
He rushed past me. “Ozzie, I—”
I stepped aside, blocking his path. “Get out.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Heels clicked on the floor. Emma rounded the corner, a scowl forming when she saw Ozzie. “What are you doing here? Haven’t you done enough?”
“No, this has nothing to do with Ozzie.” I dismissed her. My sole focus was Carter, who was still trying to reach Ozzie. “Get out, Carter.”
“Wait, what? You’re throwing our son out?”
“You don’t disrespect the man I love under my roof,” I said through clenched teeth. “And frankly, since I’m already the villain and you’re the victim, I might as well play the part. You’ve hurt Ozzie enough, and I’ll be damned if I let you hurt him again.”
“Now wait one damn minute!” Emma cried. “You’re kicking your son out because of this cheap gold digger?”
“That’s right, and not just him. You too. You want this house, Emma, you can contest me for it in court, but I won’t hear any more of this kind of language and talk when it comes to Ozzie.”
“Gray, calm down.” Ozzie hurried over to me and cupped the side of my face. His hand on my skin felt cold. Or it might be that I had gone numb at how far we’d all sunken. “I’m sure we can talk about this reasonably.”
I wrapped an arm around his waist and tucked him to my side. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone abuse you anymore. Not while I’m here, they won’t.”
