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All that fire did was chill me to the bone. I begged him not to, didn’t I? I was pretty goddamn clear about it too. Yet here he was, ready to wage war against this woman while I watched.

“Honestly, what is this all about?” She eyed me warily, not like I could provide any answers. I was just as much in the dark as she was.

“You want to know? I’ll be happy to tell you.” From a folder on his desk, he withdrew a handful of papers and thrust them her way. “Look familiar? It should. You had your personal attorney draw it up four years ago.”

Oh, no. Not this.

Icy nausea gripped me before I opened my mouth, ready to speak, but he shook his head.

Dammit, what part of me begging him to keep quiet had he not understood?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She had the nerve to toss her head and shrug blithely.

Jackson’s jaw tightened. “It’s an NDA, Mother. One which you presented to Winter four years ago and forced her to sign.”

“Is that what she told you? I didn’t force her to do anything,” she snarled, looking my way. “Believe me, when presented with the sum I offered, nothing could have stopped her from signing.”

“But you do admit you did this?” he demanded while I stood by silently, trembling, holding my breath. Was it possible this was really happening? After all this time, all the years I’d spent wishing and wanting and hating her, was this all ending?

“What is there to admit?” She shrugged beneath the chic coat draped over her shoulders. “Yes, you went behind my back and found evidence of me protecting you. Is that a crime?”

“Protecting me?” He laughed. “This, I have to hear.”

Thrusting an arm my way, she snarled, “Without me, this little nothing would’ve baby-trapped you. Are you seriously so blind you can’t see that?”

She had accused me of being nothing. She had accused me of not being good enough for her son. Low class, poor, and I had accepted all of that. But this? Indignation swelled, hot and fierce.

“I would never!” I barked.

“Easy to say now,” she scoffed. “Years later. Obviously, she was only in it for money, or she wouldn’t have jumped at the opportunity to take mine.”

I would kill her. Here and now, exhausted and strained and ready to collapse under the force of the past four years coming out all at once, I would kill her for topping it all off with these ugly lies. “You used my mother’s MS as a bargaining chip, dammit. How dare you?”

“Easy,” Jackson murmured, giving his head a tiny shake. “Don’t worry. I didn’t bring you up here because I don’t believe you,” he assured me.

Diana’s dramatic gasp turned my stomach. “Are you serious? You’re going to take her word?”

“Mom, enough.” There was something sort of sad about the way he sounded. He was resigned. Tired. “This is the last straw. I don’t have it in me to say all the things that have gone through my head over the last few days as I’ve researched this. You knew I had a child out there in the world, and you paid that child’s mother to leave the country and not say a word about it to me.”

“And the fact that you now know tells me the NDA was broken!” Turning on her heel, she gave me a triumphant smile. “Just like I knew you would break it one day.”

“Yeah, but here’s the thing,” he continued, ignoring her crowing. “You don’t have a dime, and we both know it now. Do you want to sue her? I would love to see you try.”

“Wait. What?” My head was going to fall off if I didn’t keep looking back and forth between them. Somehow, in the middle of all my confusion, I had the pleasure of watching Diana’s face fall. She went from triumphant to horrified in the blink of an eye.

“So here’s how this is going to go. Eyes on me, Mom,” he added while she stood there sputtering. “You are going to ignore the fact that the terms of this NDA were breached, or I am going to report you to the other investors in Bennett Entertainment and anyone else who will listen. You embezzled company funds and altered the books.”

She what? Is he serious?

Her face went ghostly white, making her crimson lipstick stand out in shocking contrast. “How could you do this to me? I am your mother.”

“You are my mother who kept my son from me. You are my mother who stole money from this company and tried to force me into marrying a stranger to cover up your mistake. It’s not going to happen. All of that is over now. Any influence you’ve ever had in my life is hereby revoked. If you know what’s good for you, you will walk away now before your reputation in this town is permanently destroyed. And I’ll do it. I’ll do it in a heartbeat.”

“Jackson,” she whispered. “How could you threaten to do this to your own mother?”

“Happily,” he replied. “Gladly. And for what it’s worth,” he made sure to add, “Winter wouldn’t have told me if our son hadn’t gotten sick enough to land in the hospital. I followed her there. She still wasn’t going to tell me anything. I had to force it out of her, but I’m glad I did because if anyone does not deserve to be tormented by you another minute, it’s her. Now get out of my sight,” he concluded. “If you even think about making yourself out to be a victim in all of this, I will more than happily set the world straight. Just see if I don’t.”

“That is not the end of this.” Trembling, she turned my way, shooting me a withering look. “Not even close.”