They Thought I Was A Fool, I Was Their Only Chance Chapter 08

They Thought I Was A Fool, I Was Their Only Chance Chapter 08

The conference–room door closed.

The crisis was over.

Security dragged Blake Mercer downstairs like a dead weight. The FBI would deal with him next

Only the four of us remained in the room.

The air suddenly felt heavy.

With the outside threat gone, my family finally had time to look closely at the monster they thought

I was.

My father slowly walked up to me.

He studied my face, as if he were trying to find someone else’s shadow in it.

“Sloane…”

He opened his mouth, but his voice came out rough.

“Everything you said just now… was it true?”

Ethan and Claire stared at me too, their expressions impossibly complicated.

There was guilt and happiness in their eyes, but more than anything, there was the awe people

reserved for a stranger.

. I sighed.

If I was going to keep up the act, I had to commit to the whole performance.

I couldn’t tell them I’d been reincarnated with memories of another life. They’d have me

committed and treated like a psychiatric specimen.

“It was true.”

I met their eyes, my voice even.

“I understood everything you said when I was five.”

“I just… thought speaking was exhausting.”

“With a brother and sister as brilliant as you, the family didn’t need me to do anything.”

I lowered my head and arranged my face into something wounded.

“But Blake was trying to destroy our family.”

“I couldn’t keep pretending.”

The excuse was only half true and not especially convincing.

But for parents who adored their children, it was enough.

“My daughter…”

My father’s eyes turned red.

He pulled me into his arms with enough force to crush me.

“I’m sorry. I was blind.”

“I let you live with that pain for all these years.”

Claire rushed over and hugged me too, sobbing.

“I’m sorry, Sloane. I’m so sorry.”

“I thought you really… I don’t even know what you like to eat.”

Ethan stood to one side and quietly wiped his eyes.

Then he came over and touched my hair.

His movements were gentle, carrying a respect I had never seen from him before.

“Sloane, I’ll never treat you like a nuisance again.”

“From now on, you call the shots at Sinclair Holdings.”

I let them hold me. I didn’t feel much.

My former life as an orphan had made it hard to respond to affection that arrived years too late.

That did not mean I couldn’t use it.

“Dad, don’t cry.”

I gently pushed him away and handed him a tissue.

“Blake may be in custody, but Legal Affairs definitely has people working for him.”

“The internal cleanup has to start now.”

My father wiped his eyes.

He instantly returned to the ruthless efficiency of a CEO.

“Don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll clean out Legal Affairs from top to bottom.”

“Not one parasite stays.”

I shook my head.

“That won’t be necessary.”

I looked at him, my voice firm.

“Dad, I don’t think we need to recruit an outsider for Director of Legal Affairs.”

“I’ll take the job.”

The three of them froze again.

“Sloane, you’re eighteen,” Ethan said.

He frowned slightly.

“You aren’t admitted to the bar, and you’ve never managed a department.”

“The veterans in Legal Affairs won’t respect you.”

I smiled.

For the first time, the smile reached my eyes.

“Do you think Grant Calloway respected me five minutes ago?”

Ethan had no answer.

“You don’t need a license to deal with thugs.”

I walked to the window and looked down at the glittering city.

“You just need to know exactly where to cut.”