Second Chance Addison

Chance looked for a hint that Fait was messing with him. A smirk or a flinch or anything really. He'd even accept an eye twitch as a reason to doubt her.

Despite his questioning stare, she remained calm and steady without even the slightest bit of nervousness.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why leave everything to me?" He had only known Mack for a short time and he didn't believe he was close enough to him to inherit so much as a cent.

"Because he liked you. Plus, you were the only one willing to buy Lovewell Publishing at a fair and honest price."

Mack had set most of the terms and Chance had agreed. There was no reason to not agree. If the sale had happened both men would have gotten what they wanted. Or so he thought.

"But the deal fell through."

"Addison, it was never meant to go through. Even if you had gained the board's approval, Mack would have backed out in the end." Fait started to rearrange the doc.u.ments on the table.

"So what was the point? Why did he act like he was going to sell?"

"It was a test. A test that you alone passed. He knew his time was running out and he needed to find someone that could step in for him once he was gone."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I was Mack's assistant."

"Then why is it that I have never seen you before? Wouldn't you have been a part of the acquisition process?"

"Mack always took charge of negotiations and I was instructed to sit this one out."

"What about his family?"

"He had none that he would acknowledge."

"And the ones that he wouldn't acknowledge? Are they behind the destruction of my company? And are they the ones that want me dead?"

"Kind of."

"Kind of? What exactly is kind of?"

"They are a part of the plot but they are not the only people involved. We can discuss that later as it is a bit complicated."

"Why didn't he turn everything over to you?"

"I told you, I was his assistant. I do not have the ability to manage so many assets."

"Why are you answering my questions so easily? Where did the sarcasm and avoidance go?" All of a sudden she was giving him straightforward answers.

"To be blunt, now you are sober." Mystery solved! Chance remembered his earlier appearance and felt he somewhat deserved it.

He nodded and agreed, "I suppose that's fair."

She finally stopped going through the doc.u.ments. It seemed she had found the ones she was looking for.

"Here is a copy of Mack's will and the transfer agreement." A look of guilt flashed across her face just long enough for Chance to catch it.

"What is it?"

"I admit that all of this was supposed to have been turned over to you the day after Mack passed away."

"What went wrong?" Why was she only speaking to him three week later then?

"Poor judgement happened. Initially, I was not personally going to come and find you. The person I sent turned out to be a traitor. She said that you had refused to do business with anyone related to Mack Lovewell." Fait had been dealing with guilt and regret over this decision.

Normally she was a firm believer in 'if you want something done right, you have got to do it yourself.' But, she had disagreed with Mack's decision to give everything to Chance. And there were rumors flying around about him going bankrupt. In the end she had put her secretary in charge of bringing Chance to her.

"Mack and I parted on good terms. Even though our deal didn't go through, we didn't become enemies or anything."

"I know that now. Please keep in mind that your reputation was rapidly declining. All I had was Mack's words against what my secretary had told me." She paused as she remembered overhearing her secretary on the phone with someone. The secretary was assuring the person on the other end that there was no way Chance Addison was going to sign the Lovewell transfer agreement before the deadline.

"I sent her out numerous times to try to convince you and each time she told me the same thing. Eventually I noticed she was behaving suspiciously and fired her. Then I conducted my own investigation into you and into what was really going on at Addison Enterprises."

Chance grimaced and realized that the two of them shared the same nearly fatal character flaw. Both he and Fait were too trusting of those around them. Luckily Fait had better observational skills and was able to see what was really happening.

"Thank you." He looked at her with a solemn expression. "If you hadn't followed up on her strange behavior or what she had told you..." He didn't even want to consider the alternative.

Chance may have lost everything he owned but he still had his life. And it was all because of Fait.

He repeated softly, "Thank you."