Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. #7)(50)
“I can logically understand why you did what you did,” Isa says, “but it still doesn’t make it right. I know we’re all about the greater good, but you even kept this from Reina. She’s our leader now, and she was forced to act on her own. Which seems to have been part of your plan as well. What if we hadn’t stepped up to help Darcy?”
“Then you wouldn’t be the women we know you are,” Cyndi answers.
“We passed all of the training you put us through, and have loyally served you for years. We didn’t need to be put through yet another test. We didn’t deserve what you did. Darcy was hurt the worst, but you manipulated all of us,” Ellie tells them.
“And you hurt us, too. When I tried to log onto my tablet, and found my access revoked, I was hurt. It wasn’t just about all of the programs that I had built, but also the people I had depending on me. If this had been real, I would’ve never been able to say goodbye to them, or thank them for their work. I recruited my team, and you took them from me,” Ainsley says. Zack reaches out and puts his arm around her.
“All I have to say is that it’s bullshit,” Jade says. “Pure, f*cking bullshit.”
“You took me back when I tried to leave because I thought I wasn’t good enough, but how do I take you back when you made my friend believe she was just a pawn to you?” Faith asks.
“My son looks up to you, you know that. He considers you to be his surrogate grandmothers. What would I have told him if this was real? What do I tell him now that it’s not? He helped Darcy when she needed it, because he believes in what we do. He believes in us. How could I tell him that he’s wrong, that we’re nothing special?” Tegan asks.
“We are special. All of us. With or without these five women,” Reina says, finally speaking up, and looking over to Jane. “You almost destroyed everything you’ve worked for, just to force something to happen. And yes, it did need to happen, but not that way. You could’ve told us. We’re all trained to be the best actors possible, and we could’ve pulled it off, but you didn’t trust us. There have been women before us, and there will be women after us. But we’re the women of the present, and we deserve way more respect than you’ve shown us. You say you chose me to lead because of my bond with these women, and yet you didn’t trust me to lead with you. If we all walked out of here right now, the Foundation and the Society would continue on, but would it be as strong as it is right now? I don’t think so. In forgetting that you need us, you’ve diminished our existence, and that is something that I cannot forget and may never be able to forgive.”
Wow. Just wow. How do I speak after that? Here goes nothing. “I can’t top that, so I’m not even going to try. I just need to say that you’ve made me question my presence here. I can’t forget the words you said to me, telling me I was only being used. I want to believe that you didn’t mean them, but it’s hard. They’re lodged into my heart and soul, and I hurt. You can come back now and say you always wanted me, and you were looking out for me, but you can’t erase words with other words. How do I know you’re not just saying you always wanted me because everything worked out? I need to see that I’m important. Not to my friends, because they all came to my defense, but to the five of you. I don’t even know how you can make me believe again, but I need you to try.” Stella leans over and hugs me to her. I put my head on her shoulder and try not to cry. Again.
“I appreciate all of you speaking candidly. We will earn back your trust. It’s not something we take lightly, and all five of us need you to know that. We need you to know that we’ve never been prouder of any group before you, and we doubt than any after you will earn our respect more than you have. We have a plan for the future, but we need to discuss it with Reina before we reveal it everyone else. Reina is your leader. She earned that title years ago, and her recent actions have shown us once again that we made the right choice. I have to tell you, on a personal level, that hearing you speak right now gutted me, Reina. You have to know how much you mean to me. And if you truly don’t, I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you.
“As for the Foundation and the Society, we are giving total control to Reina, effective immediately. We would still like to help and mentor if you’ll let us, but we will never interfere again without permission. We have always put the Society first, and we realize that our methods may not have been the right ones, at least not this time. Reina has proven that she can be tough when she needs to be, but she will also protect all of you while protecting what we’ve built. We’d like to talk to you all individually, so we’ll stay here today as long as you want. We don’t want to lose any of you. We truly do love you all.”
There’s not a dry eye in the room—the guys included. Mallory comes over to me and Stella as soon as the formal meeting breaks up. We talk to her, and listen to what she has to say to us. When she tells me again that she’s proud to have me here, my doubts fade a little more. I talk to the other mentors, too, and they all tell me the same things. How sorry they are, and how happy they’ve been since I joined them. It’s going to take time to trust again, but with Reina leading us, I feel comfortable staying on.
I go to my office, where my team all greets me, telling me how happy they are to have me home. I answer their questions as best as I can, and tell them that being deactivated was a mistake. They want to know about Brayden, but all I tell them is that he’s hopeless at video games. I can’t say anything else about him without needing more ice cream again.