Chapter 5 - THE COUSIN WHO CAME TO MONACO
Luke arrived without invitation.
I learned when hotel security called.
“Ms. Parker, a Mr. Luke Parker is in the lobby.”
I closed my eyes.
“Does he have a room?”
“No.”
“Then why is he here?”
“He says he is family.”
Apparently that was now a passport.
I went downstairs.
Luke stood beside three suitcases.
Designer jacket.
Sunglasses indoors.
Exactly as irritating as memory.
“Jade!”
He hugged me.
I remained still.
He pulled back.
“Wow. Monaco looks good on you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Visiting.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“Come on.”
“No.”
His expression changed.
“I came to help.”
“With?”
“Whatever Grandpa dumped on you.”
There.
“Luke, you spent eleven weeks running his Dallas division.”
“Twelve.”
“Eleven.”
“Whatever.”
“You fired the warehouse manager because he told you inventory numbers were wrong.”
“He was negative.”
“The inventory was wrong.”
Luke rolled his eyes.
“You've always loved that story.”
“I lived the cleanup.”
That shut him up briefly.
Then:
“Mom told me there might be a trust.”
“Mom shouldn't have told you anything.”
“So there is.”
I said nothing.
His face sharpened.
“How much?”
“Not your business.”
“Grandpa was my grandfather too.”
“He left you two million dollars.”
“Which is nothing compared to what he hid.”
Nothing.
Two million.
There was the Parker family.
“Why do you think you deserved more?”
He looked genuinely offended.
“Because I'm his grandson.”
I laughed.
Couldn't help it.
“Jade.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“Don't act like you earned billions answering phones.”
That hit.
Because some part of me had wondered the same.
I hadn't built Grandpa's fortune.
I didn't deserve it simply because I worked harder than Luke.
Inheritance isn't meritocracy.
Important.
So I said:
“I didn't.”
He looked confused.
“What?”
“I didn't earn Grandpa's money.”
“Then—”
“He asked whether I want to manage responsibility attached to it.”
Luke laughed.
“That's the same thing.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He lowered his voice.
“Give me five million.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Loan.”
“You have two million.”
“Had.”
I closed my eyes.
“Luke.”
“Investment went bad.”
“How bad?”
“Temporary.”
Of course.
“What investment?”
“Crypto fund.”
“How much left?”
He looked away.
“About six hundred.”
“Thousand?”
“Yes.”
He had burned 1.4 million in less than a month.
“What is the five million for?”
“To recover.”
I laughed again.
Not cruelly.
I was stunned.
“You want to double down.”
“I know the market.”
“You just lost seventy percent.”
“Timing.”
“No.”
His face hardened.
“Grandpa gave you that money to help us.”
“No.”
“You don't know that.”
“I literally read his instructions.”
Luke's jaw tightened.
“You were always his pet.”
I stared.
“Really?”
“He made you work close to him.”
“You could've worked there.”
“I had my own life.”
“Exactly.”
He stepped closer.
“You loved making us look spoiled.”
I thought about that.
Maybe sometimes I did.
I had built identity around being the responsible one.
That can become arrogance too.
So I said:
“I probably judged you too much.”
Luke blinked.
“But I'm still not giving you five million.”
His face reddened.
“You're going to regret this.”
“Probably.”
Then he did something stupid.
He tried following me into the private elevator.
Security stopped him.
Luke shouted:
“This is family property!”
Xavier appeared.
Perfect timing.
“No, sir.”
Luke stared.
“Who are you?”
“Xavier Laurent.”
“Do you work for Jade?”
Xavier looked at me.
“Not exactly.”
Then to Luke:
“And none of this is family property.”
Luke went pale.
Security escorted him out.
He flew home the next morning.
Within twenty-four hours, he posted online:
Funny how money reveals people.
May you like
I agreed.
I just didn't think we meant the same person.
