It Goes On - Book l

The Confession

Once the end of the week had arrived, Kiera was the only one, aside from the twins, that kept her company while she proceeded to decorate her and Simon's new bedroom in the lodge, setting aside little decorations to accommodate the current season. Their new master bedroom was far too luxurious for Kiera's liking and would certainly be something for them to get used to. The new sheets on the king-sized bed were extraordinary and Kiera was beyond excited to tuck herself between them when nightfall came. The room itself was big enough to accommodate two small leather couches facing adjacent to each other with a glass coffee table between them with the fireplace as the main focal point of the room. The bathroom that was attached to the bedroom was her favorite part: a walk-in shower as well as a lavish claw-foot tub she was beyond eager to sink into.

With a final glance at her snoozing twins, she then gathered the basket of decorative blankets she had been planning to wash all day towards the laundry room downstairs, only to be stopped by the slight sound of rummaging from her father's former office – soon to be hers as it was the room next on her list to modify and organize.

Knowing it wasn't her mother who was rummaging, as well as knowing that her mother was still in town to drink her afternoon tea with Suzanne, she also knew that Simon would have at least announced his presence as well as accompany her when going into a room that he knew he had no business in. Quietly, she sat the basket onto the floor before following the noise, slowly approaching the doorway that led into the office, seeing the person she would have guessed first to be rummaging through her father's paperwork.

Dennis.

Quietly and hastily looking through the files that belonged to the ranch. Finances, employee information, maintenance logs, and tax information.

"Well, well, well," Kiera clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, seeing his guilt through his body language. "What's gotten you so nervous I wonder?"

Dennis sighed, "Well, you scared the fucking shit out of me."

"Seem jumpy. Nervous."

"I'll tell you why I'm nervous," He huffed, taking a piece of paper that he had been looking at the longest and displaying it to her. "This. A trust? Why a trust? Why did our father put this ranch in a trust?"

"To give it to me when it wasn't his time to run it anymore. It doesn't take a lawyer to figure that out."

"And why was I never in it?"

"Do I have to tell you that, too?" She scoffed. "You actually have to come around and you know, be a part of the family before you could be considered in the passing of assets. I don't believe you never had the spine in the first place to contribute to this family, especially this ranch. Our father never trusted you. You remember what he said about a man who wears a suit, right?"

"Well, he also encouraged me to be what I am today so that I could run this ranch one day."

"That might have been his plan, but plans change."

"Okay, but why you?"

"Because he knew I would be smart enough to label the ranch as an investor."

"How big of an investor?" Dennis scoffed.

"Why does it matter? You're not involved in managing the finances anymore."

"Just tell me, Kiera. I have more experience in this field than you do and maybe, just maybe, I could give you advice before you fuck this all up."

Kiera breathed a sigh before stepping closer to the oak desk, leaning against its edge before answering, "3 million. You're worried about the risk, but why should you?" She scoffed. "For two reasons – one: the risk is mitigated. Two: since it was clear from day one that you had balls the size of quail eggs, you would've invested this money years ago instead of us having to chase our own tails every Fall. Always a proud son, right? Leaving your baby sister to do the big man work around here." She mocked.