my head. “She won’t sell.”
“Why?”
“Why would she accept a big check now when she can collect for the rest of her life? Then her children can inherit that and continue to collect.”
Her eyes fell in a deep look of sadness. “Jesus…”
“Yeah. It sucks.” I’d had enough time to process what had happened, but it still haunted me. I was ashamed she’d made a fool out of me in front of the whole world, that she’d robbed my family of the profits from their hard work. If we’d just gotten a divorce decades down the road because of irreconcilable differences, it wouldn’t hurt so much. But the fact that it was all a ploy, that she used me to get to this level, that when I suggested a prenup and she was offended, it was all a ruse. That’s what fucking stung.
She took me for a ride.
I trusted too easily. I saw the good too easily.
Carson dropped her gaze for a moment and shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry, Dax. That’s so shitty.”
“Yeah…thanks.”
“Maybe someday you can remedy the situation.”
No. She got what she wanted, and she would never give it up. “Next question.”
She sighed before she grabbed the recorder and turned it back on. “Where do you see this company in the next five years?”
“No idea. I hope it’s still successful and customers still like our product. But I avoid thinking about the future as much. I focus on being the best I can be in the moment. If you work hard, there should always be a future. But what that future will be exactly is always unknown.”
She made a note in response to what I said. “Do you plan to hand this company to your son one day?”
“Or daughter,” I added.
Her eyes changed slightly, like that response meant something to her.
“I don’t have a family and I’m not sure if I ever will, but if I do and they want it, of course. But my sister may want the same thing, and she’s just as entitled to it.”
“But you want it to stay in the family? You don’t intend to sell or outsource a CEO?”
I shook my head. “No one is going to care about a company more than someone whose name is on the door. The best way to invest long-term success is to have someone who sees it as a legacy, sees that it’s more than just money. So, no, I intend to keep it in the family as long as possible.”
“And if neither you nor your sister has descendants?”
“She’ll definitely have kids. Her dream is to be a mother.”
“And is your dream to be a father?”
I studied her face, wondering if she was asking these questions for her article or for personal reasons. “Dream is too strong of a word. I’m open to the idea. When I was married, I always assumed we would have children. But now, I can’t picture myself getting remarried, so I’m not sure how that would work.”
She nodded but didn’t make a note.
“What about you?”
She regarded me, an eyebrow slightly raised. “Meaning?”
“Do you want a family someday?” She used to be so closed off from me that I couldn’t get a word out of her, but now that we were friends and her attitude was different, I could actually get to know her in a way I couldn’t before. It was ironic that she was more giving after I betrayed her, but not before. My lies pushed her away, but once we weren’t involved, she didn’t see me as a threat anymore…so she shared her life with me.
“Not really. With my job, it’s just not feasible. I’m put on assignments with twenty-four hours’ notice, and then I’m gone for an extended period of time. Not sure what kind of life I could provide to a little person in that scenario.”
“Well, there’d be a man in the picture, right?”
She shrugged. “If I were going to do the whole mom thing, I’d want to do it, you know? Not push it on my partner. But my sister will have kids, so I don’t need to worry about it. Besides, being a fun aunt is way better than being a mom.”
In the limited time I’d known her, it was obvious how passionate she was about her work. She took it seriously, like it was a calling rather than just a paycheck. “When did you know you wanted to be a journalist?”
“I’ve always known.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. When I was in high school, I was the editor of