Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter. You're all wonderful. Thank you for sticking with me. Pre-Thanksgiving madness continues.
Chapter 36: The Storm Continues
12:08 PM Wednesday, November 26, 2008
How exactly do you react when you find out that your father is a complete bastard that only cares about himself? What do you do when you realize the man you idolized for a good portion of your childhood was never worthy of your adoration? Chad would ask Sharpay how she dealt with Darby, but there was a distinct difference in this situation. Sharpay never had a positive image of Darby. (Honestly, Chad hasn't had a very positive one of his father for the last two or three years, but it was still a shock.)
Ryan might have some insight. He should probably check the seven text messages from Ryan. It's better than trying to make small talk with Tiffany and his father.
It wasn't like he was driving. Sharpay being the best girlfriend ever, pulled him out of the driver's seat and took the keys. He was in no condition to drive, and he loved her for picking up on his anguish without him saying anything to her. He was definitely in distress. Besides, there's nothing Ryan can send him right now that would be worse than seeing his father make out with the 21-year-old he got pregnant due to charcoal-based food products. That was going to give him nightmares.
The good twin: Good news, our couples spa day went well. Bad news, Taylor pretending to be my girlfriend is not preventing Gabriella from hitting on me to make Troy jealous. I know she's been sending him videos of her attempts, not that he's responding at all.
The good twin: At least not to anybody here, not that I blame him. Taylor told me about yesterday. Apparently, her brother has impeccable timing.
The good twin: In other bad news, the spa intervention did not work. The only thing the masseuse could do was to convince Gabriella not to drink spiked cucumber water. Why would you drink spiked cucumber water? We will try again tomorrow with a group Thanksgiving at Maria's apartment.
The good twin: Gabriella crashed my private Lunch with Taylor. She was drinking the entire time. Troy said it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad. She keeps switching between sad and freaked out. I do not like this at all.
The good twin: I get why Troy had to check out. This is a lot, and he has Alex to focus on.
The good twin: I am now going to the salon with Gabriella and Taylor. Wish me luck.
The good twin: Hey, have your parents arrived yet?
Chad: Yes. My father is an asshole.
The good twin: I think we had this conversation before. Especially regarding the fact that he's called you three times since school has begun. Does he know you're with Sharpay now instead of Taylor?
Chad: He sent me a "congratulations on dating a rich girl" text message. That should've been a sign right there that he would do something like this. Also, I'm pretty sure I caught him checking out Amanda and Sharpay despite being there with Tiffany. He's such a prick.
The good twin: Who is Tiffany?
Chad: My dad's girlfriend, who is 7 months pregnant. Even before the divorce, he was apparently with Tiffany. At least, that's what I've gathered from Tiffany's small talk with Sharpay and some of the things my mom said earlier. She knew Tiffany was coming but wanted Charles to tell me, but he couldn't be bothered.
The good twin: I'm sorry. Stuff like this is why I wanted you to come to New York.
Chad: Yes, but then Sharpay would punch out Gabriella, and it would just be a mess. It's a mess, but I don't think anybody's going to get arrested.
The good twin: Point.
Chad: Oh, here's the best part, Tiffany graduated from EHS in 2005. She's also Karrie's cousin.
The good twin: Sometimes, Albuquerque feels like such a small town when it shouldn't be. Kim's stepmom is Taylor's aunt.
Chad: I know. Tiffany's one redeeming quality is that she brought us "thank you" chocolate for keeping her little cousin from getting raped by Ricky. Although with Tiffany dating my dad, I can see why Karrie thought it was OK to date a guy who was almost four years older than her. Tiffany is definitely setting a bad example there.
The good twin: Fuck! Are you OK?
The good twin: Never mind, you are definitely not OK. I'm surprised you are even able to text me.
Chad: Talking to you is keeping me calm because I can't talk to Sharpay right now. She's chatting with the mother of my two new siblings. She's pregnant with twins.
The good twin: Glad to be of help.
Chad: I just realized my father was an asshole. I should have discovered that a long time ago. I mean, Charles was never home last year. Probably too busy with the new girlfriend to care about me. Although not that new, really. Charles has been with Tiffany often on for years. Even though my parents have only been divorced for about one year. Ms. Jackson said too much because she thought I already knew.
The good twin: I remember Tiffany Jackson. She was my peer tutor freshman year. She was super nice to me. She also told Darby to go fuck herself literally. Darby tried to pull me out of tutoring because she thought I was too stupid to do better, and it was keeping me from quality dance rehearsal time. Tiffany fought her on it and won. Because of this, I feel like you probably shouldn't blame her for your dad's dick behavior.
Chad: I can't hate anybody who tells Darby to go fuck herself on principal. I guess we'll just have to stay angry at Charles. How did I not see this last year?
The good twin: It's very easy to miss things. I miss the fact that Darby was beating the shit out of my sister for five years.
Chad: Sharpay was protecting you, so she wouldn't let you see everything. I don't think Charles wanted to protect me.
The good twin: But Carolyn might be a different story.
Chad: She knew at least about Tiffany. She told Charles to tell me himself. He didn't because he's a jerk.
The good twin: You have a right to be angry.
Chad: Charles doesn't feel that way. He thinks I should just accept that I will have half-siblings 18 years younger than me by a woman who is barely four years older than me. Tiffany is Kim's age. They probably even had classes together. Troy has a kid older than my future siblings.
Chad: I just realized that Tiffany is probably the same age as Jamie. Shit!
The good twin: Troy got somebody pregnant at 15. I don't think we can judge anybody by Troy in this regard.
Ryan: Jamie was how old?
Chad: My father knocked up a 21-year-old. Although he also knocked up my mom when she was 16, so this is actually an improvement. Considering how much he regrets my existence, you think he would get better at using condoms or get a vasectomy.
Chad: I just found out that Tiffany is a premed student at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. She chose to go to school there to take care of her sick grandmother. Who died last April.
Chad: This is subsequently about the time that he got Tiffany pregnant. He was on a ton of business trips back then to Cleveland. It also means that he had four months before school started to tell me and didn't say shit, the fucking asshole.
Chad: My father doesn't even respect me enough to tell me the truth. He could've told me, and he didn't, and the only thing that is preventing me from punching him right now is the chocolate from Tiffany and text messaging you.
The good twin: [image attached]
Chad: If you're trying to distract me with pictures of my ex-girlfriend getting her hair done, it's not going to work. Although do tell Taylor that she can now do so much better than me. I want pictures of the full post-breakup makeover.
The good twin: Will do.
The good twin: I will not ask if you are OK again because I know you're not. Having your entire worldview of your parents shifting like this takes a while to process.
Chad: Yes. Is that why you've barely been talking to your sister for these last three weeks?
Chad: BTW, she's not with me right now. She's checking my dad and Tiffany into the hotel. So you can dictate the truth, and I promise she won't immediately read it over my shoulder.
The good twin: That and the guilt. I think that's part of why I opted to help Maria with Gabriella instead of going home because I couldn't help Sharpay.
The good twin: Darby was hurting her, and I didn't stop it.
The good twin: But maybe I can keep Gabriella from self-destructing. She's not who she was in high school, and I'm scared. I don't like seeing her act like this. It worries me.
Chad: I'm not going to touch the Gabriella thing right now because neither of us has the emotional energy for that conversation.
Chad: Ryan, you did stop Darby's physical abuse. Yes, I noticed the bruising first and told my mom, but she needed your collaboration before doing something. We got Darby to stop together.
The good twin: She stopped because Vince put up cameras, not because we reported her.
Chad: It was still a deterrent, and he only did that because of your intervention. I would say call your sister, but I'm going to need her for the next few days. I'm still dealing with my father's treachery to even touch that I'm no longer an only child.
The good twin: I understand. I'm here for you, too, even if I'm in New York. I'll call you in a couple of hours, OK?
Chad: Your sister just got back. I'm probably going to be live texting you during my dinner with him tonight, so be ready.
The good twin: I will.
XXXX
"Despite the excellent job that Afia is doing on my hair, I could tell that you were texting Chad. I could hear you dictating. Chad now knows about Tiffany?" Ryan just nodded his head. "How is he handling it?" Taylor asked.
"Chad is your ex-boyfriend, right?" Afia asked as she continued working on Taylor's hair. Taylor considered getting extensions to have braids like Amanda but decided to wait until later to make that change. Ryan said that she looked good, regardless. However, she did decide to get highlights and go with something a little shorter that would be easier to style in the morning.
"Yes, but he's dating Ryan's sister now, and he is also my little brother's college student big brother mentor, so we're still in touch. I worry about him." In the month and ½ since the breakup, Taylor felt like they were starting to become friends. He's even been helping her with some of her classwork. Although she's still mad at him for hiding his intelligence. She could've used him on the academic decathlon team last year. They could've gone to nationals with him.
"Chad is not OK. Not only did Chad's father never bothered to tell Chad about Tiffany, a.k.a. the divorce catalyst, but she's also pregnant with twins."
"Motherfucking asshole." Taylor was furious on Chad's behalf. She already knew about Tiffany because Ryan told her what he overheard during the fallout of her destroying Evans hall. But this was even worse than what they knew about.
"Yep. Although I did tell Chad not to be hard on Tiffany. I just realized she was the same Tiffany that tutored me freshman year. She told Darby to go fuck herself. People who stand up to my egg donor like that are my favorite people." Taylor sees Afia give Ryan a really strange look.
"His mom is a horrible racist, homophobic nightmare. So Ryan doesn't claim her anymore. Maria is his new mom." Taylor explained. "Gabby, notwithstanding, it's definitely an upgrade."
Thankfully for everyone, Gabriella was on the other side of the salon. Taylor doesn't know what she's having done, nor did she care. She is just happy that Afia took her "water bottle" before sending her on her way.
"Both Kim and Kristin gave me the idea to refer to her as my egg donor. You also forgot to mention that she was abusive. She's also screwing a 22-year-old. Seriously why can't they cheat with people their own age?" Ryan asked, annoyed.
"Everybody wants the newer model. Even Sharpay is two months younger than me." Taylor joked.
"And I think you were three years younger than Jamie, although you're all still older than Chad." Taylor didn't know that.
"How old was Jamie when he was with Chad?" Taylor asked. Things were going better with her ex, but they were not ready to talk about Jamie yet.
"19, I think. Chad just said that he's the same age as Tiffany." That adds another weird element to everything
"I never met Jamie, but I kind of hate him."
"Understandable. Amanda just sent me a text of Chad's shocked expression since she's now safely at the grocery store." Ryan held the phone up so she could see. Chad did not look good.
"Chad is the exact opposite of OK right now."
"Did I make the right choice in not warning him?" Ryan asked.
"Wait, you knew that his dad was going to show up with his pregnant girlfriend?" Afia asked.
"I didn't know that Tiffany was pregnant. However, I did overhead conversation between Chad's mom and my father regarding the fact that the person who led to his parents' divorced was showing up for Thanksgiving." Ryan explained. He left out the part about Carolyn catching them having sex. It was probably best not to tell a stranger that even if she didn't know them.
"Let me just say how grateful I am that I only had to see Chad kissing your sister in PowerPoint form to find out the truth. I think I would've taken the baseball bat to him if I walked in on what Carolyn did."
"I have a feeling I know what she saw. I have this personal rule that I don't tell my friends if I catch their significant other with someone else. I do make the significant other do it. I feel like that applies to the situation. Right now, you can just be there to help your friend deal with the fallout."
"Carolyn tried, and apparently, there was a showdown at the airport. Mandy sent pictures. She will send the video later." Ryan said, holding up the photo.
"I'm sure she will send it all to you later. I am still a little annoyed that you two became friends during your efforts to set up Chad and Sharpay while I was still technically dating him." Taylor couldn't help but wonder what Ryan's relationship with Amanda really was. They definitely talked a lot. He saw him texting Amanda last night while they were hanging out.
"No, we were trying to get Chad to break up with you before moving on to Shar because we all saw what you and Chad did not."
"I don't see a difference. But at least you got Amanda out of it." She didn't mean to sound a little bitter it just kind of came out that way. Taylor had no idea why. Ryan wasn't actually her boyfriend.
"You do know that Amanda is just a friend? It's good to have somebody that understands having a learning disability." Ryan explained.
"Friend like you and me or friend like you and Zach? I overheard your flirty text messages earlier." Taylor asked.
"Friend like Kim even though Amanda is super single. I would never ever be interested in her that way. Have you read the book on demisexuality that I got you yet? I'm only attracted to some women but all guys. Unfortunately, it took me a little while to realize Kelsi wasn't one of those women, but it's OK."
"Not yet because I've been way too busy with classes. I should've brought it on the train. Kelsi was so beneath you."
"You should read it soon. I think it will help you understand more about me and Chad."
"OK, let's talk about what you guys are doing tonight, so I know how to finish the style." Afia interrupted, probably to get them on to safer ground.
"We have a family Thanksgiving tomorrow with his surrogate mom Maria and the wicked almost stepsister. She keeps hitting on him even though she's not really interested. She just wants to make her ex-boyfriend mad." Afia just gives them that look again.
"In high school, I was friends with Maria's daughter, but after Maria moved to New York, we became friends. She was there for me when my girlfriend decided to show my sister's sex tape to the entire dorm as well as start sleeping with her roommate." And the wicked stepsister was responsible for that video, but I'm not telling you that yet.
"OK, one great hairdo impress the mom of choice and get the stepsister to back off. Sometimes mothers of choice can be better."
"Exactly."
"What else?"
"We have dinner tonight at The Garden Grille, but there's going to be shopping later."
"Very nice. Romantic dinner for two, and you get to pick out the dress first."
"Ryan is a friend," Taylor swears she heard Afia mumbled "for now" under her breath.
"We both just got out of bad relationships."
"Ryan got out of a bad relationship, and I got out of a relationship that wasn't horrible but wasn't going anywhere because of incompatible sexual orientation." Among 100 other issues, like the lack of honesty and trust. Chad tells her more stuff now that they're not actually dating anymore. She should text him later to see how he's doing herself.
"I thought you said your ex is now with his sister unless it's a different ex-boyfriend?" Afia asked.
"My ex-boyfriend is Demisexual with no gender preference. He liked me as a friend but wasn't interested in me sexually." He was too scared to acknowledge that because he didn't realize there were other options.
"That explains the conversation about the book earlier. However, don't worry. I know exactly what I'm going to do. Lexus is now ready to give Ryan a touchup." That's when she saw another stylus walk into their space.
"When you get back, you will be amazed at what I do."
"I look forward to it," Ryan said as he leaned over to kiss her cheek before leaving. Taylor refuses to acknowledge she was disappointed that he didn't kiss her on the lips again.
XXXX
Sharpay was thankful once again that she opted to stay in New Mexico for Thanksgiving. Because Chad obviously needed her. He stayed quiet for the entire 20-minute car ride to the hotel. She was worried until she realized Chad was texting Ryan. She was glad he was talking to someone. There is probably a good chance Chad would hit Charles if he wasn't talking to someone. Sharpay still wants to hit him.
There is just something off about Chad's father. She didn't like him before because he gave off a Darby vibe, but it feels worse now. Sharpay really doesn't like the way he talks down to Tiffany. She saw it multiple times on the ride here. The fact that Charles keeps looking at her chest doesn't help things. Sharpay knows phony when she sees it, and Charles was phony.
Tiffany, not so much. She brought Sharpay chocolate and hugged her in the hotel lobby for saving her baby cousin. There were also moments when Tiffany stopped playing the happy girlfriend and became the scared 21-year-old that Sharpay knew she was deep down inside. Which is why she gave Tiffany her cell phone number.
Because of that, Sharpay was planning to text Tiffany's cousin in the car to get a readout on her. Sharpay doesn't think she's a step monster, but one can never be too careful.
"Did you safely get them checked in?" Chad asked when she got back to the car. It was the first thing she's heard him say in about 45 minutes.
"Yes. Are you feeling better?" Sharpay wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Or do you want me to cancel our lunch reservations and just order some take-out? Also, I could call Olivia?" She usually doesn't take new patients this way. But she's talked to Chad some over the last few weeks because Chad has sat in on a few of her sessions and even actively participated.
"Take out, please. I don't think I'm up to a public lunch with my mom because I really want to ask her how much she knew about Tiffany beforehand. I'm feeling slightly better. Text messaging Ryan helped along with screaming the moment they were inside the hotel, but it's not enough."
"I already pulled up Olivia's contact information." Sharpay showed him her phone
"Not yet. I don't want to ruin anybody else's Thanksgiving." He pulled Sharpay closer to him. "I can't believe this. Not only does Charles get someone else pregnant, but he also doesn't tell me. Instead, he just shows up at the airport with the new girl. This should not have happened. Yes, charcoal deactivated her birth control, but condoms exist for a reason. Also, seriously why was she eating any food with Charcot in it? Who's the idiot who came up with that?"
Chad was nearly screaming at this point. Oddly Sharpay was thankful for it. Screaming means processing what's happening. She is well aware Chad has a problem with that. Summer 2007 is a prime example of that.
"Are you done ranting yet?" She turned to her boyfriend. "I would like to meet your mom at the grocery store before she gets out of there."
"I'm probably going to have to let go so you can drive?" Chad said, pulling away from her.
"Personally, I would love to be able to drive with you wrapped around me. But I don't think it's going to work," Sharpay said just before starting the car and getting out of the parking lot. He puts his hand back on her thigh as he did their entire drive to the hotel. She is still amazed he was able to text Ryan one-handed.
"My father knocked-up somebody who may or may not be old enough to drink. She is Kim's age and tutored your brother during our freshman year. My best friend's baby's mama should not be older than my father's baby's mama. My father is fucking a child." Chad said in a cross between screaming and crying. Maybe she should call Olivia. Or at least send a text message as soon as she's not driving.
"Considering she graduated a year ahead of Kim, I'm sure she is older. Even if just by a few months," Sharpay said, trying to make him feel better. It was not working. "Now I remember Tiffany. I remember her telling Darby to go fuck herself when she tried to pull Ryan out of tutoring." She was one of the few tutors Ryan had that didn't make him feel stupid. Probably because she wasn't hired by Darby.
"I'm not mad at Tiffany. I can't hate someone who tells off your mom." Chad tells her.
"She also brought us chocolate, and in the hotel, she told your dad off for not telling you the truth when she thought I was out of listening distance," Sharpay explained.
"However, my dad's girlfriend went to high school with us. That in itself is a disconcerting concept. My best friend has a son that will be older than my new brothers or sisters."
"That is only because your best friend got his girlfriend pregnant at 15. You can't judge anybody against Troy." Sharpay replied.
"Ryan said the same thing." Chad sighed.
"Because Ryan is smart." Sharpay smiled at him.
"You do realize that my dad is sleeping with someone that he is old enough to be the father of? She is Jamie's age."
"Barely. Also, Jamie shouldn't have been fucking 15-year-olds. That was statutory rape in New Mexico."
"You have a point."
"What are you most upset about?" Sharpay asked.
"I am going to go with everything. Charles lied to me for months. I did the math, and Tiffany was already pregnant in April. That was a full two months before I went to DC to stay with my mom for a month. He could have told me." Chad argued.
"Maybe she didn't tell him until he moved to Cleveland. This isn't the type of thing you break over the telephone." Sharpay suggested.
"Yes, but finding out by watching your father making out with his new girlfriend in front of the airport isn't the best way either. You know I've talked to him three times since school started, not counting his congratulations text message. Every time I call, he's not there or too busy to talk. Eventually, I stopped trying. Now I know why he was too busy." Chad said bitterly.
"Silver lining, despite this little stunt, your family is still less dysfunctional than mine," Sharpay said as they pulled into the parking lot of Specialty Foods of Albuquerque.
"Sharpay, my dad would have needed to start dating Tiffany when she was 15 to compete with your family. That thought just makes me sad. We are actually meeting my mom at the grocery store?" Chad asked as he finally noticed where they were.
"Yes, because I doubt your mom wants to live on a diet of takeout for the next five days. The other reason is the best thing for a situation this ridiculous is foods with a high caloric intake. We are going to need a lot of ice cream." And potato chips.
"You're like the best girlfriend ever." He said, kissing her.
"I'd better be. I just let Amanda drive the convertible so I could accompany you on your little nervous breakdown." Sharpay just Smiled at him.
xxxxx
"I'm fine with whatever is in the house. I don't really need anything special." Chad's mother said to Amanda as they walked through the store.
"The problem is there is nothing in the house. Sharpay's parents are not using the house at the moment. They're going through a bit of a rough patch."
Rough patch would be an understatement. But she wasn't sure what she could say publicly, and even Amanda know she was missing crucial details. There were something Ryan and Sharpay weren't telling her, and she was OK with that because every family has their secrets.
"I'm aware they are separated. I'm actually friends with Vince." That was good because the man needed a friend.
"Because of that, when he's in town, Vince has mostly been staying at the club or his apartment at the office." And according to Ryan, he's been in New York a lot these couple of weeks checking on him.
"Chad and Sharpay only go there on the weekends sometimes. Even then, they mostly live off of takeout." Amanda said as she threw some fruit into the cart.
"Why doesn't that surprise me? My son barely knows how to boil water in the microwave."
"He also makes a good popcorn which is still better than Sharpay. Last week Sharpay caught the microwave on fire when she reheated a grilled chicken sandwich. Apparently, no one told her that aluminum foil could not go in the microwave." Carolyn laughed at that.
"Because they have someone who can actually cook this week. They want real food in the house?" Carolyn asked.
"I think it's more they want your famous pumpkin pie cheesecake."
"So do I," Amanda didn't recognize the voice of the person calling out, but the frown on Carolyn's face told Amanda that she did.
"Zeke, is that you? I haven't seen you since I came up for Chad's graduation." Amanda didn't know this person, but Carolyn was using the same tone of voice that she did with her ex-husband earlier is not a good sign.
"It's good to see you. Are you here to see Chad?" This Zeke said as he tried to hug Carolyn, but she stopped it from happening by placing a pie in the cart.
"I'm staying at his girlfriend's house for a few days. You probably don't know Amanda; she's the roommate of Chad's new girlfriend." She said by way of introduction. Like Chad did a few weeks ago at the play, Sharpay wasn't mentioned by name. Amanda wondered what that reason was.
"I thought Taylor went to Yale?"
It took Amanda a few minutes to realize who Carolyn was talking to. This was Sharpay's Zeke. This was the person who cheated on her for months with Penelope. This was the guy who ditched Sharpay on prom night when she had a panic attack in the driveway because she was having flashbacks to her sexual assault. No wonder Carolyn was using the ex-husband's tone of voice on him. Both are cheating assholes, so it's fitting.
"Apparently, you missed the phrase, new girlfriend, in that sentence. You are Sharpay's Zeke, right? You're the guy that actually chose the super evil Penelope over the absolutely fabulous Sharpay Evans." Amanda said as nastily as possible.
"I don't think I've ever heard Sharpay Evans referred to as absolutely fabulous except by Sharpay Evans." Amanda already hated this person. What a prick. He's a cute prick but definitely a prick.
"I'm Sharpay's roommate," Amanda said with hands on her hips and ice in her voice.
"I feel sorry for you for having to deal with two roommates. I can barely deal with one, and my roommate isn't as demanding as Sharpay."
"I only have one roommate. Not that she is in the room that often. She usually spends the night with her boyfriend. They like to cuddle. Actually, they cannot even be in a room together without making out." She threw that part in to get back at the guy for hurting her friend.
"I thought you said she was the roommate of Chad's girlfriend?" Zeke asked, confused.
"Now I know how Chad fooled everyone in high school. If you can't put the clues together, I'm not going to help you. Although maybe a vision of the happy couple will finely kick start that brain of yours." Amanda said as she pointed to Chad and Sharpay, who were pushing their cart towards them.
As usual, Chad and Sharpay were all over each other. Zeke still didn't put the pieces together until Chad started kissing Sharpay. Before Amanda had time to warn the oblivious two, Zeke punched Chad in the face. Yep, definitely a prick.
Apparently, Zeke did not know about his ex-girlfriend's martial arts abilities. Within seconds, Sharpay had him pinned to the floor. Amanda was positive Sharpay punctured one of his testicles with her shoe.
"Why are you punching out my boyfriend in a grocery store? The last time I heard, you broke up with me because I have no desire to have sex with you whatsoever. Of course, this is after you most likely contracted an STD from Penelope. How safe could you have been, hooking up in the locker room after games? You remember telling me about the blowjobs she gave you." Sharpay spat out bitterly.
"Of course, that was after Penelope told me all about everything you did with her. I mean everything." Ms. Sanchez quickly pulled Sharpay off of Zeke.
As soon as Sharpay was off Zeke, he tried to punch Chad again. This time Chad hit back. It took three security guards and a manager to break up the fight.
Amanda thankfully got video of all of it. She knew Ryan will want to see this.
XXXX
Troy sat with Kim in the lawyer's office, waiting for her mother. Kim was nervous, and the fact that the meeting was pushed back to 1:30 PM made things worse. Troy never met Kim's mother. From what Sharpay told him last night, that was a good thing. Apparently, Jay left Zhēn after she tried to hit Kim when she was young.
Everyone else was already there, including Kim's stepmom Vanessa. It took all of Troy's restraint not to ask Vanessa about what he learned this morning. She really did look like an older version of Taylor. It was made worse because they were still waiting for the Cáo legal team to show up with Zhēn. The team finally showed up 15 minutes later, but Zhēn never did.
"Where's my mother? I'm sure she wanted one last opportunity to humiliate me." Kim asked her mother's personal lawyer as they followed him into their lawyer's office.
"She's not coming," Zhēn's lawyer told her.
"Does she think by not showing up, she can stop me from inheriting the trust fund?" Kim asked, irritated.
"You gain control, regardless." Another lawyer told her. Apparently, this one represented her grandfather directly. "She has no say over any of this anymore."
"She did ask me to give you and your son's grandfather a letter." Zhēn's attorney said, pulling two letters out of her briefcase.
"What on earth does your mother want to say to me? I only met her a few times?" Jack said in surprise as he picked up the letter from the lawyer.
"She didn't say. She just requested that you open them after we're done here."
"Is there anything else before I sign the papers?" Kim asked her grandfather's lawyer.
"Your grandfather sent a video that he would like for me to play now."
The Cáo group lawyer quickly pressed play, and an image of a man Troy only saw in pictures appeared on the screen. He was supposed to come to Kim's graduation. But she left before the actual ceremony for the honors program at the University of Manhattan.
"Unlike many people in the family, I'm very proud to have you as my granddaughter. You've never been afraid to stand up for what you believe in. I am also happy to be a great grandfather. If I knew what your mother was doing to you, I would have intervened earlier." The man on the screen said.
"You made a courageous decision going against your family. You're the one grandchild that is most like me. You've never been afraid to be different. I'm very proud of you." Troy could easily see Kim's visible shock at Mr. Cáo's words.
"Now, here's the important part. When each one of my grandchildren was born, they each receive a trust fund. That money becomes there's at age 21. I have also done the same for my great-grandson Alex. What my grandchildren don't know is that I add a certain amount of money to the fund based on the works they have done before they turn 21."
"What?" Kim asked, looking directly at the Cáo group attorney.
"You have resisted your mother's influence. You are one of the few in the family that could actually put love before money. Unlike your cousins and uncles, I know this means nothing to you, which is why you're the one who deserves it. You have never seen me as a piggy bank. I hope to see you and my grandson very soon." As the video ended, the Cáo group lawyer handed several papers to Kim. She dropped the pen in shock.
"Baby, what is it?" Troy said, grabbing the papers from her.
"He gave me the entire company, or he will upon his death," Kim explained.
"Kimberly Bolton is now the sole heir to all of her grandfather shares in Beijing Gardens international. She is also the sole heir of all of his other holdings, except for the trust funds set up for everyone else. At present, all assets are valued at $15.2 billion US. Her current trust fund is now valued at $253.4 million," said the lawyer out loud to everyone in the room. At his words, Kim collapsed to the ground.
As Troy ran over to his girlfriend, he could have sworn he heard his father's say, "At least if she's pregnant, they can afford another child."
"Why does Everybody assume if a woman faints, she's pregnant. She is just in shock. The entire Cáo side of the family has treated her like a pariah for so long. It is all a little much. I'm actually pregnant, and I didn't faint." That last part was said in a whisper that no one was to hear. However, Troy heard everything. This is not good.
To be continued…
The chicken sandwich incident described in this chapter did actually happen with my roommate in college.