The Tycoon's Misunderstood Bride Read Free Page B

resources, it took me seven years to find her on my own, even while she was fighting for custody.  The bitch has herself well hidden. 
     
                  Mind me well, daughter.  The fastest way to find your mother is to obey my will. 
     
                  Sincerely yours
                  Edward Mason
     
    Emma crumpled the paper in her hands, her whole body working to maintain control and not release the tears of anger and frustration which welled up inside her with her father’s words. 
     
    Her mother was alive!  It was too much to take in.  After so many years and no contact in any way, Emma had long ago assumed that her mother had died.  And her mother had been fighting for her?  Did her mother even know that her father was dead? 
     
    The solicitor once again cleared his throat, effectively breaking into Emma’s tortured thoughts.  “I regret that Mr. Montenegro has declined the offer to attend this reading so he has not heard the terms of the will.  I will make an appointment with Mr. Montenegro at the earliest opportunity to explain the terms and ask for his compliance.”
     
    Emma started shaking her head at the last sentence.  “No, Mr. Bernstein.  Please don’t do that,” she said, hearing the strain in her voice.  “I think it would be better coming from me,” she explained.
     
    Mr. Bernstein obviously liked that idea if the relief showing in his eyes was any indication.  “The will is solid but if you would like to contest the terms, I can give you the names of several attorneys,” he explained. 
     
    Emma considered the idea but had heard that contesting wills sometimes took years, even decades.  Emma didn’t think she could wait that long.  And if she didn’t marry the man, she would have no resources to start a search herself. 
     
    Emma realized that Mr. Bernstein was waiting for a reply.  “Thank you for your consideration.  Let me think on the issue.  I will get back to you if I need further assistance.”
     
    Mr. Bernstein nodded and stood up.  “I have left a copy of the will for both you and Mr. Montenegro as well as a letter from your father to him.   While you live in this house, your expenses will be taken care of by the estate with an allowance for incidental issues, by the way. ”
     
    Without another word, he left.  Emma sat there in the large, uncomfortable leather chair, listening to the rain pounding down against the windows outside.  At some point, the rain turned to sleet and she noted that the slaps of rain drops turned to pings of ice but she remained, still and unseeing.  Defeated. 
     
    She had two options as she saw it.  She could ignore her father’s will, find a job and use all her money to start a search for her mother.  Or she could find Jason Montenegro and offer him a solution.  The man was a businessman.  Perhaps there was something she could offer him.  Emma had no need for her father’s money.  And as far as she was concerned, it was all tainted anyway.  If she had her way, she would find all the people her father had cheated and pay them back. 
     
    But that wouldn’t help her current predicament.  She wanted to find her mother.  If it was true, that she was alive and had been fighting for custody ever since she’d left, then that must mean she still loved her daughter. 
     
    The need to find that woman, to see if the love was real and untarnished as her father’s had been, was deep and painful. 
     
    It was almost seven o’clock at night when she finally moved.  But it wasn’t to leave her father’s study.  It was only to walk to his large, mahogany desk and pick up the phone.  Flipping through her father’s rolodex, she found the phone number she’d been looking for. 
     
    He probably wasn’t there, she told herself.  But when he picked up himself on the third ring, Emma’s heartbeat started racing. 
     
    “ Montenegro ,” was all he said as a greeting.
     
    Emma