Chapter 140: Cole Taking Charge

Ivy’s stomach dropped at the madness in Cole’s eyes. Her head spun with confusion, and it took everything to stop her from collapsing in shock.

"Guys... can we just try to take it slow?" Patrick said, standing from his chair. The look on his face told Ivy he was either trying to sweet-talk his way out of the situation, as always, or that he had no idea how grave it was.

"Did she find out or did you tell her?" Cole demanded, his voice sharp. Ivy had never seen Cole this enraged, and it twisted her stomach.

Patrick held up a hand, trying to avoid the question. "We can—"

"Answer the damn question!" Cole snapped, and for the first time in her life, Ivy saw her father flinch.

Patrick's eyes dropped to the ground, his voice low. "She found out."

"Fuck!" Cole yelled, his eyes shining with anger.

"Oh," Ivy gasped, holding her stomach to soften the impact. Pain crawled into her chest, tightening it. Her mother had found out about her father's infidelity! It hurt to think about the pain Lauren had gone through. She hadn't died of depression; she had died of a broken heart.

"Let me explain, please," Patrick said, his eyes softening. "It was a mistake! Geo's mother was a hoe! And... it just happened."

"What?" Ivy turned to Geoffrey’s voice, who had just entered the room. The whole thing just got worse.

Geoffrey's voice cracked. "You... knew my mother?"

Patrick ignored him as he continued. "I was messing around, and it happened. I was scared to tell her, so I let it happen."

Ivy straightened up, pain mixing into anger and climbing her chest. "For nine years?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"What happened for nine years?" Cole asked.

"According to this file," Ivy said, gesturing at it, "it was only because Annabelle died of cancer that he decided to take Geo. You didn't even want him until his mother died!"

"Hey, guys," Geoffrey said, his voice shaking. "I'm right here. Please, what's going on?"

"How did she find out?" Cole asked, facing his father. "Tell us everything."

Patrick sighed and sank into his chair. "She found out when I was talking to Anna's sister about taking in Geo."

"Even worse!" Cole snapped, gesturing widely.

Ivy shook her head in disbelief, refusing to picture how her mother must have felt when she found out that secret. Her knees buckled, and Geoffrey immediately got to her. "Hey, sit," he said, helping her to the nearest couch. Ivy couldn't seem to control the hurt inside her.

"She gave you everything!" Cole said with a hiss. "The whole company, everything. She did what you disowned Ivy for! And that wasn't enough."

"I was foolish, I shouldn't have done that," Patrick admitted sadly.

Cole slammed the table, the corners of his mouth tugging into a frown. "You cheated! You lied! You drove our mother to her death! I can't believe you almost framed Thomas Stone!"

Ivy clenched her fist at the reminder. Patrick almost ruined her marriage with his lies. Her thoughts drifted to Silas, and her heart tugged with longing, but she quickly shoved it away.

"Why didn't you just say?" Cole asked, his voice dropping, filled with pain. "Why hurt all of us?"

"I'm sorry," Patrick pleaded. "I had no idea."

"You forced a child on her," Cole said, shaking his head.

"Yes, I did, but she loved him, she did."

Ivy rocked herself back and forth, trying to process what was happening.

"Wait," Geo suddenly said, his eyes moving from person to person. "Are you saying that he—" He pointed to Patrick. "—is my real father?"

Nobody said anything. Ivy couldn't; she just didn't know how to.

"No way!" Geoffrey yelled and then ran out of the room.

"Geo!" Cole called, "Come back!"

But it was too late; Geoffrey had already taken off.

"You're stepping down as CEO of my mother's companies," Cole said, pointing a finger at Patrick, a direct order.

Ivy watched as Cole waited for Patrick to say something, but when he didn't, he froze to the spot. Ivy stood up, emotions swelling in her chest as she reached for the file and picked it up.

"This is all your fault!" Patrick snapped at her. "If you had just stopped poking around this family was—I adopted him! He already became my son!"

Ivy wasn't surprised at her father's words, at the way he tried to spin the whole situation. She turned to him, anger in her voice. "We are not okay! We lost our mother! We lost our way! And the lies, the manipulation, the way—"

Ivy was interrupted when she heard a loud scream. Quickly, she ran to her father's window, trying to see what had happened. Her heart sank when she saw Cole running around, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Geo!"

Ivy's stomach turned, but quickly she grabbed the file and dashed out of her father's study. She ran as fast as she could and only stopped when she got outside the house. Some people had gathered, and out of curiosity and fear, Ivy made her way there.

"Cole? Geo?" she called as she forced her way into the crowd.

Cole was bent over something—somebody—and for a moment, she thought the person wasn't moving.

"Geo?" she said again, hearing the panic in her voice.

Cole turned to face her, and then she saw Geoffrey lying on the floor. She dropped the file, covering her mouth with her hands, tears immediately welling in her eyes. "Is he..."

"He's fine," Cole said, panting heavily as he helped Geoffrey sit upright. "He was hit by a car."

Geoffrey groaned, lifting a hand to his head. "I'm sorry."

Ivy dropped to her knees and buried herself in Geoffrey's arms. "You stupid boy," she shouted at him, but she was crying. Geoffrey hugged her tightly, and she could tell he was crying too. Cole wrapped his arms around both of them, and they stayed like that for a moment.

The ambulance siren shrilled, pulling them away from their embrace.

"I'm sorry," Geo said, wiping Ivy's eyes. "I'm sorry for ruining your family."

"Don't say that," Ivy said softly, her heart aching at Geo's tone. "You complete us."

"But your mother—"

"Loved you as hers," Cole interrupted him, a smile on his face. "We all saw that, we all knew that. Nothing has changed, Geo, you'll always be our baby brother."

Ivy sniffled. "Always."

"Sorry to interrupt such a moment," a young paramedic approached them. "But I would like to check on the patient, please." Cole helped Geoffrey to his feet before handing him over to the paramedic. As they left, Ivy straightened up, picking up the file. The people that had gathered before had left, but some were still in small groups, talking amongst themselves.

"Hey," Cole said with a wry smile. "Thank you."

Ivy nodded. "You're welcome."

"And I am sorry. It... took a long time to..."

Ivy stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulders. "You stood up against Dad, that was empowering," she said, her heart pounding with pride. She couldn't believe Cole had taken charge. It was incredible to witness.

"Would I... be seeing you around?"

"Sure," Ivy smiled.

They smiled at each other before Cole walked to the ambulance. Ivy watched as he spoke to the paramedic, and judging from the way he tossed Geoffrey's hair, Ivy could tell Geoffrey was better.

"One part done," she muttered to herself as she found her way to her car. "Let's go home, Bud," she said as she entered. Ivy leaned into the chair, letting out a big sigh. She ran her hand through her hair, trying not to process everything until she was in her bed.

But when she entered the house, she was surprised to see Silas drinking and dancing in the living room without music. She lifted her brow. "What are we celebrating?"

Silas noticed her and cheered. "Ivy!" She laughed at the expression on his face as he walked up to her. "Thomas is free! They dropped that law case I was telling you about!"

"Oh, nice," Ivy beamed. "Congratulations."

"Thank you! Join me please," he said, gesturing to the champagne on the table.

She shook her head. "Thanks," and added a smile. She just wanted to go inside and crash on her bed.

"Come on," Silas argued. "We—" He was interrupted when his phone rang.

Silas reached for it on the table, and his eyes lit up. "Thomas! Bro! I was just..." Then he trailed off, his eyes widened.

Ivy immediately knew something was wrong, and she stiffened as Silas dropped the call. "What?"

Silas's mouth dropped open. "A witness has stepped out concerning his fraud case. Thomas's account has been frozen. He's going to jail!"