Read Online Just a Family Affair by Veronica Henry - Free Book Online
Authors: Veronica Henry
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was what had got her where she was today.
Lawrence had only had his car for two weeks when it had left the coast road on a notorious bend. Forensics said he had been doing over a hundred and had lost control. She found it hard to believe. Lawrence was a good driver, and he knew that road like the back of his hand. Her unease grew when her lawyer outlined the bare facts to her rather gravely after the funeral. Lawrence had left her without a bean. Every last penny, including the money he’d raised by remortgaging their villa, unbeknownst to her, had been invested in his latest development project. This had gone mysteriously bankrupt at the time of his death. Even more mysteriously, his partners had emerged unscathed, somehow managing to get their money out before the project crashed.
Kay knew Lawrence had been unhappy with the way business had been going just before he died. The latest project was not to his taste: cheap apartments that were being thrown up using low-grade materials and badly finished. And the sales tactics being used went against the grain. Extremely high pressure techniques being used mercilessly on people who didn’t know better; people who had been lured out on free flights and promptly cornered by ruthless salespeople who filled their heads with the promise of a better life. Lawrence knew that nobody was actually held at gunpoint, but he didn’t agree with the mind games being used. His partners scoffed at his protestation that their customers were being exploited. Strangely enough it was the female salespeople who were the most aggressive, using a combination of their tanned sexuality and innate cunning to secure the most names on the dotted line. Lawrence loathed them, and refused to have anything to do with rewarding their success.
Kay wondered if he’d threatened to pull his money out. He’d had a meeting the week before he died, and come home in a very dark mood. Unusually, he hadn’t wanted to share his misgivings with Kay, whom he often used as a sounding board. Instead, he’d taken her and Flora for a meal at their favourite harbour-side restaurant, and his mood had soon lightened when Flora ordered for them in perfect Portuguese. The little girl always managed to make him smile. So Kay hadn’t grilled him any further, which she now bitterly regretted. Had she known what was troubling him, she might now be able to prove her suspicions - that his partners had sacrificed Lawrence to their own ends. Money was king in their world; loyalty meant nothing. Had they forced him off the road or done something to his brakes? Or was she being completely paranoid?
It was a better theory than the other possibility. That Lawrence had found the pressure too much and taken the only way out. She didn’t believe he would have done that; he loved Flora too much. So in the end, she came to terms with the fact that it was an accident. Any other theory was too difficult to cope with.
And life was hard enough. She learned with a shock just how fickle the circles they moved in were. At the merest whiff of scandal all their so-called friends had withdrawn hastily. None of them had attended Lawrence’s funeral. Not a single woman who had lounged by Kay’s pool, drunk her champagne or eaten at her table phoned to commiserate. No one asked how she was, or offered to have Flora. She was a social outcast.
She got through it. Kay was tough, and the doctor was kind enough to give her something to soften the harsh reality. Nothing too strong - she wanted her wits about her, if only for Flora. Her heart ached for the bewildered little girl, who didn’t really understand that her daddy had gone for ever.
Each day got worse and worse, until the day her solicitor told her gravely that, after the house had been sold and the debts paid off, she was left with the princely sum of just over five thousand pounds. Kay couldn’t help thinking it would have been better to be left with nothing. Somehow that would have been
Lawrence had only had his car for two weeks when it had left the coast road on a notorious bend. Forensics said he had been doing over a hundred and had lost control. She found it hard to believe. Lawrence was a good driver, and he knew that road like the back of his hand. Her unease grew when her lawyer outlined the bare facts to her rather gravely after the funeral. Lawrence had left her without a bean. Every last penny, including the money he’d raised by remortgaging their villa, unbeknownst to her, had been invested in his latest development project. This had gone mysteriously bankrupt at the time of his death. Even more mysteriously, his partners had emerged unscathed, somehow managing to get their money out before the project crashed.
Kay knew Lawrence had been unhappy with the way business had been going just before he died. The latest project was not to his taste: cheap apartments that were being thrown up using low-grade materials and badly finished. And the sales tactics being used went against the grain. Extremely high pressure techniques being used mercilessly on people who didn’t know better; people who had been lured out on free flights and promptly cornered by ruthless salespeople who filled their heads with the promise of a better life. Lawrence knew that nobody was actually held at gunpoint, but he didn’t agree with the mind games being used. His partners scoffed at his protestation that their customers were being exploited. Strangely enough it was the female salespeople who were the most aggressive, using a combination of their tanned sexuality and innate cunning to secure the most names on the dotted line. Lawrence loathed them, and refused to have anything to do with rewarding their success.
Kay wondered if he’d threatened to pull his money out. He’d had a meeting the week before he died, and come home in a very dark mood. Unusually, he hadn’t wanted to share his misgivings with Kay, whom he often used as a sounding board. Instead, he’d taken her and Flora for a meal at their favourite harbour-side restaurant, and his mood had soon lightened when Flora ordered for them in perfect Portuguese. The little girl always managed to make him smile. So Kay hadn’t grilled him any further, which she now bitterly regretted. Had she known what was troubling him, she might now be able to prove her suspicions - that his partners had sacrificed Lawrence to their own ends. Money was king in their world; loyalty meant nothing. Had they forced him off the road or done something to his brakes? Or was she being completely paranoid?
It was a better theory than the other possibility. That Lawrence had found the pressure too much and taken the only way out. She didn’t believe he would have done that; he loved Flora too much. So in the end, she came to terms with the fact that it was an accident. Any other theory was too difficult to cope with.
And life was hard enough. She learned with a shock just how fickle the circles they moved in were. At the merest whiff of scandal all their so-called friends had withdrawn hastily. None of them had attended Lawrence’s funeral. Not a single woman who had lounged by Kay’s pool, drunk her champagne or eaten at her table phoned to commiserate. No one asked how she was, or offered to have Flora. She was a social outcast.
She got through it. Kay was tough, and the doctor was kind enough to give her something to soften the harsh reality. Nothing too strong - she wanted her wits about her, if only for Flora. Her heart ached for the bewildered little girl, who didn’t really understand that her daddy had gone for ever.
Each day got worse and worse, until the day her solicitor told her gravely that, after the house had been sold and the debts paid off, she was left with the princely sum of just over five thousand pounds. Kay couldn’t help thinking it would have been better to be left with nothing. Somehow that would have been
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