Background on Colette & Ariana's Families

“Have you had visitors come by to see Polara? Your mom?” 

Colette’s face went blank. “No.” She looked down at her daughter, brushing her finger over the baby’s cheek as she said, “I called to let her know about her first grandchild. I left a message. She didn’t return my call, but she sent diamond earrings, a piece of art, and a piggy bank.”

From Ariana’s startled expression, this was news even to her. 

“Diamond earrings? Are they an heirloom?”

“No.”

She raised her brows at Colette’s curt tone. “And what’s this piece of art?”

“Apparently, it’s by some famous artist.” Colette gave them a strange look before she said, “It’s a balloon dog sculpture.”

She struggled to keep a straight face. “Maybe you should put it in the foyer. It would blend in great with the rest of your decor.”

Colette glared at her. “And the piggy bank is encrusted in diamonds.”

“Subtle,” she commented, which made Ariana snicker. 

“At least she acknowledged Polara.” Ariana crossed her arms over her chest. “My mom met my kids twice. Both times, she invited the paparazzi to prove what a great grandmother she is and left once they got enough shots. She lies to the press and says she talks to them every day.”

She knew her sisters didn’t have great relationships with their mothers, who had given them up to be reared by Maximus, but she had never heard either of them criticize their absent mothers until now. 

“I always wondered if you spent the holidays with your mother’s side,” she said. 

Colette and Ariana stared at her with identical affronted expressions. 

“My family rarely leaves Los Angeles,” Ariana said tightly. “The only time they travel to the East Coast is if they’re doing press for a movie or here for Fashion Week or the Met Gala.”

“What are your sisters up to now?” she asked, trying to remember.

Ariana’s face was stiff as she said, “One of my sisters is the new Bond girl. My mom is on set everyday looking for her next husband.” 

“And you, Colette?” she asked with mock casualness. “What do you normally do for the holidays?”

“Nothing with my mother’s side. Lyle’s family is close, but most of them are still in Italy. We usually go there for Christmas or New Years. I’m hoping they’ll come here this year.”

Jasmine cocked her head to the side. “Is one of your half-brothers doing something? I thought I saw his face on a magazine on my way over here.” 

Colette smoothed out the wrinkles on Polara’s clothes. “There are rumors one of them will take over my grandfather’s company. It hasn’t been formally announced.”

Ariana jerked to attention. “Has your mom said so?”

“I haven’t spoken to her since the funeral and before that, I hadn’t seen her in years.” 

“But… isn’t that why she left you with Dad? So he could prepare you to take over Cecil’s company?”

“That’s what she said.” Colette gave a one shoulder shrug. “But my competency’s been called into question because of the state of Hennessy & Co.”

Ariana’s hands balled into fists at her sides. “That’s Cecil’s fault! He said those deals were foolproof. You wouldn’t have taken such risks if it wasn’t for him.”

Jasmine straightened. “Your grandfather, the oil tycoon, gave bad business advice?”

Colette flushed. “I know he and Dad didn’t get along, but I didn’t realize how deep it went. It took me too long to figure out he was trying to cripple Hennessy & Co. By the time I realized he was leading me astray, we lost millions. I had to sell off shares to keep us afloat.”

“Part of us knew it didn’t sound right, but Cecil said she had to prove herself to him before she could take on his company.” Ariana crossed her arms over her chest and tapped the toe of her heel aggressively. “It’s astonishing that Colette was able to salvage anything from those failed deals.”

“What did Dad say?” Jasmine asked. 

“Nothing.” Colette fingered her signature strand of pearls. “I’m sure he knew what my grandfather was trying to do, but he didn’t stop me. He wanted to see how I would handle the fall-out.” Colette hesitated and then sighed. “He brought up my lack of judgment in his letter.”

Mention of the letter made her pulse quicken as she remembered her own. What had Dad penned on that piece of paper aside from his warning about Roth?

“You did the best you could,” Ariana said fiercely. “Why wouldn’t you trust your grandfather? And Cecil won’t have the last laugh. You didn’t lose the company. With Roth’s support, you can turn this around and come back stronger and better than ever. You deserve to be on the board of his company. You earned your spot and are the only one with legitimate experience. He and your mother know that.”

**This is a raw draft of Bitter Confessions. Please do not share or distribute.

I thought it would be interesting to delve into the background of her sister's families a little. I touched on this briefly in Bitter Secrets when they're flying to London. You can just imagine what a circus Maximus' funeral was not just from those attending to honor him, but also his exes--one the daughter of a oil tycoon and the other a supermodel. It also gives a little more insight into why Colette lost control of the company and made such bad errors in judgment--by trusting her grandfather who had a grudge against Maximus.