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“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” she replies, letting out a sigh of relief. “You say hello to your folks when you talk to them next. Will you?”
“Of course I will. Thank you for saying hello,” I tell her, reaching out for her hand again.
What a gracious woman. I find it odd that two wonderful people could raise a son who turned out to be so ruthless and uncaring. It makes me wonder why some people turn out the way they do.
Chapter 13
Trey
Liv and Mandy both leave in Mom’s limo following the funeral, so I pull out my phone and use Uber Black to catch a ride over to Dad’s old penthouse. I want to see for myself if there are any remnants of the estate plan that he was working on. Walking through the entryway feels incredibly weird, knowing that Dad is no longer around. I walk back to his old office and find Tyler already sitting at the large mahogany desk that Dad loved so much. It’s where he spent most of his time whenever he was actually home.
“You got pretty emotional in there. Were you feeling a little guilty?” he asks as I take a seat across the desk from him.
“Seeing him like that was pretty shocking. Of course I feel a little guilty for not being around much the past few years, but if he hadn’t been such an asshole I would’ve made more of an effort to visit,” I counter, stating a fact that he knows as well as me.
“You don’t feel the least bit guilty for leaving me to deal with Dad and take care of everything do you?” he asks, once again making it all about him.
“Seriously? That’s the way you look at it?” I ask, unable to believe that we are having this conversation again.
“It’s true!” Tyler blurts out with fire in his eyes.
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” I shout back, returning a steely glare of my own.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… save your breath. All Dad wanted was for you to make an effort, to show that you cared about this family and the business.” Tyler scoffs and looks down at a stack of papers to avoid further eye contact.
“I know I should’ve stayed and went to Harvard in order to make Dad happy, but you know why I chose Stanford instead,” I say, looking for even a hint of acknowledgement. “I’m glad I did, because otherwise I never would’ve pursued Biochemistry. I would’ve ended up with a stupid MBA.”
“Yeah, it would sure suck to have an MBA from the #1 business school in the country,” Tyler hisses. “Especially when your family runs one of the largest media companies in the world.”
“That’s the whole thing though,” I reply, trying to reason with him. “Dad wanted me to get an MBA, after that I was supposed to go work for some other company for ten years and then come back to run his company. I have no interest in cable TV or the media business. Biotech companies are changing the world right now. You have no idea what’s going on. A fucking cable company is never going change the world!”
“You don’t even work for a biotech company. I’ll bet you’ve blown every nickel that you got from Papa’s trust,” he replies in a smug, condescending tone, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m sorry but you’re the one who’s been buying beach homes and sports cars. I invested nearly all of it in four biotech companies that I believe are in the process of revolutionizing health care.” I struggle to keep a lid on my temper.
“You’re fucking crazy! Do you know how many of those companies go under in the first ten years?” he asks, regurgitating some of Dad’s business wisdom. It’s a phrase he had used a couple dozen times in our conversations.
“Yes, that’s why I’ve been very selective,” I retort. “I know I’m not allowed to make any mistakes, because God knows, Dad never made one.”
Tyler rolls his eyes, since he doesn’t even understand the concept of taking risk. Then he adds, “It will all blow up on you one day, just wait and see. Meanwhile, Addison Media will still be in business just like we have been for the last one hundred and seventeen years.”
“I see why you couldn’t get into a decent business school,” I reply unable to do anything other than shake my head in disbelief. “You are a complete idiot!”
“I’m going to Columbia for my MBA as soon as I’m feeling better, you asshole!” he snaps back defensively while straightening up in the chair.
“Right, and I’m going to buy a spaceship and fly it to Mars.” I roll my eyes, lean back and stare at the ceiling in disbelief.
