“You know what?” she snaps. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that, Adam.”
And that’s because there are probably so many things that she’s done to me, taken from me, that I don’t know about. Probably never will know about.
But this is the big one, the one that mattered.
The only thing that ever mattered to me, Ava stole from me.
I take the seat on the other side of the table from her, so I can look her directly in the eyes when I say what I have to say.
“I know about Evie and what you did.”
She freezes. And even though I knew it was the truth, seeing her reaction slides that knife in a little deeper.
I don’t love Ava, but she is my mother.
To a small child, a mother is a god. No matter how awful that mother is to the child, no matter the shitty, wretched things she does, the connection that child has to his mother just can’t be severed. It can be broken but never severed.
And that’s where her power lies.
It’s the power that Ava has always had over me.
She has always had the ability to cut me hard, and there is fuck all I can do about it. I can hate her, loathe her, but at the end of the day, buried deep down in there, I’m still that little kid who just wants his mother to love him. And I’m the one who gets cut each time he remembers she doesn’t love him and never has.
I know that. And I’ll live with that.
Because living my life without Ava in it will make things a whole lot easier.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She frowns.
Denial—Ava’s first line of defense. And it’s not because she’s worried about hurting me. It’s because she’s worried about losing something—the part in her latest film…or more, losing the studio.
Everything always comes back to the fucking studio.
I lean forward, putting my arms on the table, linking my fingers together. “I’m not here to play games. Admit it or don’t—I really don’t care. I know the truth because I know you. I should have figured it out years ago. That was my mistake, a mistake I won’t make again.
“Ten years ago, you stole from me the most precious thing in the world. You used the love Evie had for her dying sister to get what you wanted from me. I knew you were evil, Ava. I just didn’t know how evil.
“So, now, I’m here to return the favor, eye for an eye and all that. Your career is over. The film is gone. And all future films with Gunner Entertainment are gone. The studio is gone. I had already planned on giving it to Richard, but being the stupid fuck that I am, I was going to give Richard the studio with the terms that he keep you on with a full-time contract. That’s gone now. And you know, without me, you won’t get a foot in the door there. Or anywhere. Because you’re old and washed up, Ava. And I will personally ensure that you never work in this town again.” I push my chair out, standing.
She still hasn’t said a word. She’s just staring at me, expressionless.
“Taking Evie from me bought you ten more years at the studio. I hope they were worth it. Goodbye, Ava.” I turn and start to walk away.
I hear the scrape of her chair against the ground.
“I will fight you on this, Adam, and you know I’ll win,” she says from behind me. “You can’t just take my studio from me.”
Stopping, I turn back. “I can do whatever the fuck I want because the studio isn’t yours. It never was.”
“It was always mine.”
“Then, you should have done a better fucking job at ensuring that you got your name on the deed!” I yell.