Chapter 17 - WARREN ASKS TO SEE ME
Three years after the canceled wedding, Warren requested a meeting.
I almost refused.
Then accepted with Evelyn present.
Neutral office.
Warren had aged.
Not dramatically.
Enough.
He sat.
No apology first.
Of course.
He said:
“You destroyed my son.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“You gave prosecutors everything.”
“Yes.”
“You could have handled it privately.”
“No.”
“My family lost contracts.”
“Your company won eighteen million in work after the wedding.”
He hated the fact.
Then:
“You turned Margaret against me.”
“She left before the wedding.”
Silence.
Then I asked:
“Why are you here?”
His face changed.
“I want to know whether Preston has any future.”
“With me?”
“No.”
“Then that isn’t my decision.”
“People still treat him like he tried to murder you.”
“I have corrected that publicly.”
I had.
He committed serious assault.
Not attempted murder as proven fact.
Then Warren finally said:
“I taught him badly.”
There.
Small.
Late.
Still.
“What did you teach?”
“That yielding means losing.”
I waited.
Then:
“That women push until men establish where the line is.”
Ugly.
Then:
“That marriage means somebody leads.”
“Did Margaret agree?”
“No.”
There.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“She always wins these meetings?”
Evelyn said:
May you like
“Yes.”
First time I almost liked him.
