What If You

world so I could think and wallow in my own self-pity. I hadn’t shaved in over a week and I barely showered. Bottles of bourbon laid around the penthouse as well as boxes of pizza, Chinese food, Italian and Mexican from all the takeout I ordered. The place was filthy, and I didn’t care. I’d told everyone at the office that I was taking a trip. I couldn’t let anyone see me this way. If this was what hitting rock bottom was, I sure as hell had hit it. If my father had done was Everly said, everything about him was a lie. Or she was lying. Why not? Everyone else in my life lied to me. Why would she be any different? I knew women. They would say anything to get a man’s attention. But Everly was Everly. She wasn’t like any other woman I knew. She was selfless, caring, kind and had a beautiful soul. What could she have possibly expected to gain by telling me? She said my father made her, and in some way, I believed it because he had a way of always making people do things they didn’t want to.

“Oh my God,” I spoke out loud.

I went into my office and sat down behind my desk. Turning on my computer, I searched for Brianna Nicholson. I’d remembered the day after she broke up with me, she deleted all of her social media and changed her phone number. I googled her name, and it took a while, but I’d found her. She was married and had two children. She wasn’t Brianna Nicholson anymore. She was now Brianna Copeland. I was lucky enough to come across one picture she posted publicly of her and her coworkers celebrating a birthday at the office. Directly behind the women was the company name: Dynamic Advertising Group. Putting the name of the company in the Google search bar, I wrote down the address and booked the first flight out to Los Angeles tomorrow morning.

I cleaned myself up. I shaved, showered and cleaned up the wreckage I’d done to the penthouse. Grabbing my bag, I headed to the airport and got on the plane to California. After checking into the Hotel Bel-Air, I hired a car service to drive me to her place of employment.

“May I help you?” A young brunette behind the glass desk asked.

“I’m here to see Brianna Copeland.”

“Her office is down the hall and the first door on the right.”

“Thank you.”

I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t nervous, because I was. It had been a long time since I’d last seen her. When I reached her office, the door was shut and there wasn’t a secretary or desk sitting outside it. I gently knocked on the door and she told me to come in. The moment I stepped inside, our eyes locked and the color from her face quickly drained.

“Asher?” Her brows furrowed.

“Hello, Brianna.”

She stared at me as she slowly rose from her chair. She was shocked to say the least.

“Wh—What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you about my father.”

She looked down as she held onto the edge of her desk.

“I heard he passed and I’m very sorry,” she softly spoke.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“I knew this day would eventually come. This isn’t the place to talk though.” She looked at her watch. “Let’s go to the Santa Monica Pier and talk.”

“Okay. I have a car waiting downstairs.”

“Just let me tell my boss that I’ll be taking the rest of the day off. I’ll meet you down there.”

I gave her a nod as I took the elevator down to the lobby and waited for her. A few moments later she joined me, and we climbed into the back of the limo.

“Santa Monica Pier, please,” I spoke to the driver.

She was still a beautiful woman, and I thought seeing her again would ignite everything I’d ever felt for her, but it didn’t. I felt nothing at all.

“You’re here to find out about that night, aren’t you? ” she asked as we walked along the pier.

“I am. I need the truth, Brianna. Did my father have anything to do with our breakup?”

“Yes. He did. But you have to understand that I was a frightened eighteen-year-old girl.”

“Did he threaten to harm your father’s company if you didn’t break up with me?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “You know my father’s company was already in trouble at the time and he was struggling to keep it afloat. After we broke up, he got a call that an anonymous investor decided to invest in the company and suddenly, all of our financial troubles were over. I’m not proud of what I did, but you need to understand that I couldn’t let anything happen to my family.”

“I understand, Brianna. We’d do anything in our power to protect our family. I just wish you would have told me.”

“I couldn’t, Asher. You need to understand that. I’m so sorry, and all those things I said, I never meant. I had no choice. I had to convince you that it was over for good. God, I hated your father for that, and I hated him because I’ve had to live with this guilt for all these years.”

“I know, and I don’t blame you for hating him. I hate him right now myself.”

We stopped at the railing and looked out at the blue pacific ocean as the waves made their way across the shore.

“Why now, Asher? Why after all these years are you seeking the truth? Did your father tell you before he died?”

“No. He decided to be a coward and wait until after he died to let me know.”

“What? I’m not sure I understand?” Her brows furrowed at me.

“It’s a long story and I’m sure you wouldn’t even believe me.”

“Try me.” She smiled. “I think you’d be amazed at what I’d believe.”

“There’s this woman, and her name is Everly. We’d been seeing each other on and off recently and she’s different.”

“Different how?”

God, I felt so