After 99 Loyalty Tests, I Walked
Away and Took Over a Billion–Dollar Empire
Harkness Covington, my boyfriend back then,
liked to test me. Fresh out of college, he
wanted me to shoulder a $500,000 mortgage
for him.
I refused.
Then he turned around and bought that dumb
blonde, Shannon Abernathy, an $8 million
mansion–in cash.
He waved the deed in my face, grinning like a
fool. “Lindsey, I’m actually loaded. I was just
pretending to be broke to see if you were in it
for the right reasons.” He shook his head, all
theatrics. “Sadly, you failed. I’m so
disappointed, so we’re through.”
I laughed in his face, unbothered. I was the
daughter of one of the richest men in the
く
country, and I was playing poor too.
Four years later, we bumped into each other at
a national wealth summit.
Harkness, fresh off squeezing his way into the
Top 50, strutted in with Shannon clinging to his
arm.
He spotted me instantly. I was dressed plainly,
no jewelry, holding my son. Harkness‘ face
filled with disgust.
He assumed I was a nanny. “Lindsey, you’re so
desperate to see me that you’ve come all the
way here. It’s pathetic. You better wake up and
smell the coffee. I’m on the rich list, and you’re
wiping noses. We’re worlds apart. Get over it!”
I rolled my eyes. My billionaire dad had guilt- tripped me into coming. I’d carved out a single day to spend with my kid, and he had to ruin it.
<
Harkness, beaming with pride, escorted
Shannon Abernathy into the holding room. Passing a side lounge, he saw me, baby in
arms, looking bored.
I was only here as a favor to my dad, who
insisted I attend the wealth summit. I’d brought
my son along, planning to make a quick.
appearance and bolt.
Without any jewelry, I looked plain. To
Harkness, I was just another nanny, a nobody.
He strode over, sneering, “Lindsey, you’ve sunk
so low that you’re a babysitter? You’re nothing
without me. You should’ve passed my test back
then. Now, you’d be the one on my arm.”
