one year, I
donated over a million dollars anonymously to charity? My mother taught me that no one should advertise
their good deeds. You do them because you care and you should never accept any kind of benefit from
those acts. It belittles them."
Leta smiled at that. There was a lot of truth to his mother's statement. "I can understand her sentiment."
He nodded. "I agreed with it too. But one thing I realized with my brother is that you can't toss your
pearls before the swine. I think that's why my mother insisted you give anonymously. The instant anyone
sees that you're kind and giving, they immediately take advantage of it. They seem to mistake kindness
for weakness and giving for stupidity."
"How do you figure?"
He sighed. "My brother sent my nephew to me for a job when Ronald was still in high school. Donnie
told me that he couldn't afford the tuition for Ronald's private school and asked if Ronald could work for
me part-time while he went to school. Like a fool, I agreed, and even though I didn't have that much
money back then, I started paying his tuition for him. Six years later, Donnie came to me telling me that
he was getting divorced and that his wife was taking everything from him. He was about to lose his
house, his car, everything. He told me he didn't want a handout, but wanted to know if I had some work
he could do."
"So you hired him."
Every emotion left his face except for the harsh twist of his lips. Even so, she could feel his bitterness
burning inside his heart. "Yeah. I seriously overpaid him to be my manager. God knows, I didn't want my
own brother out on the street. And for a about a year, everything was great."
"Until?"
"I started noticing that money was missing. Mysterious charges were being made with no explanation.
Worse, neither one of them would do their job. They always had some excuse for why they were about
to get to what I needed them to do or why it wasn't done yet. Time after time, I'd walk into the office and
find Ronald asleep in my chair—at least on the days he actually showed up to work. It was unbelievable.
I told them that if they didn't straighten up, I was going to fire them."
"And what did they say?"
He curled his lip before he mocked in a gruff tone, " 'You can't fire me. If you do, I'll ruin you. I know all
your fans, all your friends, and all your business associates. I'm untouchable, hah, hah.'"
Aidan cursed before he spoke in a normal tone again. "At first I thought it was a joke at best and an idle
threat at worst—until I looked around and realized that they really had ingratiated themselves with
everyone in my life. Methodically. One by one. They went after them all. Those who wouldn't befriend
them and fall in line with their vicious insanity, they cut out and kicked to the curb. Then in a show of
power right before Christmas, they turned six of them solidly against me, cut one of them completely out
of my life, and it was then they turned really brazen."
"How so?"
" 'Give us five million dollars or we'll take everything you have. By the time we're through with you, every
fan and friend you have will hate your guts and never pay a dime to see another movie of yours again.
You'll be ruined.'"
He drew a ragged, angry breath. " That was my Christmas gift from my brother. After I'd bought him and
his son a car each and a house each, paid them far more than their skill levels warranted. It still wasn't
enough for them. They had to take more because I had it and they didn't. Of course I was the one
working twenty hours a day for months on end at shoots, attending publicity functions and interviews, and
busting my ass reading and learning scripts while I was at home while they stayed up all night partying,
playing games online, and then slept until noon or later. Blowing money on women, beer, and expensive
toys. Gee, I can't imagine why they had so little, huh? As my mother used to say about Donnie, a hard
day's work would have
donated over a million dollars anonymously to charity? My mother taught me that no one should advertise
their good deeds. You do them because you care and you should never accept any kind of benefit from
those acts. It belittles them."
Leta smiled at that. There was a lot of truth to his mother's statement. "I can understand her sentiment."
He nodded. "I agreed with it too. But one thing I realized with my brother is that you can't toss your
pearls before the swine. I think that's why my mother insisted you give anonymously. The instant anyone
sees that you're kind and giving, they immediately take advantage of it. They seem to mistake kindness
for weakness and giving for stupidity."
"How do you figure?"
He sighed. "My brother sent my nephew to me for a job when Ronald was still in high school. Donnie
told me that he couldn't afford the tuition for Ronald's private school and asked if Ronald could work for
me part-time while he went to school. Like a fool, I agreed, and even though I didn't have that much
money back then, I started paying his tuition for him. Six years later, Donnie came to me telling me that
he was getting divorced and that his wife was taking everything from him. He was about to lose his
house, his car, everything. He told me he didn't want a handout, but wanted to know if I had some work
he could do."
"So you hired him."
Every emotion left his face except for the harsh twist of his lips. Even so, she could feel his bitterness
burning inside his heart. "Yeah. I seriously overpaid him to be my manager. God knows, I didn't want my
own brother out on the street. And for a about a year, everything was great."
"Until?"
"I started noticing that money was missing. Mysterious charges were being made with no explanation.
Worse, neither one of them would do their job. They always had some excuse for why they were about
to get to what I needed them to do or why it wasn't done yet. Time after time, I'd walk into the office and
find Ronald asleep in my chair—at least on the days he actually showed up to work. It was unbelievable.
I told them that if they didn't straighten up, I was going to fire them."
"And what did they say?"
He curled his lip before he mocked in a gruff tone, " 'You can't fire me. If you do, I'll ruin you. I know all
your fans, all your friends, and all your business associates. I'm untouchable, hah, hah.'"
Aidan cursed before he spoke in a normal tone again. "At first I thought it was a joke at best and an idle
threat at worst—until I looked around and realized that they really had ingratiated themselves with
everyone in my life. Methodically. One by one. They went after them all. Those who wouldn't befriend
them and fall in line with their vicious insanity, they cut out and kicked to the curb. Then in a show of
power right before Christmas, they turned six of them solidly against me, cut one of them completely out
of my life, and it was then they turned really brazen."
"How so?"
" 'Give us five million dollars or we'll take everything you have. By the time we're through with you, every
fan and friend you have will hate your guts and never pay a dime to see another movie of yours again.
You'll be ruined.'"
He drew a ragged, angry breath. " That was my Christmas gift from my brother. After I'd bought him and
his son a car each and a house each, paid them far more than their skill levels warranted. It still wasn't
enough for them. They had to take more because I had it and they didn't. Of course I was the one
working twenty hours a day for months on end at shoots, attending publicity functions and interviews, and
busting my ass reading and learning scripts while I was at home while they stayed up all night partying,
playing games online, and then slept until noon or later. Blowing money on women, beer, and expensive
toys. Gee, I can't imagine why they had so little, huh? As my mother used to say about Donnie, a hard
day's work would have
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