Binding Agreement- Book 1 of the Tipton Dynasty

You Never Saw Body?

"Damon's here!" Julie hollered loud enough for me to hear from the back room.

It had been three days since the parent day on Monday. Damon wanted to use our lunch breaks to go meet with Melissa's parents. They were surprised to get his call and they were reluctant at first about meeting up. They eventually agreed and I could see how nervous it made Damon.

I walked out of the back room to meet Damon in the front of the store. "I'm ready to go. Are you?"

"Yes." He responded.

I followed him out to the black BMW and we got inside. We were meeting her parents at their home the next town over. Damon agreed to doing it this way because he felt it mattered that her parents be as comfortable as possible. They had never met each other but they knew he was the one who had gotten Melissa pregnant.

We chose not to bring Sterling this time. This was more to get acquainted with each other and to see how they reacted. Damon wanted to make sure that if they were in Sterling's life they wouldn't be toxic. We had enough toxic people to deal with we didn't feel it was necessary to add anymore.

He focused on the road as his hand gripped the steering wheel. "Relax. It's going to be okay." I was attempting to reassure him.

"I know." He responded as he continued looking at the road. "I just don't know what I'm going to say to them. How am I supposed to tell her parents that I'm the reason they missed out on the remaining months of their daughter's life."

"I'm sure it's not going to be an easy conversation to have with them but I'll be right there with you. The worst that'll happen is that they turn you away." I responded.

"Yeah." he nodded as he still remained focused on the road.

We drove for about thirty minutes before we got off the highway. We came into the town and he followed his GPS to the address he had been provided. We pulled up to a white house that looked tiny compared to Damon's. It was perfect for a small family by the looks of it though.

Damon let out a small sigh. "Let's go."

We got out of the car and I held his hand as we made our way to the sidewalk. Damon pressed the doorbell to let the people inside know we had arrived. We waited for a moment before a woman about my mother's age answered the door. She was about my height with long dark brown hair. A man came to the door to stand behind her. He was tall and also had brown hair except his had streaks of grey mixed in.

"Is this the Bryant residence?" Damon asked, he was wanting to confirm we had made it to the right place.

"Yes. You're Damon Tipton right?" The woman spoke through the screen door.

"Yes." Damon nodded. "And this is my wife Kaydence."

The woman opened the door. "Come in please." She moved back so that we could enter inside.

"Right this way." The man guided us into the living room.

Damon and I sat on one couch in the room and the Bryant's sat on the other. "Would either of you like a drink or anything?" Mrs. Bryant asked.

"A glass of water would be fine." I answered.

"Okay." She nodded and headed into the kitchen. We all waited for Mrs. Bryant to return before starting any conversation. She brought in a pitcher of water and four glasses. She poured some water inside and handed one to me and then one to Damon.

"You said that you had some information about Melissa for us?" Mr. Bryant asked.

"Yes." Damon responded. "Before I begin I would just like you to know that the information I have was hidden from me until a couple months ago. What was the last thing you remember hearing about Melissa?"

"The last thing I heard was when the hospital called to let us know that she and the baby had passed from the accident. We asked if it was possible to see her but they told us it was a gruesome scene." Mrs. Bryant answered.

"So you never saw a body?" Damon was confirming. We already knew Melissa survived that crash but he needed to see if they did.

"No." She shook her head. I could see the hurt in her face thinking back to when they lost their daughter. "They said we wouldn't want to. They asked about funeral arrangements and we decided to have Melissa cremated. Then we buried the urn at her headstone in the cemetery."

Damon nodded in response. "I apologize in advance for how blunt this may seem but I don't know how else to say something like this."

"What is it?" Mr. Bryant asked.

"My family is well known and our business is very important. My father wasn't exactly welcoming at first when we told him about Melissa's pregnancy." Damon began to explain. "It upset her and she left, that was the same night of her accident. Well before I arrived at the hospital my sister got there first."

Mr. Mrs. Bryant looked at Damon intently as he explained the story.

"My sister is a terrible human if I'm being honest. She had this obsession with trying to make sure my father's company went to her son. She took any opportunity to drive a wedge between my father and I. She also had to make sure I had no blood to take over." he explained further. "When she got to the hospital Melissa was still alive. Her and the baby were fine. However she told Melissa since I was the father that we would take the baby from here. Which I would've never allowed to happen. She paid Melissa off to fake her death."

"So where is she now?" Mr. Bryant asked in disbelief.

"Is she okay then?" Mrs. Bryant seemed hopeful.

Damon took a deep breath in and let it out. "She moved outside of Nashville after. I've done my digging for information after finding out the truth. I found out that Melissa had placenta previa during the pregnancy which caused complications when she gave birth. She was made aware of this by her doctor and so she made sure the baby's birth certificate was filled out and everything. During birth she did end up hemorrhaging and they couldn't stop the bleeding. She bled out and that's when she passed away."

I could see Mrs. Bryant's face overcome with emotion. "So I missed out on time with my daughter because of your family."

"Trish, calm down. He said he didn't know. Let's try to be level headed about this." Mr. Bryant spoke.

"No Peter I can't!" Mrs. Bryant responded while fighting tears. "His family is responsible!"