Barbara Taylor Bradford - Act of Will

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Previously published in paperback by Grafton 1987

First published in Great Britain by Grafton Books 1986

Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 1986

Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2010 ISBN: 9780007363728

Version: 2017-10-30

‘Happy Birthday to You’, words and music by Mildred J. Jill and Patty S. Hill.

Copyright © 1935 Birch Tree Group Ltd, Princeton, N.J. Used by permission.

Dedicated with love to the memory of my parents, Winston and Freda Taylor. She gave me the greatest gift a mother can give a child, the desire to excel. He taught me to be strong of heart and to stand tall.

It is also for my husband Bob, whose love and support has equalled theirs, with all of my love.

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Audra

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Christina

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Epilogue

About the author

By the same author

Preview

About the Publisher

Audra, Christina and Kyle

1978

Audra Crowther sat on the sofa in the living room of her daughter’s Manhattan penthouse. She held herself tensely and clenched her hands together so hard that the knuckles shone white as she looked from her daughter Christina to her granddaughter Kyle.

The two younger women stood in the middle of the room, their faces pale, their eyes blazing as they glared at each other. Their angry words of a few minutes ago still reverberated on the warm afternoon air.

Audra felt helpless. She knew that to remonstrate with them, to attempt to make them see reason, was a waste of time, at least at this moment. Each was convinced she was right, and no amount of persuasion would make them reverse their positions or endeavour to understand the other’s point of view.

Even their clothes were like uniforms, underscoring their intrinsic differences, further separating them. Blue jeans and sneakers for Kyle, the white Swiss voile shirt her only concession to style, the combination giving her an oddly vulnerable, childlike look, with her scrubbed face and long hair hanging loose. And for Christina, an expensive, beautifully cut dress and tailored jacket of matching raw silk, without doubt bearing her own couture label; the silver-grey of the silk the perfect foil for her chestnut hair shot through with reddish-gold lights, the grey also emphasizing her lovely smoky eyes which had always been her best feature. She was slender, impeccably groomed, and not showing her forty-seven years in the least.

Tycoon versus student…role model versus rebel…mother versus daughter, Audra thought, smothering a sigh. Well, it wasn’t the first time a mother and daughter were at odds with each other; that was an age-old conflict.

Suddenly Kyle broke the protracted silence when she snapped, ‘And there’s another thing, Mother. You had no right to drag poor Grandma into this débâcle, drag her all the way from England, especially since-’

‘I didn’t!’ Christina shot back. ‘It was your father who telephoned my –’

‘Oh yes, go on, blame Dad,’ Kyle cut in, her voice scathing.

‘But it was your father who phoned my mother,’ Christina protested. She appealed to Audra. ‘Isn’t that so, Mummy?’

Audra focused her attention on her granddaughter. ‘That’s quite true, Kyle.’

Kyle tossed back her mane of black hair, then thrust her hands in the pockets of her jeans, her movements brusque, defiant. Her huge brown eyes, usually doe-like and soft, flashed rebelliously. ‘I suppose he thought we needed a mediator. Well, we don’t…there’s nothing to mediate –’ She brought herself up short, swung her long-limbed body towards Audra and gave her a wan half smile. ‘Sorry, Grandma, I don’t mean to be rude to you, but you shouldn’t have been forced to travel half-way around the world just because my parents have discovered they can’t inftuence me, or handle me any more.’ Kyle let out a laugh that was abnormally harsh. ‘You see, the trouble is that my parents treat me like a child, Grandma. Anyone would think I’m nine years old, not nineteen, for God’s sake, the ridiculous way they’re carrying on.’

Before Audra had a chance to comment on these strident assertions, Kyle pivoted to face Christina. Her voice rose shrilly as she rushed on, ‘Nothing will induce me to change my mind, Mother. Nothing. And nobody. Not even Grandma. I’m going to live my life the way I want. It’s my life and no one else’s. You and Dad can cut me off without a nickel. I don’t give a damn. I’ll manage somehow. I’ll get a job to support myself while I’m studying. I don’t need any help from you!’

‘Neither your father nor I have ever said anything about cutting you off,’ Christina exclaimed, furious that Kyle was even suggesting such a thing. ‘Your problem is your inability to discuss this matter intelligently. And calmly. You fly off the handle every time we attempt to have a reasonable conversation with you.’

‘Listen who’s talking! You’re not calm either!’

Christina’s mouth tightened in aggravation, but she strove hard to curb her increasing exasperation with her daughter. ‘That’s not so surprising is it?’ she countered in her coldest tone. ‘I have built an enormous empire, an international fashion business worth millions and millions of dollars, and you’re my only child, my heir. It’s always been understood that you’d succeed me, one day. Understood by all of us. Why, you’re being trained with that in mind…and now, out of the blue, you announce that you don’t want the company. I’m flabber –’