Page 123 of Just Like That

Her dark eyebrows pinched down. “Done?”

I swallowed hard. She’d taken a risk in coming to work for King Equities, and I’d failed her. I’d failed everyone. “There is no saving King Equities. We’ve lost too many investors, and those that are left can’t afford to take any more losses. They’ll go down with the company if they stay. When my father comes back, he won’t care about that. He’ll leverage what’s left to salvage whatever he can, and it will be at their expense.”

Her face was hard as stone, but she didn’t waver. Her arms crossed and her chin lifted. “So what’s the move?”

I dragged a hand through my hair. “We close up shop. Bit by bit we let our remaining investors out of their contracts so they can recoup as much as possible before the ship actually sinks.”

A soft smile graced her lips. “That’s the honorable thing to do, but giving away a billion-dollar company will make some serious waves. Your father will come back to nothing but the corpse of the business he built.”

Good.

“He has enough money personally invested to be fine ... unfortunately.” The words tasted bitter. “But I don’t want to give him the opportunity to rebuild on the backs of the companies and people that trusted him—trusted us.”

With a slow nod, Veda turned back to her desk. “I’ll start drawing it up.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I know you trusted me to salvage this, but ... I just couldn’t.”

“Give yourself a break.” She looked over her shoulder and smirked. “I’m not that worried about it. We’ll figure it out with the next one.”

The next one.

Veda had a willingness to follow me in whatever business venture was next and had the kind of blind faith I envied. I had no idea what was next for me, but I knew that she wouldn’t be my employee.

Veda would be an equal partner.

Hours later, final offers were sent to King Equities’ remaining investors. Each was legally sound, but only a fool would pass up such generous and lucrative terms. By the end of the month, King Equities would be nothing more than a sad story of corruption and greed inked in the glossy pages of some business magazine no one reads.

My neck was sore and my shoulders were tight by the time I looked up from my computer screen. Outside the windows, night had fallen and not a single text message from Hazel.

I sank lower. I knew she was scared and looking to me for answers on how to approach the subject of Teddy’s paternity with him. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.

Not out loud, and certainly not to him.

He would be crushed and my soul would be breaking right alongside him.

The drive back to my house was dark and lonesome. I’d rolled the windows all the way down, letting the cold September wind slap my face. I’d hoped it would jolt me out of the funk I was in, but I had no such luck.

Without having Hazel’s sunshine to warm my day, my mood was surly and sour as I pulled into the driveway. I rolled past Hazel’s skoolie, and my chest ached.

How had so much changed in such a short amount of time?

Light glowed from the inside of the bus, and I was curious as I parked my car. When I stepped out, Hazel was on the front porch.

“Hey,” I called, trying to shake my mood.

“Hey, yourself.” She didn’t sound right—a little too distant for my liking.

I cleared my throat. “How was your day? Mine was a mess. King Equities is being dismantled ... bit by bit. That bastard won’t know what to do once he’s back at the helm, and I won’t be there to fix it for him.”

Her lips were pressed in a flat line and she shrugged. “I had a crummy day too.” Hazel crossed her arms, and I couldn’t help but feel an unspoken chasm open between us.

I studied her face as she spoke. “I spent the day going over every word of Olive’s letter—again—and every memory I have of her, trying to understand why she would lie to me. Then I spent the majority of the afternoon trying not to cry because Teddy was over the moon excited to tell you about Bring Your Dude to School Day.”

I frowned and stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Bring your dude to school?”

Hazel shrugged. “Apparently it used to be Bring Your Dad to School, but they’ve gotten a tiny bit more inclusive, so I guess that’s something.”

Her lip quivered. “He wants to bring you. He went on and on and on about how amazing it was going to be to show off his dad.”

---