Page 24 of One Week To Claim It All
He sneered at her and lifted a shoulder as if he had all the time in the world. “Oh, just came to check if Rodrigo gave you a heads-up about the meeting with the buyers.”
“Buyers?” Even though she had no clue what that even meant, her heart still pounded in her chest, apprehension pooling in her stomach. “What are you talking about?” She didn’t know her brother very well, but she did recognize a smug jackass when she saw one. Esmeralda had a feeling that whatever Onyx was here to tell her would almost certainly ruin her day.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you? He’s on his way to a meeting with Global Networks. They’ve made an offer to buy the studio. He’s going there with my mother.” Bile churned in her stomach as Onyx walked in a little closer, for the last piece of gossip he had to share. Esme braced for it. “They want him to stay on as CEO, so he’s all in.”
“You’re lying,” she said, even as her mind reeled.
“Am I?” Onyx asked, showing her rows of perfectly white teeth. “Has anyone even heard from him today?” He was speaking so casually, like they were just chatting about the weather. God, he was cruel. “Mr. Workaholic is usually at his desk at 7:00 a.m. sharp, but no one’s heard from him since yesterday. Ask his assistant.”
He was right.
All the wind went out of her lungs at once, the pain of Rodrigo’s betrayal like a knife in her gut. But she would be damned if she let Onyx get the satisfaction of seeing her undone. She quickly regrouped and tried her best to send a withering look toward her brother. She gathered as much strength as she could, even as she reeled from the bomb that he’d had just detonated.
How could Rodrigo do this? Had he been in cahoots with Carmelina even as he told her that the woman was a snake? Even as he assured her again and again that he would not interfere with her presentation, that he wanted the CEO position only if he got it fair and square? But maybe that was the problem, that he thought Esmeralda didn’t deserve it. Maybe the way he saw it was that she’d sauntered in and tried to claim the position unfairly. And she’d let him distract her with sex and her messiness. He was probably using her unprofessional behavior as an excuse to push her out at this very moment.
“Get out of my office, Onyx,” she demanded. “Unlike you, I have work to do. If Rodrigo is scheming with your mother then good luck to him. Just two days ago she was telling him he was a nobody, and today she’s doing business with him. Sounds like they deserve each other.”
With that she turned her attention to the monitor in front of her in an attempt to ignore Onyx’s ugly sneer.
“I’d start cleaning out my stuff if I were you,” he said in an awful singsong voice.
“In case you forgot, I still own twenty-five percent of the shares in this company.” To her surprise, the comment seemed to make him even more smug. If that melodramatic laugh was anything to go by anyways.
“You’re in for all kinds of surprises today,” he gloated maliciously before rushing off.
Esmeralda felt a sob closing her throat, and she savagely pushed it down. She would be damned if anyone in this place saw her shed a single tear. She had vowed to never cry over Rodrigo Almanzar again. And she would not break that promise to herself today. Esme had really thought her heart was done breaking for that man.
She’d been so wrong.
He’d literally left her apartment, after kissing her mother and tías, to go meet with Carmelina Sambrano and concoct a way to push her out. She counted to fifty after Onyx was out of her office before she stood up and hurried to shut the door. Not that it gave her much privacy since all the office walls were made of glass, but at least no one would be able to hear her. She grabbed her phone and quickly dialed the only person she knew who would help her figure out what to do.
“Mami.” She could barely choke the word out at the relief of hearing her mother’s loving and familiar voice.
“Mija, what’s wrong?”
Esmeralda let out a shaky breath, relief coursing through her. She could always count on her mother’s unfailing steadiness. Even when nothing else worked, her mother was always there for her. Her rock, the person who always stood by her no matter what. For a time she’d believed that Rodrigo could be that for her, too. But he’d proven again and again that his only loyalties were to himself and to the Sambranos.
“I’m not sure what’s going on, but Onyx was just here and told me that Rodrigo and Carmelina are meeting with an outside buyer. That he’s working with her to stay on as CEO and get rid of me.” Saying that last part out loud almost broke her. She could not believe she’d trusted him again. Was she so desperate for acceptance that she’d put herself in this position again with a man who had proven to her she was expendable to him? “I can’t believe I let Rodrigo play me again.”
She was pathetic.
“Esmeralda, take a breath, mi amor. What are you talking about? What happened?” Her mother’s voice was taut with tension. She hated worrying Ivelisse, but this felt too familiar. Like those times when her mother had reluctantly let Esmeralda go spend time with her father only to see her return in tears after being humiliated by Carmelina’s venomous words.
“Rodrigo’s going to help Carmelina sell the studio so he can stay on as CEO.”
Esme squeezed her eyes shut when she heard her mother’s shocked gasp. “Ay, mija. Are you sure? I can’t believe he would do that.”
“Heis, Mami,” she cried, sick to her stomach with regret. “I get thatshe’sscheming against me, hell, I even expected it.” She fought to keep her voice low. “But to know that Rodrigo is in on it with her... I should’ve known he hadn’t changed.” She scoffed, shaking her head as her belly roiled with nausea and uneasiness. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised. He’s done this to me before.”
Esme heard her mother suck in a breath, as she sat there steeped in misery. For a moment she wondered if she should just leave. Grab her purse and her laptop and leave these people and their drama behind. “Maybe this is for the best. Maybe I just need to walk away from all this.”
“Esmeralda, I’m going to tell you something right now and I need you to understand that I kept this from you because I thought it was for the best.”
“Mami, what are you talking about?” Esmeralda had never heard her mother sounding so serious. Ivelisse Peña was one of those people who managed to maintain a positive outlook even in the darkest of moments, but right now she sounded subdued. Scared even, and that, more than anything that had occurred in the past hour, terrified Esmeralda.
“I need to tell you the truth about the reason why your father evicted us from that apartment and why Rodrigo disappeared on you that weekend.”
Esmeralda felt the skin on her face tighten at her mother’s words, sickening dread roiling in her gut. “He left you because his mother called him and told him what Patricio was doing and he jumped on a plane to come help me.”
