Page 64 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men
“How do you explain the photos, then? They were smiling, talking. She was holding up a lingerie set for him to see.”
“What if she was helping him pick something out for you?” my best friend turns the tables. “To me, that sounds more likely than the two of them getting back together.”
“Georgina is not our friend. Theo would not be asking her advice. Besides, I zoomed in on each of those photos. That lavender set was not my size. It was hers.”
“I’m trying to make you feel better,” Penny says softly.
“Maybe Theo didn’t mean what he said about us. Maybe Georgina really did win this round,” I mumble. “It begs the question as to whether August or Dominic knew about it. If so, then where does that leave us?”
“You’re not going to get any answers by not answering the phone.”
I give her a sour look. “I’m in sulking mode. Not taking calls, remember?” I try to take another sip of wine, but the taste is still unpleasant, so I set the glass back on the table. “Dammit. And this whole shitstorm comes on the heels of Crystal’s campaign to discredit me online. It’s been a circus through and through.”
“Are you talking about the #CancelPhoebe nonsense? It didn’t even go viral!”
“I’ve seen the retweets and the replies. Plenty of puritans out there who love calling me a loose woman, a whore, and a fewother words I didn’t even know existed but still made my ears and cheeks burn.”
“Crystal is trying to manipulate the public into turning against you. I’ll admit,” Penny concedes with a tilt of her head, “she has a considerable following, and she might be able to hurt you, but only up to a point. You’ve got three very intelligent and powerful men beside you.”
“Do I?” I snap. “Oh, who am I fooling here? Georgina’s perfect. A supermodel. Insanely successful. Every room she walks into lights up. Meanwhile, I’m a Baldwin who’s about to be stripped of her trust fund and company shares because I fell for three men. It’s like some kind of circle of hell.”
“You need to cool down a bit,” Penny says. “Remember, I have all the legal power and expertise at my firm to help you with the inheritance issue. I’ve already put in a request to one of the main partners to let me spearhead the case. I’m still a junior, so they won’t let me handle it on my own, but they will team me up with an experienced attorney.”
I give Penny a hopeful look. “Are you serious?”
“I promised, didn’t I?”
“What did the partners say? Do we have a shot?”
“They’ve known the Baldwins for a long time. One of my senior litigators used to work for the firm that currently represents your mom and dad’s company. He said it’s a foul move on Helen’s part, and they can definitely fight it in court.”
“I can’t afford their fees, though. I got cut out of the marketing department,” I say with a heavy sigh. “They won’tlet me anywhere near the building. Not that the salary was overwhelming to begin with, but at least it was something.”
“Don’t worry about the fees. They only charge if they win. And trust me, if Rogers takes this to court with me by his side, he’s going to win, and then he’s going to file a defamation suit on your behalf against Helen and Crystal for these smear campaigns.”
“And this is the same firm that works for Dominic and the guys, right?”
“Yes. They’re just some of our clients. We’ve got a large portfolio, Phoebe. This sort of corporate family turmoil is literally their bread and butter.”
I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, trying to figure out where this sudden queasiness is coming from. It must be a combination of the stress that’s been gathering in my gut for the past couple of months. Starting with Matthew’s deplorable breakup message and ending with Perle Noire.
“Where do I go from here? What do I do?” I ask, though Penny knows it’s mostly rhetorical at this point.
“How about you breathe deeply and let me handle the legal issue with your inheritance, for starters?”
“Okay.”
“You’ve got all of the paperwork, right? Back at your place?”
I nod. “Electronic and hard copies. Dad’s lawyers sent everything to me as soon as I turned eighteen. It pissed Mom off, now that I think about it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t want me finding out or becoming aware of my rights as a Baldwin that early on,” I say, sifting through my memories of several tense conversations on the matter. “But I remember she was fuming. She said the lawyers should’ve gone through her. Pretty sure that’s when she changed legal firms.”
“About seven years ago, Rogers worked the Baldwin cases before he switched to our firm, so, yeah, that tracks. Helen fired the lawyers after they informed you of your inheritance rights. Jesus.”
“The fact that my mother has been working so hard to leave me destitute ever since my father died… oh, Penny, I still can’t wrap my head around that.”
