4

"Lily's new to the project. Of course she doesn't know how everything works yet.

"After you handed it over, you should've taught her what she needed to know instead of waiting for her to make a mistake so you could laugh at her."

I looked at him and answered calmly.

"She didn't read a single page of my 27-page handover checklist. She used my private model without permission. Now her plan has blown up, and it's my fault for not teaching her?"

"Rachel!"

Grant's voice hardened.

"It's one model. When did you get so petty?

"Between the baby and your health, you don't have the energy to manage a project right now.

"Let Lily do it for you. The results still belong to the company. What's wrong with that?"

Do it for me?

I turned his words over in my mind, and they cut a little deeper each time.

So he knew Lily was copying me.

He just thought it was a good thing.

Lily's eyes were red as she spoke softly.

"Grant, forget it.

"If Rachel doesn't want to teach me, I'll leave the project. Nothing I do will ever be good enough for her anyway."

Grant cut her off at once. "You're not leaving the project."

Then he turned to me. "Rachel, be good and fix the plan tonight.

"I want the final version in the client's inbox tomorrow morning."

He said it calmly, as if he expected me to obey.

That was how every fight we'd had in the last five years had ended.

He'd soften his voice, and I'd clean up his mess.

He'd come home on time, remember my sensitive stomach, bring me flowers now and then, and expect me to forget how much he'd hurt me.

This time, I was done putting up with it.

I picked up my bag and headed for the door.

Grant grabbed my wrist.

"Where are you going?"

"I've handed over the project. Whoever submitted the plan can fix it."

His impatience finally showed.

"I intercepted that email you sent to London this afternoon."

I stopped short.

He leaned back and slowly straightened his cuffs, his tone utterly confident.

"Rae, you're not the Jennings heiress anymore. Who else is going to catch you when you fall?

"You haven't run a project on your own in five years. Even if another company hires you, what will you do when you realize you can't keep up?

"Come crawling back with the baby? Beg me to bail you out?"

I saw the smug look on his face and yanked my hand free.

"Don't worry, Grant. I'm never going to beg you for anything again."

Then I walked out of the restaurant without looking back.

Wind off the river blew mist against my face. I was in the back of a cab when my phone buzzed.

Someone had sent me an email.

When I opened it, I froze.

It was a ledger showing where Jennings Group's money had gone five years ago. Large sums had been moved into an offshore shell company. The records traced its ownership back to Grant.

A month later, that shell company had bought my family's most valuable distribution assets for less than 30 percent of their market value.

The last attachment was a screenshot of a chat.

"That Jennings girl is too proud. She'll only stay with me if she has nowhere else to go.

"The Jennings family can hold out another seven days, tops.

"In seven days, she'll come to me begging."

I stared at the messages. My ears rang.

Five years ago, when I was at my lowest, Grant had thrown me a lifeline.

I'd thought he'd saved me.

But he was the one who'd backed me into that corner in the first place.

I scanned and encrypted everything, made backups, and called a lawyer to secure the evidence.

Then I dialed the number at the bottom of the email. It looked strangely familiar.

"That takeover of Ford Group you proposed? I can help you pull it off."

I looked into the darkness outside, my voice firm.

"But I have one condition. I want to settle my score with him myself."