All Chapters of When My Rich Boyfriend Went Broke, I Stopped Pretending: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

Julian took me to the house on Long Island.No directors, no reporters, no lawyers.The next morning, I slept until 11.When I woke up, a light rain was falling along the coast.Julian was making coffee in the kitchen.I sat down at the kitchen island.“You’re not going to the office today?”“This afternoon.”“Then why are you still here?”“To have breakfast with you.”I stared at him.“I’m not sick.”“I know.”“And I’m not falling apart.”“I know.”“Then stop looking at me like I’m going to break.”Julian slid a cup of coffee over to me.“I’m just looking at you.”The doorbell rang.Sophia was outside, holding a cardboard box.“Margaret asked me to bring this.”Once she was inside, she added, “She wanted to come herself. I told her you probably wouldn’t want to see anyone from North Shore Capital right now.”I took the box.Inside was the complete set of transition documents.Before I left three years ago, North Shore Capital had already completed its management transition.The new te

Once Nathan was under investigation, the world didn’t go back to normal overnight.Oddly, that made me feel better.Several of the funds started negotiating civil settlements with the Mercer Group.Regulators kept reviewing North Shore Capital’s trades during the crisis.And the banks didn’t restore every credit line right away just because of one press conference.Things got sorted out one at a time.Like real life.Two weeks later, the preliminary findings came out.There was no evidence that I’d traded on inside information.The funds that had joined the short attack withdrew their accusations and absorbed some of the losses.The Mercer Group’s main banks restored its credit lines.Even as market confidence returned, Julian made no move to expand again.He sold two highly leveraged projects and used the money to pay down debt.I also had North Shore Capital unwind its earlier short-term financing arrangements on market terms.When he saw the paperwork, he raised an eyebrow.“In such

After we got engaged, I officially resumed my duties as chairwoman of North Shore Capital.Two days of meetings a week.The rest of the time, I stayed away.In the very first month, someone asked if I’d “lost my ambition.”I finished reading the article and closed the page.Three years ago, I would have explained myself.Now I couldn’t be bothered.Margaret, on the other hand, was very pleased.“You’re so much easier to manage than you used to be.”“Did you forget who owns the controlling stake?”“I remember.”“And you still say things like that?”“Because now you actually go home at the end of the day.”I had to admit she had a point.Things were getting back to normal on Julian’s end too.The Mercer Group finished paying down its debt, and the reforms to make its board more independent officially took effect.Alex and Daniel went back to running their own parts of the business.Sophia started working on a hotel branding project and got too busy to bug me every day.There was only one

The wedding was held at the Mercer Group’s newly reopened flagship hotel.The whole top floor and the terrace were reserved for family and friends.People from North Shore Capital came.So did the Mercer Group’s executives.The people who’d given statements during the investigation sat in the back rows.Nobody needed to apologize for anything that day.All the old scores had already been settled.Helen slipped the emerald ring onto my finger herself.When Richard gave his toast, he didn’t say I’d saved the Mercer family.Instead, he said, “Thank you, Elena, for choosing to come back that day, when you could have just walked away.”Standing next to Julian, I suddenly realized those words meant more to me than any compliment.Alex and Daniel were in charge of keeping an eye on Sophia, and with good reason.She’d already snuck over to my gift table to check out my new bag.“Put it down.”I called to her from across the room.She turned around.“I’m just looking!”“Where’s your own?”“Mine

Six months later, the Mercer Group had fully emerged from the crisis.Its stock price didn’t stage a miraculous comeback.It just climbed steadily back to a reasonable range.Julian was the happiest about that.He said keeping the company alive mattered more than having a good story to tell.Same with North Shore Capital.I never went back to being chief investment officer.The chairwoman’s office sat empty half the time.But whenever I actually needed to make a decision, I showed up.One afternoon, I wrapped up the quarterly meeting at three.Margaret glanced at the time.“Leaving this early today?”“Julian’s taking me to dinner.”“Isn’t there a family dinner tonight?”“We’re going shopping first.”She smiled and shook her head.The moment I walked out of the building, I saw Julian leaning against the car.He opened the door for me.“Where to?”“Fifth Avenue.”“Another bag?”“Got a problem with that?”“Nope.”He got in and handed me his wallet.“The card’s in there.”I took it out and