“You speak of marriage,” Leith said to Jasper. “Which leads me to believe this relationship has been going on for a while.”
Jasper and I, along with Pierce, had discussed this in depth. We didn’t want to lie, but we also didn’t want to give the board more reasons to distrust either of us.
“Halle and I have known each other for a while, and we’ve always enjoyed working together. We didn’t want to bring this matter to the board until we were certain of our relationship.”
“And are you?” Leith asked. “Certain?”
Jasper looked to me, and I said, “We are.”
“It’s easy to say that now, at the beginning of a relationship. But what if you break up?” another board member asked. “We’ve seen how messy divorces can be.” She was referring to Knox and Nate, even if she didn’t specifically mention them by name. “We don’t want that disruption for the company.”
“Neither do we,” Jasper said.
“But you can’t guarantee that your relationship won’t have an impact on the company.”
“No,” I said. “But I think we’ve shown that we can successfully work together, regardless of our personal relationship.”
Leith’s expression was impassive, but then he turned to Jasper. “Were you in a relationship when you voted for Halle’s temporary promotion to SVP?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Leith leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “So the relationship began sometime after she transferred to LA?”
Jasper looked at me, and I sensed his hesitation. The fact that we’d been together before my move could both help and hinder our argument. Ultimately, I thought it was best to just put it all out there. Maybe the board would see it as an advantage.
Jasper shifted on his feet. “Not technically speaking, no.”
“Technically speaking?” Leith frowned. “What does that mean?”
“We were…” Jasper cleared his throat, and I knew he was contemplating whether to even say the words.
“Intimate previously,” I finished for him. I knew Leith was just trying to do his job, but it felt beyond invasive. “Before I moved to LA.”
Leith arched one eyebrow. “Is that why you voted in support of Halle’s transfer to LA?”
“No.” Jasper’s voice was strong, clear. “I voted for the transfer because Halle’s excellent at her job.”
“Right, but—” Leith steepled his fingers “—you can see why we might question your impartiality, considering your personal relationship, can’t you?”
Jasper released my hand and stepped forward, fists clenched. “I would not let a personal relationship compromise what’s best for the company. Not with my siblings. Nor with a romantic partner.”
“Mm.” Leith seemed skeptical, as did several other board members. Jasper’s family was silent, unemotional but supportive.
“So explain the timeline to us,” Leith said. “Because it sounds to me like this relationship has been going on longerthan you initially let on. And…more concerning, you broke up at some point.”
I tried to resist fiddling with my necklace. We’d been hoping to avoid this, but that now seemed impossible. Pierce had suggested that the board might be more sympathetic if some of the backstory came from me. He wanted to make sure that they saw me as a willing participant, not someone coerced into an affair with a superior.
“Last summer, when Jasper was in London during Sloan’s annual sailing trip, we spent a lot of time together. I was going through a difficult time, and he was there for me.” I swallowed hard at the memory. They didn’t get to hear about my dad. “Things developed from there, but considering the distance and our positions, we decided to end things when he went home to LA.”
This wasn’t easy, but I could tell that Jasper was beyond proud of me. We were partners.
“When I transferred to LA—” I turned to look at Sloan “—I chose to do so because I love my job. Because I wanted to continue to support Sloan. But I also wanted to be closer to my parents, who live on the West Coast.”
The board turned to Sloan. “Did you know about this?” Leith asked.
She shook her head. “I only found out about their relationship earlier this weekend. And I can attest to the fact that it has not negatively impacted their working relationship or the company.”
“But you were out on maternity leave,” someone said. “How would you even know?”
