With a sigh, Alex reached for his phone and called his in-house lawyers. Isobel Ramirez and Lucille Shi arrived in his office a few minutes later, and Isobel took the documents from Alex and gave them a cursory scan.
“I see what’s happening,” she said, handing the papers back and adjusting her glasses. “The lawyers named here are part of Boink’s legal team. This suit is being backed by Patrick Hale.”
“What?” Alex shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Sure it does,” Isobel replied. She shrugged. “Grace is, at best, a disgruntled former employee. Patrick Hale is a corporate rival. Teaming up makes sense for both of them. Grace could get a hefty settlement from you, and Patrick could damage his biggest rival’s reputation.”
“Do they have a case?” Alex asked.
“Not really,” Lucille spoke up. “A wrongful termination suit will only be successful if you fired Grace without cause. I’m not entirely familiar with the case, but I know she was the one who lost or stole the laptop. If you have proof of that, it’ll be enough to sink the case.”
“Great,” Alex said dryly. It didn’t feel great, though. “So, we’ll just present the log where she didn’t sign the laptop back in?”
“Theoretically, yes,” Isobel replied. “There are two potential issues, though. First, the log isn’t necessarily enough evidence on its own. A good lawyer could argue that it wouldn’t be too difficult to alter the log and frame Grace—or anyone. Or that Grace might have forgotten to sign the log but still returned the laptop, which is negligence but is on a different level from theft.”
Alex blinked. He hadn’t even thought of that. Was there a chance that Grace had been framed? That someone else had changed the logs, maybe to cover up their own mistake? Then he dismissed the thought. He couldn’t dwell on it now, and he couldn’t get his hopes up that Grace hadn’t betrayed him and his company. He had to focus on the lawsuit.
“What’s the second issue?” he asked.
“If the case goes to court, even if you win, you’d get a lot of negative publicity,” Isobel explained. “You might struggle with investors, people might think twice before working for you—things like that.”
“I see,” Alex said.
“Especially since Grace is young and pretty, so she makes a sympathetic plaintiff,” Lucille added.
“And pregnant,” Alex muttered.
“What was that?” Isobel asked, but Alex shook his head.
“Nothing. So, what’s our next move here?”
“First, avoid Grace and her legal team at all costs. If you reach out, it might look like you’re trying to intimidate her into dropping the case. Second, we’ll do research into Grace and see if we can find a way to undermine her case. And third, we’ll put together an out-of-court settlement.”
“I need to meet with Grace,” Alex said. Isobel frowned at him.
“Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I know, but I need to talk to her. I need to find out why she’s doing this.” And Alex needed to talk to her about the baby, before this all fell apart even more than it had. Now, before they went to court, there might still be some slim chance that they could find a way forward together, in which they could both be parents to their child.
“It’s a bad idea,” Lucille jumped in. “As I said, contact with her might strengthen her case, especially if it appears like you’re trying to get her to drop the suit.”
“I won’t try to get her to drop the case,” Alex promised. “I just need to talk to her.”
“As your lawyer, I strongly recommend against that,” Isobel said.
“Noted. For now, please start thinking of settlements we could offer,” Alex said. “That’ll be all.”
“It would be a real mistake to try to see Grace,” Isobel repeated. She spoke each word slowly, as though Alex were a not-too-bright toddler.
“You’ve made that clear. Thank you.”
The two lawyers exchanged unhappy glances before standing and leaving the office. Alex knew they were right. He shouldn’t try to talk to Grace. Yet he also knew that he was going to. His first priority still had to be the baby, no matter what Grace did.
And, though Alex didn’t want to admit it, he missed Grace. He missed talking to her about problems, dreaming with her, kissing her… The ship for any possible relationship between them had sailed long ago, but some part of him still wanted to clear the air. And some part of him still hoped that Grace could offer an explanation for what had happened that didn’t involve betrayal and a systematic sabotage of Alex and his company.
Alex reached for his phone and drummed it against his hand. Grace was clearly declining his calls for a reason, so he needed a better way to reach her. He composed a quick text.
Grace, call me. We need to talk.
