“Oliver. Family commitment.” At her short answer, Ethan gave her a quick glance. Her face had drained of colour. He waited for Holly to elaborate.
There was still time before they needed to be at work. Ethan wanted to give her his full attention and pulled the car into a quiet street. The offices weren’t opened yet and the cafés only had a few morning walkers stopping in for a coffee. He turned the ignition off, unclipped the seatbelt and swivelled in the seat. “What happened?”
She stared out the windshield, fidgeting again with her fingers. He reached out and laced their fingers together and held tight. He hoped she felt the support through his touch.
She turned to face him and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Oliver’s the son of my parents’ closest friends and I fell madly in love with him. We dated for over a year, then got engaged. My parents adored him. He’s smart, polite and never gave anyone a moment of trouble. I loved him for those reasons too. He was sexy and treated me like a queen. He ticked a lot of boxes.”
The urge to strangle this guy was already strong and Holly hadn’t even told him the whole story. He’d bet it wouldn’t end well.
“He graduated university with some fancy degree and my parents were quick to offer him a position as Chief Financial Officer with one condition.”
She turned away from him and stared out of the windscreen. A man and his toddler walked by holding hands, stopping to peer through the window of a dark book shop. Two women dressed in active wear sat on a bench seat chatting animatedly, their dogs lying by their feet.
“I was to be his personal assistant. So, I agreed, and convinced myself working with Oliver would be better than a job in makeup and I could help boost his career.” She gave a mirthless laugh.
“One night I got a text from an unknown number. The message included photos of Oliver at a party in one of the penthouse suites at Ainsworth hotels.” She took a deep breath. “The photo showed a woman straddling his lap, her dress bunched around her waist and his head buried in her boobs. This anonymous messenger also added a video of him boasting to the same woman how his future in-laws didn’t know how he was spending their money.”
“Shit, Holly, what a bastard. What’d you do?”
“I confronted him. He told me it only happened one time. He’d made a mistake, and he loved me. Even shed a couple of tears to add to his performance. When I refused to take him back, he begged me not to tell my parents about the money because he was worried about his job. It wasn’t me he was crying over. The threat of losing his career scared him.”
“Tell me they fired his dirty arse?” Ethan’s jaw clenched.
“When I told them he cheated on me, they assumed he did it because of somethingI’ddone and couldn’t understand why I was so upset. When I mentioned the money and suggested he should be fired because he was stealing, they didn’t believe me. Refused to watch the video. They accused me of being spiteful because of his indiscretions. They wouldn’t even think about transferring me to another department either. Made me promise not to spread around my crazy gossip. He was a valuable employee and it would ruin his reputation and their friendship with his parents.”
She pulled her hands free to rub her eyes. “I told them making me work for him would ruin their relationship with me. They said I was being overly dramatic and gave me six months to ‘get over’ it. If I took leave, I wasn’t to use the family name to get hired in any profession in their field. Couldn’t have an Ainsworth working for another hotel.” She lifted her feet onto the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees.
“They didn’t believe I’d actually do it. Thought I valued their lifestyle over my self-respect. Said I couldn’t take care of myself without their name and money. When I had my bags packed, I left everything of value behind, because it only came from working with them. Their parting words were how much I disappointed them. Why couldn’t I be more like my sister Ruth, who was taking over the hotel world? They made it clear I’d lose the shares in the company, which I’m to receive when I turn thirty if I wasn’t back in six months.” She blew out a breath. “They cared more about what it would look like for them and didn’t give a fuck about my heartbreak.”
“So, you ended up in Sydney and wanted to prove them wrong,” Ethan said, anger at what she’d been through simmering in his gut.
She snorted. “I ended up in Sydney, but they were right—I accomplished nothing. The only job I could get was waitressing. I quit because I couldn’t put up with Carlo’s—my boss--wandering hands. I was low on money and had nowhere to stay. The night we met, I was on my way home with my tail tucked between my legs.”
“Thank Christ you stumbled onto the set. You have a job now. You don’t have to go back to that.” Back to a family who put a business before their daughter. What kind of people were they? Ones who Holly was better off without.
“A job that’s only temporary, then I’m back where I started … nowhere. Besides, I only have one more month before I need to start work for the hotels again.”
“With Oliver,” he gritted.
Holly dropped her head and nodded.
“If makeup’s the career you want, my mother can help. She’s impressed with your work and will recommend you to others. You’ll get more work in no time, and you don’t have to go back if you don’t want to.”
“How’s that fending for myself? I can’t keep accepting help or charity.”
“It’s not charity. How many people get jobs because of who they know? Your dickhead ex included.”
“Anyway, I have to go back. Every Ainsworth has worked for the hotels. It’s a family obligation.”
“You’re not happy there. Why put yourself through it? Who cares if there’s one less Ainsworth?”
“My parents do, or they wouldn’t have threatened my inheritance.” She nibbled her bottom lip, drawing his attention to her plump mouth.
“Can they do that?”
She nodded.
Wow, Ethan couldn’t believe what her parents were putting her through.
