Page 105 of Fake it With Me

“Filed it yesterday. We’re going after him for fraud, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a few other things my team came up with. We’re asking for ten million in damages.”

I sat back in my chair. “Ten million.”

“Could be more by the time we’re done. The fraud was egregious, Darek. He tampered with evidence in a custody case. He nearly cost you your daughter. A jury’s going to hate him.”

“Good.”

“The state is also pursuing criminal charges. Perjury, fraud, tampering with evidence. He’s looking at serious jail time. But those proceedings are separate. We won’t be involved in the criminal case.”

I looked at the video again, watching that moment on loop. My hand on Daisie’s jacket. Her safe. Me being a good father despite what Grant had tried to make everyone believe.

“How much do you really think we’ll get from him?” I asked.

Aaron leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile crossing his face. “When it’s all said and done? Grant Waverly will be finished. We’ll take everything—his stake in the yacht club, his investments, his properties. He’ll be lucky if he’s not bankrupt and in prison.”

“Good,” I said again. The word felt hollow. Destroying Grant wouldn’t fix what I had broken with Liza but it did make feel good to exact some kind of revenge. The guy had put me through hell and he definitely damaged my reputation.

We talked for a few more minutes about timelines and depositions and legal strategy, but my heart wasn’t in it. Even the satisfaction of watching Grant go down wasn’t enough to lift the weight that had been sitting on my chest for the past week.

“You okay, Darek?” Aaron asked. “You sound off.”

“I’m fine. Just tired.”

“How is Daisie handling everything? You guys must be pretty relieved to have all of this behind you.”

“Not great,” I admitted. “She’s been pretty withdrawn since—” I stopped. I didn’t want to talk about Liza. Didn’t want to admit that I had screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to me.

My phone rang. I glanced at the screen and realized it was Della. Fuck. That was probably going to be a phone call I needed to take in private.

“I need to take this,” I said and got to my feet.

“I’ll be in touch,” Aaron said.

I walked out and answered. “This is Darek.”

“Mr. Sullivan, this is Della from Faux Agency.”

I braced myself to be lectured about being an asshole. I didn’t think there was anything in the contract that said I had to pay an additional fee for ending the contract early.

“Yes?” I snapped. I was impatient. Angry. Frustrated.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I wanted to reach out about the payment issue.”

“What payment issue?”

“Well, you authorized payment, but Liza refused to accept it. I’ve tried to explain to her that she earned that money and the contract was fulfilled, but she’s being quite stubborn about it. I was calling to ask if you’d like me to send you a check or refund the card you paid with.”

“Wait, what?”

“I need to refund the full payment, minus the five thousand of course.”

“Why?” My brain was still sluggish.

“Mr. Sullivan, she rejected the payment. I need to return it to you.”

“Liza refused the payment?”

“Yes. She said the arrangement ended early and she didn’t feel right accepting the money.”