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“If I have to hire a lawyer to fire you, I’m billing you for my time and the mess you’ve created. Leave me your final bill, then contact Christian’s lawyer and let them know you are no longer mine. Have him direct any calls his lawyer has to me,” I said.
“You can’t possibly go into court alone. He’ll take it all away from you,” he said.
“And that’s what he should do! This company is rightfully his!” I exclaimed. “Leave your bill, because if you walk out of here without doing it, you won’t see a cent.”
I watched as he pulled a piece of paper from his coat. I unraveled it and gawked at the amount of money I owed him, but I pulled out the company checkbook and cut him a check. I took photos of everything so he couldn’t rob me blind, then I shoved everything back at him.
“So I know you made the phone call, I’ll expect a confirmation call from Christian’s lawyer by the end of the day today. No confirmation call, no payment.”
“But, I’m holding your check,” he said.
“Which is post-dated for tomorrow. No phone call, I cancel it. And I’ll have no issues taking you to court as well,” I said.
“Fine,” he said, tucking everything into his coat, “I’ll make the phone call before I pull out of the parking lot.”
“Goodbye,” I said.
I shut the door in his face before I flopped back down onto the couch. I didn’t want the first time I saw Christian again to be in court. If he hired the right lawyer, I wouldn’t even be able to address him. But, honestly? I missed him so much. I craved him at night. I called his phone just to hear the voicemail he’d shoot me to. I’d pretend he was talking to me and I’d close my eyes, imagining he was there wrapping his arms around me.
My tears dripped silently down my face while my entire body shook.
Seeing any part of him at this point would be worth it, even if he was ripping everything away from me. But, I didn’t care. He could have it. All of it. My father’s home, his stocks, his bank accounts, his company. The one thing I really wanted, the one thing that mattered to me, was gone.
And there was nothing I could do to get him back.
I needed someone to talk to. Anyone who would listen. I grabbed my purse and I headed for my car. My phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize, and I figured it was probably Christian’s lawyer, so I sent the caller to my voicemail inbox. I needed to go see Daisy, to talk with her and get her opinion.
I was no longer thinking clearly, but I knew she would.
“Hey there, Stella,” she said before her eyes studied my body.
“Oh my shit. What the hell did you do?” she asked.
My caring, beautiful best friend. With a heart of gold and the patience of a monk. I stared at her, not even knowing how to begin telling her what I’d done.
She would’ve never done this to someone she loved.
“Stella, if you don’t talk to me I’m taking you to see a doctor. You look like hell,” she said.
“I’ve ruined everything,” I said.
“Come sit down,” she said.
“I kept banging on his door, hoping he would open. I kept banging and banging and banging. I thought that if I knocked hard enough, he would just be there. That he would just answer the door. But he wasn’t there. He didn’t go home.”
“Greyson? Are you talking about Greyson?” she asked.
“I took the company from him, Daisy,” I said, whispering.
She paused, her hands cradling mine while her eyes searched my face.
“You were banging on Christian’s door?” she asked.
“He’s so angry, and he has every right to be. The company lawyer, he found a loophole. Unclaimed stocks or some bullshit my father didn’t allocate. It defaults everything to the courts until it can get settled, and the lawyer fought to have everything handed to me. I took the company from him, Daisy. Holy shit, I took it all from him.”
Tears poured down my face as she led us over to a bench, and I could feel her peeling back the bandages as I continued to talk.
“I didn’t mean to. In the beginning, that was all I could think about. Taking the company from someone who didn’t deserve it. But, he’s good at it, Daisy. Like he was born to it. Better than I ever thought he would be. And it’s all because I taught him, and he taught me, too. How to talk better to people when put on the spot. I’d never felt so alive than when I was in meetings with him. He’s nailed every one of them, too. Every meeting we’ve had since he took over. That’s his company, Daisy. My father did the right thing, and I didn't want the lawyer to go through with it anymore. But, he did. And Christian is out as a result. And now, he’s taking me to court to fight for the company because he loves it that much. It’s his company, Daisy! And he’s fighting for it! Do you know what this means?”
