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“You poisoned him,” I hated the way my voice broke, but I kept going, unable to stop talking now that I had started. “You poisoned your son with your hate, and he can never recover from that. I loved him; I want you to know that. I loved him, but there’s no going back.”
Elias stood up weakly, leaning his thin arms on the desk and staring me down. His voice was low and crackling, like the dry burn of flame over underbrush. “I’ve been here too long. I know someone who’s hungry for money when I see them, my dear Sadie. And you have that look in your eyes. I tried to buy your brother’s little hovel, tried to help.” He shook his head and sat back down, sorting through papers on his desk, and my eyes burned. “Leave me. I don’t have time for this.”
My whole body shook, I could barely see past the blur of my own tears. “I feel sorry for you, Elias Lennox. I feel pity for what you’ve let yourself become.”
Whatever Elias said in answer, I didn’t hear it. I ran out of his office and down the steps, pushing through the outer door and onto the street. There were more cars as the morning progressed and in the corner of my eye, I saw the glint of a familiar, sleek, black town car. I ducked and found my same taxi driver sitting at the corner playing on his phone. He took one look at the tears streaming down my face and the devastation, and he waved for me to get in, letting me know that the ride was on him. I thanked him and, not quite ready to head back to my sad apartment devoid of my things just yet, I directed him to the diner. I thanked the taxi driver one last time before I all but ran inside Maureen’s, typing out a text on my phone.
“What the hell, Harlow?” Emily Sommers slid into the other side of the leather booth twenty minutes later, looking frantic in her leather jacket and plaid shirt. “You said it was an emergency!”
“It is,” I shrugged, glancing at where Maureen was watching me worriedly and giving her a placating smile. I took a sip of my coffee and tried not to let the lump of sadness in my throat overwhelm me.
“You don’t look like you’re dying,” Emily pointed out, one eyebrow raised.
“I’m sorry,” I told her, pressing my shaking hands around my mug. She watched me, her pretty face growing more worried by the second. I couldn’t look her in the eyes. “Look, I need you to let the producers know that we’re done with the show. Something happened and…” I swallowed, shaking my head, and trying to clear my thoughts of Connor Lennox.
Emily reached out a hand, her ring-clad fingers barely touching mine on the table. “Wait, did he do something? Just tell me and I’ll—"
“No, no.” I almost laughed, glad that I had Emily at least, even if everything else seemed to be falling to pieces. “It’s nothing like that.”
“Well, you’ll still stay in touch, won’t you?” Emily asked, sitting back in her seat, and nodding her thanks to the waitress who brought her a coffee. “You have to, Harlow.”
I smiled at her, letting the warmth of her company push away the sad thoughts churning in my head. “You know I will, we have a dinner date next week. And you’ll be at my brother’s New Year’s Eve party, won’t you?” If he’s still having it, I thought morosely. After what Elias had done, I would be surprised if my brother wanted to host his annual cafe party. I decided not to tell him about what really happened. The guy was caught, the Lennox family were out of our lives, and that would be the end of it.
“I’ll be there, and I’ll bring Luke with me,” Emily winked, and I laughed a little sadly, realizing that I might not have been the only one to fall for my fake boyfriend. Hopefully, their relationship would go a better way than ours had.
After we had eaten, Emily headed back to a car outside where I could see a redheaded man sitting in the driver’s seat. Emily kissed Luke and they left, leaving me sitting in the booth by the window, feeling emptier than I had in a long time. I remembered being here with Connor and then I shook myself to try and clear the thought so I wouldn’t cry. Maureen met me at the door with a bowl of her soup, squeezing my hand even though I hadn’t let her know what happened. Maureen had always been good at reading people. I squeezed her fingers and then left the diner, pulling out my phone to call my brother or Rose for a ride. A black car pulled up to the sidewalk and I turned quickly on my heel as the window rolled down.
