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She nodded slowly. “Brandon lured me in with his ambition. I suspected he was cutting corners, but I didn’t know to what extent until you four came along. I should’ve cut ties then and there, but I felt like cutting ties would mean admitting I’d wasted thirty years of my life on him.”
“The sunk cost fallacy,” Elizabeth noted.
Mrs. Glass nodded again. “A sunk cost indeed. But I’ve never been happier than I am now. I only wish I’d made the right decision years ago. And I’m glad to see I could help play a small part in your own decision, Elizabeth.”
I took Lizz’s hand in mine and kissed it, grinning. “We are madly in love.”
“He has been saying that since the first day we met,” Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes.
“You know, Brandon tried to re-open the case against you all. It was weeks ago, and you should’ve heard the message he left me when he found out the evidence was destroyed. He was furious.”
“I wish I could’ve heard it.”
Mrs. Glass looked thoughtful, then she suddenly picked up a paper and slid it across the desk. “This is my written resignation from Glass Designs, Elizabeth. I’m naming you the acting CEO. There will be a transition period of six months while I help you acclimate to the full weight of my duties. I sent out the email letting everyone know the transition is starting just a few minutes ago and instructed them to treat your word as mine, starting now.”
Elizabeth sat up straighter, staring silently at the paper.
“You’ve earned this. You’re young. Probably so young that people will think I’m crazy, but I’ve seen what you’re capable of. That Callie Rose deal is already paying dividends for us. Sales are up seven percent just since we announced the partnership. And I saw those ads you two supervised. They were excellent. There’s still a little for you to learn, but I’m confident you have what it takes to do this, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth wiped her eyes and nodded tightly. “Thank you, Mrs. Glass,” she said.
Mrs. Glass smiled and got up, wrapping Elizabeth in a hug and rubbing her hair. “You deserve this.”
Elizabeth let out a shuddering breath and met my eyes over Mrs. Glass’ shoulder.
Damn right, she deserved it.
When we left Mrs. Glass’ office, the first person to approach us was Rand. The man looked like he might’ve just been crying.
“Did you see the email, Bud?” I asked.
Rand glared at me, then he carefully smoothed his features. “I hope you’ll recall that I was willing to offer you an executive position under me if Mrs. Glass chose me for the position.”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth said. “You mean the time you implied you’d tell Mrs. Glass I was having a relationship with a coworker to sabotage my chances of getting the position if I didn’t take myself out of the race?”
Rand’s lips disappeared—forming a thin line. “I’m not responsible for the assumptions you draw. I simply—”
“I’m not going to fire you, Rand,” Elizabeth said. “But I have no interest in working closely with you. Stay in your lane, and stay out of mine. We won’t have any problems if you can manage that. Sound good?”
His nostrils flared as he stared hard at her. Without a word, he turned and stormed off. After Rand, everybody else came to give Elizabeth their smiling congratulations. I watched it all with a thumping sense of pride for her. She’d busted her ass for this, and I couldn’t even begin to explain how good it felt to see it all come together.
Even Enzo, who showed up in his gym uniform with a bundle of flowers for Mrs. Glass, stopped to congratulate her. The old man was a sweetheart, and he’d been coming up to her office with flowers I assume he hand-picked from his garden for Mrs. Glass almost every day. Of all the amazing, talented, and highly sophisticated things I’d pulled off in my life, I had to admit setting those two up might’ve been one of my crowning achievements. Maybe. I’d lived a pretty impressive life, after all.
“What are you smiling about?” Elizabeth asked.
I realized the general crowd of congratulators had thinned out and people were getting back to work.
“Just admiring my work,” I said.
She snorted. “Let me guess, you’re taking credit for all of this?”
“Half of it,” I said. “I am claiming credit for hooking Enzo and Mrs. Glass up. You get credit for the CEO stuff.”
Elizabeth put her fists on her hips and gave me a look. “Maybe you’re smarter than you look, after all.”
39
EPILOGUE - ELIZABETH
One Year Later
The dining room was a buzz of activity. Kenzie and Sebastian were up from their chairs trying to corner Abigail, who had picked up a turkey leg and escaped, threatening to whack anything she could reach with the hunk of glistening meat. Adrian was leaning over and saying something quietly to his very pregnant wife, Juliette. Noah and Jordan were arguing about something at the far end of the huge table while Travis’ parents watched a video Travis was showing them from the ceremony Mrs. Glass had thrown to officially name me CEO of Glass Designs. Of course, my mother was at my side as well, watching it all with her usual stern expression.
