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Chapter 4
Grace
Apparentlyreportsthatyourwife is screwing not one, but two billionaires leads a husband to consent pretty quickly to divorce. That is one perk of my new notoriety. The call from my lawyer letting me know that we have a mediation scheduled in a few weeks and that Steven has agreed to almost every one of my demands leaves me feeling pretty good.
It’s been forty-eight hours since my life was upended. Forty-eight hours since Cash kicked me to the curb. I think I must be numb because I woke up this morning, got out of bed, and actually went for a run. Couldn’t tell you the last time I exercised, but it felt good to suck in the fresh air, hit the pavement, and wave at other runners.
It’s incredible how kind runners are. The number of people that told meyou go girl, or you got this, or great job, this morning was more than my mother did my entire childhood.
Pathetic, I know.
Even more pathetic is that I’m relying on strangers I’ll never see again to help boost my confidence, and it’s apparently working.
Unfortunately, I need all the confidence today because I’m having lunch with Cat to discuss her position as my first bachelorette. It seems cruel that so soon after her brother broke my heart, I have to be faced with her cattiness, but it is what it is. Jonathan is right about one thing; this will be good for business. He’s saving our reputation.
My reputation.
If this is what he thinks I need to do, then I’ll do it.
My office door flies open, and I don’t even have a second to catch my breath before Tessa is barreling toward me, kneeling at my feet, and throwing her head into my lap. “I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry, Grace. Please forgive me.”
My hands immediately go to her hair, and I stroke her head as I comfort her. “It’s okay. I know you were out of town on assignment. I’m fine. Marion and Jonathan took care of me. I’m okay,” I say again.
Tears stream down her freckled face. “No, you’ve got it all wrong.”
“What do I have wrong?”
Tessa sucks in her tears and sits back on her knees. She wipes her eyes and places her hands on my legs. “Grace, I swear to you, it was a mistake. Inevermeant to hurt you. I was trying to fix things. I am so sorry.”
I shake my head in confusion. “Tessa, you aren’t making sense. What was a mistake?”
Shakily, she replies, “Vanessa.” It sounds more like a cry than a name.
“What about Vanessa?” I ask patiently.
“She saw you,” she says on a sob. “She saw you in the garden.”
The garden. What garden?
Oh, the bamboo garden…it was only a few days ago, but it feels like a lifetime has transpired since that event.
Biting my lip, I nod in acknowledgment, trying to shake the memory of Cash’s lips taking me over the edge while he told me to hang on to the bamboo tree. Or the way he held up my legs and devoured me. Or the tie he wrapped around my mouth to stifle my cries.
“Yes, I know that.”
She raises her eyes. “You do?”
“I saw her too.”
Surprise freckles Tessa’s face. “Oh.”
“What does that have to do with why you’re crying? What’s going on?”
She shakes her head as if she’s trying to catch herself up to the conversation. “She came back saying she was going to destroy you. That you’d conned her. I was drunk, but I wanted to protect you. I thought we had become friendly after the limo ride. Grace, I never meant to hurt you.”
“Tessa, what happened?”
“I told her everything. I was trying to get her to understand why the James boys were so screwed up. I was trying to get her to understand that they didn’tneedthis drama. I thought she was Cat’s friend. I never thought she’d use the fact that their father had sex with their nanny and impregnated her as a news story. I mean, how could she do that to herfriend?”
