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“It’s my mother’s last name. I never had his. I told you I barely knew my father. He’s only bothered to see me a handful of times over the years.”
“And you didn’t think even once this was information I might want to know, Hollie?” My voice comes out in a harsh whisper. I don’t bother to temper the anger that’s seeping out of my pores.
“I’m so sorry, Archer. I tried to tell you, really I did. The first few times you brought him up, I didn’t think it mattered if you knew or not. It’s not like I have anything to do with him, plus you were just my boss. It didn’t matter who my father was. Why would it?”
“You thought it didn’t fucking matter? I told you how many times he came swooping in at the last minute to take properties out from under me with proprietary information, and you think it didn’t fucking matter that you were his goddamn daughter?”
There’s an icy feeling in my stomach as my brain connects the dots one by one.
Hollie gets hired and suddenly Patrick Shaw knows about the property I’m bidding on in Santa Cruz, a project that’s very close and personal to me. Now, with no rhyme or reason, my final proposal for said property suddenly disappears into thin air. A proposal that I handed to Hollie to mail out with a strict deadline.
“What about Santa Cruz?” I ask, barely keeping my emotions in check. She wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t sabotage my chances of making this happen. She knows what this would mean to me… because I told her. I told her everything.
I think I’m going to throw up.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” There’s a pleading tone to her voice that makes me want to wrap her in my arms and tell her everything is going to be okay but I won’t fall for her lies again. “He said the proposal didn’t get to Caroline, but how can that be? I mailed them myself.”
“Exactly. You mailed them all yourself.” I take three steps backwards, out of the area immediately surrounding her. I need space to think. It’s impossible to make sense of anything when she’s so close.
“I was going to tell you, Archer, I swear I was. Once we became… more. I tried to tell you that night in Santa Cruz, but you told me it could wait.”
“You obviously didn’t try very hard, did you?” Willing a mask of indifference to cover my face, I slip myself back into ruthless business mode.
“I’m so sorry, Archer. I should have told you about Shaw, but I promise you I don’t know anything about the proposal going missing. Please, you have to believe me!”
“You really had me fooled. I’ve got to hand it to you. Your acting skills are superb. Is that what you really majored in? I mean, who knows with you? It could be anything.”
Hollie had access to everything. All our company's files and contacts. There was nothing I held back from her and she’s going to use that information to destroy us. Destroy me.
There’s a pain in my chest that feels suspiciously like my heart shattering into a million pieces. I barely resist the urge to bring my hand up and rub at it. I want to hurt her as much as she’s hurting me right now. She doesn’t actually give a shit about me, but at least I can bring her down a few pegs.
“I almost believed your little inexperienced college girl act. I have to hand it to you, I never would have taken you for the type of person who would get ahead by lying on her back. You know what you weren’t faking, though?” I lean in next to her ear, making sure that she can hear every word. “How I make you come, angel. Just like every other gold-digging piece of trash that’s graced my bed and I’ve tossed aside like the trash you are. Not even you are that good of an actress.”
Her face looks absolutely stricken. Good. It’s what she deserves. I can see her eyes watering. Is this Jezebel actually going to cry? My very first instinct is to comfort her like the fucking fool that I am. I can’t handle any of this right now. Not here. I need to get out of here before I make an even bigger idiot of myself than I already have.
“I assume this goes without saying, but I’m going to spell it out for you, just in case. You’re fired, Hollie. I’ll have my new assistant mail you the things from your desk. If you eventhinkabout stepping foot on Clarke Hotel property again, I’ll have you prosecuted for trespassing.”
A small sob escapes her lips and five minutes ago, the sound would have brought me to my knees, ready to slay dragons for her. Instead, it just makes me sick to my stomach. Without another word, I push past her, out the door and back into the grand hall. The noise of raucous party guests fills my ears as I make my way to the bar. No one is paying any attention to me or the fact my entire world has come crashing down around me.
Twenty-One
hollie
I don’t remember how I got home. Thank God for human autopilot and rideshare apps. Archer made it quite clear that I wouldn’t be getting a ride home from him.
I should have told him, I know that. I really was going to tell him tonight.
Yeah, it all sounds pretty lame to me too.
The moment I spotted my father moving towards us in the crowd, I knew it was going to be bad. When his eyes met mine, I could see a glimmer of contempt. The strange thing was, there was no surprise in his expression. It was like he expected to find me there.
The first time Archer mentioned Patrick Shaw to me, I was genuinely shocked. It had never occurred to me he would have any kind of business dealings with my father. There was no way that I was going to tell him that Shaw was my father. He obviously had contempt for the man—not that I could blame him—and I hadn’t been working there very long. Why would I want to risk my job over a man that merely gave me half my DNA? It’s not like we hung out at his company picnic and had long meaningful chats on the phone or anything. I figured I could ignore the whole thing.
Then the trip to Santa Cruz happened. I started to care about him that day. Then, well, that night. I obviously was going to tell him. I didn’t want to trick him into sleeping with me while having this enormous secret. He deserved my honesty. When he brushed me off, I was all too happy to go right along with it. I could always tell him later.
Obviously, later had come and gone. The entire thing had blown up spectacularly right in my face, and it was nobody’s fault but my own.
Now I’m sitting on my ratty old couch in a dress that probably costs an entire one of my paychecks and crying all my expertly applied makeup down my face.
