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Aiden continues like I’ve said nothing at all. “I’ve had an accountant look at your company and value it for me. You’ve done an impressive amount with it.”
“Thank you,” I say tersely, refusing to be flattered. “Give me the figure. I know what I’m worth.”
Softly, he chuckles. “I know you do.”
The numbers he quotes at me aren’t bad, and I think for anyone else I might have caved, but I want him to fight for me. If he really wants Mettie’s, he’s going to have to try really, really hard.
“Of course, I would have to talk to my own accountant first,” I say, “but off the cuff, I think you’re lowballing me. And anyway, if you plan to acquire us, how can you guarantee the safety of my position as CEO, and the jobs of my employees? I thought it was usual for the company being acquired to give up all their assets.”
There are some sputters of disbelief in the room and I grin to myself. If any of them thought I was going to be easy, they’re about to realize how wrong they were.
“I’m happy to negotiate into something more resembling a merger. This is the first conversation of, I hope, many. Of course, our accountants can thrash it all out until we’re happy, but I’m willing to compromise. You would have to give up the company to us, legally, if we bought you outright, but I have no interest in shutting Mettie’s Marketplace down. I would need you to keep it going.”
I want to call him a liar so badly, but I resist. The more I roll it around in my mind, the more sense it makes.
“So, let me get this straight. We agree on how much my company is worth, you give me the money so you can own it, but then you still let me work for it as if it were still my own, presumably after some sort of Fletcher Tech rebranding?”
“Yes,” he says with the utter confidence of someone who always gets what he wants.
But, intriguingly, someone pipes up from the back of the room to say, “Well, actually… don’t… liquid funds available… merger won’t work unless…”
“What was that?” I ask. I’m not letting him fuck me over.
Aiden groans. It’s not unreasonable to assume that someone’s getting fired today. “I have been reliably informed,” he says, taking a deep breath, “that we, in fact, would not be able to buy Mettie’s Marketplace for what it’s worth, so we would have to come to a deal.”
“Oh, so you want me to hand overyearsof my life to you so your goons can come in and ruin it? You want me to sell for less than I’m worth to make yourself feel good? You really think I’m going to let you ruin my life, again?”
If I wasn’t so angry, I’d be reveling in the shocked snippets of conversation I’m picking up. But this is like being back at Aiden’s house, eight years ago, all over again.
And he’s not getting his own way this time.
“Candice, listen, I promise it’s not like that.”
I scoff hard, jumping to my feet to yell at him more effectively. “Really? Go on, then. You have thirty seconds to explain to me how this benefits me and how it isn’t just your company monopolizing on everything, as usual. Go on!”
There’s a sickening silence as he realizes that he has absolutely nothing to give to me.
“Look, it’s beneficial because we both need investors,” he says, rallying. “We both need to grow. I have the name, you have the innovation. It’s a partnership that could really work, if you’d only try it.”
“I’ve heard all this before, Aiden Fletcher. That name is all you are.”
It’s a cruel thing to say, but the sharp breath of hurt is more vindicating than any hurt I’ve imagined giving him over the years. And it’s true. He’d be nothing without his inheritance.
“Don’t call me again unless you have something good to say. Goodbye.”
I slam the phone back into its cradle before he can say another word, then slam my fist against the desk. A shockwave of pain travels all the way up my arm, and I yell out in fury and agony and for everything that just happened.
The truth is this: I hate Aiden Fletcher for what he did to me.
The truth is also this: I need the kind of power Fletcher Tech is offering me in order to make it.
As the adrenaline ebbs, I sink down in my chair and put my head on the desk. I’ve made it a point not to cry at work, so I don’t. But I can’t do anything else right now. I stare at the wall, letting each word of the conversation circle my mind, trying to see a way through the tangling paths of the future that are opening up in front of me.
CHAPTER15
AIDEN
“No, Candice, wait—” I stammer, but it’s too late. The drone of a dead line fills the air. Nobody else says a word.
