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“I think it’s more complicated than just getting her back, unfortunately. I botched this one for good.”
Roy chuckles, then tells me a story I’ve never heard before. “You know Clara, my first wife? Well, knowofher. We met when I was a freshman in college and got married quick. Then, I started up the company. Back before technology got fancy. And things were good for a while. Really good. The only problem is, I started spending more and more time here and not enough at home. Clara made it known that she wasn’t happy about that, especially when she got pregnant with our daughter.”
My brows crease. As far as I knew, Roy only had one kid—Zach, by marriage. He sees the look on my face and smiles.
“Didn’t know I had a daughter? I haven’t seen her since she was two.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “Clara divorced me when I didn’t change my ways. Which, looking back on things, wouldn’t have been very hard to do. Just doing things like getting home in time for dinner. Spending weekends with them.” Roy shrugs. “She took Emma and went back to the Midwest, where her family lived. At first, I didn’t even notice their absence. I sent child support when I needed to and kept building thing here, slept in the office a few nights. But then a year went by, and another. And once I had people to run this place so I didn’t have to watch it as carefully, I realized just how alone I was.”
He closes his mouth with a frown of finality. I brace for the second half of the story—when he met his current wife, fell in love, etc. But it doesn’t come. Instead, he just shakes his head and adjusts his glasses again.
“The solution was so simple, to justbe therefor them. And I couldn’t even do that. I wish every day I could go back and change it, but…”
“But sometimes it’s too late,” I finish, the truth of the words like an arrow to my heart.
Roy glances at me. “Not always. Sometimes it might seem like it is, but if she means that much to you, Jenson, you should fight for her. Until she tells you to stop.”
I open my mouth to reply that Mel did ask me to top, but then I realize…she didn’t.
She told me she didn’t want to continue a fake relationship, continue lying to people.
But did she ever say she didn’t wantyou?Didn’t want something real?
It’s a crazy thought. After everything, Mel shouldn’t want me. But yet…
A seed of hope lodges itself in my chest.
Can it really be that easy?
“Whatever you do—” Roy sighs, standing and looking down at me through his round lenses “—I think we both know the best person to take over Dupont Analytics is you. Has been all along.” He reaches out and grips my shoulder tightly, more a father figure than the father I briefly knew. “Just make sure life outside of these walls is worth going home to.”
And with that, Roy ambles back into the office, leaving me to my thoughts.
And the realization it might be worth one more fight.
Chapter29
Melanie
I’ve only been to Jenson’s apartment once, but it’s hard to miss. A tall, black, glossy monstrosity with a minimalist approach. I’m a little surprised he chose something so clinical and think back to the first time I stepped into his personal space.
Or lack thereof? The apartment was similar to the building. Sleek and clean. The only sign of the man I knew was, ironically, in the bedroom, where a few books on math were piled on the nightstand and the room smelled like him.
Out on the street, I chew my lip and stare up at the tower. How to get inside? Obviously, I don’t have a key, and Jenson doesn’t even know I’m here.
What if he’s not here, either? What then?
But it’s 6 p.m. on a Saturday, so he should definitely be home. Unless he’s out on a date? Maybe hunting for his next fake fiancé.
I push the thought aside and stalk across the street, intent on making this mad dash plan work.
Admittedly, it’s not much of a plan. Just with the objective towin him back.
I manage to make it halfway across the lobby before a security guard stops me. He has the beginning of a paunch hanging over a belt that carries a taser.
“Can I help you, miss?”
Settling my expression into one of uncaring confidence, I tell him, “I’m just here to meet a friend.”
“Are they expecting you?”
