A man answered the door, his bald head slick with sweat.
“Hi, sorry to bother you. Is Eliza here?”
He shook his head, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “She was here earlier, but she left about half an hour ago. You’re Poppy, right?”
I was impressed he remembered me from last time.
I should have left then, should have respected her privacy and gone home. But something compelled me to step insidewhen he asked if I wanted to see the progress since I was last here, curiosity overriding my better judgment.
It’d come on a fair bit. The floors were down, covered with a protective top layer. The quartz kitchen counter-tops gleamed in the sunlight streaming in, with expensive-looking units installed top and bottom, now with gold handles. Meanwhile, the exposed beam was waiting to get its first coat. Had Eliza gone for bright yellow, or the more muted pale blue? She’d pondered both in Switzerland.
That thought sent a wave of affection, mixed with annoyance through me. I knew this woman. I knew what she worried about, what she wanted. Why was she shutting me out?
I turned to leave, but changed my mind and climbed the staircase, my footsteps echoing in the emptiness. The landing was painted a warm sand colour, with doors leading off to three bedrooms and a bathroom.
Eliza’s bedroom was at the front of the house. I pushed the door open and immediately a knot formed in my chest. Eliza had left her dad’s palatial pad to sleep here, in what was very much a work in progress? A king-sized bed in the middle of the room, a suitcase, and a single wooden chair with a pile of clothes slung over it. The floorboards were still bare, awaiting carpet. It looked like a place someone was running to or hiding in, not living.
I walked over to the window. What was I missing? I balled my fist at my side as I turned back to the bed. That was when I saw my name on a page, folded on top of Eliza’s suitcase.
My heart skipped a beat.
I shouldn’t snoop, but I couldn’t help myself. I picked up the paper, and smoothed it out. It was an email from Max to Eliza. Sent three days ago.
Eliza,
I need you to focus on the task at hand. The longer this drags on, the more complicated it becomes. Do exactly what we agreed: get the company in the best possible state, then persuade Poppy it’s time to move on. She listens to you. Sweet-talk her if you have to, but get it done.
Get this one over the line, and as I told you last week, the company succession line is clear. The world will be your oyster, as they say. But don't let personal feelings cloud your judgment. This is business. Poppy will understand once the dust settles and she has all the money in her account.
Dad
The paper shookin my hands as I read it again, then a third time, hoping I’d somehow misunderstood. But the words were crystal clear, each one like a knife to my chest.
Sweet-talk her. Personal feelings. This is business.
I thought about Switzerland, about the way she’d kissed me like she meant it, the way she’d got me up to dance, looked into my eyes, and told me she was falling for me. Had all of it been calculated? Part of some elaborate plan to manipulate me into selling?
The betrayal hit me like a physical blow, stealing my breath and making my legs unsteady. Eliza and Margot both. I stumbled down the stairs and out the door, my mind reeling.
Every kiss, every touch, every word.
It had all been a lie.
CHAPTER 33
Isat on a bench in the green opposite Eliza’s house for 20 minutes, the email clutched in my hand. The words kept swimming in front of my eyes, each one a fresh stab of humiliation.
But beneath the hurt, something else was building. Anger. White-hot, clarifying anger. I wanted to scream, or hit something. I glanced up, then walked to the nearest tree, drew back my foot, and kicked it.
Wrong move.
I staggered backwards, pain shooting through my foot. Was this why people hit things in times of stress, to take their minds off things? It’d certainly achieved that.
I hobbled back to my bench.
I wasn’t going to let this destroy me.
I pulled out my phone and called Sage, my hands still trembling.
