“If what you’re saying is true and you didn’t use me, why didn’t you tell me this was the plan once everything changed? You could have done that. That would have been the right thing to do.”
My anger came and went, swiftly replaced by total, chilled numbness.
“Did you think about telling me just before you fucked me in Switzerland? Or did you think that every orgasm I had would get you that step closer to the perfect deal? Was I just a stepping stone? A convenient fast-track to taking over your dad’s company?”
“No!” Eliza’s voice echoed through the hallway. “Everything I told you was true. I’ve been considering my future. I printed out the email to show Dad his own words written down, hoping they might jog some piece of his conscience. Show him what he was asking me to do.” Her head slumped forward. “But then I left it at the house. I wanted to put this right before you ever found out. That was my logic. I can see now that it was flawed.”
“You were colluding with the enemy all along.”
“If we’re honest, you knew the situation from the start,” Max added, his voice not quite so cocky now. “That there was a strong possibility Voss would be sold.”
“I didn’t know it was a foregone conclusion.” The hurt bled through again, making my voice crack. “I trusted Eliza. I trusted Margot until she got together with you. Even in my wildest nightmares, I wouldn’t guess you were all just waiting for the right moment to cash out.”
“It’s not a foregone conclusion,” Margot told me, not looking at Max.
“It is if Max has brainwashed you. I’m not yet 30, so I don’t have a say. Katy wants what’s best for her daughters, and a lump of cash would suit her just fine.” The full scope of my powerlessness hit me now. “I hope you all had a good laugh at me trying to make everything right.”
Eliza’s face crumpled, her usual polished composure dissolving in an instant.
“Everything I’ve ever said to you has been real. About the business, about my life, about how I feel about you.” She glanced at her dad, then Margot.
“I love you, and that makes doing this deal problematic. I think Margot should listen and take into account what you’ve done since you took over. The Voss brand is on everyone’s lips and that’s down to you.
“As for me?” She turned to her dad. “Take this as my verbal resignation. I think we’ve come to the end of the road with our business pursuits. It’ll be better to have you just as a dad, not as my boss. This is one deal I can’t finish.”
I gaped at her words.
The problem was, I loved her right back. Even standing here, feeling like my heart had been fed through a shredder, I could feel that treacherous pull to her. But love wasn’t enough when the foundation was built on lies.
“You know what the problem is?” I said, my voice breaking completely now. “I fell for you, too. Hard.”
Hope flickered across her face, but I crushed it before it could take root.
“But how can I ever trust you again? How can I know what’s real and what’s just part of some elaborate game?” I took a step back, putting physical distance between us before I lost my resolve. “There’s only one thing I can do.”
“Poppy, please—”
I shook my head. “It’s too late, Eliza. I have to go.”
I turned and walked away before she could say anything else, before the sight of her tears could break down what was left of my defences.
I didn’t trust myself to look back.
CHAPTER 35
The drive back to Hackney was stop-start as I hit the evening rush hour. The whole drive was filled with a kaleidoscope of brake lights and choked breaths. I left the radio silent, craving space to untangle what had just happened, but my thoughts moved like oil on water. Each time I tried to grasp one feeling, it slipped away, contaminated by another.
I climbed the three flights up to our flat, but my legs felt borrowed from someone else’s body. The key trembled against the lock like a tuning fork, taking four tries before the door finally opened. The moment I stepped inside, the familiar smell of Amina’s vanilla candles nearly broke me.
My flatmate looked up from the sofa where she was folding laundry, took one look at my face, and immediately dropped the T-shirt she held. Behind her, the neon sign screamedQueer & Fabulous!at me. I felt anything but.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look like that time I shrunk your favourite jumper by accident?”
I opened my mouth to speak and nothing came out except a strangled sob. I sank onto the sofa beside her, pulling out the crumpled email with shaking hands.
“It was all a lie. All of it.”
Amina read the email twice, her expression growing more thunderous with each line. “What the actual fuck?”
