Sources confirm Tessa of @haleandhoney is the reason Gage Langford’s marriage ended.
Looks like the “sweetheart baker” isn’t so sweet after all.
Hide your husband if she personally delivers your cake.
My mind went completely blank.
I forced myself to hold my phone out to Gage. I didn’t trust my voice, so I didn’t try to speak. I just pressed my phone into his palm.
The moment his eyes landed on the post, his lips pressed into a flat line. Then he lifted his gaze to mine, and something cold flickered in the green depths. “Vanessa is behind this.”
The certainty in his tone made my stomach churn. “But why?”
He dragged a hand through his dark hair. “The gossip mill at Langford Tech is brutal.”
“And swift,” I huffed.
“Exactly.” He tossed my phone gently onto the table, careful even in the middle of his anger. “She must’ve heard you were in the office today.”
I blinked at him, disbelief punching through my panic. “I only got there an hour ago. How could she have done this so fast?”
“She’s apparently very good at getting things done when she’s motivated by whatever twisted idea goes through her head.” His broad chest expanded on a deep sigh. “I should’ve learned my lesson when I found out all the bullshit she pulled three years ago.”
This time, I was the one who set my hand over his. “You couldn’t have known she’d do something like this.”
“Couldn’t I?” he asked, shaking his head. “She more than proved how far she was willing to go to get what she wants. Just because she hasn’t pulled any more shit since we divorced doesn’t mean that she’s okay with how things ended.”
His words struck a nerve. I hated that he’d married Vanessa. That he’d been her husband, even if he never loved her. “I didn’t have anything to do with that, though. If anyone has the right to be angry, it’s me. Not her.”
“Logic isn’t Vanessa’s strong suit.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This woman had been behind the devastation I’d experienced three years ago, and now she was back to do it all again to the life I’d built from the wreckage.
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t help me at all.” Proving a negative was impossible, so I didn’t know where to start to battle the lies she’d told about me. And even if I came up with an idea, negative posts always spread fastest, so it’d been an uphill battle to get views. “She probably just destroyed my entire business.”
Gage leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the table, his entire focus zeroed in on me. “I’m going to take care of this. There will be a retraction before the end of the day.”
I could only hope he was right…and that it would be enough to save my reputation and Hale & Honey.
14
GAGE
Ihadn’t planned to tell my father and Rupert what Vanessa had done until my proof was indisputable. But I was out of time after what Vanessa did to Tessa today. My ex-wife needed to be stopped, and I couldn’t do that without their help.
They waited for me in the executive conference room only a few hours after my lunch with Tessa. Both men looked up when I stepped inside, irritation clear in Rupert’s expression and disappointment on my father’s face.
“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Investors are asking whether there’s truth to any of it.” Rupert glared at me. “And my daughter is beside herself.”
“What’s all this rubbish about your ex-girlfriend wrecking your marriage?” Dad asked, scratching his temple.
I sat across from them and promised, “I’ll explain everything. But you need to hear all of it before you react.”
Vanessa swept in like she was the one wronged, her eyes already shimmering with fake tears. She took the chair beside her father and leaned against him.
“Gage,” she murmured, her voice trembling in a way I didn’t buy for an instant. “I can’t believe you want to bring something so private to the board. After everything we’ve been through.”
Ignoring her performance, I centered myself and focused on the only two people who mattered. I couldn’t control how Vanessa handled this meeting. Only myself.
