He can't fix this. Nothing will fix this.
Victoria made sure of that.
Chapter 21
Emma
There’s a knock at my door.
Grant.
Of course, it's Grant. He texted me again a couple of hours ago and I never responded. He's not very good at giving me space when he thinks I'm drowning.
I open the door, and he steps in and wraps his arms around me.
"I was worried about you."
His voice is gentle. Concerned. The same tone he's used a hundred times over the past two days while I've been falling apart in his arms.
I can't do this right now. Can't be comforted. Can't be told it's going to be okay when we both know it's not.
"I texted you," I say flatly, biting the inside of my lip. "Said I was fine."
"You lied."
I nod slowly. The words aren't an accusation, just a statement of fact. He's right, obviously.
"Emma, what’s going on?"
His hand settles on my shoulder, warm and solid, and I desperately want to lean into his touch. Want to let him holdme while I fall apart again. Want to believe that his presence is enough to fix this.
But it's not.
My laptop is open to Vance’s email. I gesture to the screen and he begins reading the email.
"No." The word is sharp. Disbelieving. "No, he was enthusiastic. You said the meeting went perfectly. He told you?—"
"I know what he told me." My voice sounds flat, monotone. "Apparently, he changed his mind."
He's quiet for a long moment, and I can practically hear the gears turning in his head. Analyzing. Calculating. Coming to the same conclusion I did.
"Victoria did this."
It's not a question.
"Yeah." I close the laptop slowly, deliberately. "Most likely."
His jaw clenches. "I'll handle this. I'll call Vance myself, explain that Victoria?—"
"And say what? That your ex-wife is sabotaging your girlfriend's business deals? That this is all some elaborate revenge plot? My guess is he won’t care."
Grant's hand moves from my shoulder to cup my face, tilting my head up to meet his eyes. "Then I'll find you another investor. Someone Victoria doesn't have her claws in. This isn't over. We can?—"
"We can what?" I pull away from his touch. "Keep fighting a battle I can't win? Look at what's happened since Florence. My father disowned me. Your daughter hates me. And now your ex-wife is systematically destroying my life because she can't stand to see you happy. Tell me how we fix that. Tell me how I'm supposed to build a life with you when every single person in your world is actively working to tear me down."
His voice is fierce. "I swear to you, I will not let Victoria?—"
"You can't stop her!" The words rip out of me, too loud in the small space. "Don't you get it? She has power. Resources. Connections. She can make one phone call and destroy me. How am I supposed to fight that?”
