Page 54 of My Real Love Affair

It was more money than I’d made in the last two years combined. More money than I’d ever seen in one place. Enough money to invest in my business, hire a full team, and expand in ways I had only dreamed about.

“Well,” Austin said beside me, his tone just a little too sweet. “That’s an interesting offer.”

Thank God. He was going to accept it. We could take the money and be done with this.

“But we’re going to have to decline,” he said.

Wait, what?I turned to stare at him. He wasn’t looking at me. His attention was fixed on the Femme Curve delegation, his expression professionally polite but immovable.

One of the Femme people looked surprised. “Excuse me?”

“We’re not interested in a financial settlement.” Austin leaned back in his chair, completely at ease despite having just turned down more money than most people saw in a lifetime. “Money doesn’t fix the harm done to Ms. Stephens’ reputation and the trust she built with her community.”

Speak for yourself,I thought desperately.That money could open a lot of doors for me.

But I kept my mouth shut. We agreed he would handle the legal side of things. This was him handling it. Maybe this was strategy. Was he angling for more money? That felt greedy.

But damn, just imagine what I could do with more money.

“What are you looking for, then?” they asked.

Austin’s expression didn’t change. “A public apology. A detailed explanation of what happened, posted to all of Femme Curve’s social media platforms and sent as an email to your customer list. Acknowledgment that the images were edited without Ms. Stephens’ knowledge or consent. And a clear statement that this violated both her contract and the values your brand claims to represent.”

The room went silent. The other side looked at each other.

The lead lawyer was apparently the one they designated to speak. “That’s?—”

“Non-negotiable,” Austin cut him off. “You can pay Melody money, sure. But that doesn’t repair the damage to her reputation. That doesn’t restore the trust her followers had in her. What restores that is the truth. And you’re going to tellit. Money isn’t going to fix her reputation. And if you’re going to throw around a dollar amount, don’t waste our time with numbers like that.”

I stayed quiet because clearly it was over my head. Austin seemed to know what he was doing. I let him continue to speak for me. But damn, it felt weird.

My lawyer, rather Austin’s lawyer, slid a piece of paper across the table. “We’ve prepared a draft of what this public statement might look like. As you’ll see, it’s factual and straightforward. No excessive negativity toward your brand, but absolute clarity about what occurred.”

I watched Austin work. He was incredible. Sharp and confident and completely in control. Every word calculated. Every word hit its mark. He was acting like my knight in shining armor.

And it was so sexy.

Femme Curve’s lawyers huddled together, whispering frantically.

Austin leaned toward me, his voice low. “You okay?”

“You just turned down a lot of money.”

“Money isn’t what you need right now. You need your reputation back.” His hand found my thigh again, brief and reassuring. “Trust me.”

And the thing was, I did. Against all logic, against every self-preservation instinct I had, I trusted him.

The huddle broke up. “We’d like to request a quick break to discuss this proposal with our team.”

“Take all the time you need,” Austin said pleasantly. “We’ll be here.”

The Femme Curve delegation filed out, their lawyers looking grim. Our side stepped out as well, leaving Austin and me alone in the massive conference room.

I turned to him. “Why did you turn down the money?”

“Because it was a trap.” He stood, walking to the windows. “They offer you a big payout, you sign an NDA, and nothing changes. Your followers still think you sold out. The story stays the same. You just have more money to cry into, but that money will run out before you know it.”

“That’s a pretty cynical take.”