Chapter 18
Ellie’s Londonoffices were in an airy old warehouse with big windows and high ceilings. She’d worked closely with an amazing designer to create a techy-steampunk hybrid full of rich jewel-toned fabrics, exposed copper piping, old leather-bound books on cluttered shelves, and antique maps of London on the brick walls.
There was a battered brown leather sofa at reception, every available space was filled with a jungle of leafy plants, and a massive wrought iron clock oversaw it all. But if a visitor looked closely, they would soon see that it was threaded through with elegantly designed technology. And it was all cutting-edge; from the biometric entry to the voice-activated, customizable drinks machine, to the solar panels providing nearly all the energy.
Usually, Ellie stepped inside with a spark of pride and awe, a deep-seated gratitude for this magical place. Usually, it reminded her that she was part of something special. But not this time. This time, she was frazzled from the stressful drive, anxious about seeing Vic, and Josh’s last whispered words played on repeat in her head.
Within seconds of opening the door, Sally looked up from the reception desk and saw her. Then the madness really began. Everyone poured out of offices and meeting rooms to greet her, hug her, and see how she was recovering. There were only twenty of them all together, so everyone knew everyone, and over time, they’d become a kind of family. People joined and stayed.
For the first time since seeing that e-mail, Ellie felt her shoulders soften. She should have come back earlier. She had needed this. This feeling of belonging. The excitement of working with talented people to create something wonderful.
But then she saw Vic. Standing apart. Always the most elegant person in the room. Victoria’s hair was styled into a perfect spiky bun, and her designer skirt landed just above her knees to reveal her long legs. She had folded her arms over her chest, watching the excitement with a frown. And Ellie’s sense of belonging slowly dissolved.
Vic was her best friend… but she was also the only person who looked like she’d rather Ellie was somewhere else. Somewhere far away.
Ellie finished chatting and finally faced Victoria as the last of the designers took their leave. Neither of them spoke as they strode toward Ellie’s office and settled at the glass table beneath the window. She considered sitting at her desk and letting Vic sit across from her, giving herself space and authority—armor to protect the vulnerable softness she was struggling to hide—but it felt petty. This conversation was going to be hard enough.
Ellie looked at her friend for a long moment, noting the dark rings under her eyes, the fine lines bracketing her mouth. She looked like she’d been eating badly. As if things had been tough for her. And for the first time since learning about the new server room, Ellie felt concern threading through her anger. She reached out to settle her hand on Victoria’s arm. “What happened, Vic? Talk to me.”
Vic leaned back, away from her touch. “Nothing happened. I made a decision for the business.”
Ellie pulled her hand back and straightened. “You made a decision you knew I wouldn’t like.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed, her face setting into the expression Ellie had seen multiple times over the years—stubborn pride and defensiveness. “You left me in charge.”
Ellie dragged in a breath. She hadn’t left. She’d been catapulted into a nightmare. She raised an eyebrow, and Vic had the grace to look guilty.
“You know what I mean,” Vic muttered.
Did she? Ellie wasn’t sure. Still, it didn’t really matter why she hadn’t been there. “That isn’t the point. I couldn’t be here, and I trusted you to represent me while I was gone.”
Vic winced, the expression fleeting and almost unnoticeable unless you knew Vic well. Which Ellie did. But Vic still didn’t back down. “You expected me to do what was best. And I did.”
“I expected you to do what was best for the company.” Ellie’s voice started to rise, and she forced it back to calmness. She leaned forward against the table, ignoring the headache creeping up to hammer at her temples. “Selling is not best for the game, for the people who work here, or even for our players. It’s not good for me—and you know, better than anyone, my opinion on this. It’s only good for a lot of immediate cash.”
Victoria shook her head. “You don’t really think that, or you would have refused the offer straight away. I have no idea why you’re dragging this out, but it’s painful for everyone.”
Ellie flinched. God. She’d been trying so hard to find a compromise when there really wasn’t one. She’d delayed because she didn’t want to hurt her friend or alienate her father. But clearly that was a mistake. “You’re right; I should have made this decision weeks ago.”
Vic leaned forward, her elbows coming to rest on the table. “Think of what you can do with that cash, Ellie. You could create a whole new game. You could create a whole new life. You wanted to travel…. Do it. You wanted to work less…. Do it. You wanted to find someone; now you can.”
Ellie watched her friend, noting the relief glimmering in her eyes. Vic thought she’d won. And it was a good list, all things Vic knew Ellie wanted. Things she’d put off for so long that if she’d died on that road, she would have missed them entirely. And perhaps if Vic had come to her in the difficult days when she first came home from hospital, Ellie would have been swayed. But she hadn’t. Ellie had faced those days alone and kept trying. She’d kept getting out of bed, even when it was hard. She’d begun to find herself again. And she’d given the sale all the thought it required. She had done her due diligence, and she was confident in her decision.
In the past, Victoria would have been her biggest cheerleader. But not this time. Why not? That was the real question. Why was Victoria pushing this so hard? “And what would you do with your cash, Vic?”
“We—” Vic swallowed the word immediately. But it was too late.
Ellie straightened. “Who’s we?”
“I meant to say I—” Vic started, but Ellie cut her off.
“It’s Warren, isn’t it?”
Vic shook her head, looking away, but she didn’t deny it.
“I knew you were back with him. God.” The words spilled out. Too judgmental. Too harsh. But it was too late to take them back.
Vic swung her arctic gaze back to Ellie. “You might be happy in your imaginary world where you live with your book boyfriends and fantasy men. I’m trying to make a real relationship work.”
That hurt. Ellie knew she was a perfectionist. She knew she sometimes hid in her fantasy worlds rather than face the messy, unpredictable dangers of the real world. And Josh… was that what she had done? Invented him?
No. Vic didn’t even know about Josh. Ellie pushed those worries away. “How can you say that, Vic? We’ve been friends for years. You know the truth.”
“Do I?” Vic scraped her hands over her face, smudging her mascara.
It was jarring. In all their years of friendship, had she ever seen her friend less than perfectly put together? A horrible suspicion began to form. “Did you tell Warren about the sale? Is this all his idea? Damn it, Vic.”
Victoria glared at her, high red streaks marking her cheeks. “You don’t get to police my relationships, Eleanor. You don’t tell me what I can share and what I can’t.”
“I’m not policing your relationship, Vic! See who you want. Sleep with who you want. But I wish you could see that you’re worth so much more than that arsehole who has never made you happy, who has never prioritized you in any way.” Ellie gave herself a second before voicing the rest, Vic was not going to take it well, but it had to be said. “But actually, I can tell you what you may and may not share. You’re an employee here and?—”
Vic’s face pinched. “Fuck you, Ellie.”
“We’re friends, Vic. We’ve been friends for a long time. So I’m going to forget you said that.” Ellie gripped her hands together to stop them shaking. “I’m worried about you. I don’t think he’s good for you. And now he knows things about my company that?—”
“Why should it be yours?” Vic demanded. “I work just as hard as you do! That’s my blood and sweat and tears out there too!”
Ellie held her gaze. “It’s mine because I created it and nurtured it and loved it for all these years! It’s mine because it means more to me than a number on a bank transfer. It’s mine because I am your boss.” Ellie took a breath, working hard to hold her outrage from spilling out any further. This wasn’t her friend speaking. Vic’s words were straight out of Warren’s mouth. And before she decided how to handle Vic’s actions, she needed to know exactly what she was dealing with.
She clasped her hands together even tighter as she found her control and held it. “What did he promise, Vic?”
“This has nothing?—”
Ellie leaned forward and locked eyes with her best friend. “What. Did. He. Promise?”
Vic stared out the window in silence for long minutes. Long enough that Ellie assumed she wouldn’t reply. But eventually she answered quietly, “We’ll get married. He doesn’t want to start our life together in debt.”
And there it was. “How much debt is he in?”
“He got scammed. You know how hard he’s worked to set up himself up as a trader.”
Ellie didn’t know that at all. She knew Warren liked to stay at home in sweatpants doing things on his computer no one else was supposedly clever enough to understand. But she couldn’t say that. Not now.
“He knew someone who could get him in on an IPO on this mining company that had developed a new way to extract rhodium,” Vic continued. “Do you know how much rhodium is trading at right now? Twenty-five thousand dollars per ounce. It was going to be huge.”
Hell. Ellie was gripping her hands together so tightly that they hurt, and she forced them apart as she waited. There was only one possible way that could end.
“It was a scam.” Vic swallowed thickly. “But he’d already put everything up as collateral.”
Ellie’s heart broke for her friend. And she had a horrible feeling this story was about to get worse. “How much debt is he in?”
Vic’s shoulders slumped. “Over a million pounds. Not including his mother’s house—” She took a ragged breath. “—and mine.”
“He lost your house! How could he even… How does he…?” Ellie’s stomach clenched. “How is that possible?”
“I gave him permission,” Vic admitted. “I signed the forms and let him use the deeds as surety.”
Ellie reached out and took Vic’s hands, holding them tight, wishing she could surround her in support. And maybe it was a measure of her distress, because Vic didn’t pull away. “Why did you do it?” Ellie asked.
“Because he was so excited. He was so sure he was going to make it big, and I wanted that for him. He loves me, and I could do this one thing. And I had to trust him, right? If we’re going to have a life together, we have to trust each other.” Vic’s voice dropped to a whisper. “We were going to be happy.”
“God.” Ellie held in the rest of what she wanted to say. She held back the flood of how much she hated Warren for his snide comments and his constant gaslighting. For making her friend—her bright, capable, beautiful friend—doubt herself. For making her believe she had to do something so reckless to prove her love. And for working so hard to drive a wedge between them.
Vic’s fingers closed around hers and for a moment, Ellie had hope. But then Victoria spoke. “We can still fix this.” The harsh red had faded from Vic’s cheeks, leaving her pale and tired-looking. “Sell the company, Ellie. Take the cash. Set us all free.”
Hell. Just do this one thing for Vic. Like Vic had just done one thing for Warren. Prove her love to her best friend, just like Vic had proven hers….
Where did that end?
How many people could be hurt? Her staff. Her game. The community of players she’d nurtured and loved; that beautiful group of people creating character art and writing fanfic and bonding over plots on social media.
Ellie shook her head. There had to be another way. “I’d be happy to loan you?—”
Vic tugged her hands back, her mouth turning down at the corners. “I don’t want to borrow money from you. I want the money I’ve earned.”
Ellie sucked in a breath. She hated everything about this. The conflict. The fear of losing her friend. Everything. But she was finding a new kind of strength. The strength to say no.
She reached across the table, holding her hand out palm up, and tried again. “Please don’t ruin our friendship over this. We can work together. I’ll help?—”
Victoria stood up, pointedly ignoring Ellie’s open hand, and stalked to the door. “All I want is my share of the company that I helped build.” And then she left.