CHAPTER TWELVE #2
Never have I hated someone so much. The mix of anger, shock and disbelief that this was happening during the mediation sessions had been almost paralyzing.
However, my lawyer, some small firm who did a poor job, did ask them to pull footage from the office cameras, which showed Johnathan speaking to me at the time I claimed.
It shows me pulling something out of my drawer and handing it to him.
A post-it note.
I wrote down the password.
Without sound, the mediator disregarded it, saying it wasn’t solid proof.
“I wanted to make sure Lexi’s advances toward me at Friday drinks the week before were not something that would happen again. I was clear with her at the time, and reiterated again, that I’m a happily married man. And...” he smirked at the other men in the room. “I wasn’t interested, regardless.”
One man had sniggered, then covered his mouth.
Jerks.
“Excuse me!” I had gasped, placing my palm on the table, staring at him. “You hit on me, you creep!”
“Lexi.” Mr. Harrow held up his hand. “Let’s not make this worse, shall we?”
Johnathan shook his head, like he was disappointed in my lies.
I’d almost vomited as I watched my downfall unfold. I had no proof. It was my word against the digital proof showing my signature being used to move the money. One I couldn’t disprove.
Fifty thousand pounds.
A sickening amount.
I understood why Mr. Harrow felt the way he did, but he was wrong. Johnathan was a dangerous liar.
I glanced around at all the disbelieving faces. “I’m not lying. He hit on me that night. Followed me into the stairwell and pushed me up against the wall. I told him to get off me—”
“Ms. Grant, please.” The mediator shook his head. “Unless you have some proof, I think we can stop right there with all the explicit details.”
“But it shows motive.”
“Okay, CSI, calm down.” Johnathan frowned comically at me like I was a stupid child.
The mediator pointed his finger at him. “Mr. Scott, this is not helping. We know you’re innocent, so please don’t provoke her.”
What?
“He’s not innocent. He lied to me about his password not working.” I cried, spiraling.
“Lexi, you were not legally allowed to give those details to anyone. Not even me.” Mr. Harrow chided. “You signed the agreement, which explicitly outlined your responsibilities.”
I hadn’t been able to argue with that. He was right. Johnathan had coerced me into giving them to him. The threat of no one getting paid, the way he had forced himself on me that Friday night.
I had breached the contract.
I slumped back into my seat and knew my fate was sealed.
That I would lose my job.
That I was in big trouble.
“I know,” I said quietly. “I wanted everyone to get paid. I trusted him.” I shot a dark look toward Johnathan. “I guess I got played.”
He almost smiled but caught himself.
The mediator took his time, scrolling through notes, going in and out of the room while my stress levels skyrocketed.
“We can only deal with the facts. Harrow & Armstrong Engineering does not want to take legal action. They would like the funds returned.”
I sat up straight. “I don’t have them! I’m innocent.”
“Ms. Grant, take tonight to think about this situation.”
I had nothing to think about. I was innocent.
“The company could charge you with embezzlement or fraud if they press charges.”
Fuck, I’d almost passed out.
“Go ahead and charge my client,” my lawyer had said as I’d almost passed out. “You have no proof of the money being transferred to her account. Nor that this Swiss account exists in her name.”
Oh.
“Let’s go, Ms. Grant,” he’d said, standing and earning the four figures I had to pay him. “I recommend you end her employment, draw up a document that concludes neither party will charge one other, and let this entire situation rest.”
I still don’t know how he did it, but they agreed.
The lawyer said the cost to litigate would have exceeded the amount lost.
“He knew. Johnathan knew.” I had almost whispered to myself.
When my lawyer was quiet, I glanced up at him. “You don’t believe me.”
He shrugged. “It’s not my job to decide where you are innocent or guilty. It was to get you off.”
I hated hearing that.
“I am innocent. I would never steal from anyone.”
When my parents sat in front of me, unsure of the truth, it had broken a piece of me inside.
Then bloody Mason calls me a gold digger.
I swear to god, I just need one person on my side. Just one. I desperately need Emily to say she believes me.
“I swear it’s all true,” I tell her, wiping the tears away, hating that this situation has almost broken me.
I’m stronger than this.
And innocent.
“I wish you’d told me, Lex. I had no idea. You looked so happy when you arrived,” Emily says, now sitting beside me, holding my hand.
I was.
I was happy to be out of that enormously stressful situation. At one point, I thought I might go to prison. The fear you go through in a situation like that is horrible.
“I was embarrassed, and you were dealing with all the Sebastian stuff. Then you got engaged on your birthday. I was going to tell you the next day, but you deserved to focus on your happiness.”
There was no way I was bringing the mood down.
After all, I thought things were turning around. Mason had employed me, and I was in New York. Everything was behind me.
“I’d rather have known. I hate that you’ve been going through all this alone while I’ve been happy.” She shakes her head.
“You know me. I’m tough.” I shrug.
“We need to tell Sebastian.” Emily shuffles forward in her seat.
My eyes fly wide. “No. Em, no.”
God no. He’ll tell Mason, and because there’s a gag order on our agreement, I’d get in trouble for breaching it. Then again, it appears Mr. Harrow has done that.
He has the funds to defend the contract. I don’t.
“What do you want to do? If Mason finds out, he will fire you.”
I drop my face into my hands. “Ugh, I know. I hate that he’ll think I’m a thief.”
“Then we need a plan.”
Great.
The last plan Emily had didn’t exactly work out well for her...but I’m all out of ideas.
“Fine. Let’s hear it.”