Chapter 29
TESSA
The Christmas lights strung around the conference room sparkled as Jamie and I hung silver garland across the windows.
Christmas music played from her phone, attempting to shift my mood to holiday-cheer mode.
It wasn't working.
In two weeks, Cross Capital would hold its annual Christmas gala in this same room—the same event where everything had started with Lucian twelve months ago.
"You're quiet today," Jamie observed, stepping back to assess our work. "More so than usual."
I forced a smile, adjusting a strand of lights that didn't need adjusting. "Just tired. The holidays always make me reflective."
"Reflective about…?" Jamie knew there was more to the rumors about Lucian and me than anyone let on, but she'd been a kind enough friend not to ask or stir up more gossip about it.
When I broke down crying last week, she managed to mop up my face without prying too much, and I led her to believe it was about the mentorship ending.
But she probably had deduced it was more. She was just too nice to say it.
How could I explain that my "mentorship" had become the greatest love of my life and the source of my greatest heartbreak? That the man who'd opened my mind to possibilities I'd never imagined was now a stranger I passed in hallways?
"The mentorship ending," I said, but I choked back some tears. "When I transferred to the CFO's team, Mr. Cross had to stop mentoring me. Mr. Mercer is good, but not the same." Pinning this all on the sudden hole created in my career gave me an excuse. It was fragile, but true.
"That must have hurt. You always seemed so passionate."
Passionate. If only she knew how deeply that word applied to everything about my relationship with Lucian.
"Yes, I'm a nerd," I told her, forcing a chuckle to swallow my own grief.
"I get passionate about math." She elbowed me playfully, and I heard someone clear their throat behind us.
Both of us turned to see Daniel standing there.
"Tessa, could I speak with you for a moment?" His tone was professional but kind, and I followed him to a quiet corner of the room while Jamie continued hanging ornaments.
"I owe you an apology," he began, his voice low enough that Jamie couldn't overhear. "I pried where I shouldn't have last week during that meeting. I overstepped my boundaries because I was concerned, but I was also nosy."
I opened my mouth to deflect, but he held up a hand.
"I've watched you work these past few weeks.
Your analysis is sharp, your insights valuable.
You have the mind of an analyst, and I was wrong to reduce you to coffee service at the CEO's expense.
" He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully.
"You're showing promise, exactly how Lucian mentioned, and I'd like to make amends to you. "
"That's not necessary—"
"Cross Capital would like to offer you a full grant for the MBA program at the University of Chicago. Tuition, books, living expenses—everything covered, as long as you promise to return here as an analyst when you graduate."
His announcement was a total shock. Lucian had offered this at least three times and I had refused.
I thought he was trying to pay me off, that he felt bad for sleeping with me and using me or something. But this?
A full MBA, completely funded, at one of the top business schools in the country.
It was everything I'd dreamed of handed to me when I needed it most.
Tears spilled over before I could stop them, and I covered my face with my hands. "I don't understand. Why would you—"
"Because you deserve it. Because this company needs brilliant minds, regardless of where they start." His voice grew gentle. "It was Lucian's idea, actually. He believes in your potential more than anyone."
The mention of Lucian's name made my chest constrict with fresh pain. Even after I'd walked away, even after I'd rejected everything he'd offered, he was still fighting for my future.
"Jamie, could you grab some tissues from my office?" Daniel called out, and I heard her footsteps retreating down the hallway.
"Why the change of heart?" I whispered when we were alone. "Really?"
"Because I made a mistake." Daniel's expression grew serious. "Lucian knew what he was talking about. Viktoria has been scheming for some reason, but outside of that, you really are brilliant. He was right about that."
I had tried for weeks to put all thought of Viktoria and her children out of my head.
I distanced myself from Lucian to preserve his career at the company he built.
Every time I spent a single second thinking about that woman, I felt anger, and that wasn't who I wanted to be.
But being reminded of how nasty she had acted made my heart ache to know how Lucian was faring now after things had died down a little.
"How is he doing?" I asked quietly. "I haven't seen him much lately."
Daniel's face darkened. "You haven't heard?" He paused and his eyes searched my face, but I could only shrug. "Elena was in a car accident three days ago. She's been in a coma at Northwestern Memorial. Lucian hasn't left her bedside."
The blood drained from my face. I knew how much his kids meant to him and if this was true, he was probably devastated. "Is she…? Will she…?"
"The doctors don't know yet. It's touch and go."
Without thinking, without caring about professional boundaries or protecting my secret, I was moving.
The conference room, the Christmas decorations, Jamie returning with tissues—everything blurred past me as I rushed toward the elevator.
Lucian was alone at the hospital, facing the possibility of losing his daughter, and I wasn't there.
I put my things away, shut off my laptop, and headed down to the street to hail a cab.
The ride to Northwestern Memorial felt eternal. All I could think about was how scared Lucian must be.
By the time I reached the ICU floor, my hands were shaking.
"Elena Cross," I told the nurse at the desk. "I'm here to see her family."
She directed me down a sterile hallway to the room, and through the small window I could see two figures inside—Lucian slumped in a chair beside the bed, and Viktoria pacing near the window.
I knocked softly and entered, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Viktoria looked up first, her expression shifting from mild curiosity to open hostility when she recognized me.
"Well, well. The devoted assistant comes to pay her respects." Her voice dripped with venom. "How touching."
But Lucian's reaction was different.
His tired eyes found mine across the room, and something shifted in his expression—surprise and relief. It made my chest tight with emotion.
"Tessa." My name on his lips was the sweetest sound I'd heard in months.
Elena lay motionless in the hospital bed, machines beeping around her. She looked so fragile. Bruises covered her face and the parts of her arms that were exposed. Wires connected her to devices I couldn't identify, and the sight made my throat close with grief. At least she wasn't on a ventilator.
"Viktoria," Lucian said quietly, never taking his eyes off me, "could you give us a moment?"
His ex-wife's face twisted with rage. "Absolutely not," she hissed. "This is a family matter, and she—"
"Please." Lucian sounded exhausted and desperate. He turned to her, and the pleading expression on his face made her instantly soften. "Just a few minutes." Even in divorce, there was a knowing between them, and though she hated it, she relented.
Viktoria glared between us, then stalked toward the door. "Five minutes. Then I want her gone."
The door closed behind her, leaving us alone with Elena's steady breathing and the soft beeping of medical equipment.
Lucian looked terrible—unshaven, his clothes wrinkled, dark circles under his eyes that spoke of days without sleep. And he smelled like it too—like he hadn't even gone home to shower.
"You came," he said softly.
"Of course I came." I moved toward him, feeling my stomach twisting, and wondered why I did come.
What was I hoping to accomplish?
I hadn't spoken to him properly in a month, and here I was rushing to his side to comfort him.
If he couldn’t see that I loved him desperately, I didn’t know what would show him that.
I'd been a coward for putting space between us when I should've been fighting to make something happen.
And something inside me was shifting even as he stood and walked toward me. I couldn't walk away from this again.
I needed him.
And it appeared he needed me too.