Chapter 22
ALEX
Alex dove into work with such single-minded focus that he barely noticed time passing.
Hours turned into days. He stared at the lines of code until his eyes blurred, typed until his hands cramped, and refused to talk to anyone.
He even skipped meetings, not wanting to see the seat where Grace used to sit.
He kept MatchupNow moving forward, but he himself was stuck.
When more papers about the lawsuit came, he handed them to his lawyers without reading them.
He couldn’t bear to think about Grace. And yet, he thought of almost nothing and no one else. No matter how much he tried to lose himself in work, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He could work through hunger, exhaustion, frustration, and setbacks, but he struggled to work through missing her.
Alex knew he’d messed up. That was already clear, and it hadn’t even been a week since he’d left her apartment.
Yet even though he struggled to enjoy his work as much as he used to, he still knew he couldn’t sabotage his company for her, either.
Not when she’d already tried to ruin his company once.
It was an impossible situation, and he couldn’t find any hope of a solution.
“Mr. Medson?”
Alex blinked exhaustion out of his eyes and focused on the doorway. Louisa stood there in a pink-and-white dress, her blond hair covering her bare shoulders.
“Yes, Louisa?”
“I have the afternoon off for a doctor’s appointment, so I’m heading out,” she said. “Can I get you anything before I go?”
“No.” Alex waved a hand, already looking at his screen again. “Thank you. Have a nice weekend.”
“It’s Tuesday,” Louisa said, sounding nonplussed. “But, um, okay.”
Then she was gone. Alex dove back into his work with a vengeance, not letting himself think about the fact that there was a doctor’s appointment in a few days that he’d wanted to go to—Grace’s next checkup.
He wasn’t invited anymore. He wouldn’t be there when she gave birth.
He wouldn’t be there to hold her hand or cradle their newborn children.
He wouldn’t get to be there for anything.
Alex tried to focus on his computer to no avail. His work blurred in front of his eyes, and he made a few very obvious mistakes that he then had to spend a long time correcting. A few hours later, there was another knock on the door.
“Alex?”
“Yes?” He looked up, and this time, it was Autumn standing in the doorway.
“We finished the last of the missing sections. Can I compile it onto your laptop now?”
“Of course.” Alex handed over his laptop and sat back, rubbing his eyes.
He wasn’t sure when he’d last slept more than four hours or taken a screen break.
He was running on black coffee alone. He knew he should take a break—grab some food, maybe rest his eyes—but as soon as he was away from his laptop, thoughts of Grace floated back to him, stronger than ever.
He remembered the tears in her eyes when she’d told him he had one last chance to be in or out.
He remembered her smile when he’d kissed her.
He remembered her laugh when he’d put a dollop of yellow paint on her nose in the nursery.
He remembered his hopes for a future with her.
Alex got to his feet abruptly. Autumn had taken the laptop back to the dev-ops room, so he was alone with no distractions.
He couldn’t just sit here. He needed to work, needed it more than sleep or sustenance.
Since Louisa had left for the afternoon, he went and took her laptop, bringing it back to his desk.
Alex didn’t know her password, but a few guesses got him in. As soon as he was on the computer, he realized his mistake. Without his laptop, he didn’t have any code to work on. And most of the missing pieces had already been patched up.
Sighing, Alex flicked through a few open tabs, hoping to find something he could work on.
Maybe he could optimize his schedule for the next week or sift through the mountain of emails that were always waiting for him.
He was close to just starting a new project to pass the time when he flicked past Louisa’s email tab, and something caught his eye.
Right near the top, there was a thread between his assistant and Patrick Hale.
His brow furrowing, Alex clicked on it. He knew he shouldn’t snoop into Louisa’s emails, but this was her work account, and this was very suspicious. What was Louisa doing emailing with Patrick?
The first email was from Patrick to Louisa, dated more than six months ago. The heading read:
Would you like to be rich?
Alex frowned, his stomach twisting. This didn’t seem good at all. He clicked on the email and continued reading.
I understand that you’re Alex Medson’s assistant. Good for you. I can’t imagine that pays six figures, though, which is what I’m offering you. I just need one simple thing from you. Interested?
Alex clicked on the next email in the thread, which was a reply from Louisa.
I like Alex. He’s a good boss. I wouldn’t want to hurt him.
Alex winced at his assistant’s sweet words. Louisa might not be the brightest bulb, but she was a good person.
You wouldn’t be hurting him, Patrick’s reply read. Just showing some flaws in his security system. And you won’t get in trouble. You can keep your job. Alex will never know.
As Alex read on, the situation became increasingly clear. It took a few messages, but Louisa agreed to hear the next steps of the plan. They set a meeting time and place. The next email, from Patrick, was dated after the meeting they’d scheduled.
Thanks for meeting with me. I’m glad we’re going to work together. Remember, this is simple and elegant, okay? Nothing can go wrong.
Louisa had replied saying okay. The following email from Patrick asked:
Who was hired most recently?
Louisa replied: A woman named Grace Boden. She started last week. Alex has met with her a few times, and he seems to like her.
Perfect, Patrick replied. She’s the one, and we can proceed. Wait until the night before the update, just like we planned.
Alex felt sick. It was hard to force himself to read on, but he couldn’t ignore this. He had to know exactly what had happened, right under his nose.
I did it, Louisa wrote next. The email was from the same day the update had been meant to launch, the day the laptop had gone missing. And I changed the log. Are you sure he won’t know it’s me?
I’m sure, Patrick replied. Bring me the laptop. You’ve done everything, just as I asked.
Are you going to pay me now?
Soon. Let’s just see how it plays out first.
Alex closed the laptop slowly. It was all so achingly clear now.
Grace hadn’t stolen the laptop. She hadn’t even lost it. She was, as she’d told him before, completely innocent.
Instead, Patrick Hale had colluded with Alex’s assistant to steal the laptop and frame Grace.
Louisa had changed the logs and given the laptop to Patrick.
And Alex had never suspected a thing. He’d truly thought it was Grace who’d betrayed him—and he’d let her be fired.
Not only that, but he’d threatened his relationship with her and their kids because he couldn’t believe in her innocence.
Alex slumped back into his seat. He felt sick.
Louisa had betrayed him—and he’d betrayed Grace.
She’d never betrayed him. She’d never done anything wrong at all.
She’d told him herself that she was innocent.
Why hadn’t he looked more closely into the situation?
Why hadn’t he listened to Grace? For months, he’d treated her like a thief and kept his distance from her.
He’d let his suspicions get in the way of his relationship with her and their babies.
He’d messed up. He’d hurt the person he cared about the most, and all because of one of Patrick Hale’s idiotic plots.
Well, this one hadn’t been so idiotic. After all, Alex had fallen for it.
Even the lawsuit was easy to explain now. Grace had truly felt she’d been wrongfully fired, and she’d wanted to provide for their babies. She hadn’t been trying to hurt him. She’d been trying to get what she needed to survive, maybe even trying to prove her innocence.
Alex wanted to bang his head against the table in frustration.
He should have talked this out with Grace ages ago.
Or he should at least have conducted a more in-depth investigation into who had really stolen the laptop.
He’d assumed that the situation with his roommate in college was repeating itself, and now, he might have ruined any chance of a future with Grace.
No, he’d definitely ruined any chance of a future with Grace.
The worst part was that he’d walked out on her, saying his company was more important. Nothing was more important than Grace and their kids. Nothing ever would be. That was clear now. It should have been clear all along.
Alex stood suddenly, the desk rocking on its legs. It was two in the afternoon. Alex had never left the office in the middle of the day before, but he was doing so now. He had to find Grace. He had to apologize. It might still be too late, but he had to make sure she knew how sorry he was.
Alex passed Autumn on the way out.
“I’m leaving for the afternoon,” he said. “Please take care of things for me.”
“Of course.” She looked a little confused, but she nodded. “The update is almost ready, you know. Don’t you want to stay to check it?”
“I know. But this is more important.”
Leaving Autumn standing uncertainly in the hallway, Alex hurried to the elevators. He had to talk to Grace. Now. He couldn’t waste another second.