Chapter 48
Penelope
I met Silas at his house instead of his office the next day.
We walked through the marble-tiled floor to the back of the house where Silas was waiting for me in the solarium that sat
nestled between towering vines crawling up the windows and lush flowers on every side.
His forehead wrinkled when I was led in. “Made a decision, have we?”
“I am sick of feeling like I’ve done something to deserve not having a place here,” I admitted, taking a seat across from
him on a tightly woven white wicker chair.
“So, you’ve finally decided to earn it?”
The implication set my jaw on edge. What had he ever done to be treated like a member of this family? Absolutely nothing,
yet I was the target of everyone’s criticism. Every decision I made was wrong.
“No, Silas.” I sat down, forcing my shoulders back down, I reminded myself not to waste any more emotion here. “But I’m not
here to fight.”
I went over each option with Arabella, point by point. I knew what we wanted and how we’d get it. And I quietly thought to
myself about how Xander’s interference made the perfect way out.
“I’m giving you an option. Because you’re right. I won’t let the company fail,” I admitted. “So, your options are to leave me alone. Leave Arabella alone and never interfere in our lives again. In turn, I will save the merger for you.”
His brows shot up.
More than anything, I wanted to protect Arabella’s future. Like my mother, her well-being was out of her hands and I never
wanted her to feel financially trapped.
“Finally taking your place with the Xus, are you?” he questioned almost mockingly.
“Let me handle the details. All you need to do is agree.” I slapped the file in front of him and he leaned in with an unsurprising
excitement. He reviewed the new merger agreements, picking up a pen with some enthusiasm. Every single term was the same except
for one. Instead of leaving the issue of eventual leadership open, it was written clearly in black and white. “Maddox will
be the leader of the newly merged company.”
Silas dropped his pen and tenuous smile.
That was the only way I was going to get Maddox on board. He could lead that branch of his family’s company. It was a step
down from what he truly wanted—leading the family company as a whole, but it was something that would entice him. An opportunity
to stay close enough to that leadership spot that I was sure he’d find a way into it eventually.
I just needed him to agree as well.
“And option two?”
I sighed. “Let Chen Tech fail. If you continue to harass me or my friends, you can see what happens when you play outside
your skill level. And probably go bankrupt in the process.”
“So, your fix is to either have your family company led by someone else or let it fail?”
“Eventual leadership was always going to be up to the board. Did you really think you’d have a chance given all you’ve done to Chen Tech so far?” I argued politely. I wanted to let go of all the painful feelings of resentment, not let them bleed into this conversation. I wanted to be free of it. “We both know Maddox would have done the decision-making given your... inaptitude for it.”
The wicker seat cracked as Silas leaned into it. He crossed his arms and thought about it for a few extended seconds. “I’ll
need to have someone review—”
I stood up. “You have until the end of the day.”
His head bobbed back like he wasn’t expecting my response or firm line on the offer. “And Maddox. Xu Enterprises. They’re
already on board with this?”
“Leave that to me, little brother.” A patronizing tone snuck in when I hadn’t meant it to. I turned to leave but stopped for
a moment. “And for the record, this is the last mess I am ever going to be tangled in. So much as breathe my name again, and
I promise you, Silas, you will regret it.”
I didn’t stop to gauge his reaction.
I didn’t care.
***
A café along the water in the Marina Bay district was where I asked Maddox to meet me. Sitting here filled me with what felt
like a warm hug from the inside. The familiar sound of water slapping against the docks, sending a salty mist along the railings
a few feet away made my mind run wild with all the days I could spend here.
My lips turned up in a slight smile under the warmth of the early afternoon sun. I felt like I was home.
“Does your husband know you’re having lunch with me?” Maddox’s voice yanked me right out of that fuzzy nostalgic feeling.
I shook my head clear for a second, but the excitement at the final step before I was free of all of the obligation ran through my muscles in an impatient buzz.
“If there is one thing my husband knows,” I said, looking down at my coffee, seeing my wedding band along my finger. I smiled
bittersweetly, I missed him. “It is that I love him completely. And he trusts me, completely.”
I called him this morning just to double-check that my plan was okay with him and SunCorp, because I did plan to use that
leverage he’d so painstakingly retrieved for me.
“Alright.” He shuffled a bit in his chair, looked down at the menu, then crossed his arms. “What is this about?”
“I have a proposal for you.”
“No.” The answer shot out of his mouth on the heels of my words.
I looked at him, confused, but he refused to look at me.
“See.” He squinted as he looked out onto the water, sunlight making the gentle waves sparkle like sheets of diamonds along
the surface. “It’s rather inconvenient when someone just shoots down your proposal.”
“Maddox,” I pleaded with an exasperated sigh. “I am not sorry for choosing my own happiness, but I am sorry for how all of
this shook out. And how it affected your future.”
I was.
I hated that choosing my happiness came with collateral damage, but I wasn’t apologizing for it anymore.
The corners of his mouth relaxed to the point where he was almost not scowling. “Alright, then, get on with it.”
“Continue the merg—”
“No,” he answered just as fast. This time he turned his head to glance at me then rolled his eyes and released a heavy breath. “Be sensible, why would I continue the merger now? The only appeal was one to my parents. Now that it’s not an option, why sign on to a failing company? We’ll wait and simply acquire it when it’s circling the drain.”
I nodded and pulled out the folder with the specifics detailing release and production timelines for SunCorp’s solar cell–powered
extended-life batteries. The tiny ones that would fit into his gaming systems.
“What is this?” He turned completely so that his entire body was facing me and not the shoreline. He paged through the proposal.
“If you continue with the merger. With all the previous terms—our marriage excluded, obviously—you’ll head the newly merged
company and get priority when these hit the market in a few months.”
He could order them all for the foreseeable future. Put out the line of new gaming systems at any scale he wanted and have
no competition for years while others attempted to catch up. If he wanted an argument to bolster his claim to run the whole
company one day, this would be it.
“And if I refuse,” he pondered slowly, deeply entrenched in the offer.
He wasn’t going to refuse.
“Well, SunCorp is owned—at least the capital behind it is—by someone I happen to love dearly. And he will do just about anything
for me,” I explained. “Like make sure you’re the absolute last in line for this. Maybe put your competitors ahead of you.
Play favorites. He does love a game.”
Maddox looked up slowly from the papers, confusion grooved deep between his brows. “Was your deranged husband going to blackmail
me?”
The side of my mouth couldn’t help but curl upward.
All the anger and hurt from that night felt like a distant memory even though it was only a few nights ago. Proof that I was right to trust my intuition and not fly off the handle like I initially wanted to. Xander would never do anything to hurt me and it would have been ridiculous to react any more than I had in that moment.
Balanced. Trusting in myself to hear and believe the truth.
“Only if I asked him to.”
His stony exterior, looking like he might yell at me at any moment, broke with a surprised boom of a laugh. “Who are you?”
“Same person, different priorities,” I answered simply.
A few chuckles rolled through him and then he stopped, realized I was serious, and his upper lip curled. “Well... it’s
off-putting.”
“Noted,” I said sarcastically. I leaned against the wicker back, content. “Now, do we have a deal?”
“Fine.” Maddox pushed his chair back and began to get up. “I’ll call Silas.”
He took his copies and quickly left with a polite wave. If I ever wanted assurance I was never more than a means to an end
for him—that was it. Not that I cared. I was just happy to finally have some peace.
Leaving the café, I decided to walk back to Olivia’s—which after walking a mile in 80 percent humidity—I realized was a terrible
idea.
Just as refreshing cool air from the air-conditioning in Olivia’s building whipped around me while I passed though the automatic
glass doors, a text from Xander came through:
Xander: Formal request to add an item to the list:
Dinner on the roof of the Marina Sands
Saturday night
He’d given us space this week. He called only when I asked him to, texted good morning and good night and a daily “I love you.” Other than that, he was doing what I asked. Figuring it all out and proving that he could plan his life around our needs, not his fears.
Maybe we’d finish this year and then date like a normal couple.
Maybe we’d just pick up where we left off.
I hoped he loved me enough to accept free fall without fear. Love in all its chaos and uncertainty. I was strong enough to
handle whatever came out of this.
But, God, I wanted him to be the happily-ever-after I was so sure he was.
Me: Request formally accepted