Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sebastian
I’ve never known pain like this. Never known what it was to love so deeply and lose.
Not even when David died had it felt this hard.
That had been a different type of pain—a deep pain—but not as all-consuming as this.
Willow has been gone for a week. Her friends picked her up and she left without a smile or even a word to me.
I’d let her go, not because I didn’t want to keep her with me, but because I knew I had no right. I never had any right.
She could go to the cops and have me arrested. Or ruin my company with information about what I’d done. But I don’t care. I’m absolutely disgusted with myself. I want to burn the world down with me inside of it. I just wish Willow would allow me a chance to make it right.
I wanted her to just understand, to listen to me, but I know all hope is lost. I’d ruined the best thing that ever happened to me, and I did it for all the wrong reasons.
The apartment feels cold and silent as I sit in my office. It no longer feels like home, but a prison of ruined dreams. There’s a knock at the door, and I lean forward in my chair. “Come in.”
Janice walks in, a sad frown on her face. I wonder what she’s thinking. I wonder what she knows. I’ll never know, though. She’s not one to ever reveal what she’s thinking on the inside. She is the consummate professional. “Jack is here.”
“Show him in. Thank you, Janice.”
“Yes, sir.” She backs out, and within moments, Jack walks in.
“You look like shit,” he says as he strides over to me.
“Well, thanks. Good to see you as well.”
“How’s it going?” he asks, then grimaces. “Actually, that’s a stupid question.” He takes a seat in the leather chair on the other side of the desk. “I just finished meeting with the investigator. He’s wrapped everything up.”
“Okay? I mean, we already know she didn’t know Sergio. We already know it was the wrong Willow. What does it matter? She hates me. I hate me. I fucked this up.”
“It matters,” Jack says with a sigh. He hands me a manila folder. “Open it.”
“What am I looking at?” I placed it on the desk and flip it open. He glares at me until I started going through the contents. Photos. Reports. I flip one over and frown. These are pictures of Sergio with Louisa.
“Fucking Louisa,” I mutter. But then I happen upon photos of Sergio, Louisa, and another woman. She’s blonde and cute. “Who’s that?” I look up at Jack.
“Go to the paperwork,” he says.
I flip through the photos until I reach several pages of documents. I pick up the first one. “Okay, this is about Sergio. He’s my brother. I know this stuff.”
“Look at the next page.”
“This is about Louisa.”
“Next.”
“Okay, this is about a woman named Charlotte.” I was about to flip to the next page when I pause. My eyes narrow. “Wait. Did that say Charlotte?”
Jack nods solemnly. “Yep. You’ve heard of her, right?”
“I mean, Willow has a cousin with that name.”
“She does. And she happens to be the owner of the Whispering Haven Bed and Breakfast.”
I stare at him. “But I thought Willow—”
“Sebastian, are you that fucking dumb? Of course Willow doesn’t own it.”
“But she told me she owned it.” I sigh, shaking my head. “So you’re telling me this Charlotte owns it?”
“And she knows Louisa and Sergio.” Jack leans forward.
“Sergio has been in a sexual relationship with Louisa on and off for the last five years. I guess they like to dabble in threesomes or polyamorous arrangements. Looks like this Charlotte has been in several setups with Louisa, where they sleep with different rich men and take them for their money.”
My blood runs cold. “You’re kidding.”
He shakes his head. “Most probably, Charlotte has been using Willow’s name. That’s why Sergio called her Willow. I don’t know the full story—we’ll have to ask Sergio. But from everything I can see, it doesn’t look like he was in on it.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “So it was a setup all along.”
Jack nods. “Louisa was in on it, and that’s why she was able to confirm that your Willow was the Willow.
She’s a nasty piece of work.” It’s like he’s just fit the final puzzle piece into the 1000 piece puzzle.
It’s all making sense now. It’s twisted and unbelievable, but I see it all so clearly now.
“I can’t believe this,” I said, my head spinning. “I just absolutely can’t believe this. Sergio gave his shares to Louisa—”
“Well, technically, he gave them to Charlotte. But Louisa’s the one who’s been controlling everything. He didn’t give her ten million in cash since he’s not the one who sold the shares. He wrote them over to Charlotte, and they’ve been selling them.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded. “So Louisa’s been trying to ruin my company, but why?”
“I don’t know her reasoning, but she’s always been twisted. I’ve never trusted her.”
“You’ve mentioned that. I don’t understand why she would do this to me. She’s been in my company for years. I’ve done everything I could to do right by her. What am I meant to do?” I rub my face. “This is a fucking shit show.”
“I just wanted you to have all the information,” Jack says.
“You’re not fully in the wrong here. Everyone wanted you to believe that Willow Montgomery was the Willow who was fucking with Sergio.
Everyone wanted you to believe that she took the money.
The problem is... Willow is too pure. Too kind. The problem is, you fell for her.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “I love her, Jack.”
“I know,” he says grimly and then laughs. “I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth.”
“I never thought I’d say them,” I admit. “But what am I going to do? She’s back in Whispering Haven. She hates me. She’s not going to want to speak to me.”
“I understand that. And normally, I’d say let it go. But you can’t.”
“What do you mean, I can’t?”
“Well, there are two reasons. Firstly, you love her, and if you love her, you have to fight for her. But secondly…” He leans forward, his face serious. “If her cousin did this to her, if her cousin set her up, then who knows what else she might try to do? Doesn’t Willow work for her cousin?”
“I suppose she does.”
“Then she might need your protection.”
“She doesn’t want me,” I said quietly. “She doesn’t want my protection. I was the one she needed protecting from. No, Jack. I can’t do anything.”
“Sebastian, listen to me.”
I look up at him wearily.
“You were the one who took it several steps too far because of the information you thought you knew,” he continues, “but who were the ones that put this info into your head?
“It was Louisa. And I suppose it was also Charlotte.”
“If they were willing to go this far to set Willow up... who knows what else they’re going to do?”
“I need to speak to her,” I say finally. “I have a board meeting tomorrow. I’ve got so much I need to handle, but—”
“I’ve been buying the stocks as well,” Jack interrupts. “We’re about to get to fifty-one percent. Once you’re the majority stakeholder, without your other family members, you’ll be in control.”
I nod slowly. “But I need a couple more days. I have to speak to Romanov. I have to speak to—”
Jack holds up his hands. “What’s most important here, Sebastian?”
I stare at him. I know what he’s saying.
“You can save the company,” he says quietly, “or you can save Willow. You have to choose one.”