Chapter 27. I Don’t Know How to Quit You
CHAPTER 27
I Don’t Know How to Quit You
The Mackenzie Constructions office was fifteen minutes away from the bakery, in a converted warehouse on the outskirts of the city. My CR-V screeched to a halt in front of the building, and without bothering to properly park in a vacant spot, I killed the ignition, slammed the door, and marched inside. A young woman at reception was slinging her bag over her shoulder, getting ready to leave the office. She beamed at me when I told her my name.
“Ellie? So glad to finally meet you.” She pointed to a corridor leading to a series of doors on her left. “His office is the first door at the very end. Just go right ahead.”
Nodding my thanks, I took off in that direction. I could hear muffled voices as I approached, recognizing the second voice as Rob’s when I got closer.
“… so mopey the whole day, man. Want to talk about it?”
I stopped in front of the door, trying to be as silent as I could.
There was a long pause before Alec finally replied.
“I screwed up.” His voice was so quiet, I had to press an ear to the door to catch what he was saying. “I lost us the Goodwin deal. Ellie’s parents are going to sue me, so chances are I’m going to lose her, along with this business, too. I’m sorry, Rob. I let you down.”
There was the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and Rob’s voice came back. “We’ve got an hour before the meeting with the lawyer. Let’s unpack everything. First things first. Why are her parents suing you? What did you do?”
“I called Eric. Told him what happened over the weekend.”
So Mom had been telling the truth.
“But why?” Rob sounded puzzled. “He’s going to tell their parents—”
“He already did. They have the right to know. She’s not safe here with me, because I can’t look after her. And my priority right now is salvaging the Goodwin deal. This is the best for everyone.”
Rob said something I couldn’t catch, followed by, “She won’t like it. You’re going to lose her, man. I thought you said you lo—”
I pushed the door open, storming in as the two men jumped.
“Ellie.” Alec’s eyes widened, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. “What are you doing here?”
I stopped in front of his desk and glared at him. “Guess who just dropped by?” At his blank look, I tossed him the crumpled agreement. “Explain that.”
His face hardened at seeing the papers. He glanced at Rob. “Give us a few minutes?”
Without being asked twice, Rob sprang up, gave me a nervous smile as he passed, and skittered out of the room. The second he closed the door behind him, the anger I’d been trying to suppress bubbled to the surface, and I went on the attack.
“What the hell, Alec? Why didn’t you tell me about the money?”
“I didn’t have a choice.” His tone was flat.
“That’s a load of crap. We always have a choice. You chose to take the money.”
His hollow laugh echoed in the room. “You don’t understand. I really didn’t have a choice. Things were terrible when my dad got caught embezzling the money. His employer had powerful, well-connected lawyers, so the court ruled that my family needed to repay the money he’d stolen, plus interest and compensation, and the costs of the lawsuits. There was no way in hell we could pay them back. My mother had to mortgage the house up to the hilt, worked three jobs, seven days a week, and even then, it still wasn’t enough.” He took a deep breath and looked away. “We never told anyone. Somehow, your parents found out.
“Your mother called a few days after you had the severe hypo. Blamed me for what happened and told me I was a danger to you. How she didn’t want someone like me, whose father was a criminal, hanging around you and Eric anymore. Said it’d look bad for your family’s reputation. She knew about the lawsuits, about our financial difficulties, and bluntly offered me the money. No interests, no repayments needed, it was ours, for free. If I stayed away from you.”
My heartbeat was pounding in my ears.
“I couldn’t say no. The hard truth was, that money from your parents saved my family. We paid off the debt, and it gave us our lives back. Your parents were happy because you were safe, far away from me. It was a win-win for everyone.” He finally looked back at me. “Me leaving home was a tiny price to pay.”
Rage charged through me, and I had to grip the edges of his table to steady myself. To give my hands something to hold on to, because I was tempted to snatch one of the thick folders on his desk and whack him on the head with it.
“What about me ?” I shouted. “It wasn’t a win for me. Everyone thought they knew what was best for me, but no one, not one person, has ever asked me what I want. Not you, not my family.”
He was quiet.
“Does Eric know about this?” I hissed. “Naomi?”
“No. They knew your parents blamed me for the incident. And that I’d left home to find work, to support my family financially. They didn’t know about the agreement and the money.”
He covered his face with his hands and stayed quiet for a minute.
“The contract was very specific. The reason you weren’t invited to Sienna’s wedding? It’s because of this agreement. I couldn’t be within fifty miles of where you were. That was why I had to leave, because it was the easiest. I kept in touch with Eric, so he’d tell me how you were doing. Sent me pictures of you, him, and Naomi every now and then. I saved every single one of them, because they kept me connected to you.
“When Eric called that day, asking for my help, I knew I shouldn’t have said yes, that I should have stayed away. But Eric can be very persuasive, and he knows I couldn’t say no when it comes to you. And I thought, we’re on the other side of the country from your parents. They won’t find out.” Alec blew out a long breath. “These past few weeks have probably been one of the best times of my life. I knew it wouldn’t last, that once the repairs at your store were done, I’d need to get out of your life. But I can’t, Ellie. I don’t know how to quit you. And then when you had that hypo on the weekend… I couldn’t handle it.”
“But you did! You did everything right and helped me through it!”
“I thought I could, but then I realized that you, being here with me, was a huge mistake. You didn’t immediately treat your hypo because we were arguing. What if it happens again, and the next time it’s too late, and you don’t make it? You need to be with your family, because they’re the ones who do know how to look after you.”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell people this,” I said, my voice rising again, “but I can look after myself. What happened this past weekend and ten years ago were entirely my fault, not yours. And I survived both.”
“But you might not. I’m not willing to take the risk. You’re better off without me.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to walk away?”
He went quiet, then slowly nodded. “If something did happen and I couldn’t help you, I could never forgive myself.”
I fisted my hand and leaned on his desk. “And you thought the best thing to do was to call my family?”
Alec’s laugh was bitter. “You know all those phone calls I had with Gemma? It’s because your mother had been harassing my family. She called my mom and my sisters, sent people over to our house, to their work, asking if they knew whether you were here with me. Even threatened to call the police on them.”
I closed my eyes. My mother had really gone too far.
“My mom and sisters pretended not to know anything. And they would have continued, for as long as it took. But after this weekend, seeing you that way, it triggered all those dreadful memories from that night. I had to tell Eric. If something had happened to you…”
“I was fine . How many times do I have to tell you, it was just another—”
“It might’ve been just another hypo to you, but not to me,” he interrupted. “You didn’t see yourself being wheeled away into an ambulance ten years ago. Did you know how frightened I was? To watch you, unconscious and being taken away, not knowing whether you’d be okay, whether I’d ever see you again? I know hypos can be fatal in severe cases. I’m not taking a chance, not when it’s your life.” His voice shook a little, but his face was determined. “Your place isn’t here. You should go home. Be with your family.”
“I have a life, a business here. And what about us?” I asked, gesturing to the space between us, desperately trying—hoping—to convince him we were worth saving. “You’re not even going to fight for us? Look, we’re in this together. We’ll hire our own lawyers, and we can dispute my mother’s lawsuit. I’m sure once the judges hear that—”
“I can’t.”
My heart lodged in my throat, refusing to budge.
“My priority right now is to save the company.” He glanced away. “I’ve got people depending on me. My family. My employees. I can’t let them down. I need to focus on making this right, because one wrong step, and my life could go pear-shaped as early as tomorrow. You deserve someone better. Someone that’s not me.”
I stood in front of him, feeling like the entire universe was about to come crashing down, burying me alive under its rubble. He’d made himself clear—that he needed to prioritize his business over me, because I wasn’t important enough for him. Just like I wasn’t important enough for my parents. And history was repeating itself: he was breaking my heart, shattering it into a billion tiny pieces.
Again.
But this would be the last time.
Because I was so done with this man.
I took a deep breath, calming myself down, then launched into my speech.
“First of all, I’m an adult. A human being. Not a fucking baton you can simply pass back to my family once the going gets tough. Second, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. Get that through your thick skull. I didn’t need you, my family, or anyone else in the world to watch over me, or wait on me hand and foot.” I paused. “And finally, I don’t need someone who gives up on me after one hypo episode. Yes, they can be fatal. But it won’t be if you learn how to manage them. It’s not an excuse to freak out and pull the plug on a relationship. Do you know how many I’ve had since I was diagnosed? Hundreds. Maybe even thousands. And there’s probably another few thousand in my future. It’s part and parcel of having diabetes.” I took a deep breath. “Obviously you’re not the man I thought you were, because if you can’t handle that, then we can’t be together. I need someone who can be there for me, who’s resilient enough to go through the ups and downs with me, because trust me, there will be plenty of them.”
His eyes clouded, but he said nothing. Didn’t even try to defend himself.
“I’ll get my stuff out of the house before you come home.”
Without another look, I turned around and stalked away from his office, painfully aware of the radio silence behind me. I didn’t stop until I was outside, and the minute I found my car, I leaned on it and covered my face. And tears started pouring.
Because this time, it was finally over.
Alec Mackenzie was no longer a part of my life.
I wiped my eyes, knowing I still had one more piece of unfinished business. Pulling myself together, I got into my car and drove to the Plaza Hotel. My mother had texted me, letting me know she was at a café at the Plaza’s rooftop area. When I got there, she was sipping at what I knew would probably be her fifth or sixth cup of coffee for the day. The woman lived and breathed the concoction, just like Eric. Maybe it was the real reason I couldn’t stand coffee.
Because it subconsciously reminded me of her.
I pulled out the chair across from her. “You were right about him.”
She looked satisfied. “I’m always right.”
“But I’m still not going back home. Even if you reinstate me back in the will and shower me with all the money in the world. Until you realize you need to stop controlling my life, you can’t be a part of it, and I can’t be a part of yours.”
She placed her cup back on the table, her gaze furious. “That’s not the correct response. I’ll give you five minutes to reconsider your answer.”
“That was the right answer, and my final one. I’m staying, and no amount of emotional or physical blackmail can change my mind.”
She let out a loud, impatient sigh. “Stop being dramatic. You’re always acting as if I’m doing something horrible, but you know I’m only looking out for your best interests.”
“No, you’re not. All you care about is the family business, the status and privileges that come with it. You don’t care about my best interests or my happiness.”
Her tone turned frosty. “Listen carefully, Ellie. I’m saving you from making a terrible mistake. If you’re doing this for him, it’s not a smart decision, and you’ll regret it. You don’t belong here, and people like us don’t belong with people like Alec Mackenzie.”
“I’m doing this for myself.” My tone rose. “You may not care, but I have a life here. I’m running my own business. I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me and our family, but it’s clear that you value the family business more than your own child. I’ve had enough of living my life being controlled and suffocated by you. It’s time for you to move on.”
She flinched, and a flash of something—fear? surprise?—flitted across her face, only to disappear the next second. People at neighboring tables were starting to stare, but my mother’s attention was laser-focused on me.
“You know that’s not how things are done in our family. If you go ahead with this, consider yourself cut off from whatever you stand to inherit in the future. You’re giving up all the privileges you grew up with. Choose wisely, because you’re not getting a second chance.”
I gave her a sad smile. “I don’t want your second chance.”
Her face paled, and her eyes, so much like mine, held nothing but anger. “You’re being disrespectful, and you’re making a huge mistake.”
For a brief minute, I waited for the familiar guilt that would normally engulf me in a world of shame and regret.
But it never came.
Instead, a tidal wave of sadness washed over me. I knew I was about to lose my parents for good, but if keeping them meant giving up my future and my freedom, then I knew which choice to make. An enormous, empowering urge to walk away surged inside of me. I had never been more confident in my life, and I knew that it was the right thing to do.
“It’s not your life to run, and please don’t get started on your grand, self-sacrificing speech. Go ahead, cut me out of the family, out of the will, whatever you want.”
“You’re going to regret this,” my mother hissed. “In six months, you’ll come back, begging us for a handout, because you’re going to fail.”
“That’s what you thought when I left home, right? But you’re wrong. I had a lot of challenges when I first came here, but I handled everything without your help. Or your money. I turned a horribly damaged store into a beautiful bakery, and we’re opening in less than a month. I started a new life all on my own, and I’m doing just fine. So no, I won’t fail.” I paused to take a breath. “And one more thing. My condition isn’t an impediment. I’m not defined by it, and it doesn’t limit me. It doesn’t make me less, or different, and even if I fail, I’ll just get back up and try again. So please don’t come back into my life, unless you understand it isn’t yours to run.” I whipped out my phone and tapped on the Uber app. “I’ve requested a car to take you back to the airport. Goodbye, Mom.”
Without waiting for a response, I walked away from the café. From her.
And for the first time in a long while, I felt peace.