Chapter 7
No More Excuses
Freddie did not call Lucy the next morning.
He wanted to.
Every instinct in him urged him to explain the photographs, the account, his brother, his mother, and the secret that seemed to stretch backward through the entire history of his marriage.
But he stopped himself.
Lucy had asked for space.
For once, Freddie understood that respecting her request mattered more than satisfying his own need to be heard.
He arrived at Holloway International at seven.
By eight, the boardroom was full.
Marcus stood at the head of the table with a folder in front of him.
"We need a statement."
Freddie looked at the assembled directors.
"Yes."
"We need to protect the company."
"Yes."
"We need to explain the consulting payments."
Freddie opened the folder.
"There's nothing to explain."
Marcus looked at him.
Freddie continued.
"The payments happened under my authority. I failed to investigate them properly. That's my responsibility."
One director shifted in his chair.
"Are you admitting negligence?"
"I'm admitting that I made decisions while distracted by a personal relationship I was trying to hide."
The room went silent.
Freddie felt the weight of every stare.
For months, he had built walls around the truth.
Now he was tearing them down himself.
Another director leaned forward.
"Are you referring to Mollie Knowles?"
"Yes."
"And was she responsible for the financial irregularities?"
Freddie's expression hardened.
"No."
Marcus looked at him carefully.
Freddie continued.
"I had an affair with Mollie. That was my decision. I lied to my wife about it. I allowed those lies to affect my judgment at work. Whatever other wrongdoing occurred around the company will be investigated independently."
A director glanced at another.
"You're prepared to make that public?"
"I am."
"You understand what it will do to you?"
Freddie looked down at his wedding ring.
Then back at the table.
"I already did the damage."
No one spoke.
Marcus closed the folder.
"I'll have legal prepare the statement."
Freddie nodded.
When the meeting ended, Marcus stayed behind.
"You didn't have to do that."
"Yes, I did."
"You could have blamed the financial problems on Mollie."
Freddie looked at him.
"I blamed enough of my life on everyone except myself."
Marcus studied him.
Something in his expression changed.
Not approval.
Not forgiveness.
Recognition.
"Lucy would probably respect that."
Freddie's mouth tightened.
"I'm not doing it for Lucy."
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
Freddie paused.
Then nodded.
"That's the point."
The statement went public at noon.
Within an hour, every major business outlet had picked it up.
Freddie Holloway accepts responsibility for financial oversight failures.
Another headline followed.
Holloway CEO refuses to blame alleged affair partner.
Then another.
Billionaire Executive Admits Personal Conduct Affected Corporate Judgment.
His phone filled with messages.
Investors.
Friends.
Lawyers.
Family.
Freddie ignored them.
He was not interested in controlling the narrative anymore.
Not this time.
At Lucy's studio, Evelyn placed her phone on the desk.
"Have you seen this?"
Lucy looked up.
"No."
Evelyn slid the phone toward her.
Lucy read the statement.
She reached the part about the affair.
Her stomach tightened.
He had not minimized it.
He had not called it a mistake made in a difficult period.
He had not said he had been lonely.
He had not mentioned anything about Mollie seducing him.
He had simply admitted what he had done.
Lucy handed the phone back.
"Well?"
Evelyn asked.
Lucy looked at the sketches spread across her desk.
"He told the truth."
"Does that change anything?"
"No."
The answer came quickly.
Then Lucy corrected herself.
"It changes something."
Evelyn waited.
"It changes what I think he's capable of doing."
"But not whether you'll take him back."
"No."
Lucy picked up her pencil.
"Not even close."
That evening, Freddie received a message from Lucy.
Thank you for correcting the public story.
He stared at it.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
He wanted to tell her he had done it because she deserved better.
He wanted to say he would spend the rest of his life proving himself.
He wanted to ask if she would meet him.
Instead, he typed:
You didn't deserve the lies. I should have corrected them sooner.
He sent it.
Lucy read the message.
She did not answer.
Freddie put the phone down.
That was enough.
Or it had to be.
The next problem was his mother's file.
Freddie returned to the family estate.
Vivian was waiting.
"You made the affair public."
"I told the truth."
"You could have protected yourself."
"I've done enough protecting myself."
Her expression tightened.
"You don't understand what this will do to the family."
"I understand exactly what it will do."
"And Lucy?"
Freddie looked at her.
"What about her?"
"She will see everything."
"She should."
Vivian went silent.
Freddie placed a folder on the table.
"I want Daniel's old records."
Her face changed.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because some things should remain buried."
"That's not your decision."
"You don't know what you're asking."
"I know Lucy received photographs."
Vivian's eyes narrowed.
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
"What did they show?"
"Enough to tell me there are things you haven't told me."
She sat down.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Vivian said, "Your brother believed Lucy knew more than she did."
Freddie frowned.
"About what?"
"About the company."
"What does that mean?"
"Before you married her, Daniel believed someone was using Holloway International to move money."
Freddie's stomach tightened.
"Who?"
"We never proved it."
"Did you investigate?"
"Your father did."
"And?"
"He stopped."
"Why?"
Vivian looked away.
"Because the trail led too close to home."
Freddie's pulse accelerated.
"Who?"
She said nothing.
"Mom."
Her eyes met his.
"I thought I was protecting you."
Freddie laughed without humor.
"That's what everyone says when they're hiding something."
She flinched.
He regretted the cruelty immediately.
But he did not apologize.
Not because he was proud of the words.
Because for once, he needed the truth more than he needed to make everyone comfortable.
"I want every record."
Vivian shook her head.
"If you open that door, you may lose more than your company."
Freddie stood.
"I've already learned what happens when I protect the wrong things."
He walked away.
The following week, Freddie made another decision.
He stepped down from the expansion committee.
It was a position he had spent years building toward.
It gave him influence over the company's most profitable division.
The board resisted.
Marcus did not.
"You know what this means," Marcus said.
"Yes."
"You'll lose control of the project."
"Yes."
"You might lose your seat on the executive committee."
"I know."
Marcus stared at him.
"Why?"
Freddie looked through the glass wall toward the employees working below.
"Because I don't trust my own judgment right now."
Marcus was silent.
Freddie continued.
"I need other people to challenge me."
That was the sacrifice.
Not his money.
Not his house.
His control.
The thing he had protected most fiercely.
He signed the resignation papers.
Then he walked away.
No press release.
No announcement.
No expectation that Lucy would hear about it.
She heard anyway.
Connor mentioned it while reviewing the restaurant plans with her.
"You know Freddie stepped down from the expansion committee?"
Lucy looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"It's business news."
She nodded.
Connor watched her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to talk about him?"
"No."
"Good."
Lucy looked up.
Connor smiled.
"I'd rather talk about your design."
She laughed.
It surprised her.
He leaned over the table.
"The lighting here is wrong."
"It's not."
"It is."
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I own restaurants."
"You eat at restaurants."
"I've designed three."
Lucy blinked.
"Three?"
"Four."
She smiled.
"You're insufferable."
"I've been told."
Their eyes held for a moment.
The room became quieter.
Lucy felt the old familiar pull of attraction.
Not the dangerous, consuming kind she had once felt with Freddie.
Something lighter.
Safer.
But safety had become complicated.
She stepped back.
"We should finish the proposal."
Connor nodded.
"Yes."
He didn't push.
Lucy noticed.
Later that evening, Freddie stood outside his old penthouse.
He had not entered since Lucy left.
The security guard opened the door.
The apartment was immaculate.
Too immaculate.
Every surface looked untouched.
He walked through the living room.
The flowers were gone.
The furniture was exactly where it had always been.
Then he saw Lucy's favorite blue mug on the kitchen counter.
He picked it up.
His thumb brushed the handle.
He remembered mornings when Lucy would sit barefoot at the island, reading emails while he made coffee.
He remembered her complaining that he used too much sugar.
He remembered kissing her shoulder from behind.
He remembered how easily he had believed those moments would always be there.
Freddie put the mug down.
Then he called his attorney.
"I want the apartment transferred into Lucy's name."
There was silence.
"Mr. Holloway, are you sure?"
"Yes."
"It's one of your most valuable properties."
"I know."
"Your wife may refuse it."
"I know."
"Then why transfer it?"
Freddie looked around the empty room.
"Because she built a life here with me. Whatever she decides to do with the apartment afterward is her choice."
He ended the call.
He did not tell Lucy.
He did not send her a photograph.
He did not ask anyone to tell her.
For the first time, he was doing something for her without needing her to know.
Three days later, Lucy received an envelope from her attorney.
She opened it at her studio.
Her eyes moved over the legal documents.
The penthouse.
Transferred to her.
No conditions.
No demand for reconciliation.
No requirement that she return.
Lucy sat very still.
Then she called Freddie.
He answered immediately.
"Lucy."
"Why?"
He was quiet.
"Because it belongs to you."
"No. It belonged to us."
"Then I should have given you the choice a long time ago."
She looked at the papers.
"You think this proves you've changed?"
"No."
"Then what does it prove?"
"That I'm finally learning the difference between giving and controlling."
Lucy swallowed.
That answer hurt more than an apology.
She closed her eyes.
For months, she had wanted him to understand.
Now he was beginning to.
But understanding was not redemption.
"Freddie."
"Yes?"
"I see what you're doing."
He waited.
"I see that you're trying."
His breath caught.
"But don't mistake that for forgiveness."
"I won't."
"And don't expect me to come back because you're finally doing the right thing."
"I won't."
Lucy looked down at the document.
"Good."
She ended the call.
Freddie sat alone.
The conversation had lasted less than three minutes.
Yet it felt more significant than every apology he had made.
Because Lucy had noticed.
She had seen him.
Not as the man she married.
Not as the man who betrayed her.
But as someone who might finally be changing.
That should have given him hope.
Instead, it frightened him.
Because if Lucy could see the change and still choose to leave, then he had no control over the ending.
For the first time in his life, Freddie understood what it meant to love someone without being able to possess the outcome.
Across town, Lucy placed the legal documents in a drawer.
She stood there for a moment.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
A man's voice came through.
"You need to stop looking into your marriage."
Lucy froze.
"Who is this?"
"You've already been warned."
"About what?"
A pause.
Then the man said, "Ask Freddie why Daniel Holloway was investigating your family before he died."
The call ended.
Lucy slowly lowered the phone.
Her marriage had been built on lies.
Freddie had cheated.
His family had hidden something.
And now someone was warning her to stop asking questions.
Lucy looked at the locked drawer containing the evidence.
Then she reached for her coat.
If Freddie was finally ready to face the truth, so was she.
But this time, she would not wait for him to tell her what she needed to know.
She would find out herself.