Chapter 13
ALEX
Several days later, Alex was still trying to figure out how to get ahold of Grace. He’d tried calling and texting, but she hadn’t answered. She was clearly avoiding him now, just like he’d avoided her right after she’d been fired.
Which he still maintained had been the only possible course of action given that she’d clearly messed up with the laptop.
Meanwhile, work was ramping up. There was immense pressure from investors and users to get the update out, but they were still missing months of work.
Everyone was working long hours, and Alex was working the longest hours of all.
He barely slept, barely ate except for the occasional sandwich, and rarely left the office before midnight.
It didn’t escape his attention that Grace would have been extremely helpful, but since she’d caused the situation, he wasn’t about to ask.
She wasn’t talking to him anyway.
As much as Alex wanted to make peace with Grace for the baby’s sake, he also resented that she hadn’t told him sooner.
He was willing to put aside the fact that she’d destroyed his update, for the baby’s sake, but she hadn’t even thought he was worth a call to tell him he was going to be a father.
It wasn’t right. Hadn’t their time together meant anything to her?
One afternoon, Alex was holding a scrum with the dev-ops team when there was a knock on the door of the conference room. A man in an unseasonable green jacket stood outside, holding a stack of pizza boxes.
“You ordered us lunch?” Autumn asked, turning to Alex. “Thank you, but you know we just ate. I hope this isn’t a subtle hint that we’ll be here until dinnertime.”
“I didn’t order this,” Alex said, turning to the man. “Who are the pizzas for?”
“Alex Medson,” the man said. “The front desk told me you’d be here.” He sounded tired, like he’d been working all day, and Alex sympathized.
“That’s me, but I’m afraid I didn’t order anything. Maybe you got the order mixed up?”
“No, I have the right guy.” The deliveryman opened the top pizza box and handed Alex a large manila envelope. “You’ve been served.”
Alex reeled. “Served? By whom? Why?”
“That’s all the information I have. Have a good afternoon.” The deliveryman pressed the envelope into Alex’s hands, then turned on his heel and left. Alex stared down at the envelope.
“Is it an investor suing us for not getting the update ready on time?” Dennis asked.
“I don’t know…” Alex shook his head. “Listen, take the afternoon. Get to work on whatever you can.” He was humiliated at having been served in front of his employees, and he needed time to look into this without anyone watching him.
Slowly, everyone filed out, though more than one person shot him concerned looks as they left. Alex tried to ignore them.
Back in his office, he tore the envelope open and took out a stack of papers.
His heart plummeted as he read the top line.
The papers read: Wrongful Termination Suit.
He was being sued by Grace. He scanned the legalese, his heart racing, and saw that she was suing him because she believed there hadn’t been sufficient evidence to fire her.
She claimed that he’d discriminated against her because of their personal relationship.
Alex shook his head, disbelieving. It wasn’t enough that Grace had stolen the computer and kept her pregnancy from him.
She was also suing him. Even if Alex settled outside of court, news of the lawsuit would leak.
His reputation would be ruined, even more than it already was by the failed update.
More than ever, Alex was certain that she was targeting him.
She’d probably joined MatchupNow and gotten close to him, all the while knowing she was going to turn on him.
That didn’t explain the pregnancy, though.
With a sigh, Alex reached for his phone and called his in-house lawyers. Isobel Ramirez and Lucille Shi arrived in his office a few minutes later, and Isobel took the documents from Alex and gave them a cursory scan.
“I see what’s happening,” she said, handing the papers back and adjusting her glasses. “The lawyers named here are part of Boink’s legal team. This suit is being backed by Patrick Hale.”
“What?” Alex shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Sure it does,” Isobel replied. She shrugged. “Grace is, at best, a disgruntled former employee. Patrick Hale is a corporate rival. Teaming up makes sense for both of them. Grace could get a hefty settlement from you, and Patrick could damage his biggest rival’s reputation.”
“Do they have a case?” Alex asked.
“Not really,” Lucille spoke up. “A wrongful termination suit will only be successful if you fired Grace without cause. I’m not entirely familiar with the case, but I know she was the one who lost or stole the laptop. If you have proof of that, it’ll be enough to sink the case.”
“Great,” Alex said dryly. It didn’t feel great, though. “So, we’ll just present the log where she didn’t sign the laptop back in?”
“Theoretically, yes,” Isobel replied. “There are two potential issues, though. First, the log isn’t necessarily enough evidence on its own.
A good lawyer could argue that it wouldn’t be too difficult to alter the log and frame Grace—or anyone.
Or that Grace might have forgotten to sign the log but still returned the laptop, which is negligence but is on a different level from theft. ”
Alex blinked. He hadn’t even thought of that.
Was there a chance that Grace had been framed?
That someone else had changed the logs, maybe to cover up their own mistake?
Then he dismissed the thought. He couldn’t dwell on it now, and he couldn’t get his hopes up that Grace hadn’t betrayed him and his company. He had to focus on the lawsuit.
“What’s the second issue?” he asked.
“If the case goes to court, even if you win, you’d get a lot of negative publicity,” Isobel explained. “You might struggle with investors, people might think twice before working for you—things like that.”
“I see,” Alex said.
“Especially since Grace is young and pretty, so she makes a sympathetic plaintiff,” Lucille added.
“And pregnant,” Alex muttered.
“What was that?” Isobel asked, but Alex shook his head.
“Nothing. So, what’s our next move here?”
“First, avoid Grace and her legal team at all costs. If you reach out, it might look like you’re trying to intimidate her into dropping the case. Second, we’ll do research into Grace and see if we can find a way to undermine her case. And third, we’ll put together an out-of-court settlement.”
“I need to meet with Grace,” Alex said. Isobel frowned at him.
“Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I know, but I need to talk to her. I need to find out why she’s doing this.
” And Alex needed to talk to her about the baby, before this all fell apart even more than it had.
Now, before they went to court, there might still be some slim chance that they could find a way forward together, in which they could both be parents to their child.
“It’s a bad idea,” Lucille jumped in. “As I said, contact with her might strengthen her case, especially if it appears like you’re trying to get her to drop the suit.”
“I won’t try to get her to drop the case,” Alex promised. “I just need to talk to her.”
“As your lawyer, I strongly recommend against that,” Isobel said.
“Noted. For now, please start thinking of settlements we could offer,” Alex said. “That’ll be all.”
“It would be a real mistake to try to see Grace,” Isobel repeated. She spoke each word slowly, as though Alex were a not-too-bright toddler.
“You’ve made that clear. Thank you.”
The two lawyers exchanged unhappy glances before standing and leaving the office. Alex knew they were right. He shouldn’t try to talk to Grace. Yet he also knew that he was going to. His first priority still had to be the baby, no matter what Grace did.
And, though Alex didn’t want to admit it, he missed Grace.
He missed talking to her about problems, dreaming with her, kissing her…
The ship for any possible relationship between them had sailed long ago, but some part of him still wanted to clear the air.
And some part of him still hoped that Grace could offer an explanation for what had happened that didn’t involve betrayal and a systematic sabotage of Alex and his company.
Alex reached for his phone and drummed it against his hand. Grace was clearly declining his calls for a reason, so he needed a better way to reach her. He composed a quick text.
Grace, call me. We need to talk.
A few minutes after he hit send, a blue tick appeared to show that she’d read the message. Three dots appeared… then disappeared. After a long moment, Alex typed out another message.
I want to talk about an out-of-court settlement. You owe me a conversation, if nothing else.
The dots appeared, followed by a message.
I don’t owe you anything. But we can meet to talk about the settlement. Sea Foam Café. Tomorrow. Four o’clock.
Alex let out a long sigh. It wasn’t what he’d hoped for, not exactly, but at least Grace was finally going to talk to him.
Maybe they could get to the bottom of this whole mess once and for all.
Maybe Grace would apologize for stealing the laptop and drop the suit once she knew that Alex’s intentions were good.
Alex could only hope.
The rest of the day dragged by. Alex thought again and again about what he might say to Grace, how he might tell her that, as the father, he deserved a part in their baby’s life. How he might explain that, no matter how things were between them, the baby had to come first.
But surely Grace knew that, too. Didn’t she?