44
Dean
End of October 2018
W hen Ella sauntered into his office a week after their parents got charged with the… very long list of crimes they’d committed, Dean was surprised. Matthew had yet to come back to him about his offer of employment, so when he watched Ella collapse in the chair opposite him, he knew the answer would be no.
And he didn’t blame him either; Dean knew it would be an easy opportunity for them both because he was offering Matthew literal millions to be a silent partner. All Matthew had to do was buy a suit, turn up to his office once a week and nod his head, and he, Ella, and their child would be sorted for life.
But Dean knew that with Matthew, his morals came before anything. He didn’t know the man well, but he could tell that unlike himself, his family and Ella’s family, he would rather be poor than work with the man who did all sorts of shit to him and the woman he loved.
The woman they both loved.
But Dean knew he needed to get over Ella. Yet there she was, bursting into his office, without so much as an invitation or notice, like a blonde whirlwind. It did not help his case.
“Ella.” Dean greeted. He swivelled his chair and got her a cup of water. She stood up and took it before sitting herself back down.
“Thank you.” She downed the water and put her hand over her stomach, which Dean noted had rounded ever so slightly. Pregnancy looked good on her already, he noted. Part of him wished it was because of himself, but he quickly forced the thought from his mind.
She grinned at him. “What is it like, being the new CEO?”
Dean chuckled and purposefully did a full swivel in his new office chair; he told his assistant that he didn’t want his father’s old one because it felt too… tainted. He enjoyed tearing four enormous holes in his father’s old chair with the scissors, though. It felt therapeutic. He wished he’d given Ella the same opportunity.
“It feels… better?” Dean smirked. “Now that we’re free from them, from the contract… I can say I now realise just how trapped we were. Not just in terms of each other, but in terms of my job, in terms of the company… some things he’s left me with—”
“I never asked, what happens to my father?” she cut him off. He knew she didn’t by the way she blurted out the question that she didn’t want to ask, but needed to know.
“Ella, what do you want to happen?” Dean asked. “I have to let him go. Not just because of his criminal status, but because, in the eyes of everyone else, I’m a victim as well as you. It wouldn’t look great if I didn’t fire him.”
“No, I understand that.” Ella nodded. “But what happens if they get found not guilty at trial? What happens to my dad’s money, their house, everything?”
“I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer. The house is theirs. Unfortunately, they’ll still own it if they go to prison. I can assure you that I won’t rehire him, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. As for my father… fuck him. Both of my parents can go fuck themselves. I know it’s more difficult for you.”
“My mum.” She said it so quietly, so innocently, that Dean felt awful for her. The guilt had eaten away at her, he could see that.
“I don’t know what will happen. It’s in the hands of the police and the prosecution service is all I can tell you.”
He wanted to tell her that her mother wouldn’t get a long prison sentence. But he didn’t know the answer. He hadn’t thought of the fact that it would hurt Ella to see the person that helped her marry the love of her life go down for something she had probably been forced to go along with, in the name of love.
That was the theme all along, Dean knew: he never used his brain.
Ella shifted in her seat, clearly not wanting to talk about her mother any longer. Dean thanked whatever was up there because it was awkward as fuck not knowing what to say.
“I wanted to talk to you about—”
“Matthew’s job offer?” Dean questioned, and she nodded. “I assume because I haven’t heard from him and because you’re here, his answer is no?”
“Pretty much. He doesn’t think it’s a good idea, given our past.”
“Fair enough. I gave him a ballpark figure to set the three of you up. I can transfer—”
“He doesn’t want what he calls your ‘hush money’, either. To him, he wants to cut all ties with you and make his own way,” Ella told him.
“Noble.”
“I spoke to him at length; he wants nothing to do with you, the company, or your money. However, the way I view it, is that it’s stupid to give up the chance of being financially secure because of what happened. For the sake of being a silent partner, or whatever it is you’re calling it. It’s not just about Matt and me anymore.” She gestured toward her stomach and Dean didn’t entertain the idea of looking at it. If he did, he risked the feeling of jealousy growing again, and in the past week, he had been making great progress at not thinking about her.
“Why are you telling me this? You have an idea. I can tell by the way you stormed in here.”
“Matt and I decided that if I felt it was important to have money, then I’ll be your silent partner,” she announced.
Immediately, Dean’s thoughts were to decline her. How was he going to get over her if she was going to work closely with him? If she was going to come into the office every week and be around him?
She clearly had more to say, so Dean closed his mouth again.
“I won’t be able to work properly for the next year. So, you can put me on maternity leave immediately. That will give us time to move on from what happened. You can cut my wages accordingly. Then if we need more time to get over this, you can review if I need more maternity leave, or I can take annual leave. Then I can be the silent partner. If you need me to give my nod over your shit or whatever, you can come to our house when Matt’s around, and I’ll give you the nod. Or I can do it over a video call. But I will literally be a silent partner. If we can do that, I’ll do it. If you think you can’t work with me, then I will respect that, and you can just pay me whatever you offered Matt.”
He looked at his watch for a distraction. She was clever, he gave her that; all her life she had been controlled and manipulated, and no one gave her credit for just how business- minded she was. Like her father, like his father, and like Dean himself. But less… evil with it.
Could he work with her? He could adapt, he supposed. He could change the meetings to once a month. The entire company knew the marriage hadn’t happened, and they knew why when the news broke out. The gossip spread like wildfire, and he – along with Ella – had to come up with a speech explaining what had happened. As reluctant as she’d been to do it, they dealt with it and put the rumours to bed.
At first, the board was hesitant when Dean approached them about giving either Ella or Matthew a role in the firm, but he soon quickly shut them up and got them on side when he told them she knew about the business from her father, and they were still somewhat friends. Though the word friend had felt bitter on his tongue, he hoped it would work out that way.
A role in the company would secure everything for her, and it would keep the clients somewhat happy. They knew about the forced marriage, of course, but they trusted Dean, and they said they’d trusted Ella to do the work in their father’s stead. The somewhat backward and archaic workforce had seemingly evaporated with the news of the now-broken marriage pact. She had a point, of course; she could go off on maternity at any time if he and she felt like it, especially given the stress they were going through with their parents.
That gave him a year to get over her, for good. He was also then giving her and her family financial security; not just because they would need it, but as a way of making up for all the wrongs done to them.
“Are you sure Matthew is okay with this?” Dean asked her.
She smirked and pulled out her phone. She tapped a few times and stood up, showing him a message: ‘Because I know he will ask – yes, Dean, I am okay with Ella becoming a silent partner if that’s what she wants, and if you think you can.’ He looked at the sender just in case and read that it had come from Matthew. Though his contact name was ‘Matty – husband’ with a few heart emojis, Dean got the idea.
“If at any point we think it’s not working for you or us, we put a stop to it?” Ella asked.
“Of course. I have to make it seem like you have some sort of a role here, so when you start, I’ll have to run through exactly what you’ll have to do, but if this is what you want, I’m okay with it. However, with the obvious stress and your condition, you’re right, I don’t think you should start right away. But I’ll put you on the payroll.” Dean nodded.
“Thank you,” Ella said seriously. “I know things have been… er—”
“Shit?” he smirked.
“Pretty much, yeah. It’ll take a long time for Matt, but this means a lot.”
“That’s what friends are for—” He stopped when he realised what he’d said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be presumptuous.”
She looked down, and he could have kicked himself. They hadn’t been friends for a long time, but he had assumed her coming into his office with this idea had been an olive branch of sorts.
He wanted to retreat into himself like a hermit crab. But she looked back at him and smiled.
“Friends sounds good.” She smiled, and within a second, all his embarrassment melted like chocolate.
“Look, I don’t want to overstep my boundaries, so if Matthew ever becomes uncomfortable, I need you to tell me, okay?” Dean urged.
He was panicked; he had worked hard since the night of the party to try and better himself. Working with Ella was going to be a challenge for everyone involved, including her husband.
“I will, Dean, I promise.” She smiled, and the small act reassured him. They had discussed it at length, and he supposed with everything that had happened, she wouldn’t have suggested it if they weren’t truly okay with it.
He stood from his chair and held out his hand to shake hands with her. “Then welcome to the team, Mrs Davenport.”
It had taken a lot for him to say her name like that: he had denied it for a long time, and another step in trying to get over her, he supposed, was to say her new name out loud.
She beamed at him; he could tell she, too, was proud of his acknowledgement. She stood up and they shook hands. It felt formal, it felt business-like, and Dean knew it would be okay.