Chapter 9
PATRICK
The screen went black, and I sat there, staring at my own reflection in the glass, the weight of the last few weeks crashing down on me.
The phone felt cold and heavy in my hand, and the silence that followed the end of the call was deafening.
I hadn’t even realized I was gripping the edge of my desk so tightly that my knuckles had turned white, or that my breathing had become shallow and uneven.
I had thought that if I said the right thing, if I apologized enough, Sadie would eventually see that this was all a misunderstanding, something we could fix with patience and effort.
But now I wasn’t sure anymore. I hadn’t heard the true depth of her hurt in her voice, at least not until tonight, and now the chasm between us felt impossibly wide.
With a frustrated growl, I threw the phone onto the desk, pacing the length of my office.
The panoramic view of Seattle’s skyline did little to soothe the storm inside me.
The city lights twinkled below, oblivious to the personal tempest I was navigating.
I had never been at such a loss before in my professional or personal life, but somehow, I’d managed to fail spectacularly in both areas at once.
This was supposed to be the breakthrough moment, the pinnacle of our joint success with the Eco-Turbine.
Instead, I’d managed to alienate the very woman whose brilliance had made it all possible.
I clenched my fists, the leather of my office chair creaking as I leaned against the backrest, trying to make sense of how it had all spiraled so out of control.
A soft knock on the door interrupted my spiraling thoughts. “Patrick? Are you okay?” Alyssa’s voice drifted through the cracked open door, light and almost soothing, if I didn’t know better.
“I’m fine, Alyssa.” The last thing I wanted right now was company, especially hers. But before I could stop her, she opened the door wider and stepped inside, her heels clicking softly against the floor.
Her face was carefully composed, but there was a subtle glimmer of relief in her eyes as she closed the distance between us.
She must have heard some part of the argument, or at least sensed its aftermath, but she didn’t press.
Instead, she placed a hand on my shoulder, a gesture meant to comfort but one that felt entirely out of place.
“I’m sure she’ll come around,” she said, stepping closer.
“Sadie’s always been sensitive, but she needs time to see things clearly. ”
I stared at her, something unsettling twisting in my gut at the way she spoke of Sadie, as if she weren’t talking about her sister, my wife, but about some overly emotional subordinate.
But even as that discomfort flickered through me, another, more familiar part of me found her closeness grounding, a distraction I couldn’t deny.
Alyssa had been there, seemingly more and more lately, when I needed someone to lean on.
I exhaled slowly, trying not to let the exhaustion show too much. “I don’t know, Alyssa. I don’t think this is something she can just come back from easily. I really messed things up.”
She moved around me, her perfume filling the air as she leaned back against my desk, her arms crossed and eyes fixed on mine with a knowing intensity.
“You’re too hard on yourself, Patrick.” Her voice dropped into a more intimate register, and her hand reached for mine, her fingers tracing small circles against my knuckles.
“Sadie doesn’t appreciate everything you do.
You’ve carried this company, supported her work, given her more freedom than any partner would. She takes it for granted.”
I didn’t pull my hand away, even though her words felt off, as if she was trying to erase my responsibility in the situation by shifting blame entirely onto Sadie.
But part of me wanted to believe it was that simple.
Part of me was tired of feeling like the villain, even though I knew deep down I wasn’t entirely blameless.
“I just want her back,” I muttered, more to myself than to Alyssa. My mind was still reeling from the way Sadie had shut me out, the finality in her tone. I didn’t want to let that be the end of our conversation, our marriage, everything.
“You will.” Alyssa’s voice was soft but insistent, pulling me back to her.
She moved closer, her hand sliding up to cup my cheek, guiding my face toward hers.
Her touch was gentle, familiar, and I was too drained to process how wrong it felt.
“But you don’t have to wait for someone who can’t see your worth. ”
There was something unsettling in her words, a thread of seduction woven into them, and before I could react, her lips brushed against mine.
It was a soft, calculated kiss, designed to soothe but with an underlying possessiveness I hadn’t seen before.
She leaned into me more fully, her body pressing against mine as she whispered, “You deserve someone who understands you. Someone who can help you move past this.”
I froze, the reality of what was happening finally cutting through the fog in my mind.
I pulled back, my hands instinctively pushing her away as the sharp sting of betrayal hit me full force.
“What the hell are you doing?” My voice was louder than I intended, the shock evident in the way it echoed in my office.
I felt like the ground had shifted beneath me, the walls of my carefully built world tilting precariously, leaving me on uncertain footing.
Alyssa’s mask of sweetness slipped, the practiced warmth fading as quickly as it had appeared. Her expression hardened, her eyes cold and calculating. “What do you think I’ve been doing all this time? You and I could be amazing together, Patrick, if you’d just let her go.”
I stared at her, stunned and sickened as everything finally fell into place.
The late nights, the “coincidental” meetings in my office, her subtle undermining of Sadie, the way she had inserted herself so seamlessly into every aspect of my professional life, and now this.
Her ambition hadn’t been limited to her role in the company. I had been the ultimate prize.
I took a step back, my hands tightening into fists again as the cold clarity of her manipulation settled over me like a shroud.
“You think you could just step in, take over my life, and I wouldn’t notice?
” The rage that simmered in my chest wasn’t hot; it was sharp and clean, a blade honed to cut through any remaining delusions I’d held about her intentions.
Alyssa’s laugh was humorless, and bordering on dismissive. “You’re only saying that because you still believe Sadie’s the wronged party. You can’t see that I’m offering you something better.”
The word offering hung between us, poisoned, and I had no more patience left.
This had gone too far. I had made a terrible mistake in how I had handled Sadie, but it had nothing to do with Alyssa being my salvation.
My eyes narrowed as I straightened up to my full height, the calm, controlled demeanor she was used to seeing me wear now gone, replaced by something far colder.
“I’m done with this.” I grabbed my phone off the desk and dialed security.
The fact that she still had clearance to roam the executive floor was a problem I should have addressed long before this moment, a privilege I was now revoking in the most public and definitive way possible.
“Security? I need you to send someone to my office immediately.” The steel in my voice surprised even me.
“And when they get here, make sure Alyssa Fletcher is escorted out of the building. Her clearance is revoked effective immediately, and I want her name removed from our systems. She’s no longer employed at Holbrook Aviation. ”
Alyssa blinked in surprise, her composure slipping completely now, but she tried to cover it with a mocking laugh.
“You’re firing me? Over this?” She gestured wildly around the office, her tone incredulous.
“You can’t just throw away everything we’ve built together because you’re too hung up on a woman who clearly doesn’t appreciate you. ”
“I said this conversation is over, Alyssa. Now get out of my office.” My tone brooked no further discussion, no more games.
My mind was made up, and there was no room for doubt in this decision.
I hadn’t just made a mistake in handling Sadie; I had also handed a manipulative woman far too much power within my company, and I was done with both failures.
“You think you can just kick me out?” she sneered, the mask fully fallen away, revealing the entitlement I had stupidly ignored for far too long. “You’ll regret this, Patrick. You’ll realize soon enough that Sadie doesn’t love you like I do.”
I shook my head, stepping away from her and moving toward the door, eager for it to shut behind her.
Two men entered my office a moment later, security personnel with grim expressions.
There were no mere rent-a-cops. I paid my security team to be professional.
And I saw recognition in the way they looked at Alyssa.
“Alyssa,” I said, nodding to the men. “They’re here to escort you out. You have five minutes to collect your personal belongings. Anything left behind will be packaged and sent to your residence. Good luck to you.”