Well played, Father, well fucking played.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ISOBEL
It was the best weekend of my life, followed by the longest Monday in the history of Mondays.
Julian took me to brunch Sunday. We talked about the wedding, and I fielded calls from Marla asking me to stop by for a few dress fittings.
In a week, my life would change forever.
But it finally felt like I had my partner back, ride or die. That was us. I’d sworn to him when we were in college that I would never abandon him, and I hated the sad look he had given me when I vowed my loyalty. It wasn’t one of excitement or relief; it was one of total devastation.
We’d fought over it, and I wondered if he felt guilty over pulling me into his family.
He brought up his father again.
And I should have known, should have seen the signs then, that his father’s talons were already in, already causing hemorrhaging that even our love and friendship couldn’t stop.
I sent Julian a quick text of encouragement. He hadn’t seemed excited to be headed into work, but at the end of the day, he would officially be the CEO of Tennyson Financial. The only peculiar part of the scenario was this whole silent investor, who still had a third of the company. Who the hell would Edward trust with that much of the stock? Furthermore, you’d think the board wouldn’t like it.
It would take a lot to remove Edward from the company, which Julian reminded me that morning over breakfast, like he was actually thinking of attempting the impossible.
He said he had a plan.
And I almost puked.
It was almost identical to the conversation we’d had weeks before he got into his accident. It was a business dinner, and I’d left the table and cried in the bathroom because Marla yet again was hitting on him in front of everyone. Edward didn’t seem to mind since he was with one of Julian’s assistants, the blonde pretty one who actually looked like she had a good head on her shoulders, one meant for more than designer makeup and red lipstick.
He’d knocked on the stall, begged me to come out, then held me while I sobbed, while my sharp nails made a mark in my clenched left hand.
“Izzy, I need you to pull yourself together,” he whispered in my ear while I was having a meltdown. “Can you do that for me, we’re close, so damn close to getting everything we want.”
Right. Everything he wanted.
“You’re a monster,” I muttered. “And I still can’t walk away from you, from us. What happened, Julian? How do I stop this?”
He tensed and then cupped my face. “Just a little longer, Iz, alright? I need you to walk out there and look like the perfect doting fiancée. I need you to smile like you’ve been taught, I need you to be a Tennyson now more than ever. If my father assumes I’m just like him then he’ll finally trust me. Things will be different once I take over. I promise. The flirting means nothing.”
“Don’t you dare patronize me!” I roared. “I’ve done everything for you! You couldn’t even let me leave the house today without making me change into this.” I pulled at my revealing dress. “What? Am I supposed to whore out for you now?”
“That’s enough!” he snapped, his eyes cold. “This is bigger than you, bigger than just a job. Do you know what I could do with this position? I would have the power to change lives! To make an empire bigger than my dad. Like I said, this is bigger than us. This is more important than any one person.” He looked away.
“Money generally is.” I glanced away. It was the first time in a long time I’d raised my voice at him, the first time I didn’t care that he could hurt me or leave me destitute. I wanted to yell, I wanted to claw at his face and beg him to kiss me and make it better.
“Deep breaths.” Julian gave me that perfect smile, the one I loved, and then he kissed me softly on the mouth. “We’ll get through this, we always do. Money is power, Iz, never forget that.”
“You don’t need any more money.”
“That, sadly,” he murmured, looking away, “isn’t the point. It’s never been about the amount, it’s about who holds all the cards.”
I followed him two minutes later, makeup fixed, fake smile present, and I watched women flirt with him. I watched him flirt back and drink like I hadn’t just had a meltdown.
And at the end of the night, I watched him clink his glass with his father while they laughed about a stripper one of the board members had invited to the bar for drinks later.
He was just like him.
And my hate rivaled my love.