Whether or not she was important to me at the time or I’d simply mythologized her because she’d come before my parents’ death, when life had been good—she was nothing to me now. The woman in front of me wasn’t Bridget. She wasn’t the woman I’d clearly created in my head as proof I’d never be married. Be in love. Have a future with someone.
We stepped out of the lift and stopped at the entrance of the bar where she was meeting her friend.
“It was really good to see you,” I said, smiling as if I’d won tonight already.
She half smiled at me, as if she couldn’t understand why I might be telling the truth. “You too.”
I turned back to the lift. She would never know how good it was to have bumped into her. Only now was I able to say goodbye to a lie I’d been telling myself for so long. Seeing her had cut the last few strands that were tying me to my past.
I’d been set free.
* * *
Standing beside Primrose, I angled myself away from the far end of the room where the entries were displayed. I hadn’t even looked at the designs of the other four finalists, and I didn’t want to see their finished products. My father always said that comparing yourself to others led to madness, and it was a rule I lived by. Primrose, on the other hand, knew everything about everybody else’s designs, which were all showcased on the back wall of the ballroom.
“It’s about personal choice at the end of the day,” she said to the editor of The Jeweller magazine, who had come over to welcome us but had really wanted to know how stressed and competitive we were. “We just focused on designing and making a collection worthy of Her Royal Highness.”
“Anything you want to add?” the journalist asked me.
“I’m just looking forward to an enjoyable evening with my team. I hope we raise a lot of money for charity,” I said.
To win tonight would be the pinnacle of everything I’d worked for my entire life. But I wasn’t about to admit that to a journalist. The winning shouldn’t matter. I knew we had produced an incredible collection—it incorporated the heritage of Finland and the royal family as well as raising the profile about global issues. And on top of all that, it was some of the finest jewelry in existence.
But the winning did matter. To me at least. My parents would never know—would never get to appreciate it—but I wanted to do something I knew they would have been proud of. My fortune wouldn’t have impressed them. No doubt it was their lack of interest in money and profit that had left the business on the brink when they died. No, they would be interested in the pieces. In the creativity. In the stones.
And we’d nailed all of it.
I spotted Tristan through the crowd a few meters away, and he headed toward us, glass in hand. “I might not know anything about jewelry,” he said. “But if it was up to me, you’d win. Congratulations, mate. By far the best entry in the room.”
“I agree,” Primrose said as Tristan kissed her on the cheek. “But I’m slightly biased.”
Gabriel came up behind him. “Well done,” he said. “It all looks spectacular. And no gimmicks. Did you see that first entry as you come in has some kind of graphic scene behind it?”
“It’s clever,” Tristan said. “But it means you’re looking at the film and not the crown thing. Which is probably for the best. Because it was very mediocre.” Tristan, like all my friends, was loyal to the core.
“Very mediocre,” agreed Beck, as he appeared from nowhere. I hadn’t been sure he’d make it. “The Daniels & Co entry is spectacular, on the other hand.” He glanced around. “Where’s Hollie?”
Lucky for me, Gabriel distracted him, probably remembering that Hollie didn’t want the rest of my business to know we were dating. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t here, and I wasn’t sure we were dating anymore. After she’d left, I’d checked the flat over and over, but she’d taken every single last thing of hers. And I knew she hadn’t left anything at her studio. She had no reason to come back. Was that it? Was I supposed to just say, “Thanks, see you around”?
I’d sent an email to Autumn but I’d heard nothing.
I wanted Hollie here. To see what she’d earned. To see what she was capable of.
We were called to our table and Gabriel, Tristan and Beck headed to the table next to the one where I would sit with the Daniels & Co team. I glanced around to find David before following them.
“Mum and Dad would have loved to have seen you both here,” he said as he came up behind Primrose and me.