Chapter 7
Charlotte opened the door.
“Believing an apology does not mean I have to continue the relationship attached to it.”
The hope vanished.
“Don’t call me. Don’t send protection I didn’t request. Don’t interfere with the board or my investigation.”
Damon stood at the threshold.
A man who could enter almost any room in Chicago waited because Charlotte had told him not to enter hers.
“Understood.”
For nine days, he obeyed.
Preston interpreted Damon’s absence as weakness.
He became more aggressive.
He contacted Charlotte’s clients.
He pressured Madison’s employer.
And forty-eight hours before the city ethics hearing, he offered Charlotte a deal.
They met outside Grand Meridian just before sunrise.
Charlotte had spent half the night helping emergency crews stabilize a frozen drain that burst above the ballroom.
She was exhausted and wearing wet boots when Preston handed her a prepared statement.
It claimed they had created the Grand Meridian design together.
It said Charlotte’s accusations came from emotional distress after their breakup.
Most importantly, it said Damon had pressured her to claim sole ownership.
“Sign it,” Preston said. “I withdraw the financial complaint. Your contract comes back. Your clients stop panicking.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“You moved money through a company carrying my name.”
“You can’t prove I moved it.”
“Did you?”
“Sign the statement and the question stops mattering.”
Charlotte looked at the pages.
Three years ago she would have studied Preston’s face and searched desperately for the answer that might restore peace.
Now she saw him clearly.
Not powerful.
Afraid.
“You never intended to marry me,” she said. “Why did you need me to stay?”
His expression shifted.
“I gave you a life women would beg for.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He looked toward Grand Meridian.
“When North River closed, everything would have changed. I would’ve had the position. The house. The right family connections.”
“And me?”
“You were supposed to understand.”
“What?”
“That I needed one part of my life that didn’t make demands while I built everything else.”
Charlotte’s throat tightened.
“You didn’t want a partner.”
Preston said nothing.
“You wanted proof that somebody would keep waiting.”
He stepped closer.
“And now you think Damon is different?”
“Damon is responsible for his choices.”
She held the statement toward him.
“This conversation is about yours.”
Preston’s voice sharpened.
“Without him, nobody at that hearing cares about your little drawings.”
Charlotte folded the papers.
“Then they can reject me without a lie carrying my signature.”
She walked away.
“Charlotte!”
She kept going.
May you like
“You walk away now, you lose everything!”
She stopped.
